Citations

Abstract Combined deletion of chromosomes 1p and 19q is associated with improved prognosis and responsiveness to therapy in patients with anaplastic oligodendroglioma. The deletions usually involve whole chromosome arms, suggesting a t(1;19)(q10;p10). Using stem cell medium, we cultured a few tumors. Paraffin-embedded tissue was obtained from 21 Mayo Clinic patients and 98 patients enrolled in 2 North Central Cancer Treatment Group (NCCTG) low-grade glioma trials. Interphase fusion of CEP1 and 19p12 probes detected the t(1;19). 1p/19q deletions were evaluated by fluorescence in situ hybridization. Upon culture, one oligodendroglioma contained an unbalanced 45,XX,t(1;19)(q10;p10). CEP1/19p12 fusion was observed in all metaphases and 74% of interphase nuclei. Among Mayo Clinic oligodendrogliomas, the prevalence of fusion was 81%. Among NCCTG patients, CEP1/19p12 fusion prevalence was 55%, 47%, and 0% among the oligodendrogliomas, mixed oligoastrocytomas, and astrocytomas, respectively. Ninety-one percent of NCCTG gliomas with 1p/19q deletion and 12% without 1p/19q deletion had CEP1/19p12 fusion (P < 0.001, χ2 test). The median overall survival (OS) for all patients was 8.1 years without fusion and 11.9 years with fusion (P = 0.003). The median OS for patients with low-grade oligodendroglioma was 9.1 years without fusion and 13.0 years with fusion (P = 0.01). Similar significant median OS differences were observed for patients with combined 1p/19q deletions. The absence of alterations was associated with a significantly shorter OS for patients who received higher doses of radiotherapy. Our results strongly suggest that a t(1;19)(q10;p10) mediates the combined 1p/19q deletion in human gliomas. Like combined 1p/19q deletion, the 1;19 translocation is associated with superior OS and progression-free survival in low-grade glioma patients. (Cancer Res 2006; 66(20): 9852-61)

AbstractThere is increasing evidence that vitamin D may protect against breast cancer. Some studies have suggested that dietary and supplemental vitamin D is associated with reduced mammographic density, which is highly associated with breast cancer risk, although this evidence is not entirely consistent. We investigated a possible association between circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD), the best indicator of vitamin D status, and quantitative mammographic density in the Minnesota Breast Cancer Family Study. Mean values of mammographic density (both percent and area densities) and circulating levels of 25OHD were compared across categories of covariates using ANOVA. Models were adjusted for age and body mass index, as well as other covariates, and also stratified by dietary calcium intake, menopause, and season. Serum, mammographic density, and questionnaire data were available from 487 women [133 premenopausal and 354 postmenopausal; mean age, 56.4 years (range, 27-85 years)] without breast cancer, and for 73%, the blood was drawn within 1 year of their mammogram. No evidence was found for an association between 25OHD and either percent density or total dense area. There was also no evidence for any association when the data were stratified by season of sample (winter and summer) or menopause. However, both percent density and dense area were lowest among those in the highest vitamin D quartile with calcium intake above the median. Unlike some previous reports, vitamin D does not seem to be related to mammographic density in this cohort. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2006;15(10):1988–92)

Transforming growth factor α (TGF-α) is produced by and required for the growth of epithelial cells and is angiogenic in vivo. Since epidermal hyperplasia and angiogenesis are hallmarks of psoriasis, TGF-α gene expression was analyzed in epidermal biopsies of normal and psoriatic skin. TGF-α messenger RNA and protein are much more abundant in lesional psoriatic epidermis than in normal-appearing skin of psoriatic patients or in normal epidermis. In contrast, messenger RNA levels of transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1), which inhibits epithelial cell growth, are not significantly different in normal, uninvolved, and lesional psoriatic epidermis. Thus, psoriatic epidermal hyperplasia may involve increased expression of a keratinocyte mitogen (TGF-α) rather than deficient expression of a growth inhibitor (TGF-β1).

Transitional cell carcinoma was induced in the bladders of male Fischer rats by 12 oral doses of the carcinogen N -butyl- N -(4-hydroxybutyl)nitrosamine. Feeding of 13-cis-retinoic acid after completion of carcinogen treatment diminished the number and severity of cancers and other proliferative lesions of the bladder.