[Counseling on life style delivered during cancer secondary prevention practice: considerations after the SPRINT study experience in Florence, Mantua and Turin].

In the short paper we report the results of a workshop on the feasibility to carried out a brief counselling on smoking cessation and physical activity to female smokers attending the Italian National Health System Cervical Cancer Screening Program. The considerations derived from the midwives' experience during the recruitment of women for the SPRINT study, an intervention trial designed in order to verify the effectiveness of a standard counselling intervention on smoking cessation delivered by trained midwives in a gender-specific setting, the outpatient cervical cancer screening visits.

The Pap smear screening as an occasion for smoking cessation and physical activity counselling: baseline characteristics of women involved in the SPRINT randomized controlled trial.

Background: Gender-specific smoking cessation strategies have rarely been developed. Evidence of effectiveness of physical activity (PA) promotion and intervention in adjunct to smoking cessation programs is not strong. SPRINT study is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) designed to evaluate a counselling intervention on smoking cessation and PA delivered to women attending the Italian National Health System Cervical Cancer Screening Program.

Rapid progression of prostate cancer in men with a BRCA2 mutation.

Men with BRCA2 mutations have been found to be at increased risk of developing prostate cancer. There is a recent report that BRCA2 carriers with prostate cancer have poorer survival than noncarrier prostate cancer patients. In this study, we compared survival of men with a BRCA2 mutation and prostate cancer with that of men with a BRCA1 mutation and prostate cancer.

Age at first birth and the risk of breast cancer in BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers.

An early age at first full-term birth is associated with a reduction in the subsequent development of breast cancer among women in the general population. A similar effect has not yet been reported among women who carry an inherited BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation. We conducted a matched case-control study on 1816 pairs of women with a BRCA1 (n = 1405) or BRCA2 (n = 411) mutation in an attempt to elucidate the relationship between age at first full-term pregnancy and the risk of developing breast cancer.

Serum testosterone levels and breast cancer recurrence.

Prospective studies show that high serum levels of androgens and estrogens are associated with increased incidence of postmenopausal breast cancer. The aim of the present analysis was to study the prognostic value of serum testosterone, estradiol and related factors in postmenopausal breast cancer patients. One hundred and ten patients without clinical recurrence were included in the study.

A plant food-based diet modifies the serum beta-sitosterol concentration in hyperandrogenic postmenopausal women.

Plant sterols or phytosterols are common components of plant foods, especially plant oils, seeds and nuts, cereals and legumes. The most common phytosterols are campesterol, beta-sitosterol and stigmasterol. Phytosterols have anticarcinogenic properties.

Effects of dietary intervention on IGF-I and IGF-binding proteins, and related alterations in sex steroid metabolism: the Diet and Androgens (DIANA) Randomised Trial.

Objective: To assess the effects of a comprehensive change in dietary composition on endogenous hormone metabolism. The specific aim was to examine whether this intervention could lead to favourable changes in insulin sensitivity, levels of IGF-I and IGF-binding proteins (IGFBPs), and total and bioavailable testosterone and estradiol, that would be expected to reduce breast cancer risk.

Design: Randomised dietary intervention study; duration of 5 months.

Varicose veins of the lower limbs and venous capacitance in postmenopausal women: relationship with obesity.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the association between body mass index (BMI), venous capacitance, and clinical evidence of varicose veins after adjustment for sex hormones in postmenopausal women.

Methods: This study group of the DIANA (DIet and ANdrogens) project (a randomized controlled trial on the effect of some dietary changes on sex hormone pattern in women with elevated androgenic hormone levels in Italy) was comprised of 104 healthy volunteer postmenopausal women, aged 48 to 65 years. The main outcome measures were physical examination to determine the presence and severity of varicose veins and plethysmographic measurement of lower limb venous capacitance and outflow.

[Personality traits of women participating in a breast cancer prevention trial].

We have evaluated the psycho-social factors in women--during menopause with different biological characteristics--who participated in two extensive trials of breast cancer prevention: Diana1 and Tamoxifen. Through the use of a recognized personality test (MMPI, Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory), we observed 500 healthy women who agreed to or refused the health care proposal. The findings show that the women who accept chemical preparations or to modify their dietary habits present different personality traits from those who refuse to adhere.

Reducing bioavailable sex hormones through a comprehensive change in diet: the diet and androgens (DIANA) randomized trial.

High serum levels of testosterone and estradiol, the bioavailability of which may be increased by Western dietary habits, seem to be important risk factors for postmenopausal breast cancer. We hypothesized that an ad libitum diet low in animal fat and refined carbohydrates and rich in low-glycemic-index foods, monounsaturated and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, and phytoestrogens, might favorably modify the hormonal profile of postmenopausal women. One hundred and four postmenopausal women selected from 312 healthy volunteers on the basis of high serum testosterone levels were randomized to dietary intervention or control.

High endogenous estradiol is associated with increased venous distensibility and clinical evidence of varicose veins in menopausal women.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine if there is an association between elevated sex hormones (ie, serum estradiol, sex hormone binding globulin [SHBG], testosterone) and increased venous distension and clinical evidence of varicose veins in menopausal women.

Methods: Participants were 104 healthy volunteer menopausal women, aged 48 to 65 years, who were not undergoing hormonal treatment. Of these 104, 14 were excluded from analyses because their estradiol levels were compatible with a premenopausal condition (4), because they had missing values for insulin concentration (5), and because they did not show up at venous vessel examination (5).

[Diet, hormones, genes, and breast cancer].

The review describes on-going studies at the Unit of cancer epidemiology of the National Cancer Institute in Milan-Breast carcinogenesis is reviewed addressing: 1) Hormones and breast cancer 2) Diet and breast cancer 3) Diet and hormones 4) Potentiality of dietary prevention in women at high genetic risk.