Evidence for cosmetics as a source of mineral oil contamination in women.

Background: There is strong evidence that mineral oil hydrocarbons are the greatest contaminant of the human body, amounting to approximately 1 g per person. Possible routes of contamination include air inhalation, food intake, and dermal absorption. The present study aims to identify the most relevant sources of mineral oil contamination.

Plasma fibrinogen levels and prognosis in patients with ovarian cancer: a multicenter study.

Introduction: To evaluate pretherapeutic plasma fibrinogen levels as a prognostic parameter in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). Materials and Methods. In the present multicenter study, pretherapeutic plasma fibrinogen levels were evaluated in 422 patients with EOC.

Mineral oil paraffins in human body fat and milk.

Paraffins of mineral oil origin (mineral paraffins) were analyzed in tissue fat collected from 144 volunteers with Caesarean sections as well as in milk fat from days 4 and 20 after birth of the same women living in Austria. In the tissue samples, the composition of the mineral paraffins was largely identical and consisted of an unresolved mixture of iso- and cycloalkanes, in gas chromatographic retention times ranging from n-C(17) to n-C(32) and centered at n-C(23)/C(24). Since the mineral oil products we are exposed to range from much smaller to much higher molecular mass and may contain prominent n-alkanes, the contaminants in the tissue fat must be a residue from selective uptake, elimination by evaporation and metabolic degradation.

A common interleukin-6 promoter polymorphism in patients with vulvar cancer.

Objective: Besides its important role in immune response and inflammatory processes the cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6) is crucially involved in carcinogenesis. A common polymorphism within the gene encoding IL-6 (IL6) is known to alter IL-6 protein expression and has been associated with patients' prognosis in various malignancies. No data are available with respect to vulvar cancer.

The influence of a Vitamin D receptor gene polymorphism on the timing of female reproductive functions in humans.

Objective: To evaluate the association between a common polymorphism of the Vitamin D receptor gene (VDR) and the timing of female reproductive functions in humans.

Methods: One thousand fifty-eight consecutive women were included in this cross-sectional study. We analyzed the intron 8 Bsm I restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) of VDR on chromosome 12q using a microarray-based system.

A polymorphism of the interleukin-1 receptor antagonist plays a prominent role within the interleukin-1 gene cluster in vulvar carcinogenesis.

Objective: The interleukin-1 (IL-1) family, that is, IL-1alpha and beta and the IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1RA), is known to modulate various tumorigenic and tumoricidal effects in humans. Its biological function in squamous cell carcinogenesis of various anatomical sites has been stressed. Although various studies showed a certain association between genes encoding the IL-1 family and human malignancies, no data with respect to vulvar cancer have been published to date.