Other highlights in the September 1 JNCI
... ...Retinoic acid therapy has been used as a treatment for neuroblastoma, but the drug can also make some neuroblastoma cells resistant to chemotherapy. Because fenretinide, a derivative of retinoic acid, targets a different molecular pathway--one that induces apoptosis, or programmed cell death--in neuroblastoma cells and is well tolerated, there has been interest in using fenret...Other highlights in the August 18 JNCI
...... A new study has identified five chromosomal regions that are likely to harbor prostate cancer susceptibility genes....... Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death among men in the United States. Family history is one of the most well-established risk factors for the disease, but no genes that confer prostate cancer susceptibility have been found to date....... In an ana...Other highlights in the August 4 JNCI
...... Low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol--the "good" cholesterol--are associated with an increased risk of postmenopausal breast cancer in overweight and obese women, according to a new study....... Low HDL cholesterol is a component of metabolic syndrome, which is also characterized by obesity, glucose intolerance, and hypertension. Both metabolic syndrome and breast canc...Other highlights in the June 16 JNCI
...... A new study shows that common mutations in genes that regulate estrogen metabolism are not associated with breast cancer risk. ...... Several studies have suggested that circulating levels of sex hormones, particularly estrogen, are associated with breast cancer risk, but it is not clear whether changes in the genes that control these levels are associated with breast cancer risk. .........Other highlights in the July 7 JNCI
... ...One purpose of a phase I clinical trial of a new cytotoxic drug is to determine the side effects associated with increasing drug dose, i.e., determine the dose that produces the maximum effect at which the toxicity can still be tolerated. New targeted, non-cytotoxic anticancer agents, such as small-molecule kinase inhibitors, pose challenges to this paradigm because they can achieve their...Other Highlights in the June 2 JNCI
...A new study shows how testing for an immune response to the prostate cancer biomarker alpha-methylacyl-CoA racemase (AMACR) could be used to help detect prostate cancer in men with intermediate prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels.... ...Although PSA screening for prostate cancer has become widespread in the United States, the test has a high rate of false positives because benign diseases,...Other highlights in the May 19 JNCI
... ...Combinations of docetaxel, cisplatin or carboplatin, and the monoclonal antibody trastuzumab are feasible for the treatment of patients with HER2-positive advanced breast cancer in which tumor response rates are high, according to two new studies.... ...Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) is overexpressed in the tumors of 20-30% of breast cancer patients and is associated with...Other highlights in the May 5 JNCI
...... Higher plasma selenium levels are associated with a decreased risk of advanced prostate cancer, according to a new study. This may indicate that higher selenium levels could slow prostate cancer tumor progression....... Haojie Li, M.D., Ph.D., of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, and colleagues analyzed plasma samples, obtained in 1982, from a subset of healthy men...Other highlights of the March 17 issue of JNCI
...Infection with a high-risk type of human papillomavirus (HPV) in oral epithelial cells may be an independent risk factor for head and neck cancer, according to a new study....... HPV has been associated with the development of head and neck cancers. Elaine M. Smith, Ph.D., of the University of Iowa, and colleagues conducted a casecontrol study to determine the risk factors for head and neck c...Other highlights in the March 3 issue of JNCI
...People who had hereditary retinoblastoma during childhood and did not receive high-dose radiation therapy to treat their cancer are nevertheless at an increased risk of epithelial cancers such as cancer of the esophagus, stomach, colon, lung, breast, cervix, or prostate. ...... Retinoblastoma is a rare childhood tumor of one or both eyes. The tumor can be sporadic or hereditary, the latter of...Other highlights in the February 18 issue of JNCI
...Two studies in the February 18 issue of address the association between aspirin use and the risk of two different types of cancer. ... ...In one study, Ellen T. Chang, Sc.D., of the Harvard School of Public Health, and colleagues examined the association between various pain relievers and the risk of Hodgkin's lymphoma. In a case-control study, participants were asked to report their averag...Other highlights in the February 4 issue of JNCI
...The growing interest in partial-breast irradiation (PBI) and accelerated partial-breast irradiation (APBI) for treatment of early-stage breast cancer make clear the need for ongoing dialogue and well-designed clinical studies of the radiation techniques, concludes a commentary in the February 4 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. ... ...Breast-conserving therapy has been ac...Other highlights in the January 21 issue of JNCI
