Occupational, domestic and environmental mesothelioma risks in the British population: a case–control study

We obtained lifetime occupational and residential histories by telephone interview with 622 mesothelioma patients (512 men, 110 women) and 1420 population controls. Odds ratios (ORs) were converted to lifetime risk (LR) estimates for Britons born in the 1940s. Male ORs (95% confidence interval (CI)) relative to low-risk occupations for >10 years of exposure before the age of 30 years were 50.0 (25.8–96.8) for carpenters (LR 1 in 17), 17.1 (10.3–28.3) for plumbers, electricians and painters, 7.0 (3.2–15.2) for other construction workers, 15.3 (9.0–26.2) for other recognised high-risk occupations and 5.2 (3.1–8.5) in other industries where asbestos may be encountered. The LR was similar in apparently unexposed men and women (∼1 in 1000), and this was approximately doubled in exposed workers' relatives (OR 2.0, 95% CI 1.3–3.2). No other environmental hazards were identified. In all, 14% of male and 62% of female cases were not attributable to occupational or domestic asbestos exposure. Approximately half of the male cases were construction workers, and only four had worked for more than 5 years in asbestos product manufacture

Development of a Rule Based Prognostic Tool for HER 2 Positive Breast Cancer Patients

International audienceA three stage development process for the production of a hierarchical rule based prognosis tool is described. The application for this tool is specific to breast cancer patients that have a positive expression of the HER 2 gene. The first stage is the development of a Bayesian classification neural network to classify for cancer specific mortality. Secondly, low-order Boolean rules are extracted form this model using an orthogonal search based rule extraction (OSRE) algorithm. Further to these rules additional information is gathered from the Kaplan-Meier survival estimates of the population, stratified by the categorizations of the input variables. Finally, expert knowledge is used to further simplify the rules and to rank them hierarchically in the form of a decision tree. The resulting decision tree groups all observations into specific categories by clinical profile and by event rate. The practical clinical value of this decision support tool will in future be tested by external validation with additional data from other clinical centres

Environment-related factors

Introduction Environmental exposures in cancer risk include natural and man-made agents present in air, water, soil, and food. Although the burden of cancer from these environmental exposures is relatively modest in comparison to lifestyle factors, there is a strong public perception of risk of cancer from environmental pollutants. © 2008 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

Atrophic scar formation in acne patients involves long-acting immune responses with plasma cells and alteration of sebaceous glands: Immune responses and sebaceous gland alteration in atrophic acne scar formation

International audienceBACKGROUND:Possible outcomes of acne lesions are atrophic scars which may cause serious psychological distress. Current treatments of post-acne scarring often require invasive procedures. Pathophysiological studies on acne scarring investigated only the first week of papule life.OBJECTIVES:Study the pathophysiology of atrophic scar formation to identify molecular and cellular pathways that can lead to new therapies for the prevention of acne scarring.METHODS:Large-scale gene expression profiling and immunohistochemistry analysis were performed on uninvolved skin and papules in both, scar-prone (SP) and non-scar-prone (NSP) acne patients, at different time points.RESULTS:Gene expression and immunohistochemistry analyses showed a very similar immune response in 48 hours-old papules in SP and NSP populations, characterized by elevated numbers of T cells, neutrophils and macrophages. However, only in SP patients the immune response persisted in 3 week-old papules, and was characterized by an important infiltrate of B cells. Transient down-modulation of sebaceous gland markers related to lipid metabolism was observed in 48 hours-old papules in NSP patients, followed by normalization after 3 weeks. In contrast, in SP patients a drastic reduction of these markers persisted in 3 week-old papules, suggesting an irreversible destruction of sebaceous gland structures after inflammatory remodelling in SP acne patients.CONCLUSIONS:Long lived acne papules are characterized by a B cell infiltrate. A relationship exists between the duration and severity of inflammation and the alteration of sebaceous gland structures, leading to atrophic scar formation in acne. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved