Charcoal Cigarette Filters and Lung Cancer Risk in Aichi Prefecture, Japan

The lung cancer mortality rate has been lower in Japan than in the United States for several decades. We hypothesized that this difference is due to the Japanese preference for cigarettes with charcoal-containing filters, which efficiently absorb selected gas phase components of mainstream smoke including the carcinogen 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone. We analyzed a subset of smokers (396 cases and 545 controls) from a case-control study of lung cancer conducted in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. The risk associated with charcoal filters (73% of all subjects) was evaluated after adjusting for age, sex, education and smoking dose. The odds ratio (OR) associated with charcoal compared with 'plain' cigarette filters was 1.2 (95% confidence intervals [CI] 0.9, 1.6). The histologic-specific risks were similar (e.g. OR = 1.3, 95% CI 0.9, 2.1 for adenocarcinoma). The OR was 1.7 (95% CI 1.1, 2.9) in smokers who switched from 'plain' to charcoal brands. The mean daily number of cigarettes smoked in subjects who switched from 'plain' to charcoal brands was 22.5 and 23.0, respectively. The findings from this study did not indicate that charcoal filters were associated with an attenuated risk of lung cancer. As the detection of a modest benefit or risk (e.g. 10-20%) that can have significant public health impact requires large samples, the findings should be confirmed or refuted in larger studie

前立腺癌に対するPepleomycin(Bleomycin Derivative, NK-631)の効果

未治療の前立腺腺癌2症例に本剤を投与し，その効果を検討した。症例1： 71歳， 排尿困難，左大腿部痛を主訴として1978年6月15日当科受診。前立腺は超鶏卵大，石様硬，表面不整，骨盤へ浸潤。左ソケイ部にくるみ大の硬いリンパ腺を触知。骨シンチで多数の転移を認めた。 前立腺の針生検組織像は分化型腺癌であった。pepleomycin 200 mg (1回10mg，静注， 週3回)の投与により前立腺癌，左ソケイ部リンパ腺の著明な縮小がみられ，血清酸ホスファターゼ値が治療前6.5K.A.U.から9.5K.A.U まで低下した。治療終了後の生検組織像は癌細胞の変性，壊死組織の線維化が目立った。　　症例2: 74歳，排尿困難で1978年8月19日当科受診。前立腺は鶏卵大，硬，周囲に浸潤。骨シンチで転移巣が多数あり，前立腺生検組織像は未分化型腺癌であった。 pepleomycin投与で自覚症状は症例1ほどの改善はみられず，前立腺癌そのものもあまり縮小しなかったが，残尿は80mlから10mlへ減少した。治療後の前立腺生検所見でも癌細胞の空胞化が著明に認められた。なお副作用としては症例1では著明な皮膚変化がみられたが，症例2でぎ軽度の口内炎を認めるにとどまった。NK 631 投与前後で血中FSH，LH，testosteroneを測定したところ，両症例ともに投与終了後FSH，LH，t estosterone値は投与前値の約1/2となっていた (Table 2)。 つまり， NK 631 の抗腫瘍作用はDNA合成抑制によるということになっているが，前立腺癌に対する抗腫聖書効果はNK631 の下重体抑制による睾丸のLeydig cellよりのandrogen分泌抑制も関与している可能性があることが示唆された。本剤の下垂体抑制効果については今後検討されるべき課題であると考える。Since the new bleomycin derivative-pepleomycin was reported to be effective for experimentally induced adenocarcinoma of stomach in rats, it was administered in two cases of prostatic cancer. Satisfactory response was obtained in well differentiated carcinoma, meanwhile only histological effect was observed in undifferentiated one. It seems that the effect of pepleomycin on prostatic cancer was brought about by the suppression of DNA synthesis of tumor and also of pituitary function resulting in decreased androgen secretion from Leydig cells

Genetic Variants on Chromosome 8q24 and Colorectal Neoplasia Risk: A Case-Control Study in China and a Meta-Analysis of the Published Literature

Previous studies have found that common genetic variants on chromosome 8q24 are associated with the risk of developing colorectal neoplasia. We conducted a hospital-based case-control study, including 435 cases and 788 unrelated controls to investigate the associations between common variants on 8q24 and the risk of colorectal cancer in a Chinese population. We also evaluated the association of rs6983267 with colorectal neoplasia in the published literature via a meta-analysis study. We found that rs6983267 was significantly associated with the risk of colorectal cancer in the Chinese population, with an adjusted odds-ratio (OR) for the GT heterozygotes and GG homozygotes of 1.30 (95% CI  = 0.98–1.71, P = 0.069) and 1.66 (95% CI  = 1.18–2.34, P = 0.004), respectively, compared to the TT homozygotes, with a P-trend value of 0.003. No association was found for the other three loci (rs16901979, rs1447295 and rs7837688). In the meta-analysis of the published genetic association studies, the rs6983267 variant was found to be associated with an increased risk of colorectal neoplasia. The heterozygous GT carriers showed a 20% increased risk of colorectal neoplasia (OR  = 1.20, 95% CI  = 1.16–1.25; random effects model) with a summary OR for homozygous GG carriers of 1.39 (95% CI  = 1.32–1.48; random effects model) compared to the TT genotype carriers. We found no significant differences between the association of rs6983267 and colorectal cancer and colorectal adenomas. In summary, our study confirms that the variant rs6983267 is a risk factor for colorectal neoplasia in various populations, including the Chinese population

A49T, V89L and TA repeat polymorphisms of steroid 5α-reductase type II and breast cancer risk in Japanese women

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is hormone related, as are cancers of the endometrium, ovary, and prostate. Several studies have suggested that higher extracellular levels of androgens are associated with breast cancer risk, while biological evidence indicates that androgens are protective. The codon 49 alanine to threonine substitution (A49T), codon 89 valine to leucine substitution (V89L) and TA repeat polymorphisms of the steroid 5α-reductase type II (SRD5A2) gene are considered functional with respect to enzyme activity converting testosterone into dihydrotestosterone. To test the hypothesis that these three polymorphisms are associated with risk of breast cancer, a case–control study was conducted with patients of Aichi Cancer Center Hospital. METHODS: The cases were 237 patients histologically diagnosed with breast cancer, and the controls were 185 noncancer outpatients. DNA from peripheral blood was genotyped by PCR methods. RESULTS: The threonine allele of A49T was not found in our subjects. Compared with the V/V genotype of V89L, the L/L genotype was associated with a decreased risk (crude odds ratio [OR] = 0.61, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.36–1.05). This was also the case for the TA(9/9) genotype, with an OR of 0.58 (95% CI = 0.13–2.63) relative to TA(0/0). Among women with the TA(0/0) genotype, however, the OR for the L/L genotype was 0.46 (95% CI = 0.24–0.88) compared with the V/V genotype, and those with the V/V and TA(0/0) genotypes had the highest risk. The haplotype with the L and TA(9) repeat alleles was not found. CONCLUSION: This study is the first to our knowledge focusing on Japanese women, suggesting that SRD5A2 polymorphisms might have an association with breast cancer risk. Further large-sample studies will be required to confirm the association and to assess any interactions with environmental factors

Soft Gamma-ray Detector for the ASTRO-H Mission

ASTRO-H is the next generation JAXA X-ray satellite, intended to carry instruments with broad energy coverage and exquisite energy resolution. The Soft Gamma-ray Detector (SGD) is one of ASTRO-H instruments and will feature wide energy band (40-600 keV) at a background level 10 times better than the current instruments on orbit. SGD is complimentary to ASTRO-H's Hard X-ray Imager covering the energy range of 5-80 keV. The SGD achieves low background by combining a Compton camera scheme with a narrow field-of-view active shield where Compton kinematics is utilized to reject backgrounds. The Compton camera in the SGD is realized as a hybrid semiconductor detector system which consists of silicon and CdTe (cadmium telluride) sensors. Good energy resolution is afforded by semiconductor sensors, and it results in good background rejection capability due to better constraints on Compton kinematics. Utilization of Compton kinematics also makes the SGD sensitive to the gamma-ray polarization, opening up a new window to study properties of gamma-ray emission processes. The ASTRO-H mission is approved by ISAS/JAXA to proceed to a detailed design phase with an expected launch in 2014. In this paper, we present science drivers and concept of the SGD instrument followed by detailed description of the instrument and expected performance.Comment: 17 pages, 15 figures, Proceedings of the SPIE Astronomical Instrumentation "Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2010: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray