Free ebook: Machiavelli's Laboratory
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100 BIOMEDICAL FACTOIDS
This page contains 100 factoids from the field of
biomedicine. There are about 180 additional pages in this
series.
This page has no value as a treatment guide or as a diagnostic
guide. It is merely a collection of interesting pieces of
information collected over the years. It has no connection with
any of the books published by the author and linked from this site.
This page is provided "as is", without warranty of any kind,
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holder be liable for any claim, damages or other liability,
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from, out of or in connection with the software or the use or
other dealings in the software.
© 2007 Jules J. Berman
17901
MENDELIAN DISEASES THAT PREDISPOSE TO COLON CANCER
Familial adenomatous polypossi (FAP, associated with
the APC gene; the APC gene is also found in about
80% of sporadic colon cancer)
Peutz-Jeghers syndrome
Hereditary non-polyposis colon cancer (mismatch repair loci)
Peutz-Jeghers syndrome
Juvenile Polyposis syndrome
Cowden syndrome
key words: hereditary, carcinogenesis, jb
17902
PTEN GENE
A tumor suppressor gene
Mutated in:
Cowden syndrome
Glioblastoma
Prostatic adenocarcinoma
Breast Cancer (small proportion of cases)
Inherited Bannayan - Zonnona syndrome
key words: tumor, suppressor, JB
17903
GLAUCOMA TREATMENT MAY BE DIFFERENT FOR BLACKS AND WHITES
About 3 million Americans have glaucome, with about 120,000
people blind as a result.
Blacks did better with laser treatment followed by trabeculectomy.
Whites did better with trabeculectomy followed by laser treatment.
--------------------
Schmid RE. Blacks, Whites Differ in Glaucoma Care: NIH study
finds unusual racial variations in response to surgery for
vision loss. Washington Post, p. A2, Monday, July 6, 1998.
key words: glaucoma, JB
17904
PERL HINTS
$~ is the system format variable.
When you use the command:
write;
Perl takes the formatted text from $~ and prints it.
key words: programming, jb
17905
PERL HINTS
$O is the program name environment variable
key words: programming, jb
17906
PERL HINTS
$\ is the ouput line separator, which is always printed
after each use of the print command. The default is the
null character.
Assigning $\="\n" guarantees that a newline will follow
each of your output lines.
key words: programming, jb
17907
PERL HINTS
S" is the default variable used between print-outs of array
elements. The default for S" is a space.
key words: programming, jb
17908
PERL HINTS
Perl (when running in the unix environment) has access to
the shell.
Any unix shell command can be called prom Perl
using the '' syntax:
Examples:
$dir = `pwd`;
@list = 'ls -la`;
key words: programming, unix, jb
17909
PERL HINTS
In Unix, perl can be run from the command line, like any other
shell scripting language.
Example:
perl -p -i.bak -e s/abc/def/g file1 file2 file3
The -p switch tells perl to perform the command for all the
files listed on the command line.
The -i switch tells perl to edit the files in place and to
make a back-up file of the original with the specified suffix.
The -e switch tells unix that one or more lines of
script will follow.
key words: programming, unix, jb
17910
PTEN GENE
Tumor suppressor gene mutated in:
Cowden syndrome
glioblastomas
prostate carcinoma
small portion of breast cancers
inherited Bannayan-Zonnona syndrome
key words: tumor, suppressor, JB
17911
MENDELIAN PREDISPOSITION TO COLON CANCER
Familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP, associated with APC
gene, and also found mutated in 80% of sporadic colon cancer)
Hereditary non-polyposis colon cancer
Peutz-Jeghers syndrome
Juvenile polyposis syndrome
Cowden syndrome
key words: colon, cancer, genetics, JB
17912
OVARIAN CANCER: THOUGHTS
Studies indicate that woen reduce their risk for ovarian cancer
by 10% for each year that they take oral contraceptives.
The presumed mechanism of action is through reduced ovulation.
However, epidemiologic observations do no support these studies,
because millions of women took oral contraceptives beginning
in the 60's, and there has been no drop in the observed
incidence of ovarian cancer.
The incidence of ovarian cancer is one-seventh that of breast
cancer.
key words: ovary, carcinoma, epithelial, statistics, population, jb
17913
ASSAY FOR CIRCULATING MALIGNANT EPITHELIAL (CARCINOMA) CELLS
Their assay combinesning immunomagnetic enrichment with multiparameter
flow cytometric and immunocytochemical analysis.
Designed to detect carcinoma cells in the blood at one cell per ml of
blood.
Peripheral blood from 30 patients with carcinoma of the breast, 3
patients with prostate cancer, and 13 controls was examined.
Significant differences in the number of circulating epithelial
cells were found between normal controls and patients with cancer.
--------------------
Racila E, Euhus D, Weiss AJ, Rao C, McConnell J, Terstappen LW, Uhr JW.
Detection and characterization of carcinoma cells in the blood.
PNAS 95:4589-4594, 1998
key words: cancer detection, JB
17914
ANGIOGENESIS INHIBITORS IN CANCER RESEARCH
Solid tumors cannot grow beyond 1-2 mm unless they inducing
blood vessels to supply their nutritional needs.
About 20 angiogenesis inhibitors are currently being tested in
human trials.
Three are in phase III testing and the results may come by
2000.
key words: carcinogenesis, JB
17915
STEPS IN BLOOD VESSEL GROWTH
An endothelial cell in the wall of an existing capillary
becomes activated and secretes enzymes that degrade the
extracellular matrix, allowing it to invade the matrix,
and begin dividing.
Strings of new endothelial cells organize into hollow tubes
(new capillaries).
Most endothelial cells lie dormant. Growth factors control
the growth or the inhibition of endothelial cells.
key words: angiogenesis, JB
17916
ENDOTHELIAL GROWTH FACTORS
About 15 proteins are known to activate endothelial cell
growth and movement, including:
angiogenin
epidermal growth factor
estrogen
fibroblast growth factors (acidic and basic),
interleukin 8
prostaglandin E1 and E2
tumor necrosis factor-a
vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)
granulocyte colony-stimulating factor
key words: angiogenesis, JB
17917
ENDOTHELIAL GROWTH INHIBITORS
include:
angiostatin
endostatin
interferons
interleukin 1 (a and b )
interleukin 12
retinoic acid
tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 and -2(TIMP-1 and -2)
key words: angiogenesis, JB
17918
ENDOTHELIAL GROWTH FACTORS EXPRESSED BY MANY TUMORS
VEGF
basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF)
key words: angiogenesis, JB
17919
RELATION BETWEEN ANGIOGENESIS AND METASTASIS
In general, tumors with high densities of blood vessels are more
likely to metastasize and are correlated with poorer clinical
outcomes.
Both angiogenesis and metastasis require matrix
metalloproteinases, enzymes that break down the surrounding
extracellular matrix vessel network growth and tumor
invasion.
key words: angiogenesis, metastatic, invasion, JB
17920
STRATEGIES FOR CANCER CHEMOTHERAPY BASED ON ANGIOGENESIS
Block factors that stimulate angiogenesis
Use inhibitors of angiogenesis
Block molecules that disrupt the extracellular matrix
Target mitotically active endothelial cells
key words: treatment, angiogenesis, JB
17921
STANDARD CHEMOTHERAPY VERSUS ANGIOGENESIS INHIBITORS
Standard therapy targets tumor cells which are unstable and
which often develop drug resistance
Angiogenesis inhibitors target a normal cells (endothelial cell),
which is genetically stable and unlikely to be able to mutate
to develop drug resistance.
key words: angiogenesis, JB
17922
DETECTING CIRCULATING CARCINOMA CELLS
The study uses high-gradient magnetic cell sorting (MACS) to enrich
the poopulation of epithelial cells in a mixed population.
Cells are permeabilized and fixed.
Carcinoma cells are magnetically labeled specifically with an
anti-cytokeratin 8 monoclonal antibody (mAb) directly conjugated
to superparamagnetic microbeads.
Magnetically labeled cells are enriched on high-gradient
magnetic columns.
In 20-40 mL of blood from patients with advanced carcinomas of the breast, prostate,
colon, rectum, or lung, the study detected between one and 6.8 x 10(4)
cytokeratin-expressing tumor cells in 21 of 34 patients.
This corresponds to frequencies of tumor cells between 6.8 x 10(-9)
and 1.1 x 10(-3) among nucleated cells in the original sample.
--------------------
Martin VM, Siewert C, Scharl A, Harms T, Heinze R, Ohl S, Radbruch A,
Miltenyi S, Schmitz J.
Immunomagnetic enrichment of disseminated epithelial tumor cells from
peripheral blood by MACS.
Exp Hematol 26:252-64, 1998
PMID: 9502622, UI: 98161729
key words: angiogenesis, JB
17923
CGH ARRAY TECHNOLOGY
In cancer, deletions and copy number increases contribute may
alter expression of tumor-suppressor genes and oncogenes
Developmental abnormalities, such as Down, Prader Willi, Angelman
and Cri du Chat syndromes, result from gain or loss of one copy of a
chromosome or chromosomal region.
Comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) was developed for genome-wide
analysis of DNA sequence copy number.
CGH limits detection of events involving small regions
(of less than 20 Mb) of the genome
Hybridization to an array of mapped sequences instead of
metaphase chromosomes could overcome the limitations of conventional CGH
--------------------
Pinkel D, Segraves R, Sudar D, Clark S, Poole I, Kowbel D, Collins C, Kuo WL, Chen C, Zhai Y, Dairkee SH,
Ljung BM, Gray JW, Albertson DG.
High resolution analysis of DNA copy number variation using comparative
genomic hybridization to microarrays.
Nat Genet 20:207-11, 1998.
