Annals of Oncology 2007 18(11):1757; doi:10.1093/annonc/mdm506
© 2007 European Society for Medical Oncology
In this issue
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Prion protein and breast cancer
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Recently, gene expression profiling and
in vitro cell models
have shown that ectopic expression of PrPc, a glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored
protein, expressed by all known mammals, predominantly in the
brain, protects mammary tumor cells from cell death induced
by TNF. Although PrPc is well known for its implication in transmissible
spongiform encephalopathy, evidence has emerged it may function
to protect cells from various kinds of internal or environmental
stress. In this regard, PrPc over-expression rescues tumor cell
lines from pro-apoptotic stimuli and anti-cancer drug treatments.
In this issue, Meslin et al. (
1793–1798) present the results
of a study that aimed to evaluate whether PrPc expression by
breast cancer correlates with resistance to chemotherapy. Expression
of PrPc by primary tumors was assessed by immunohistochemistry
in a series of 756 patients included in two randomized trials
that compared anthracycline-based chemotherapy to no chemotherapy.
PrPc expression was correlated with estrogen-receptor (ER) expression
and the benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy was assessed according
to PrPc expression in patients with ER-negative tumors. These
authors conclude that the ER-negative/PrPc-negative phenotype
is associated with a high sensitivity to adjuvant chemotherapy.
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DNA repair gene polymorphisms and renal cell carcinoma
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Significant associations between the polymorphisms in DNA repair
genes and the individual risks for different types of cancer
have been reported. Risk factors for renal cell carcinoma (RCC)
include cigarette smoking, obesity, history of kidney stones
and infection, hypertension and treatment of hypertension with
thiazide diuretics. Some of the DNA damage, which may occur
as a result of these factors, would be repaired by DNA repair
enzymes and, consequently, it is thought that functional polymorphisms
in DNA repair genes may be associated with increased individual
risk for RCC. In this issue, Sakano et al. (
1817–1827)
report the results of a case-control study comprising 215 RCC
patients and 215 age and gender-matched healthy controls that
aimed to assess whether polymorphisms in a number of DNA repair
genes are associated with individual risk of RCC. These authors'
results suggest that DNA repair gene polymorphisms may not influence
RCC susceptibility, but that some of them may influence RCC
progression, especially in smokers.
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Histamine monitoring in patients with CML
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Currently, imatinib is considered the standard first-line therapy
for patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). However, resistance
against imatinib can occur and it is, therefore, important to
predict responses to therapy and to monitor the levels of minimal
residual disease (MRD) in these patients. Accepted tests for
monitoring MRD in CML are cytogenetics and quantitative BCR/ABL.
However, this requires special technology and equipment and,
moreover, in many cases, karyotyping fails because of poor cell
growth. Histamine is a specific product of basophils and is
highly upregulated in CML. In this issue, Agis et al. (
1834–1841)
report the results of a study that aimed to assess the value
of histamine as a basophil-specific marker in CML, and asked
whether histamine would serve as a prognostic and MRD parameter.
These authors report that loss of complete cytogenetic response
(CCR) during therapy was invariably accompanied by an increase
in histamine, and that a histamine level of >100 ng/ml three
or six months after start of imatinib was associated with a
significantly reduced probability of survival (
P<0.05).
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Mobile phones for chemotherapy side effects
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The vast majority of patients receiving chemotherapy for colorectal
cancer are treated in the outpatient setting and manage most
side effects at home. Side effect ‘risk management’
is handled by a variety of measures and good communication channels
with the hospitals are essential. Mobile phone technology clearly
has the potential to enhance these measures. In this issue,
Weaver et al. (
1887–1892) report a feasibility study of
utilising mobile phone based technology for symptom management
during chemotherapy treatment as a component of a large international
adjuvant trial evaluating chemotherapy for patients with colon
cancer in which patients were randomised to capecitabine, with
or without bevacizumab. These authors report that the technology
for monitoring patients' symptoms worked well: patients had
no problems entering symptom data on to the mobile phone and
the data were transferred automatically to the remote server;
age was not a barrier to use; and data were successfully analysed
by the server software and alerts were generated alerting the
study nurses to patients' symptoms at the appropriate time.
Moreover, the authors conclude that the patients felt secure
in the knowledge that their symptoms were being closely monitored
and that they were participating effectively in their own care
management.
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Quote
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"And I wanted to astonish him, not knowing he was an Anarchist,
and took up a cultivation of that new species of Bacterium I
was telling you of, that infest, and I think cause, the blue
patches upon various monkeys; and like a fool, I said it was
Asiatic cholera. And he ran away with it to poison the water
of London, and he certainly might have made things look blue
for this civilised city. And now he has swallowed it.
Of course, I cannot say what will happen, but you know it turned that kitten blue, and the three puppies - in patches, and the sparrow - bright blue. But the bother is, I shall have all the trouble and expense of preparing some more."
An experiment spoiled in The stolen bacillus by H.G. Wells
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Related articles in Ann Oncol:
- Efficacy of adjuvant chemotherapy according to Prion protein expression in patients with estrogen receptor-negative breast cancer
- F. Meslin, R. Conforti, C. Mazouni, N. Morel, G. Tomasic, F. Drusch, M. Yacoub, J. C. Sabourin, J. Grassi, S. Delaloge, M. C. Mathieu, S. Chouaib, F. Andre, and M. Mehrpour
Ann Oncol 2007 18: 1793-1798.
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- The association of DNA repair gene polymorphisms with the development and progression of renal cell carcinoma
- S. Sakano, Y. Hinoda, N. Okayama, Y. Kawai, Y. Korenaga, S. Eguchi, K. Nagao, C. Ohmi, and K. Naito
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Ann Oncol 2007 18: 1834-1841.
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- Application of mobile phone technology for managing chemotherapy-associated side-effects
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Ann Oncol 2007 18: 1887-1892.
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