Association between cigarette smoking and FHIT gene alterations in lung cancer

Epidemiologic data have strongly indicated that cigarette smoking is linked to the development of lung cancer. However, little is known of the molecular targets of carcinogens contained in tobacco smoke. To identify genetic lesions characteristic of tobacco damage, we undertook a molecular analysis of microsatellite alterations within the FHIT gene and FRA3B, as well as at an independent locus on chromosome 10, D10S197, in lung tumors from heavy smokers and in tumors from never smokers. Loss of heterozygosity affecting at least one locus of the FHIT gene was observed in 41 of 51 tumors in the smokers group (80%) but in only 9 of 40 tumors in nonsmokers (22%). The comparison between the frequency of losses in FHIT in smokers and nonsmokers was statistically significant (P = 0.0001), whereas no difference in loss of heterozygosity rate was observed at D10S197 locus. These findings suggest that FHIT is a candidate molecular target of carcinogens contained in tobacco smoke.     

Trends in leprosy case detection rates

BACKGROUND: A systematic review of the trends in leprosy incidence is lacking. The question of whether leprosy transmission has declined remains, therefore, unanswered. This study investigates trends in new case detection rates (NCDRs) in selected leprosy-endemic areas from different continents. METHODS: A literature search using specific inclusion criteria was performed. Average annual rates of change in NCDRs were obtained by exponential curve fitting. The variation in trends within individual areas was investigated using direct and indirect information on leprosy control activities. RESULTS: This review covers 16 areas in the Pacific, Asia, Africa and Latin America. For 10 out of the 16 areas, the trend was seen to be declining consistently over the last 10 years or longer. Near stabilization or stabilization after decline was observed for two areas. For three areas, interpretation of recent NCDRs was difficult due to changes in control, but two of them showed a decline over the study period. A consistently increasing trend was observed over the last 20 years in the one remaining area. The observed downward trends could not be attributed to reduced control activities or changed diagnostic criteria. A general acceleration of downward trends in the NCDR after the introduction of multidrug therapy (MDT) has not so far occurred. CONCLUSION: Our main conclusion is that despite many differences between the studies and study areas, the review demonstrates a considerable tendency of downward NCDR trends. Lack of information and changing control conditions necessitate caution in interpreting NCDR trends in individual areas. A general impact of MDT on NCDR trends is so far not visible. The coming years will be crucial for MDT-based control to prove its ability to reduce leprosy incidence.     

A model for the effect of cigarette smoking on lung cancer incidence in Connecticut

Population based data on smoking history derived from NCHS surveys were used to develop a model for lung cancer incidence in Connecticut. Trends in smoking prevalence suggest that, while the prevalence in men increased earlier than women, more male smokers have quit than their female counterparts. These trends in smoking prevalence suggest striking gender differences in a period effect for the smoking prevalence. Estimates of the proportion of current smokers, ex-smokers, and the mean duration of smoking were used in a model for the lung cancer incidence rates. The form for the relationship between smoking history and the incidence rate for these subgroups was based on information from cohort studies. The models represented a mixture of the smoking subgroups where the effect of smoking was considered to be either a multiplicative effect on the underlying age distribution, or a separate effect in which the level of exposure was the sole contribution to risk among smokers. The multiplicative model explained more than 80 per cent of the deviance for the period and cohort effects, while the non-multiplicative model could only account for trends in females. Hence, these results suggest that a sizeable portion of the period and cohort contributions to the lung cancer incidence trends in Connecticut can be attributed to the multiplicative model that utilizes this smoking information, although the lack of more detailed information is a limiting factor in developing the model.     

Trends in epidemiologic indicators of lung cancer in the Czech Republic 1970-1990

BACKGROUND: Lung cancer is the malignant tumour with the highest mortality in the Czech Republic as well as in highly developed countries of the world. The objective of the present study in an account on the incidence, diagnosis, treatment and mortality in the Czech Republic, at the Pneumological Clinic and the population in the district. METHODS AND RESULTS: The incidence and mortality rate from lung cancer increased during the past twenty years in men by 12% and declined by 2% resp. In women both indicators are steadily rising by 100 and 76% resp. The highest values of incidence and mortality in men were recorded at the end of the seventies and beginning of the eighties. During the investigation period a reduction of the age of those who died from lung cancer-men and women -was found, the increase in the group of 35-49-year-olds is 51% in men and 159% in women. As to histological types, spinocellular carcinoma is still the most frequent type, gradually the small cell type and adenocarcinoma are increasing in numbers. The authors investigated also differences in the epidemiological situation as regards lung cancer in the southern and northern Czech regions and compared the position in this country with that in other European countries. CONCLUSIONS: Despite some positive signals (decline of the lung cancer incidence in men), lung cancer still remains a serious medical and social problem. An alarming feature is in particular the linear rise of lung cancer incidence in women and the shift of deaths from this disease to younger age groups.     

