Ethical issues in cancer epidemiology and disease susceptibility genes

Cancer epidemiology is the branch of epidemiology concerned with cancer. Epidemiology has established scientific evidence about exposure effects within human populations. Molecular epidemiology aims to elucidate the effects of the genetic variation in human cancer etiology. With exposure to an environmental risk factor, carriers of a genetic risk factor show a greater risk of developing sporadic cancer than those without the genetic risk factor due to the gene-environment interaction. In this paper, we discuss the ethical issues in cancer epidemiology using disease susceptibility genes. Since genetic information does not change and is shared with siblings and parents, both informed consent and confidentiality are very important.