Both environmental and genetic factors are known to be involved in the development of cancer. For example, environmental factors such as exposures to certain chemicals or to sunlight have long been linked to the development of some types of cancers.

On May 16-17, 2001, the Roundtable on Environmental Health Sciences, Research and Medicine convened a workshop on Cancer and the Environment: Gene-Environment Interactions to address the link between environmental factors and the development of cancer in the light of recent advances in genomics and, more specifically, in toxicogenomics and gene-environment interactions.

The goal of the workshop was to facilitate discussion among individuals from various disciplines; to assess genetic-environmental interactions across diverse populations, including the underserved, women, children, and minorities; and to review what is known about gene-environment interactions in site-specific cancers.

Key questions discussed by the speakers, panelists, and participants in this workshop summary include:

• What are the approaches and the assay tools that will allow us to conduct the most precise molecular evaluations of cancer susceptibility?
• What are the approaches that will allow us to understand the lag time or the interval between the earliest stages of pre-cancer and the eventual clinical end points of cancer?
• What are the research strategies that will allow us to measure the multiple stages during cancer development so that early interventions can be facilitated?
• How will we apply information on genetic and environmental factors to reduce the burden of cancer through education, prevention, and intervention?
• How can this be done in ways that are both sensitive to local community needs and flexible enough to allow individual approaches?