What is Cancer Epidemiology?
Cancer epidemiology focuses on the causes of cancer in the population. Since cancer is believed to occur over many months or even years, understanding its causes can be complex. Often times, the cancer epidemiologist uses what is called a ‘case-control’ approach to study the disease. In this case, people with and without a particular cancer are identified. Interviews are usually conducted and typically focus on individual health histories and habits. Sometimes medical records are also studied to investigate areas of interest that people often have difficulty remembering. The groups with and without cancer are then compared and researchers look for patterns or trends. A classic example how using this type of study design unraveled an important association was the link between diethylstilbestrol (DES) use during pregnancy and the later development of vaginal cancer in young women (New England Journal of Medicine 1971; 284:878-881).
