Review
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World J Gastrointest Pathophysiol. Aug 15, 2014; 5(3): 335-343
Published online Aug 15, 2014. doi: 10.4291/wjgp.v5.i3.335
Epidemiological studies of esophageal cancer in the era of genome-wide association studies
An-Hui Wang, Yuan Liu, Bo Wang, Yi-Xuan He, Ye-Xian Fang, Yong-Ping Yan
An-Hui Wang, Bo Wang, Yong-Ping Yan, Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an 710032, Shaanxi Province, China
Yuan Liu, Clinic of Xi’an Communication College, Xi’an 710106, Shaanxi Province, China
Yi-Xuan He, Ye-Xian Fang, Medical Student of Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an 710032, Shaanxi Province, China
Author contributions: Wang AH contributed to the conception, design, editing and revision of the manuscript; Liu Y, He YX and Fang YX contributed to drafting the article; Wang B and Yan YP contributed to manuscript review and revision.
Correspondence to: An-Hui Wang, Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Fourth Military Medical University, No. 169 Changle West Road, Xi’an 710032, Shaanxi Province, China. wanganhui@hotmail.com
Telephone: +86-29-84774871 Fax: +86-29-84774876
Received: January 27, 2014
Revised: April 17, 2014
Accepted: May 31, 2014
Published online: August 15, 2014
Processing time: 219 Days and 17.3 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: Epidemiological study methods advance as the science and technique progress. In the era of genome wide association studies (GWAS), human genome epidemiology (HuGE) provide a great chance for epidemiologists and clinical scientists to explore the cause of disease and evaluate genomic biomarkers for diagnosis or prognosis. More and more epidemiological studies use GWAS methods to analyze genomic variants and the association with esophageal cancer. Here we review epidemiological studies of esophageal cancer in the era of GWAS, and briefly introduce the case-control study and cohort study methods in HuGE studies.