Abstract
BackgroundEsophageal cancer is one of the world’s top ten cancers. Its incidence, especially in the form of squamous cell carcinoma, is very high in some Asian regions including Kashmir. Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh are three provinces of Jammu and Kashmir, the northern most state of India. The three regions represent ethnically diverse socio-cultural populations with different incidences of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), a suitable setting for epidemiological studies. Hence, comparing the lifestyle, dietary habits and gene pools between the three regions will help in elucidation of ESCC etiology further. Therefore, to assess the possibility of conducting a larger case control study, we carried out a feasibility study to identify the collaborators as well as to explore patient referral systems and available research facilities in the state.FindingsWe found conducting good cancer molecular epidemiology studies is difficult due to lack of proper research facilities and favourable administrative guidelines. The appropriate storage, transportation and analyses facilities of biological specimens for genome-wide association study and assessment of nutrition and exposure markers are unavailable or not sufficiently developed. Guidelines that can encourage scientific collaborations within the country seem unavailable. However, the administrative guidelines available under which the export of biological specimens out of India for analysis seems impossible. Consequently, Indian researchers are unable to collaborate with foreign scientists and render state of art research facilities inaccessible to them. Scientists in other parts of India may also confront with most of these impediments.ConclusionThe study found that for conducting conclusive molecular epidemiological studies in India, referral system in hospitals is not systematic, scientific research facilities are inadequate as well as the guidelines for foreign collaboration are not favourable.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40064-015-1046-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Esophageal cancer is one of the world’s top ten cancers
These three heterogeneous populations of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) provide a suitable setting for conducting epidemiological studies on esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC)
In order to assess the possibility of conducting a big case–control study on ESCC in J&K, a feasibility study (FS) was undertaken to focus on: (1) establishing a collaboration between the clinicians and scientists, (2) building a referral set-up for identification, diagnosis and recruitment of cases, (3) adapting, pre-testing and validation of dietary and lifestyle questionnaires for study populations and (4) assessing the possibility of collection, storage, transportation and analyses of biological specimens for various purposes including genome-wide association study (GWAS)
Summary
Esophageal cancer is one of the world’s top ten cancers. Its incidence, especially in the form of squamous cell carcinoma, is very high in some Asian regions including Kashmir. The three regions represent ethnically diverse socio-cultural populations with different incidences of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), a suitable setting for epidemiological studies. Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) state, consists of three ethnically different regions; Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh The inhabitants of these three regions differ in socio-religious backgrounds, life-style, economy and dietary habits and more importantly have a huge differences in ESCC incidence. Jammu and Ladakh regions have very low incidence of ESCC while Kashmir has the highest incidence of ESCC among all the cancers and amongst the three regions (Romero-Gallo et al 2002; Khuroo et al 1992) These three heterogeneous populations of J&K provide a suitable setting for conducting epidemiological studies on ESCC. In order to assess the possibility of conducting a big case–control study on ESCC in J&K, a feasibility study (FS) was undertaken to focus on: (1) establishing a collaboration between the clinicians and scientists, (2) building a referral set-up for identification, diagnosis and recruitment of cases, (3) adapting, pre-testing and validation of dietary and lifestyle questionnaires for study populations and (4) assessing the possibility of collection, storage, transportation and analyses of biological specimens for various purposes including genome-wide association study (GWAS)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
