Cancer Detection and Prevention Volume 28 / Issue 1 (Jan-Feb 2004)

Table of Contents and Editor's Notes

The peer review process occasionally results in approval of controversial publications that do not necessarily reflect the viewpoint of the editors. Readers of the journal are encouraged to critically review and comment on presented data by submitting a "Letter to the Editor" that may be reprinted in a subsequent issue.

Associations between perceived cancer risk and established risk factors in a national community sample

Keiko Honda, PhD, MPH, Alfred I. Neugut, MD, Ph

High perceived risk was linked to everyday smoking and alcohol consumption. The strongest influence on perceived cancer risk was associated with family history. >>>

Selenium and selenomethionine levels in prostate cancer patients

David W. Nyman DO, M. Suzanne Stratton PhD, Michael J. Kopplin BS, Bruce L. Dalkin MD, Raymond B. Nagle MD, PhD, A. Jay Gandolfi PhD

Selenomethionine was detected in the majority of prostate cancer tissue samples in both the transitional and peripheral zones. Total selenium levels were significantly highle r in the peripheral zone than in the adjacent transitional zone. >>>

Phagocytosis of Candida albicans by metastatic and non metastatic human breast cancer cell lines in vitro

Mamdooh Ghoneum, PhD, Sastry Gollapudi, PhD

Breast cancer cells were found to phagocytize and digest candida. Metastatic cancer cell lines (MCF-7 and ZR-75) revealed high phagocytic activity compared to non metastatic cancer cells (HCC70). The most common type of phagocytosis occurred by cytoplasmic invagination of the tumor cell surface into which candida were drawn and then phagocytized. >>>

Prostate-specific antigen expression in nipple aspirate fluid is associated with advanced breast cancer

Edward R. Sauter, MD, PhD, Gary Klein, PhD, Colette Wagner-Mann, DVM, Eleftherios P. Diamandis, MD, PhD

Nipple aspiration (NAF) from 149 women with breast cancer revealed decreased levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in advanced disease with large tumor size and nodal involvement. PSA levels in NAF decreased with disease progression from ductal carcinoma in situ to metastatic breast cancer. >>>

Discrimination between normal and malignant human gastric tissues by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy

Naoko Fujioka MD, PhD, Yuji Morimoto MD, PhD, Tsunenori Arai PhD, Makoto Kikuchi PhD

Malignant tissues showed significant increases in infrared absorption compared to normal tissues. Uses of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy permitted segregation of 22 out of 23 gastric cancer specimens and 9 out of 12 normal gastric samples. >>>

The value of a complete blood count in predicting cancer of the colon

Derrick W. Spell MD, Dennie V. Jones Jr. MD, William F. Harper MD, J. David Bessman MD

Sixty-nine percent of patients with colon cancer presented with an elevated red cell distribution width (RDW) compared to 12% in the control group. Elevated RDW was found in 84% of patients with right-sided colon cancer and in 50% with left-sided lesions. Forty-one percent of patients with colon cancer presented with a low mean corpuscular volume compared to 3% in the control group. >>>

Acceptance of flexible sigmoidoscopy screening for colorectal cancer

Daniel E. Montaño, PhD, Joseph V. Selby, MD, Carol P. Somkin, PhD, Aradhana Bhat, MS, Marion Nadel, PhD

Acceptance of flexible sigmoidoscopy screening determined through computer-assisted telephone interviews revealed that attitude had the strongest correlation with interest in being screened. Affect, social support and facilitators had slightly lower correlations and perceived risk of colorectal cancer had the lowest correlation. >>>

A mistletoe lectin (ML-1)-containing diet reduces the viability of a murine non-Hodgkin lymphoma tumor

Ian F. Pryme, PhD, Susan Bardocz, PhD, Arpad Pusztai, PhD, Stanley W. Ewen, MD, PhD, Uwe Pfüller, PhD

Mice with a spontaneous non-Hodgkin lymphoma that were fed a daily diet of 10mg lectin had a 75% reduced mitotic activity and a 21% diminished nuclear area compared to controls fed a lactalbumin-based diet. The tumors of mice fed the misletoe-lectin diets had a high a high incidence of apoptotic bodies. >>>

Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β)-resistant B cells from chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients contain recurrent mutations in the signal sequence of the type I TGF- receptor

William P. Schiemann PhD, Diana Rotzer PhD, Waither M. Pfeifer MD, Edi Levi MD, Kanti R. Rai MD, Petra Knaus PhD, Marshall E. Kadin MD

Transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β)-resistant B cells from chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients had Ala deletions within the signal sequence of their TGF- β type 1 recep tor (TβR-1) genes. Mutations in the TβR-1 gene reduced the efficacy of TGF-β signaling and the inhibitory effect on malignant B cell growth. >>>

Results and failures with or without cisplatin containing induction chemotherapy in the treatment of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck

Lajos Olasz MD, DMD, PhD, Árpád Németh MD, DMD, Zoltán Nyárády MD, DMD, Tamás Tornóczky MD, PhD, László Királyfalvi MSc

L Olasz, MD DMD PhD, A Németh, MD DMD, Z Nyárády MD, T Tornóczky MD PhD, L Királyfalvi, MSc >>>

Differences in the hepatic P450-dependent metabolism of estrogen and tamoxifen in response to treatment of rats with 3,3′-diindolylmethane and its parent compound indole-3-carbinol

Daniel R. Parkin, BA, Danuta Malejka-Giganti, PhD

Treatment of rats with 3,3′-diindolylmethane by oral gavage for four days did not affect either body or liver weight but inhibited cytochrome P450 activities, catalyzing form ation of 4- and 6- hydroxylated metabolites of 17ß-estradiol (E2) and estrone (E1). >>>

Herbert E. Nieburgs, MD
Worcester, MA
2004