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Epidemiology Congress 2018 & Tropical Medicine Congress 2018
Archives of General Internal Medicine
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ISSN: 2591-7951
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Volume 2
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TROPICAL MEDICINE, INFECTIOUS DISEASES & PUBLIC HEALTH
International Conference on
EPIDEMIOLOGY AND PUBLIC HEALTH
World Congress on
Joint Event on
OF EXCELLENCE
IN INTERNATIONAL
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alliedacademies.comYEARS
Mukesh Verma, Arch Gen Intern Med 2018, Volume 2 | DOI: 10.4066/2591-7951-C7-019
EPIGENETIC APPROACHES IN CANCER RISK
ASSESSMENT AND ETIOLOGY
S
everal approaches are applied to identify risk of developing cancer in dif-
ferent ethnic and racial groups. One of the approaches is epigenetics that
facilitates cancer control throughout the cancer core continuum. To under-
stand current progress and trends in the inclusion of epigenetics in cancer
epidemiology, we evaluated the published literature and the National Cancer
Institute (NCI) supported research grant awards in this field to identify trends
in epigenetics research. We present a summary of the epidemiological studies
in NCI’s grant portfolio and in the scientific literature published irrespective of
support from NCI. Biomarkers identified in the analysis might be useful in risk
prediction of different cancers. Breast cancer was the most frequently studied
cancer type in grants and publications. Blood cells and tumor tissue were the
most commonly used biospecimens in these studies, although buccal cells,
cervical cells, sputum, and stool samples also were used. DNA methylation
profiling was the focus of the majority of studies, but several studies also mea-
sured microRNA profiles. We illustrate here the current status of epidemiolog-
ic studies that are evaluating epigenetic changes in large populations. Some
research needs include developing improved strategies for epigenetic data
analysis and interpretation; determining the stability of epigenetic marks in
repeated biospecimen samples from the same people over time; and studies
that examine the relationship between epigenetic marks in germline DNA and
tumor DNA. While there are limitations to the broad application of epigenom-
ics to epidemiology research, there are situations where this type of research
is appropriate and it should be considered.
Biography
Mukesh Verma is Chief of the Epidemiology and
Genomics Research Program’s (EGRP) Methods
and Technologies Branch (MTB), and oversees
its research portfolio and initiatives that focus on
methods to address epidemiologic data collection,
study design and analysis, and to modify techno-
logical approaches developed in the context of oth-
er research endeavors for use as biomarkers and
methods to understand cancer susceptibility. He is
responsible for stimulating research in implication
of omics approaches to understand cancer etiolo-
gy. He represents NCI in Common Fund Programs
on (1) Epigenomics (2) Metabolomics and (3) Mo-
lecular Transducers of Physical Activity and (4) con-
gressionally mandated program on Environmental
Influences on Child Health Outcome (ECHO). Since
joining the NCI, he sought to champion the visibility
of and investment in cancer epigenetics research
both within the Institute and across other federal
and non-governmental agencies, and to raise pub-
lic awareness about controlling cancer.
vermam@mail.nih.govMukesh Verma
National Institutes of Health, USA