Reaching to ipsilateral or contralateral targets: within-hemisphere visuomotor processing cannot explain hemispatial differences in motor control

Aiming movements made to visual targets on the same side of the body as the reaching hand typically show advantages as compared to aiming movements made to targets on the opposite side of the body midline in the contralateral visual field. These advantages for ipsilateral reaches include shorter reaction time, higher peak velocity, shorter duration and greater endpoint accuracy. It is commonly hypothesized that such advantages are related to the efficiency of intrahemispheric processing, since, for example, a left-sided target would be initially processed in the visual cortex of the right hemisphere and that same hemisphere controls the motor output to the left hand. We tested this hypothesis by examining the kinematics of aiming movements made by 26 right-handed subjects to visual targets briefly presented in either the left or the right visual field. In one block of trials, the subjects aimed their finger directly towards the target; in the other block, subjects were required to aim their movement to the mirror symmetrical position on the opposite side of the fixation light from the target. For the three kinematic measures in which hemispatial differences were obtained (peak velocity, duration and percentage of movement time spent in deceleration), the advantages were related to the side to which the motor response was directed and not to the side where the target was presented. In addition, these effects tended to be larger in the right hand than in the left, particularly for the percentage of the movement time spent in deceleration. The results are interpreted in terms of models of biomechanical constraints on contralateral movements, which are independent of the hemispace of target presentation.     

Hostility, cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption in the general population

Hostility has been associated with coronary heart disease, and hostility may affect coronary risk through its influence on risk factors such as cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption. The objective of this study was to determine relationships between hostile personality, cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption in the general population. The Edinburgh Artery Study comprises a cross-sectional survey of 1592 men and women aged 55-74 years sampled from age-sex registers of 10 general practices throughout the city. The Bedford-Foulds Personality Deviance Questionnaire was used to elicit extrapunitiveness (including hostile thoughts), dominance (including hostile acts) and intropunitiveness. Social class, age and deprivation score were controlled for in multivariate analyses. The hostile thoughts scale emerged as a significant independent predictor of alcohol consumption in men and women (P < or = 0.01), and the models accounted for 4-9% of the variance in alcohol consumption. Hostile acts were independently predictive of smoking in men (P < or = 0.001), with the model accounting for 5% of the variance in smoking. Hostile thoughts were independently predictive of smoking in women (P < or = 0.001), and the model accounted for 4% of the variance in their smoking. We conclude that hostility may affect coronary risk through its influence on lifestyle-related coronary risk factors, although in future further elucidation of hostility type and standard measurement of hostility are necessary.     

Electronic recording, self-report, and bias in measuring cigarette consumption.

Comments on an article by Saul Shiffman (see record 2009-14439-001) regarding the global assessment of cigarette smoking and whether or not this type of assessment is characterized by major digit preference or “heaping.” He raises questions about whether such digit preference results in a biased assessment of consumption. However, there are problems with this hypothesis, as Shiffman notes that self-reported smoking is characterized by the consistency of the digit preference across days, not differences related to framing. Shiffman’s study does demonstrate that ecological momentary assessment (EMA) reporting provided a better estimate of who smoked in the previous 2–3 hrs than the daily self-report measure. However, this should not be surprising as the existence of digit preference suggests that the actual timing of cigarette intake is not being carefully computed in the self-report measures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The trends in histological types of lung cancer during 1980-1988, Guangzhou, China

In human neutrophils, the choline-containing phosphoglycerides contain almost equal amounts of alkylacyl- and diacyl-linked subclasses. In contrast to phosphatidylinositol hydrolysis which yields diacylglycerol, hydrolysis of choline-containing phosphoglycerides by phospholipase D coupled with phosphohydrolase yields both alkylacyl- and diacylglycerol. While diacylglycerol activates protein kinase C, alkylacylglycerol does not, and its role is unclear. Yet previous studies have shown that exogenous alkylacyl- and diacylglycerols can prime for the release of radiolabeled arachidonic acid (AA) in intact neutrophils stimulated by formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine. We have now examined the effects of both diacylglycerol (1-oleoyl-2-acetylglycerol; OAG) and alkylacylglycerol (1-O-hexadecyl-2-acetylglycerol; EAG) on the activation of mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase and the 85-kDa cytosolic phospholipase A2 (cPLA2) in human neutrophils. We observed that while OAG could effectively activate p42 and p44 MAP kinases along with cPLA2 in a time- and concentration-dependent manner, EAG could not. A novel p40 MAP kinase isoform is also present and activated in response to OAG treatment; the behavior of this MAP kinase isoform is discussed. The activation of cPLA2 and MAP kinase by 20 microM OAG could be inhibited by pretreatment with 1 microM GF-109203X, a selective inhibitor of protein kinase C. Although only OAG activated cPLA2, both OAG and EAG primed for the release of AA mass as determined by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The priming of AA release by OAG may be explained by the phosphorylation of cPLA2 through the activation of protein kinase C linked to MAP kinase. However, priming by EAG appears to involve a separate mechanism that is dependent on a different PLA2. Our results support a role for phospholipase D-derived products modulating the activation of cPLA2, further supporting the idea of cross-talk among various phospholipases.     