PMID: 9771718, UI: 98442661
key words: technique, JB
17924
A RETROSPECTIVE ANALYSIS OF EXTRAFACIAL LENTIGO MALIGNA MELANOMA
Studied extrafacial lentigo maligna melanoma (LMM),
comparing it to head/neck patients with LMM
Seventy-one patients (22 men, 49 women) with extrafacial LMM
were identified from the Scottish Melanoma Group database for
January 1979-March 1996.
Their mean age (63 years) was significantly less than that of 335
patients with head and neck LMM (mean 72 years, P < 0.001),
with a significantly greater difference among women than men.
Extrafacial sites comprised 17.5% of LMMs.
--------------------
Cox NH, Aitchison TC, MacKie RM.
Extrafacial lentigo maligna melanoma: analysis of 71 cases and
comparison with lentigo maligna melanoma of the head and neck.
Br J Dermatol 139:439-443, 1998
key words: epidemiology, preneoplasia, JB
17925
PROSTATE CANCER GENE
PB39 (HGMW-approved symbol POV1) has expression up-regulated in human
prostate cancer
Fluorescence in situ hybridization using PB39 cDNA as probe
mapped the gene to chromosome 11p11.1-p11.2.
Comparison of PB39 cDNA sequence with murine sequence available in
the public database identified a region of previously sequenced
mouse genomic DNA showing 67% amino acid sequence homology with human
PB39.
There seem to be at least 14 exons in the mouse gene spread
over approximately 100 kb of genomic sequence. Further analysis of
PB39 expression in human tissues shows the presence of a unique
splice variant mRNA that appears to be primarily associated
with fetal tissues and tumors and in prostatic intraepithelial
neoplasia
--------------------
Cole KA, Chuaqui RF, Katz K, Pack S, Zhuang Z, Cole CE, Lyne JC,
Linehan WM, Liotta LA, Emmert-Buck MR.
cDNA sequencing and analysis of POV1 (PB39): a novel gene up-regulated
in prostate cancer.
Genomics 51:282-287, 1998
key words: prostatic, homologies, homology, preneoplasia, pin, JB
17926
PROGRESSION OF ORAL LEUKOPLAKIA
A follow-up study of a hospital-based population of 166
patients with oral leukoplakia revealed a 2.9% annual
malignant transformation rate.
--------------------
Schepman KP, van der Meij EH, Smeele LE, van der Waal I.
Malignant transformation of oral leukoplakia: a
follow-up study of a hospital-based population of 166
patients with oral leukoplakia from The Netherlands.
Oral Oncol 34:270-275, 1998
PMID: 9813722, UI: 99031265
key words: preneoplasia, JB
17927
CYCLIN DI IN ENT CARCINOGENESIS
Amplification of the cyclin D1 locus, located on
chromosome 11q13, as well as cyclin D1 protein
overexpression have been reported in several human
malignancies.
The authors analysed 46 paraffin-embedded tissue
specimens that contained tumor and either
presence normal tissue or premalignant lesions.
Increased cyclin D1 protein expression was observed in all
16 amplified tumors and five of the 13 (38.4%) non-amplified tumors.
Dysregulated cyclin D1 expression was found in the
premalignant lesions adjacent to all 16
amplified tumors, and it appeared to precede cyclin D1 gene
amplification.
No dysregulated cyclin D1 expression was
detected in the premalignant lesions of the non-amplified
tumors.
--------------------
Izzo JG, Papadimitrakopoulou VA, Li XQ, Ibarguen H, Lee
JS, Ro JY, El-Naggar A, Hong WK, Hittelman WN.
Dysregulated cyclin D1 expression early in head and neck
tumorigenesis: in vivo evidence for an association with
subsequent gene amplification.
Oncogene 1998 17:2313-2322, 1998.
PMID: 9811462, UI: 99027601
key words: squamous, preneoplasia, JB
17928
CELL CYCLE REGULATORS AND CANCER
The authors suggest that cell cycle regulation
genes are targets for
alterations that underlie the development of neoplasms.
These include:
cyclin D1, D2 and E2F family members
cyclin dependent kinases (CDKs)
Cyclin negative regulators (p16Ink4a, p57Kip2)
--------------------
Rodriguez-Puebla ML, LaCava M, Gimenez-Conti IB, Johnson
DG, Conti CJ.
Deregulated expression of cell-cycle proteins during
premalignant progression in SENCAR mouse skin.
Oncogene 17:2251-8, 1998.
key words: carcinogenesis, preneoplasia, JB
17929
SKIN CANCER IN TAR WORKERS
The study comprised 606 workers with
tar-induced dermatosis employed in a German tar refinery.
During the period from 1946 to 1996 they were recognized as
having an occupational disease.
Surgical removal of 4754 skin tumors was documented up to
the end of 1996 in the study.
Among other conditions,
this yielded 2490 precancerous stages, 380 squamous cell
carcinomas, 218 basal cell carcinomas, and 182
keratoacanthomas.
The skin tumors were found mainly in the
facial area, as well as on the forearms and hands.
Latency from the first exposure in the tar refinery until
manifestation of tar-induced dermatosis covered a period of
57 years.
In comparison to the general
population, the ratio of squamous cell to basal cell
carcinomas was shifted toward the squamous cell carcinomas
(1.7:1).
The frequent occurrence of
keratoacanthomas (in 18.7% of the workers) and the early
age at which this disease became manifest relative to the
general population (median, 55 years) indicate that
employment in a tar refinery can primarily or secondarily
cause keratoacanthomas.
--------------------
Letzel S, Drexler H.
Occupationally related tumors in tar refinery workers.
J Am Acad Dermatol 39:712-720, 1998.
PMID: 9810887, UI: 99027012
key words: preneoplasia, carcinogenesis, squamous, skin, JB
17930
ABERRANT CRYPT FOCI IN NORMAL SUBJECTS
The authors prospectively examined the prevalence of
aberrant crypt foci in 11 subjects (4 normal subjects, 6
with adenoma, and 1 with cancer) before and after the
administration of 100 mg of sulindac, comparing
the results with those in 9 untreated subjects
(4 normal subjects and 5 with adenoma).
All 20 subjects had aberrant crypt foci at base line.
After sulindac therapy, the number of foci
decreased, disappearing in 7 of 11 subjects. In the
untreated control group, the number of foci was unchanged
in eight subjects and slightly increased in one (P<0.001
for the difference between the groups).
--------------------
Takayama T, Katsuki S, Takahashi Y, Ohi M, Nojiri S,
Sakamaki S, Kato J, Kogawa K, Miyake H, Niitsu Y.
Aberrant crypt foci of the colon as precursors of
adenoma and cancer.
N Engl J Med 339:1277-1284, 1998.
PMID: 9791143, UI: 99000300
key words: colon, colonic, preneoplasia, JB
17931
CHROMOSOMAL ABNORMALITIES IN ESOPHAGEAL CARCINOMA
In this study, numeric
changes affecting chromosomes 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12,
17, 18, X, and Y were analyzed by using fluorescence in
situ hybridization (FISH) with chromosome-specific
centromere DNA probes in 12 esophageal adenocarcinomas.
The most common numeric abnormalities detected were
gains of chromosomes 12 (8 cases), 6 (7 cases), 7 (7
cases), and 11 (6 cases). The total number of abnormal
chromosomes varied from 0 to 10, with an average of 4.6 per
case
In a subset of cases in which premalignant
lesions were examined, aneusomy was found to be an early
change, frequently present in both Barrett's esophagus and
dysplastic regions.
--------------------
Persons DL, Croughan WS, Borelli KA, Cherian R.
Interphase cytogenetics of esophageal adenocarcinoma and
precursor lesions.
Cancer Genet Cytogenet 106:11-17, 1998.
PMID: 9772903, UI: 98446080
key words: colon, colonic, preneoplasia, JB
17932
XERODERMA PIGMENTOSUM MUTATION
In most cases, xeroderma pigmentosum group D (XP-D) and
trichothiodystrophy (TTD) patients carry mutations in the
carboxy-terminal domain of the evolutionarily conserved
helicase XPD, which is one of the subunits of the
transcription/repair factor TFIIH
In this study, the authors demonstrated that XPD interacts
specifically with p44, another subunit of TFIIH, and that
this interaction results in the stimulation of 5'-->3' helicase
activity.
--------------------
Coin F, Marinoni JC, Rodolfo C, Fribourg S, Pedrini AM, Egly JM.
Mutations in the XPD helicase gene result in XP and TTD
phenotypes, preventing interaction between XPD and the p44
subunit of TFIIH.
Nat Genet 20:184-188, 1998.
PMID: 9771713, UI: 98442656
key words: preneoplasia, carcinogenesis, jb
17933
APC GENE IN ORAL CANCER
The authors examined biopsy samples from one oral cancer and
three precancerous lesions of the tongue of an 81-year old
woman.
The four lesions harbored the common mutation of
APC gene that was not detected in the control.
At codon 1621 in exon 15 of the APC gene there was a C to G
substitution resulting in serine (TCA) to stop codon (TGA).
--------------------
Imai FL, Uzawa K, Shiiba M, Watanabe T, Miya T, Kubosawa
H, Kondo Y, Tanzawa H.
Evidence of multi-step oncogenesis of oral squamous cell
carcinoma.
Oncol Rep 5:1489-1491, 1998
PMID: 9769393, UI: 98443401
key words: preneoplasia, carcinogenesis, jb
17934
RAS GENES IN COLON CARCINOGENESIS
RAS genes are converted into active oncogenes by point
mutations in codons 12, 13, and 61, although a more complex
way has also been shown, through alteration of gene
expression.
The authors examined 78 colorectal polypoid adenomas
and 76 primary colorectal adenocarcinomas for codon 12
point mutations in ras.
K-ras mutations were found in 42.3% of
adenomas and in 36.8% of carcinomas.
No mutations were found in H-ras.
The incidence of N-ras mutations was 1.3% in both
adenomas and adenocarcinomas.
--------------------
Glarakis IS, Savva S, Spandidos DA.
Activation of the ras genes in malignant and
premalignant colorectal tumors.
Oncol Rep 5:1451-1454, 1998
PMID: 9769386, UI: 98443394
key words: preneoplasia, carcinogenesis, jb
17935
MALIGNANCY ASSOCIATED GENE = MAG
MAG found in glioblastomas and hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC) and in
tumor preexisting conditions such as hepatitis C virus- and
hepatitis B virus-induced liver cirrhosis.
MAG fragment found in HCC, macroregenerative liver nodules
with dysplasia, and liver cirrhosis but not in normal liver.
MAG expression was not found in 12
different normal tissues but found in 46 of 51 (90%)
premalignant and malignant tissues of various sites.
Embryonic liver and brain were positive for MAG expression
together with tumors from the same organs, but the
corresponding normal adult tissues were negative.
--------------------
Ljubimova JY, Wilson SE, Petrovic LM, Ehrenman K,
Ljubimov AV, Demetriou AA, Geller SA, Black KL.
Novel human malignancy-associated gene (MAG) expressed
in various tumors and in some tumor preexisting conditions.
Cancer Res 58:4475-4479, 1998
PMID: 9766681, UI: 98438071
key words: preneoplasia, carcinogenesis, jb
17936
REGRESSION OF PRECANCEROUS SKIN LESIONS
Studied SENCAR mice initiated with
7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA) and promoted with
12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA).
The first grossly detectable lesions at sites where papillomas
subsequently developed were papules (squamous hyperplastic lesions)
occurring 21 days after start of TPA dosing.
Of 78 papules tracked during 15 weeks of TPA
treatments, 68% progressed to papillomas, 9% persisted as
papules, and 22% completely regressed.
--------------------
Binder RL, Johnson GR, Gallagher PM, Stockman SL,
Sundberg JP, Conti CJ.
Squamous cell hyperplastic foci: precursors of cutaneous
papillomas induced in SENCAR mice by a two-stage
carcinogenesis regimen.
Cancer Res 58:4314-4323, 1998
PMID: 9766659, UI: 98438049
key words: preneoplasia, carcinogenesis, jb
17937
NUCLEAR EXCISIONS REPAIR (NER) MUTATIONS
Defects in the NER pathway
result in the disease xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) which is
characterized by increased UV-sensitivity, with increased
propensity for skin cancer, and an array of developmental
abnormalities.
Cockayne's syndrome (CS) and
trichothiodystrophy (TTD), are characterized by
increased UV-sensitivity, without increased cancer
incidence, and with an array of developmental abnormalities.
--------------------
Lee SK, Yu SL, Alexander H, Alexander S
A mutation in repB, the dictyostelium homolog of the
human xeroderma pigmentosum B gene, has increased
sensitivity to UV-light but normal morphogenesis.
Biochim Biophys Acta 201399:161-172, 1998
PMID: 9765592, UI: 98438729
key words: preneoplasia, carcinogenesis, repair, jb
17938
P16 IN LUNG PRECANCER
The p16(INK4a) (p16) tumor suppressor gene can be
inactivated by promoter region hypermethylation in many
tumor types including lung cancer
The frequency of this
event increased during disease progression from basal cell
hyperplasia (17%) to squamous metaplasia (24%) to carcinoma
in situ (50%) lesions.
Methylation of p16 was associated
with loss of expression in both tumors and precursor
lesions indicating that both alleles were functionally
inactivated.
These studies show for the first time that an
epigenetic alteration, aberrant methylation of the p16
gene, can be an early event in lung cancer.
--------------------
Belinsky SA, Nikula KJ, Palmisano WA, Michels R,
Saccomanno G, Gabrielson E, Baylin SB, Herman JG.
Aberrant methylation of p16(INK4a) is an early event in
lung cancer and a potential biomarker for early diagnosis.
PNAS 95:11891-11896, 1998
PMID: 9751761, UI: 98426249
key words: preneoplasia, carcinogenesis, pulmonary, pulmonic, jb
17939
CERVIX PRECANCER DETECTED WITH RAMAN SPECTRA PROBE
The authors developed a compact fiber
optic probe to measure near infrared Raman spectra of human
cervical tissue in vivo for the clinical diagnosis of
cervical precancers.
A probe was used to acquire Raman spectra from
normal and precancerous cervical tissue in vivo.
--------------------
Mahadevan-Jansen A, Mitchell MF, Ramanujam N, Utzinger
U, Richards-Kortum R.
Development of a fiber optic probe to measure NIR Raman
spectra of cervical tissue in vivo.
Photochem Photobiol 68:427-431, 1998
PMID: 9747597, UI: 98419734
key words: detection, early, preneoplasia, jb
17940
LOH IN DYSPLASTIC LESIONS IN ULCERATIVE COLITIS
Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) at the von Hippel Lindau (vHL) gene
locus and the putative tumor suppressor genes APC, INK4A
(9p16), and p53 was studied in both flat and polypoid dysplastic
lesions of colon.
