A statistical model for the identification of genes governing the incidence of cancer with age

Kiranmoy Das¹ and Rongling Wu¹^,2^,3

¹Department of Statistics, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA

²UF Genetics Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA

³Department of Operation Research and Financial Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA

author email corresponding author email

Theoretical Biology and Medical Modelling 2008, 5:7doi:10.1186/1742-4682-5-7


Published:	16 April 2008

Abstract

The cancer incidence increases with age. This epidemiological pattern of cancer incidence can be attributed to molecular and cellular processes of individual subjects. Also, the incidence of cancer with ages can be controlled by genes. Here we present a dynamic statistical model for explaining the epidemiological pattern of cancer incidence based on individual genes that regulate cancer formation and progression. We incorporate the mathematical equations of age-specific cancer incidence into a framework for functional mapping aimed at identifying quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for dynamic changes of a complex trait. The mathematical parameters that specify differences in the curve of cancer incidence among QTL genotypes are estimated within the context of maximum likelihood. The model provides testable quantitative hypotheses about the initiation and duration of genetic expression for QTLs involved in cancer progression. Computer simulation was used to examine the statistical behavior of the model. The model can be used as a tool for explaining the epidemiological pattern of cancer incidence.