Cancer incidence in Karachi, Pakistan: first results from Karachi Cancer Registry.

No cancer incidence data from Pakistan have been published in the 5 decades since independence. Incidence data for the period 1995-1997 from the population of the Karachi South district (1.7 million) are presented here.

Early findings from a community-based, cluster-randomized, controlled oral cancer screening trial in Kerala, India. The Trivandrum Oral Cancer Screening Study Group.

Background: Oral cancer satisfies the criteria for a suitable disease for screening, and oral visual inspection is a suitable test for oral cancer screening. The efficacy of screening in reducing mortality from oral cancer has not yet been evaluated. The authors describe a cluster-randomized, controlled oral cancer screening trial in southern India and its early results.

Aminoacylation at the Atomic Level in Class IIa Aminoacyl-tRNA Synthetases.

Abstract The crystal structures of histidyl- (HisRS) and threonyl-tRNA synthetase (ThrRS) from E. coli and glycyl-tRNA synthetase (GlyRS) from T. thermophilus, all homodimeric class IIa enzymes, were determined in enzyme-substrate and enzyme-product states corresponding to the two steps of aminoacylation.

Trends in survival rates of cancer in Cuba.

Reports of population-based survival rates of cancer from developing countries are infrequent. In Latin America, only the Cancer Registry of Puerto Rico has published population-based survival data. The National Cancer Registry of Cuba has achieved three survival studies with cases incident in 1976, 1982 and 1988-1989.

The structure of threonyl-tRNA synthetase-tRNA(Thr) complex enlightens its repressor activity and reveals an essential zinc ion in the active site.

E. coli threonyl-tRNA synthetase (ThrRS) is a class II enzyme that represses the translation of its own mRNA. We report the crystal structure at 2.

Head and neck cancer: a global perspective on epidemiology and prognosis.

Head and neck cancers (ICD-9 categories 140-149 and 161) are common in several regions of the world where tobacco use and alcohol consumption is high. The age standardized incidence rate of head and neck cancer (around 1990) in males exceeds 30/100, 000 in regions of France, Hong Kong, the Indian sub-continent, Central and Eastern Europe, Spain, Italy, Brazil, and among US blacks. High rates (> 10/100,000) in females are found in the Indian sub-continent, Hong Kong and Philippines.

Visual inspection of the uterine cervix after the application of acetic acid in the detection of cervical carcinoma and its precursors.

Background: Organized cervical cytology screening programs are not feasible in many developing countries where cervical carcinoma is an important cause of mortality among adult women. This study compared visual inspection of the cervix after application of 3-4% acetic acid (VIA, or cervicoscopy) with cytology as methods for the detection of cervical carcinoma and its precursors.

Methods: Three thousand women were examined by both VIA and cytology.

Carbohydrate specificity and quaternary association in basic winged bean lectin: X-ray analysis of the lectin at 2.5 A resolution.

The structure of basic Winged Bean Agglutinin (WBAI) with two dimeric molecules complexed with methyl-alpha-D-galactopyranoside in the asymmetric unit, has been determined by the molecular replacement method and refined with 2.5 A X-ray intensity data. The polypeptide chain of each monomer has the characteristic legume lectin tertiary fold.

Chemoprevention of oral leukoplakia with vitamin A and beta carotene: an assessment.

We conducted a double-blind placebo-controlled trial to evaluate the chemopreventive potential of either vitamin A alone or beta carotene alone in subjects with oral leukoplakia in Kerala, India. We randomised 160 fishermen and women with oral precancerous lesions to receive oral vitamin A (retinyl acetate 300,000 IU/week x 12 months, n = 50), or beta carotene (360 mg/week x 12 months, n = 55), or placebo (n = 55). Blood, saliva and urine samples were collected at baseline and at exit to study serum micronutrients and mutagenicity assays.

Health care auxiliaries in the detection and prevention of oral cancer.

Oral cancer is one among the few human cancers with a vast potential for prevention. One of the operational strategies considered to translate preventive measures into practice in developing countries has been the use of community health workers and other health auxiliaries of the primary health care system to disseminate anti-tobacco health education messages and to provide mouth examinations in high-risk individuals during their routine home visits and community meetings. Studies conducted in India and Sri Lanka to address the role of the above approach indicate that it is feasible to train community health workers and other health auxiliaries in primary prevention and early detection of oral cancer and precancerous lesions.

Radiotherapy in the treatment of verrucous carcinoma of the oral cavity.

