Cancer risk assessment is the systematic estimation of an individual's or population's likelihood of developing a specific malignancy, integrating genetic, molecular, histopathological, and clinical evidence to guide prevention, screening, and management. A core component is the evaluation of inherited predispositio…
Cancer risk assessment is the systematic estimation of an individual's or population's likelihood of developing a specific malignancy, integrating genetic, molecular, histopathological, and clinical evidence to guide prevention, screening, and management. A core component is the evaluation of inherited predisposition, in which germline variants in genes such as BRCA1 are analysed functionally, structurally, and contextually to determine whether a variant of uncertain significance carries pathogenic risk. Molecular and immunohistochemical markers contribute by quantifying proliferative and oncogenic activity; expression of p16/INK4a and Ki-67 in cervical lesions, for example, helps stratify intraepithelial changes by their potential to progress. Multigene prognostic assays, exemplified by recurrence-score testing in breast cancer correlated with receptor-substrate protein expression, refine estimates of recurrence and inform treatment intensity. Emerging approaches include plasma microRNA profiling that links molecular signatures to progression and survival, mutational profiling of tumour-suppressor genes, and high-throughput disease-modelling platforms developed for biomarker discovery. Immunoassays and immunogenomic monitoring further support quantification of risk across cancer and infectious-disease contexts. By combining family history, environmental exposures, and biomarker data, cancer risk assessment enables individualised prevention strategies, targeted surveillance, and early intervention, and increasingly relies on validated molecular and computational tools to translate biological measurements into actionable estimates of disease probability.
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The 8 articles above have been cited 21 times in the scholarly literature. Citation data via OpenAlex and Crossref, updated Jun 2026.
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