Molecular epidemiology: issues in study design and statistical analysis.

TL;DRAbstract

Traditional analytical epidemiology is directed at identifying the association between risk factors and occurrence of disease by using crude exposure data derived from questionnaires or clinical measures, and taking clinical disease as the end point. With the rapid development in molecular biology and laboratory methods, it is now possible to use biomarkers which are capable of identifying molecular events for epidemiologic research. This improved sensitivity enables us to develop a mechanistic understanding of disease causation: a step closer to the unravelling of the "black box" of traditional epidemiology. Biomarkers may be classified as internal indicators of exposure (biomarkers of exposure), indicators of preclinical adverse effect (biomarkers of effect) or indicators of an intrinsic or acquired susceptibility to disease (biomarkers of susceptibility). Biomarkers provide a better definition of exposure and disease status and consequently they could help to reduce misclassificatio

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