[The presence of medications in the water cycle].

Medications and radiographic contrast dyes are sometimes detected in surface waters, ground water and drinking water; these have proven detrimental effects on organisms living in such waters The concentration of medications found in drinking water is at least a thousand times below their minimum therapeutic dosages. In humans, the long-term effects of daily exposure to low dosages of medications and 'mixture toxicity' is not known; based on the concentrations and substance toxicity, it is presumed that the risk is nil..

Optimal age to start preventive measures in women with BRCA1/2 mutations or high familial breast cancer risk.

Women from high-risk families consider preventive measures for breast cancer including screening. Guidelines on screening differ considerably regarding starting age. We investigated whether age at diagnosis in affected relatives is predictive for age at diagnosis.

BRCA1-associated breast cancers present differently from BRCA2-associated and familial cases: long-term follow-up of the Dutch MRISC Screening Study.

Purpose: The Dutch MRI Screening Study on early detection of hereditary breast cancer started in 1999. We evaluated the long-term results including separate analyses of BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers and first results on survival.

Patients And Methods: Women with higher than 15% cumulative lifetime risk (CLTR) of breast cancer were screened with biannual clinical breast examination and annual mammography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Prophylactic mastectomy in BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers: very low risk for subsequent breast cancer.

Aim: To examine the outcome of prophylactic mastectomy in a hospital-based series of BRCA1/2 gene mutation carriers with and without a history of breast cancer.

Patients And Methods: A center-based consecutive series of 254 BRCA1/2 gene mutation carriers that had prophylactic mastectomy after a normal surveillance round including breast-magnetic resonance imaging were identified. One hundred forty-seven asymptomatic carriers underwent bilateral mastectomy and 107 symptomatic women had contralateral mastectomy after a mean cancer free interval of 3.