...Genetic counseling leads to increased knowledge of cancer genetics and does not have an adverse impact on anxiety or distress of the patients being counseled, according to a systematic review. ... ...The identification of genes that are associated with a high risk of certain types of cancer has led to an increased demand for genetic counseling from individuals at increased risk for the diseas...Other highlights in the December 17 issue of JNCI
...A new study has found that the gene BRAF is frequently mutated in melanomas that develop on areas of the skin that are intermittently exposed to the sun. In contrast, BRAF mutations in melanomas on chronically sun-damaged skin and skin unexposed to the sun are rare. The discovery "strongly suggests distinct genetic pathways leading to melanoma," say study authors Janet L. Maldonado and Boris...Other highlights in the August 21 issue of JNCI
...The incidence of AIDS-associated Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) is going down, according to a study of U.S. cancer incidence patterns between 1973 and 1998. The findings appear in the August 21 issue of the .... ... Cases of KS and NHL rose dramatically in the United States in the 1980s, mainly because of the onset of the AIDS epidemic. However, during the 1990s, the...Other highlights in the July 17 issue of JNCI
... ...A new study suggests that testing urine for elevated levels of a protein involved in the initiation of DNA replication may be a tool to detect bladder cancer. The results appear in the July 17 issue of the ...... The gold standard test for diagnosing bladder cancer is cystoscopy, or an examination of the bladder through a cystoscope that is inserted into the body through the urethra. How...Other Highlights in the July 3 Issue of JNCI
... ...... ADT is one of two organosulfur compounds that are being studied for their ability to stimulate the production of enzymes that detoxify carcinogens. ADT has been approved in Canada and Europe for the treatm...Other highlights in the June 19 issue of JNCI
... The glutathione S-transferase (GST) family of enzymes help detoxify compounds, including chemotherapy drugs. Genetic variations, or polymorphisms, in these enzymes have been associated with changes in enzyme activity, sensitivity to chemotherapy, and patient survival. ...... Jan Stoehlmacher, M.D., and Heinz-Josef Lenz, M.D., of the University of Southern California/Norris Comprehensive Canc...Other highlights in the May 15 issue of JNCI
... The effectiveness of adenovirus-based gene therapy for advanced cancers has been limited because many cancer cells lack the receptor needed for viral infection. Using a modified adenoviral vector (RGDTKSSTR) that does not depend on the adenovirus receptor, Akseli Hemminki, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and his coworkers showed that mouse models of human ovarian ca...Other highlights in the May 1 issue of JNCI
...... . ...... Richard R. Love, M.D., of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine, and his coworkers compared survival outcomes of premenopausal women who underwent mastectomy alone...Other highlights in the April 3 issue of JNCI
...A new study has identified tazarotene-induced gene 1 (TIG1) as a possible tumor suppressor gene for prostate cancer, and experimental results suggest that decreased expression of the gene may play a role in the progression of prostate cancer.... ...Chun Jing, Youqiang Ke, Ph.D., and colleagues at the University of Liverpool, United Kingdom, compared genes expressed in malignant prostate cance...Other highlights in the March 20 issue of JNCI
...For patients with Barrett's esophagus, expression of the enzyme cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 contributes to the rapid growth of abnormal cells in the lining of the esophagus, and inhibition of COX-2 may prevent the disease from progressing, a new study suggests.... ...Barrett's esophagus is a complication of chronic gastroesophageal reflux disease. Patients with Barrett's esophagus are at high risk...Other highlights in the March 6 issue of JNCI
... ...Frequent consumption of tomato products may be associated with a reduced risk of prostate cancer, concludes a study in the March 6 issue of the ... ...Previous research has suggested that frequent consumption of tomato products or lycopene, an antioxidant in tomato sauce, may be associated with a lower risk of prostate cancer. To confirm these findings, Edward Giovannucci, M.D., Sc.D., a...Other highlights in the Feb. 20 issue of JNCI
...A new study suggests that socioeconomic status and other social circumstances could be responsible for decreased physical health at the time of diagnosis among African-American patients with non-small-cell lung cancer, which may explain disparities in survival rates between African-American and non-African-American patients who receive the same treatment for their cancer.... ...A. William Bla...... ...Elderly patients who receive platinum-based chemotherapy for lung cancer have similar responses to treatment and similar survival rates compared with younger patients, suggesting that patients should not be denied aggressive treatment based on age alone, a new study concludes. ......Although lung cancer incidence is highest among 70- to 80-year-olds, there is little information available......A new study suggests that the bodys ability to repair DNA damage caused by ultraviolet radiation from sunlight may influence the risk of melanoma in people who do not tan easily and who have many unusually large and irregularly shaped moles (called dysplastic nevi).... ...Dysplastic nevi and low tanning ability are known risk factors for melanoma. Exposure to UV radiation from sunlight is als...