Translational cancer research: balancing prevention and treatment to combat cancer globally

Christopher P Wild; John R Bucher; Bas W D de Jong; Joakim Dillner; Christina von Gertten; John D Groopman; Zdenko Herceg; Elaine Holmes; Reetta Holmila; Jørgen H Olsen; Ulrik Ringborg; Augustin Scalbert; Tatsuhiro Shibata; Martyn T Smith; Cornelia Ulrich; Paolo Vineis; John McLaughlin

doi:10.1093/jnci/dju353

Translational cancer research: balancing prevention and treatment to combat cancer globally

J Natl Cancer Inst. 2014 Dec 16;107(1):353. doi: 10.1093/jnci/dju353. Print 2015 Jan.

Authors

Christopher P Wild¹, John R Bucher², Bas W D de Jong², Joakim Dillner², Christina von Gertten², John D Groopman², Zdenko Herceg², Elaine Holmes², Reetta Holmila², Jørgen H Olsen², Ulrik Ringborg², Augustin Scalbert², Tatsuhiro Shibata², Martyn T Smith², Cornelia Ulrich², Paolo Vineis², John McLaughlin²

Affiliations

¹ Director's Office, Sections of Mechanisms of Carcinogenesis and Nutrition and Metabolism, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France (CPW, ZH, RH, AS); National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA (JRB); Department of Pathology, Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam, The Netherlands (BWDdJ); Department of Medical Epidemiology & Biostatistics, BioBanking & Molecular Resource Infrastructure, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden (JD); Radiation Medicine Center, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden (CvG); Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA (JDG); Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, London, UK (EH); Danish Cancer Society Research Centre, Copenhagen, Denmark (JHO); Cancer Center Karolinska, Karolinska University Hospital Solna, Stockholm, Sweden (UR); Division of Cancer Genomics, National Cancer Center Research Institute, Tokyo, Japan (TS); School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA (MTS); Division of Preventive Oncology, National Center for Tumor Diseases and German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany (CU); Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Imperial College London, London, UK (PV); Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada (JM). director@iarc.fr.
² Director's Office, Sections of Mechanisms of Carcinogenesis and Nutrition and Metabolism, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France (CPW, ZH, RH, AS); National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA (JRB); Department of Pathology, Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam, The Netherlands (BWDdJ); Department of Medical Epidemiology & Biostatistics, BioBanking & Molecular Resource Infrastructure, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden (JD); Radiation Medicine Center, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden (CvG); Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA (JDG); Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, London, UK (EH); Danish Cancer Society Research Centre, Copenhagen, Denmark (JHO); Cancer Center Karolinska, Karolinska University Hospital Solna, Stockholm, Sweden (UR); Division of Cancer Genomics, National Cancer Center Research Institute, Tokyo, Japan (TS); School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA (MTS); Division of Preventive Oncology, National Center for Tumor Diseases and German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany (CU); Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Imperial College London, London, UK (PV); Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada (JM).

Abstract

Cancer research is drawing on the human genome project to develop new molecular-targeted treatments. This is an exciting but insufficient response to the growing, global burden of cancer, particularly as the projected increase in new cases in the coming decades is increasingly falling on developing countries. The world is not able to treat its way out of the cancer problem. However, the mechanistic insights from basic science can be harnessed to better understand cancer causes and prevention, thus underpinning a complementary public health approach to cancer control. This manuscript focuses on how new knowledge about the molecular and cellular basis of cancer, and the associated high-throughput laboratory technologies for studying those pathways, can be applied to population-based epidemiological studies, particularly in the context of large prospective cohorts with associated biobanks to provide an evidence base for cancer prevention. This integrated approach should allow a more rapid and informed translation of the research into educational and policy interventions aimed at risk reduction across a population.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Developed Countries
Developing Countries
Early Detection of Cancer
Evidence-Based Medicine
Global Health* / statistics & numerical data
Humans
Interdisciplinary Communication*
Neoplasms / diagnosis
Neoplasms / epidemiology
Neoplasms / prevention & control*
Neoplasms / therapy*
Research Support as Topic
Translational Research, Biomedical* / trends

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding