Life Sciences & Biotechnology Update articles from July 1998

Life Sciences & Biotechnology Update archives from July 1998

PROGRAM TO ENHANCE POSITIVE REACTIONS TO BREAST CANCER RISK APPRAISAL STUDIES
July 1, 1998... Breast cancer screening is currently the most reasonable strategy for reducing the impact of breast cancer on women. This (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center) study seeks to: (1) assess the psychological distress of 350 women, ages 50 to 85,...

A PREDOCTORAL TRAINING PROGRAM IN THE BIOLOGY OF BREAST CANCER
July 1, 1998... This (Mayo Clinic) report concerns a predoctoral training program on the biology of breast cancer. The three campuses of the Mayo Graduate School provide an advanced clinical and research training environment for conducting an integrated...

A HUMAN MAMMARY CELL RESOURCE
July 1, 1998... This (University of California) report discusses the generation of a human mammary epithelial cell (HMEC) system for studies on normal and aberrant growth- control mechanisms. As part of the goal to facilitate widespread use of the HMEC, cells...

INCREASING ACCESS TO MODERN MILTIDISCIPLINARY BREAST CANCER CARE
July 1, 1998... The goal of this (Northwestern University) project, "Increasing Access to Modern Multidisciplinary Breast Cancer Care," is to increase the utilization of currently available technologies for the screening, diagnosis, and treatment of breast...

BLACK/WHITE RACIAL SURVIVAL DIFFERENCES INVOLVING BREAST CANCER
July 1, 1998... This (Yale University) work is a follow-up study of a cohort of African-American and Caucasian women who were diagnosed with breast cancer in the late 1980s. Its purpose is to examine race differences (black/white) in breast cancer survival. In...

GUIDELINES FOR CANCER RISK ASSESSMENTS
July 1, 1998... This (EPA) report concerns the Science Advisory Board's review of the latest EPA Guidelines for Cancer Risk Assessment. EPA first issued cancer guidelines in 1986; in April 1996, new draft guidelines were released. The Science Advisory Board's...

USING NEAR-INFRARED TIME-RESOLVED SPECTROPHOTOMETRY FOR EARLY DETECTION OF BREAST CANCER AND RECURRENCE
July 1, 1998... This (University of Pennsylvania) report concerns the early detection of breast cancer and recurrence using near-infrared time-resolved spectrophotometry. The techniques are employed to measure the optical absorption and scattering factors of...

COMPUTER-BASED SYSTEM THAT USES SUCCESSIVE MAMMOGRAM SCREENING IMAGES TO AUTOMATICALLY DETECT CHANGES INDICATIVE OF CANCER
July 1, 1998... This (Lehigh University) report describes a study aimed at developing a computer-based aid for mammogram screening that makes a detailed comparison between mammograms of the same patient acquired at different screenings and detects changes...

STEREOSCOPIC DIGITAL MAMMOGRAPHY TO IMPROVE BREAST CANCER DIAGNOSIS
July 1, 1998... This (BBN Systems and Technologies Corp.) document reports the development of a stereoscopic mammography system using state-of-the-art digital technology, that enables a mammographer to view the internal structure of the breast directly in depth....

COORDINATED STUDY OF BREAST CANCER DIGITAL MAMMOGRAPHY
July 1, 1998... This (Georgetown University) research consists of four separate but related grants, to address key components of a digital mammography system that includes: image data acquisition; image processing; image display; and communication. The report...

ADVANCED METHODS FOR COMPUTER-AIDED DIAGNOSIS OF LESIONS IN DIGITAL MAMMOGRAPHY
July 1, 1998... The objective of this (University of Chicago) research is to develop computer-aided diagnosis methods for use in mammography, in order to increase the diagnostic accuracy of radiologists. It involves developed advanced computerized schemes for...

OCCULT BONE MARROW MICROMETASTASIS: IDENTIFICATION OF PRIMARY TUMOR MARKERS
July 1, 1998... The presence of epithelial cells in the bone marrow has been found to be a good predictor of disease and relapse-free survival. The number of cancer cells in the marrow is insufficient for the pathologists to analyze them morphologically. The...

COLLABORATING WITH MANAGED CARE ORGANIZATIONS FOR MAMMOGRAPHY SCREENING AND RESCREENING
July 1, 1998... Clinical trials show that mammography screening among women aged 50-69 years can reduce mortality from breast cancer by as much as 30-40%. Thus, more complete mammography screening coverage is needed throughout the nation. This (Macro...

LIGAND-TRANSFORMED ALPHA-FETOPROTEIN FOR USE AGAINST BREAST CANCER IN HUMANS
July 1, 1998... This (Albany Medical College) report details a program showing that nanogram quantities of ligand-activated, and microgram quantities of unactivated, natural, and recombinant human AFP, inhibits the growth of estrogen-dependent MCF-7 human breast...

BREAST CANCER: RADIOLABELED LIGANDS AND ANTIBODIES, AND QUANTITATIVE PCR, AS NEW THERAPEUTIC APPROACHES AND PROGNOSTIC ASSAYS
July 1, 1998... The specific aims of this (Howard University) study are to develop highly sensitive PCR methods for rapid specific diagnosis of breast cancers, on the basis of their estrogen and progesterone receptor expression. The results that have been...

