Human Biomonitoring

The methods of molecular biology applied in epidemiological research lead us to the realm of molecular epidemiology where there is immense potential for the establishment of associations between cancer and exposure to risk factors in lifestyle profession or pollution. Human biomonitoring consists on the one hand in research and identification of hazardous environmental conditions and on the other hand in the assessment of cancer risk following exposure to such conditions. Since carcinogenesis is a lengthy process the biomarkers used to recognize biological abnormalities are selected and developed in the realm of molecular epidemiology. Such biomarkers are quantifiable and allow for the recognition of progression from normal to abnormal biological conditions at the molecular level. They can be categorized in biomarkers of exposure effect and genetic susceptibility. Genotoxicity biomarkers are a particular subset of effect biomarkers and are used to assess genomic instability caused by environmental or occupational exposure being considered useful carcinogenesis predictors.