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Tumor Prevention and Genetics III
Identification of cancer risk factors and potential prevention strategies have been some of the most important medical and research contributions to the improvement of public health in the past half-century (Steele 2003). Understanding the role of lifestyle, exposure to endogenous factors and exogenous environmental factors, and individual genetic and epigenetic variability have contributed significantly to this effort. Cancer prevention strategies have been developed based on results of epidemiologic, preclinical, and clinical studies that have generated clues for identifying risk factors that may be modulated by changes in lifestyle, such as smoking cessation or dietary modification (Greenwald 2002a). In addition, significant progress in medical interventions involving chemoprevention—a pharmacological approach to intervention that aims to prevent, arrest, or reverse either the initiation phase of carcinogenesis or the progression of premalignant cells—is beginning to pay dividends in reducing risks associated with cancer.
Cancer Prevention
This volume contains the main proceedings of the fourth international conference on "Cancer Prevention 2006," which was held during February 16–18, 2006, in St. Gallen, Switzerland. Written by international experts in the field, the book comprises a comprehensive update on the most recent developments in the upsurging fields of molecular biology and cancer genetics and their interactions with clinical epidemiology and cancer prevention at various levels: genetic/biologic predisposition and definition of high-risk groups; preclinical models and tumor prevention; prospects of surrogate endpoints and biomarkers; progress in imaging and detection of neoplastic precursor lesions.
