Are frequent dental x-ray examinations associated with increased risk of vestibular schwannoma?

Object: The authors evaluated the potential role of environmental risk factors, including exposure to diagnostic or therapeutic radiation and to wireless phones that emit nonionizing radiation, in the etiology of vestibular schwannoma (VS).

Methods: A total of 343 patients with VSs who underwent Gamma Knife surgery performed between 1997 and 2007 were age and sex matched to 343 control patients from the outpatient degenerative spinal disorders service at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. The authors obtained information on previous exposure to medical radiation, use of wireless phone technologies, and other environmental factors thought to be associated with the development of a VS.

Time Trends and Racial Differences in Female Breast Cancer Incidence in Pennsylvania, 1985-2004.

Differences in breast cancer incidence time trends can result from changes in ascertainment, new diagnostic codes, or possibly changes in underlying risk factors. Female breast cancer incidence data between 1985 and 2004 were obtained from the Pennsylvania Cancer Registry. Joinpoint regression was applied to characterize time trends of age-specific, race-specific, and histology-specific breast cancer incidence.

Increased urinary 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine excretion in long-distance bus drivers in Taiwan.

Professional bus drivers are exposed to environments containing air pollution and reactive oxygen species (ROS) that can induce cellular oxidative stress and DNA damage. This study investigated environmental factors associated with oxidative DNA damage in a cohort of long-distance bus drivers. In a comparison study, urinary 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), a biomarker of DNA oxidative damage, was examined in 120 male long-distance bus drivers and 58 male office workers in Taiwan.

The need to develop centers for environmental oncology.

The scale and scope of the cancer problem in the United States today is much greater than four decades ago when the formal war against the disease was first announced. Patterns of the disease are not fully explained by known risk factors. Much progress has been made in understanding the molecular basis of carcinogenesis, particularly the near consensus (realization) that virtually all cancers arise from an accumulation of genetic mutations and the more recent recognition of the role of inflammation and the tissue microenvironment, in particular for hormone-dependent cancers.

Personal care products that contain estrogens or xenoestrogens may increase breast cancer risk.

Established models of breast cancer risk, such as the Gail model, do not account for patterns of the disease in women under the age of 35, especially in African Americans. With the possible exceptions of ionizing radiation or inheriting a known genetic mutation, most of the known risk factors for breast cancer are related to cumulative lifetime exposure to estrogens. Increased risk of breast cancer has been associated with earlier onset of menses or later age at menopause, nulliparity or late first parity, use of hormonal contraceptives or hormone replacement therapy, shorter lactation history, exposure to light at night, obesity, and regular ingestion of alcohol, all of which increase circulating levels of unbound estradiol.

Metastatic lung disease to the central nervous system: in vitro response to chemotherapeutic agents.

Background: Metastatic lung disease to the central nervous system (CNS) comprises a significant percentage of cranial metastases. For those cases where chemotherapy may be of palliative or therapeutic benefit, in vitro chemoresponse testing may identify the agent(s) most likely to be effective clinically.

Methods: Tumor-derived cell cultures were established from 14 surgically excised lung lesions metastatic to the CNS.

Diversity oriented synthesis and branching reaction pathway to generate natural product-like compounds.

Combinatorial chemistry can be used to synthesize diversified molecules on a large scale. As with all large-scale experiments, this process requires a major investment in equipment, consumables and time. Therefore, careful design is critical.