[Breast cancer survival after 10 years of follow up, in Granada and Almeria Spanish Provinces].

Background: To describe the overall and disease-free survival at five and ten years after breast cancer diagnosis in women from a previous case-control study, and establish related prognostic factors.

Methods: We followed up 202 patients diagnosed between 1996 and 1998 in three public hospitals in Granada and Almeria provinces in Spain. Survival rates were calculated using the Kaplan and Meier method, and the Cox proportional hazards model was applied to identify the most significant variables contributing to survival.

Endocrine disrupting chemicals: harmful substances and how to test them.

This paper presents an analysis of the opinions of different groups from: scientists, international regulatory bodies, non-governmental organizations and industry; with an interest in the problem of identifying chemical substances with endocrine disrupting activity. There is also discussion of the consequences that exposure to endocrine disruptors may have for human health, considering concrete issues related to: the estimation of risk; the tests that must be used to detect endocrine disruption; the difficulties to establish an association between dose, time of exposure, individual susceptibility, and effect; and the attempts to create a census of endocrine disruptors. Finally, it is proposed that not all hormonal mimics should be included under the single generic denomination of endocrine disruptors.