Genetics of inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract and how it can cause cancer.

Mairi H. McLean*, Emad M. El-Omar

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

21 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Genetic epidemiology is an important discipline that is helping to unravel the aetiology and pathogenesis of complex human diseases. In the context of gastrointestinal malignancy, the paradigm model of host genetic influence on disease outcome is H. pylori-associated gastric adenocarcinoma. This cancer represents a classic example of an inflammation-induced malignancy and highlights the importance of host genetics in disease development. This chapter gives an insight into how genetic epidemiology can play an important role in the development of gastric cancer. Increasing our understanding of host genetics in cancer development may allow particularly susceptible individuals to be targeted for screening or treatment to reduce risk of future malignant transformation.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)173-183
Number of pages11
JournalRecent results in cancer research. Fortschritte der Krebsforschung. Progrès dans les recherches sur le cancer
Volume185
Publication statusPublished - 6 Aug 2011

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Genetics of inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract and how it can cause cancer.'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this