Cancer Cluster Investigations: Review of the Past and Proposals for the Future

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Michael Goodman⁵  Judy S. LaKind¹  Jerald A. Fagliano²  Timothy L. Lash⁵  Joseph L. Wiemels⁶  Deborah M. Winn⁷  Chirag Patel⁸  Juliet Van Eenwyk⁹  Betsy A. Kohler⁴  Enrique F. Schisterman³  Paul Albert³ 

[1] LaKind Associates, LLC, 106 Oakdale Avenue, Catonsville, MD 21228, USA;Division of Epidemiology, Environmental and Occupational Health, New Jersey Department of Health, P.O. Box 369, Trenton, NJ 08625, USA; E-Mail:;Division of Epidemiology, Statistics and Prevention Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, 6100 Executive Blvd., Bethesda, MD 20892, USA; E-Mails:;North American Association of Central Cancer Registries, Inc., 2121 W. White Oaks Drive, Suite B, Springfield, IL 62704, USA; E-Mail:;Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA; E-Mails:;Division of Cancer Epidemiology, Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, School of Medicine, University of California, Helen Diller Family Cancer Research Building, HD 274 1450 3rd Street, San Francisco, MC 0520, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA; E-Mail:;Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, 9609 Medical Center Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA; E-Mail:;School of Medicine, Stanford University, 1265 Welch Road, Stanford, CA 94305, USA; E-Mail:;Washington State Department of Health, P.O. Box 47812, Olympia, WA 98504, USA; E-Mail:

关键词: cancer;    cluster investigations;    cancer biomarkers;    case grouping;    leukemia;    exposome;    infection;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijerph110201479

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Residential clusters of non-communicable diseases are a source of enduring public concern, and at times, controversy. Many clusters reported to public health agencies by concerned citizens are accompanied by expectations that investigations will uncover a cause of disease. While goals, methods and conclusions of cluster studies are debated in the scientific literature and popular press, investigations of reported residential clusters rarely provide definitive answers about disease etiology. Further, it is inherently difficult to study a cluster for diseases with complex etiology and long latency (e.g., most cancers). Regardless, cluster investigations remain an important function of local, state and federal public health agencies. Challenges limiting the ability of cluster investigations to uncover causes for disease include the need to consider long latency, low statistical power of most analyses, uncertain definitions of cluster boundaries and population of interest, and in- and out-migration. A multi-disciplinary Workshop was held to discuss innovative and/or under-explored approaches to investigate cancer clusters. Several potentially fruitful paths forward are described, including modern methods of reconstructing residential history, improved approaches to analyzing spatial data, improved utilization of electronic data sources, advances using biomarkers of carcinogenesis, novel concepts for grouping cases, investigations of infectious etiology of cancer, and “omics” approaches.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.