Molecular biomonitoring of a population of nurses handling antineoplastic drugs.

Many antineoplastic drugs have been found to have carcinogenic, mutagenic and teratogenic activity and so hospital personnel handling these substances are potentially exposed to health risk. Understanding this risk derived from protracted occupational exposure has great relevance even if the workers normally adopt individual and environmental protective measures. To address this question we have studied the presence of DNA and chromosome damage in a population of nurses employed in Italian oncology units and in matched controls.

DNA damage repair and genetic polymorphisms: assessment of individual sensitivity and repair capacity.

Purpose: To study the repair capacity after X-ray irradiation in human peripheral blood cells of healthy subjects, in relation to their genotypes.

Methods And Materials: The peripheral blood of 50 healthy subjects was irradiated in vitro with 2 Gy of X rays and the induced DNA damage was measured by Comet assay immediately after irradiation. DNA repair was detected by analyzing the cells at defined time intervals after the exposure.

Basal cell carcinoma and variants in genes coding for immune response, DNA repair, folate and iron metabolism.

Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is one of the most common neoplasms in the world and its incidence has been increasing worldwide in recent years. BCCs are caused by an interplay between genetic and environment factors. We conducted a case-control association study in BCC patients and controls from Sweden and Finland.

Resveratrol affects X-ray induced apoptosis and cell cycle delay in human cells in vitro.

Many studies in human and mammalian cells have shown the involvement of resveratrol in the modulation of several biological processes, including the regulation of carcinogenesis. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying its antitumorigenic activity are still not defined. There is great interest in developing new agents that can modify the efficacy of radiation therapy.

Single nucleotide polymorphisms in breast cancer.

A limited number of genes have been identified that explain heritable risks of breast cancer (BC). We searched for low-penetrant genes in an association study using two populations: 223 Finnish unselected patients and 172 Polish familial cases, both with locally collected healthy controls. Candidate genes included DNA repair genes, methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) and cyclin D1 genes.

Polymorphisms in DNA repair and metabolic genes in bladder cancer.

We investigated the association of urinary bladder cancer with genetic polymorphisms in the xeroderma pigmentosum complementation group C (XPC), group D (XPD) and group G (XPG), X-ray repair cross-complementing group 1 (XRCC1) and group 3 (XRCC3), Nijmegen breakage syndrome 1 (NBS1), cyclin D1, methylene-tetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR), NAD(P)H dehydrogenase quinone 1 (NQO1), H-ras and glutathione S-transferase theta 1 (GSTT1) genes. Bladder cancer patients from the different hospitals in Stockholm County Council area and matching controls were genotyped for different polymorphisms. The frequency of the variant allele for A/C polymorphism in exon 15 of the XPC gene was significantly higher in the bladder cancer cases than in the controls (OR 1.

Resveratrol affects in a different way primary versus fixed DNA damage induced by H(2)O(2) in mammalian cells in vitro.

Resveratrol (3,5,4'-trihydroxystilbene) is a natural occurring molecule, synthesized by plants in response to different stresses. Recent literature data seem to converge in indicating Resveratrol as an agent possessing protective effects against oxidative stresses through different mechanisms. Furthermore conflicting data are present in relation to its activity of free radical scavenger.