Overview
More than a decade into the 21st century, we are at a major crossroads in our understanding of cancer. Tools of molecular biology, genomics, and other high throughput "omic" technologies are increasingly integrated into epidemiologic investigations. In a 2011 town hall meeting, Dr. Harold Varmus, NCI Director, said, "I expect to see a pretty dramatic revolution in epidemiology... defining cancers by genetic subsets. I expect to see molecular tools brought more forcefully into the realm of cancer diagnosis... talking about ways to discriminate among early lesions and pre-cancerous lesions that may have malignant potential.