Trends in cancer incidence in Connecticut

SOHO (Small Office/Home Office) has recently become popular, as it makes working at home possible. Computers or Local Area Networks(LAN) connected to the office network from home are necessary for the implementation of this concept. Kyushu University has begun a service connecting home computers to the campus LAN for researchers, staff and students of the Faculty of Medicine. We have two different telephone connection methods. One connects the campus LAN and the home computer LAN using routers through the Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN). The other connects computers at home to the workstation in the university, using modems and the PPP (Point to Point Protocol) through a public telephone analog line. This paper outlines our university SOHO connection system and discusses the merits and demerits of using telephone line connections.     

Trends in cigarette smoking: the Minnesota Heart Survey, 1980 through 1992

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to describe trends in the prevalence of cigarette smoking between 1980 through 1982 and 1990 through 1992 in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn. METHODS: Three population-based surveys were conducted among adults 25 to 74 years of age in 1980 through 1982, 1985 through 1987, and 1990 through 1992. RESULTS: Overall age-adjusted prevalences of cigarette smoking declined significantly between 1980-1982 and 1985-1987 and between 1985-1987 and 1990-1992. Serum thiocyanate, a biochemical marker for tobacco use, also declined significantly over the 3 periods. CONCLUSIONS: Favorable trends in smoking prevalence and cigarette consumption among smokers were observed, but disturbing trends in some smoking behaviors were also noted.     

Time trends of lung and larynx cancers in Italy

During the period 1970-1989, age-adjusted mortality rates for lung cancer in Italy increased by more than 50%, while rates for larynx cancer in males decreased by approximately 13%. This study aims to interpret this difference, which seems to contradict the finding that cigarette smoking is a common major risk factor for both lung and larynx cancer. To this end, we jointly analyzed the time trends of incidence, survival and mortality. We first examined survival data taken from the population-based Lombardy Cancer Registry (northern Italy). Based on data referring to 880 incident cases of larynx cancer, diagnosed during the period 1976-1987, we estimated a 3% annual increase in relative survival. By contrast, no significant period effect was observed for survival rates of 2,259 incident cases of lung cancer. National incidence rates were estimated using official mortality data and the above-described survival data. Age-adjusted estimated incidence rates increased, from 1970 to 1989, for both cancer sites: +55% for male lung, +56% for female lung, and +22% for male larynx. Moreover, the patterns of birth-cohort effect, which are diverging for mortality, are nearly parallel with regard to incidence. This analysis suggests that a substantial improvement in survival of larynx cancer patients may largely explain the differences in mortality trends for cancer of lung and larynx.     

Trends of twinning rates in ten countries, 1972-1996

The data quality and completeness of acquired images, which we refer to as integrity, is considered as the most important requirement in the image acquisition design of the Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS). The Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) standard significantly simplifies the task of acquiring radiological images from a DICOM compliant imaging system into the PACS. However, human interaction with the imaging system by changing the DICOM communication settings can result in missing images during the PACS image acquisition. A scheme based on the DICOM Query and Retrieve (Q/R) service class was developed to automatically identify and recover missing images. In addition, grouping sequential scanned images such as a CT and MR image series is another potential process that can miss images because of no indication of the end of series. Two methods are presented for determining the end of series and the pros and cons of each method are discussed in detail. Two experiments in a real clinical environment were conducted; one with and one without the Q/R implementation. The statistical results indicate two highlights from this work. First, the Q/R scheme faithfully recovered all missing images caused by human interaction with the DICOM compliant imaging system. Second, there was no single image slice missed when grouping slices into a series using the presented grouping algorithm in the two experimental periods.     

Trends in breast cancer treatment in Connecticut

Liver fibrogenesis is a delicately balanced process, in which mainly the non-parenchymal liver cells are implicated. Either increased synthesis or decreased catabolism of matrix proteins results in the enhancement of ECM. As further consequence the formation of continuous diffusion and filtration barriers along the Disse space will hinder the bidirectional exchange of macromolecules. Normal structure of ECM is necessary to the normal function of hepatocytes. The quantitative and qualitative changes of ECM observed in liver fibrosis are able to inhibit the liver specific functions of hepatocytes. The mechanisms involved in this effect are not yet clearly understood. In animal experiments liver cirrhosis is reversible and theoretically the chance is open for humans, as well if we will be able to influence the specific steps of fibrogenesis.     

Mortality patterns and trends for lung cancer and other tobacco-related cancers in the Americas, 1955-1989

Mortality from cancers of the oral cavity and pharynx, oesphagus, larynx and lung between 1955 and 1989 has been analysed for USA, Canada and 14 countries in Latin America. Among males, Uruguay, Cuba, Argentina and Puerto Rico have the highest rates for all sites, and Peru, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Mexico and Colombia have the lowest rates. Among females, Cuba, Colombia and Puerto Rico rank high for all sites, and Mexico, Paraguay, Ecuador and Peru rank low. For both sexes, lung cancer mortality rates from the US and Canada are high, whereas rates from other sites are intermediate. An increasing trend in lung cancer mortality over time is shown in all countries except Cuba (no changes), Argentina, Paraguay and Peru (decreasing trend). In Latin America, the tobacco-related lung cancer epidemic is in its early phase among males, and very early phase among females.