The recent worldwide increases in both obesity and non-Hodgkin lymphoma have led some researchers to suggest that the former might explain the latter. However, studies seeking evidence that obesity might increase the risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma have had mixed results.
Ellen T. Chang, Sc.D., of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, and colleagues conducted a population-based casecontrol study of 3,055 non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients, 618 Hodgkin lymphoma patients, and 3,187 control subjects. They found no association between body mass index and overall risk of either non-Hodgkin or Hodgkin lymphomas.
The authors conclude that the growing incidence in obesity is unlikely to explain the increasing incidence worldwide of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Contact: Ellen Chang, Karolinska Institute, 781-643-6765, ellen.chang.meb.ki.se
Study Examines Reason Behind High Cure Rate of Down Syndrome Children With Type of Leukemia
After treatment with chemotherapy regimens that include the drug cytosine arabinoside, children with Down syndrome who have acute myeloid leukemia (AML) have much higher survival rates and lower rates of relapse than non-Down syndrome AML patients. A new study has found that a gene mutation commonly found in Down syndrome children with a type of AML called acute megakaryocytic leukemia (AMkL), the predominant subtype of AML in these children, may be responsible for the survival difference.
Jeffrey W. Taub, M.D., of Children's Hospital of Michigan and the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, both in Detroit, and colleagues found that a protein encoded by the GATA1 gene transcriptionally upregulates cytidine deaminase, an enzyme that transforms cytosine arabinoside into an inactive metabolite. GATA1 is nearly always mutated in Down syndrome children with AMkL but not in non-Down syndrome AML patients. The authors conclude that this difference migh
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Contact: Sarah L. Zielinski
jncimedia@oupjournals.org
301-841-1287
Journal of the National Cancer Institute
1-Feb-2005