ABSTRACT

Introduction

Molecular pathological epidemiology (MPE) is an integrative transdisciplinary area examining the relationships between various exposures and pathogenic signatures of diseases. In line with the accelerating advancements in MPE, social science and its health-related interdisciplinary areas have also developed rapidly. Accumulating evidence indicates the pathological role of social-demographic factors. We therefore initially proposed social MPE in 2015, which aims to elucidate etiological roles of social-demographic factors and address health inequalities globally. With the ubiquity of molecular diagnosis, there are ample opportunities for researchers to utilize and develop the social MPE framework.

Areas covered

Molecular subtypes of breast cancer have been investigated rigorously for understanding its etiologies rooted from social factors. Emerging evidence indicates pathogenic heterogeneity of neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. Presenting specific patterns of social-demographic factors across different molecular subtypes should be promising for advancing the screening, prevention, and treatment strategies of those heterogeneous diseases. This article rigorously reviewed literatures investigating differences of race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status across molecular subtypes of breast cancer and Alzheimer’s disease to date.

Expert Opinion

With advancements of the multi-omics technologies, we foresee a blooming of social MPE studies, which can address health disparities, advance personalized molecular medicine, and enhance public health.

中文翻译：

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重温社会MPE：精准医学新时代分子病理流行病学与社会科学的融合

摘要

介绍

分子病理学流行病学 (MPE) 是一个综合性的跨学科领域，研究各种暴露与疾病的致病特征之间的关系。随着 MPE 的加速发展，社会科学及其与健康相关的跨学科领域也迅速发展。越来越多的证据表明社会人口因素的病理作用。因此，我们最初在 2015 年提出了社会 MPE，旨在阐明社会人口因素的病因学作用并解决全球健康不平等问题。随着分子诊断的普及，研究人员有充足的机会利用和开发社会 MPE 框架。

涵盖的领域

已经对乳腺癌的分子亚型进行了严格的研究，以了解其源于社会因素的病因。新出现的证据表明阿尔茨海默病等神经系统疾病的致病异质性。呈现不同分子亚型的社会人口因素的特定模式应该有助于推进这些异质性疾病的筛查、预防和治疗策略。本文严格回顾了迄今为止研究乳腺癌和阿尔茨海默病分子亚型的种族/民族和社会经济地位差异的文献。

专家意见

随着多组学技术的进步，我们预见到社会 MPE 研究的蓬勃发展，这些研究可以解决健康差异、推进个性化分子医学并增强公众健康。