Verrucous carcinomas are considered to have poor radioresponsiveness and radiotherapy has been reported to induce anaplastic transformation. Surgery has been considered to be the primary mode of treatment for these tumours. The clinical features, response to radiotherapy, survival and prognostic factors of a group of 53 patients with oral verrucous cancers, were studied and compared to patients with oral well-differentiated, squamous cancers, treated during the same time period.

Reproducibility and validity of oral visual inspection by trained health workers in the detection of oral precancer and cancer.

A randomized intervention trial is in progress in Kerala, India, to evaluate the effectiveness of oral visual inspection by trained health workers (HWs) in the prevention of oral cancer. Fourteen health workers with college graduation as the basic qualification were trained in oral visual inspection to identify oral cancers and precancers among the participants of the screening trial and to refer them for further confirmation and management. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the reproducibility and validity of the screening test provided by the health worker against the reference oral visual findings of three physicians.

A population-based survival study on female breast cancer in Madras, India.

Breast cancer is the second most common cancer among women in Madras and southern India after cervix cancer. The Madras Metropolitan Tumour Registry (MMTR), a population-based cancer registry, collects data on the outcome of cancer diagnosis by both active and passive methods. A total of 2080 cases of invasive female breast cancer were registered in MMTR during 1982-89.

Evaluation of visual inspection as a screening test for cervical cancer.

Visual inspection of the uterine cervix by paramedical personnel has been proposed for the early detection of cervical cancer, as an alternative to routine cytology screening in developing countries. We evaluated the performance of this procedure in detecting precursor lesions and cancer in a study involving 2843 married women in Kerala, India. Two thresholds were used to define a positive test.

Evaluation of multiple micronutrient supplementation in the management of oral submucous fibrosis in Karachi, Pakistan.

Oral submucous fibrosis (OSF) is an oral precancerous condition characterized by symptoms such as intolerance to spicy food, altered salivation, progressive difficulty in opening the mouth, and signs like vesiculation, ulceration, blanching, rigidity, and stiffening of the oral mucosa and depapillation and altered mobility of the tongue. It is seen mostly among people of Indian subcontinent origin. The major structural change is extensive fibroelastic scarring of the lamina propria and deeper connective tissues.

Global variations in cancer survival. Study Group on Cancer Survival in Developing Countries.

Population-based cancer registries from Algeria, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, India, the Philippines, and Thailand are collaborating with the International Agency for Research on Cancer in a study of cancer survival in developing countries. Comparisons with the SEER program results of the National Cancer Institute in the United States, and the EUROCARE study of survival in European countries revealed considerable differences in the survival of patients with certain tumors associated with intensive chemotherapeutic treatment regimes (Hodgkin's disease and testicular tumors), more modest differences in the survival of patients with tumors for which early diagnosis and treatment confer an improved prognosis (carcinomas of the large bowel, breast, and cervix), and only slight differences for tumors associated with poor prognosis (carcinomas of the stomach, pancreas, and lung). With limited resources to meet the challenge of the increasing incidence of cancer expected in the next few decades, health authorities in developing countries should be aware of the importance of investing in a range of cancer control activities, including primary prevention and early detection programs as well as treatment.

Early detection of cervical cancer by visual inspection: a population-based study in rural India.

A total of 3784 women aged 35 and above living in 26 villages in rural Maharashtra state, India, were invited to undergo a pelvic examination, to evaluate the performance of unaided visual inspection by trained paramedical workers in detecting cervical cancer. Of this number, 2135 (56.4%) women complied with the invitation.

Efficacy of vitamin A in the prevention of loco-regional recurrence and second primaries in head and neck cancer.

Chemoprevention with retinoids is currently an experimental approach to prevent local relapses and second primaries in treated head and neck cancer patients. We evaluated the effectiveness of vitamin A in preventing the above events in a randomised trial involving 106 head and neck cancer patients who had achieved complete regression of their disease with radiotherapy and/or surgery. They were randomised to receive retinyl palmitate (200,000 IU per week for 1 year) or placebo.

Cancer in Gabon, 1984-1993: a pathology registry based relative frequency study.

A pathology based cancer registry was established in 1977 in the pathology department of the faculty of health sciences of the University of Omar Bongo in Librevile, Gabon, which is the only pathology service catering to the needs of the population of approximately 1 million of Gabon. Analysis of the histologically diagnosed cancers during 1984 through 1993 revealed 1,367 male and 1,235 female cases. The leading sites in males were: skin (11.