LOH of the vHL gene, INK4A
(9p16), and APC was also studied in 11 sporadic adenomas of
the colon.
LOH at the vHL locus was present in 50% of the
samples of polypoid dysplasia and in 12% of the samples of flat
dysplasia.
No adenoma showed LOH of the vHL gene markers
studied.
LOH in p53 was seen 16% of polypoid dysplasia
cases and in 42% of flat dysplasia cases
LOH patterns between polypois dysplasia and flat dysplasia
for APC and 9p16 markers were not different.
--------------------
Loss of heterozygosity of the von Hippel Lindau gene
locus in polypoid dysplasia but not flat dysplasia in
ulcerative colitis or sporadic adenomas.
Fogt F, Vortmeyer AO, Stolte M, Mueller E, Mueller J,
Noffsinger A, Poremba C, Zhuang Z.
Hum Pathol 29:961-964, 1998
PMID: 9744312, UI: 98415561
key words: preneoplasia, carcinogenesis, jb
17941
ABERRANT CRYPT FOCI (ACF) SCREEN FOR CANCER CHEMOPREVENTIVE AGENTS
Extracts of Coptidis Rhizoma
and Scutellariae Radix significantly inhibited AOM-induced
ACF formation.
Berberine and Baicalin, major ingredients of Coptidis
Rhizoma and Scutellariae Radix, inhibited ACF formation at
a dose equivalent to the amount in each herbal extract.
Berberine was found to inhibit cyclooxygenase 2 activity without
inhibition of cyclooxygenase 1 activity, and baicalein
inhibited cyclooxygenase 1 activity.
--------------------
Fukutake M, Yokota S, Kawamura H, Iizuka A, Amagaya S,
Fukuda K, Komatsu Y.
Inhibitory effect of Coptidis Rhizoma and Scutellariae
Radix on azoxymethane-induced aberrant crypt foci formation
in rat colon.
Biol Pharm Bull 21:814-817, 1998.
PMID: 9743248, UI: 98414180
key words: prevention, preneoplasia, jb
17942
NEPHROGENIC RESTS AND WILMS TUMOR
Nephrogenic rests are precursor lesions associated with
about 40% of Wilms' tumors.
--------------------
Charles AK, Brown KW, Berry PJ.
Microdissecting the genetic events in nephrogenic rests
and Wilms' tumor development.
Am J Pathol 153:991-1000, 1998
key words: prevention, preneoplasia, jb
17943
COLON CANCER IN YOUNG PATIENTS
Colorectal cancer affects the younger population with an
incidence of two to six per cent of cases from all age groups.
It is thought to carry a
less favorable prognosis in the young than in the general
population.
--------------------
Minardi AJ Jr, Sittig KM, Zibari GB, McDonald JC.
Colorectal cancer in the young patient.
Am Surg 64:849-853, 1998
PMID: 9731812, UI: 98400538
key words: carcinogenesis, jb
17944
A SMOKER WITH LI-FRAUMENI SYNDROME AND MULTIPLE LUNG CANCERS
A 57-year-old woman with Li-Fraumeni syndrome and a history
of smoking was diagnosed as having multiple synchronous
primary lung tumours, all of which were treated by surgical
excision.
Histological examination showed three separate
well-differentiated adenocarcinomas and a single focus of
atypical adenomatous hyperplasia.
--------------------
Nadav Y, Pastorino U, Nicholson AG.
Multiple synchronous lung cancers and atypical
adenomatous hyperplasia in Li-Fraumeni syndrome.
Histopathology 33:52-54, 1998
PMID: 9726049, UI: 98394112
key words: carcinogenesis, jb
17945
P53 GENE THERAPY WITH LIPOSOME DELIVERY
The authors investigated the
feasibility of in vivo gene replacement in endobronchial
precancerous and cancerous cells by a regionally
administered delivery system (cationic liposome-p53)
for further in vitro and in vivo evaluation.
DP3-p53 was able to
effectively introduce and express the p53 gene and induce
G1 arrest and apoptosis in H358 cells in vitro and to
introduce and transcribe the p53 gene in the bronchial
epithelium of transgenic mice that lack the p53 gene in
vivo.
In therapeutic experiments using groups of four or
five mice each that had been inoculated with tumor cells,
there was significantly inhibition of lung tumor formation.
--------------------
Zou Y, Zong G, Ling YH, Hao MM, Lozano G, Hong WK,
Perez-Soler R.
Effective treatment of early endobronchial cancer with
regional administration of liposome-p53 complexes.
