Cancer Precursors

The purpose of this book is to bring together in one place a discussion of the methodological issues associated with the study of precancerous conditions, as well as reviews of the contributions of descriptive, analytical, and molecular epidemiological research to knowledge about cancer precursors at specific anatomical locations. Such a book is particularly timely, given that the last few years have seen enormous progress in terms of molecular epidemiological research on cancers and their precursors. This research has focused essentially on the early natural history of cancers, by helping to define the etiology of precursor lesions, improving the means of detecting them either directly or via testing of surrogate biomarkers, and by elucidating the role of remote c auses leading to the early onset of such lesions. Sections include the biological basic of carcinogenesis, the issues related to measurement and interpretation of cancer precursors (including intermediate endpoints and the impact of measurement error in studying precursors), site-specific precancerous conditions including skin, lung, breast, cervix and prostate, as well as chapters on screening, chemoprevention and treatment. Cancer Precursors is a groundbreaking, multidisciplinary text for oncologists, epidemiologists, cancer researchers, pathologists, geneticists, molecular biologists, and graduate students in the cancer-related fields.