Many human
cancers are caused by environmental and lifestyle factors.
Biomarkers of exposure and risk developed by our team have provided critical data on internal exposure to toxic and genotoxic chemicals and their connection to
cancer in humans. This review highlights our research using
biomarkers to identify key factors influencing
cancer risk as well as their application to assess the effectiveness of exposure intervention and
chemoprevention protocols. The use of these
biomarkers to understand individual susceptibility to the harmful effects of tobacco products is a powerful example of the value of this type of research and has provided key data confirming the link between tobacco
smoke exposure and
cancer risk. Furthermore, this information has led to policy changes that have reduced tobacco use and consequently, the tobacco-related
cancer burden. Recent technological advances in mass spectrometry led to the ability to detect DNA damage in human tissues as well as the development of adductomic approaches. These new methods allowed for the detection of
DNA adducts in tissues from patients with
cancer, providing key evidence that exposure to
carcinogens leads to DNA damage in the target tissue. These advances will provide valuable insights into the etiologic causes of
cancer that are not tobacco-related.See all articles in this CEBP Focus section, "Environmental
Carcinogenesis: Pathways to Prevention."