J Natl Cancer Inst 90:1130-1137, 1998
PMID: 9701362, UI: 98365092
key words: gene therapy, chemotherapy, jb
17946
ACRONYMS
SAGE serial analysis of gene expression
CGAP cancer genome anatomy project
LCM laser capture microdissection
SNP small nucleotide polymorphisms
CCAP cancer chromosomal aberrations project
BAC bacterial artificial chromosome
FISH fluorescence in situ hybridization
CGH comparative genome hybridization
MAB monoclonal antibody
MABS monocloncal antibodies
PSA-ACT prosttic specific antigen antichymotrypsin
POR patient oriented
key words: abbreviations, jb
17947
COMPLEXITY OF A DOCUMENT
Measures of readability of text include:
Flesch-Kincaid
FOG
SMOG
Bormuth
These tests generally report a single number to indicate
the grade level (1-12) or readability (usually 1-100) of the document.
As an example, the Flesch-Kincaid formula for determining the grade
level of a document is:
((average sentence length in words) x 0.39)
+ ((average syllables per word) x 11.8)- 15.59
key words: language, jb
17948
HER2
The Her-2/neu oncogene encodes the p185 transmembrane glycoprotein.
p185 transmembrane glycoprotein belongs to the epidermal growth
factor receptor family of tyrosine kinases.
HER-2/new over-expression has been reported in 20% of primary
invasive breast carcinomas.
Amplification of HER-2/neu in brest cancer has been shown
to be a significant predictor of time to first relapse and
poor overall survival.
HER-2/neu has been shown to be amplified in 30-70% of prostate
carcinomas.
HER-2/neu has been shown to be associated with androgen-independent
prostate cancer growth and correlates with increased probability
of disease recurrence.
Herceptin is a humanized monoclonal antibody that binds to
the HER-2/neu receptor
Docetaxel (Taxotere) is a semisynthetic taxoid that has
clinical activity in androgen-independent prostatic cancer
key words: breast carcinoma, chemotherapy, oncogene, jb
17949
DATAMINING UNIQUE TISSUE-SPECIFIC SEQUENCES WITH GENBANK
Used ftp://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/repository/dbEST
Got the file of all EST's that had the words human
and prostate associated with the entry
The file contained 1,1337,304 EST entries in 907 cDNA libraries
There hwere 539 human libraries, containing 16 prostate
libraries.
Clustering of human prostate EST's resultined in 7,200 clusters
of 10,865 sequences
The analysis produced 15 genes that might be prostate specific.
When 7 of these were tested in an RNA hybridization experiment, three
were found to be prostate specific.
The authors suggest that the genes identified could be useful
in the targeted therapy of prostate cancer.
Although PSA is prostate specific, it had hits in two tumor
libraries, including breast and lung
--------------------
Vasmatzis G, Essand M, Brinkmann U, Lee B, Pastan I.
Discovery of three genes specificially expressed in human prostate
by expressed sequence tag database analysis.
PNAS95:300-304, 1998
key words: data mining, genome, jb
17950
FHIT = FRAGILE HISTIDINE TRIAD GENE
encompasses the FRA3B fragile site, found in a variety of tumors
FHIT protein is a diadenosine polyphosphage hydrolase that
cleaves these dinucleotides in cells.
The mechanism of FHIT tumor suppressor activity is unknown
key words: tumor suppressor, jb
17951
HIGH GRADE PIN IN BLACK MEN
The study found that high grade prostatic intraepithelial
neoplasia is more prevalent in African-Americans than white men.
Also, the more extensive form of high grade PIN (with multifocal
or diffuse involvement) appears at a younger age in African-Americans.
--------------------
Sakr WA, Grignon DJ, Haas GP, Heilbrun LK, Pontes JE, Crissman JD.
Age and racial distribution of prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia.
Eur Urol 30:138-144, 1996
key words: preneoplasia, prostate, race, ethnicity, racial, ethnic, jb
17952
LONG-TERM STORAGE OF BODY FLUIDS FOR GENETIC STUDIES
Body fluids should be frozen below -70 degrees C,
under conditions that minimize lyophilization. It is suggested
that vials should be at least half filled and should have O-ring
tops.
key words: bank, freeze, freezing, storage, jb
17953
YEAST CHIP
Yeast is useful as a DNA chip model.The entire yeast genome has been
sequenced and contains approximately 6,200 genes having greater
than 100 codons.
DNA microarrays have been prepared that contain sequences for each of
the yeast genes.
--------------------
DeRisi JL, Iyer VR, Brown PO.
Exploring the metabolic and genetic control of gene expression on a
genomic scale.
Science 278:680-686, 1997
PMID: 9381177, UI: 98022382
key words: yeast genome, jb
17954
DATAMINING
Data mining, or knowledge discovery in databases, is the
extraction of previously unknown and potentially useful
information from data, or the search for relationships and
global patterns that exist in large databases.
Processes of data mining:
selection
preprocessing
transformation
data mining
interpretation
evaluation
key words: relation, informatics, jb
17955
SOME GENE DATA MINING COMPANIES
affymetrix
biodiscovery
genometrix
imaging research
key words: informatics, jb
17956
SOME PRODUCTS TO DISCOVER RELATIONSHIPS IN COMPLEX NONLINEAR SYSTEMS
Matlab
Mathmatica
FuzzyTech (FuzzyTECH)
DataEngine (DataEngine)
Darwin(Thinking Machines)
key words: informatics, datamining, data mining, statistics, jb
17957
GYNECOLOGIC CYTOLOGY
Over 50 million pap smears are done in the U.S. each year.
key words: gyn, cervical, cervix, screening, screen, detect, jb
17958
ONLY MAN AND MAN'S BEST FRIEND DEVELOP PROSTATE CANCER
Of the hundreds of species of mammals, all of which have prostate glands,
only humans and dogs are known to suffer from
benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and prostate carcinoma.
--------------------
De Marzo AM, Coffey DS, Nelson WG.
New concepts in tissue specificity for prostate cancer and benign prostatic
hyperplasia.
Urology 53(3 Suppl 3a):29-39; discussion 39-42, 1999.
key words: prostatic, jb
17959
GSTP1 GENE IN PROSTATIC INTRAEPITHELIAL NEOPLASIA.
Loss of pi-class glutathione S-transferase enzyme
GSTP1 expression is associated with the hypermethylation of
deoxycytidine residues in the 5'-regulatory CG island region of the
GSTP1 gene, in nearly all human prostate cancer.
In a study, all samples of high-grade PIN and adenocarcinoma were
without GSTP1.
---------------------
Brooks JD, Weinstein M, Lin X, Sun Y, Pin SS, Bova GS, Epstein JI,
Isaacs WB, Nelson WG
CG island methylation changes near the
gstp1 gene in prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia.
Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 7:531-536, 1998
PMID: 9641498, UI: 98303200
key words: marker, prostatic, methyl, methylation, jb
17960
PP32 IN PROSTATE CANCER
Benign prostate tissue expresses pp32 whereas carcinomas express the
variants pp32r1 and pp32r2.
The transcripts of pp32 family members are encoded by
different genes: p32 maps to chromosome 15q22.3-q23, pp32r1 to chromosome
4 and pp32r2 to chromosome 12
--------------------
kadkol SS, Brody JR, Pevsner J, Bai J, Pasternack GR.
Modulation of oncogenic potential by alternative gene usage
in human prostate cancer.
Nature Med 5:275-279, 1999
key words: marker, prostatic, jb
17961
NOTE
Cryptoflex cards are smart cards with heightened security features
key words: technology, electronic medical record, jb
17962
NOTE
60% of U.S. population lives within 1 hr drive of a coastline
key words: census, jb
17963
SMART CARDS IN FRANCE
In France, where medical smart cards have been in use, a physician
can, in his home, review smart card data that is being uploaded from
the card in an emergency room. All this can be done securely.
In France, each person given a medical smart card is given the same
default pin number 0000.If the patient doesn't change the pin number,
then the card can be searched for all its information when it is
given to any doc in a facility with a card reader.If the patient
chooses a new pin number, then the docs can only access the basic
information from the card.The patient has to input his/her pin number
into the facility's card reader to permit the doc to get the rest of the
information.There are additional keys to write to the card, and to
access databases in which card information can be merged.
(these observations made May, 1999)
key words: technology, electronic medical record, jb
17964
METAMOUSE
U.S. patent #5491284, Feb 13, 1996
Strain of nude Mouse receives human tumor implants that metastasize
in the mouse.
The idea is to use the mouse as a treatment test for humans, after
human tumors are implanted in the mouse.
key words: trial, chemotherapy, jb
17965
MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES
Can be produced from cell culture or in vivo (to produce a malignant
ascites from the myeloma/lymhoid hybrid cells).Serum free culture
conditions of the hybrid cells are sometimes hard to achieve and less
appealing for small studies.
In general, when large quantities are needed, culture methods are used.
When small quantities are needed, animals are used.
key words: research, humane, welfare, jb
17966
PRIMARY PERITONEAL CARCINOMA
= papillary serous carcinoma of the peritoneum
= serous surface carcinoma = SSC
Occurs almost exclusively in women
Has some different genetic markers than ovarian cancer
Often confused with peritoneal spread of ovarian cancer
Same treatment and prognosis, but can arise even after the
ovaries are removed
key words: differential, ovary, jb
17967
CRITERIA FOR AN INFORMATIVE CASE IN AN LOH STUDY
Normal tissues that have two distinguishable alleles are informative
Loss of an allele = LOH = loss of heterozygosity
key words: definition, terminology, genetic, jb
17968
ANIMAL USE IN GREAT BRITAIN
Continuing a general trend, Great Britain used 3% fewer animals in
1997 compared to 1996.The total of 2,635,969 reflected significant
reduction in toxicity testing (11%) and fundamental biological research
(6%), but this was offset somewhat by a large increase in genetically
manipulated animals (17%), continuing a trend of rapid growth in
transgenic research and now totalling 352,752 animals.
The number of procedures for monoclonal antibody prouction increased
by 22% to 24,085, but this will likely decrease because the UK
government implemented a ban on the invivo ascites production method
in late 1998.
MRMC Report, March 1999, Vol 12, Number 1
key words: animal welfare, jb
Last modified: December 5, 2006