THE MECHANISMS AND PREVENTION OF INITIATION OF BREAST CANCER BY ENDOGENOUS ESTROGENS
July 1, 1998... This (New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center) report concerns the initiation of breast cancer by endogenous estrogens, the mechanisms, and prevention. Both endogenous and environmental factors are thought to contribute to cancer of the breast....

COMPARISON OF THE LONG-TERM OUTCOMES OF POST-MASTECTOMY BREAST RECONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES
July 1, 1998... This (University of Michigan) study is designed to compare the long-term outcomes of the most common techniques of post-mastectomy breast reconstruction: tissue expansion/breast implants; transverse rectus abdominis musculocutaneous (TRAM) flaps...

IN SITU BREAST CANCER GENETIC EPIDEMIOLOGY
July 1, 1998... This four-year (Yale University) project will define the risk factors associated with BCIS, through the mechanism of a case/control study. The study population will include approximately 800 cases of female breast carcinoma in situ, and 800...

THE RECEPTOR IN HUMAN BREAST CANCER: THE BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF HER-2/Neu GENE OVEREXPRESSION, AND AGONISTS AND ANTAGONISTS
July 1, 1998... The alteration of the HER-2/Neu gene has been shown to correlate with a poor prognosis in breast cancer patients whose tumors contain it. This (University of California) study indicates that it may play a role in the pathogenesis of the disease...

LOCALIZING MULTIPLE BREAST CANCER GENES USING STATISTICAL GENETIC METHODS
July 1, 1998... The first breast cancer gene, BRCA1, was localized in 1990. Now, a second breast cancer gene is known, on chromosome 13, yet many breast cancer families show absence of linkage to either of these genes. Investigators, therefore, are searching to...

USING GENETIC MARKERS TO CHARACTERIZE BREAST CANCER PROGRESSION
July 1, 1998... Genetic changes implicated in the etiology of breast cancer have been identified by the detection of loss of heterozygosity at specific loci. This (Armed Forces Institute of Pathology [AFIP]) study utilizes a series of genetic polymorphisms,...

THE ROLE OF GROWTH FACTORS IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF BREAST CANCER: MAP KINASE
July 1, 1998... Growth factors may play an important role in the pathogenesis of breast cancer; the MAP kinase pathway may be essential for transformation-caused growth factors. This (University of Texas Southwestern Medical School) study is designed to...

AMPHIPHYSIN AUTOIMMUNITY IN BREAST CANCER AND IN STIFF- MAN SYNDROME ASSOCIATED WITH BREAST CANCER
July 1, 1998... Amphiphysin, a neuronal protein first identified in chicken synaptic membranes, is the autoantigen of Stiff-Man Syndrome (SMS) associated with breast cancer. This (Yale University) report covers the second year of a fellowship program involving...

HEREGULIN-STIMULATED ACTIVATION OF THE NEW Neu/ERB2 TYROSINE KINASE AND ITS INVOLVEMENT IN BREAST CANCER
July 1, 1998... This (Cornell University) progress report describes work studying different aspects of the signaling pathways initiated by the EGF receptor and the related Neu/ErbB2 tyrosine kinase. It describes a novel mechanism for growth factor signaling,...

THE CLONING OF TWO NOVEL HUMAN GENES THAT INHIBIT CELL DEATH AND MAY THUS CONTRIBUTE TO BREAST CANCER
July 1, 1998... This (Burnham Institute) report concerns two novel human genes which have been cloned, that inhibit cell death and that, therefore, may contribute to breast cancer by preventing the normal cell turnover that is essential for keeping the overall...

THE ROLE OF HIGH-AFFINITY ONCOSTATIN M RECEPTOR IN BREAST CANCER CELL GROWTH
July 1, 1998... This (Veterans Administration Medical Center) report concerns a novel breast cancer specific gene, designated BCSGl, that was recently isolated from human breast cancer cDNA by the differential cDNA sequencing approach. The mRNA of BCSGl is...

DIFFERENTIAL PROTEIN EXPRESSION IN NORMAL AND NEOPLASTIC HUMAN BREAST CANCER EPITHELIAL CELL LINES
July 1, 1998... This (Argonne National Laboratory) report analyzes for different protein expression in normal and neoplastic human breast cancer epithelial cell lines. High resolution two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2DE), and database analysis, are used to...

RADON PROGENY AND LUNG CANCER RISK: A STUDY OF NEWFOUNDLAND FLUORSPAR MINERS
July 1, 1998... This report from Canada (Atomic Energy Control Board) details a cohort study of the mortality experience (during 1950-1990) of 1744 underground fluorspar miners and 321 millers or surface workers. Excess mortality among underground miners is...

IMPAIRMENT OF PULMONARY FUNCTIONS FOR SMOKERS, MEASURED AT HIGH ALTITUDES
July 1, 1998... This (Army Research Institute of Medicine) report measures pulmonary function at sea level (SL) and high-altitude, for a variety of clinical purposes. Quantitative pulmonary function tests, such as forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expired...

ATTACHMENT OF RADON-DAUGHTER PRODUCTS TO CIGARETTE- SMOKE AEROSOLS
July 1, 1998... The daughter products of radon gas are now recognized as a significant contributor to radiation exposure to the general public. It is also suspected that a synergistic effect exists with the combination of cigarette smoking and radon exposure....

TEENAGE SMOKING AND ITS EFFECTS
July 1, 1998... By the age of 18, one in three of our teenagers is using tobacco. In fact, studies show that almost all first use has occurred by high school graduation. Cigarette manufacturers are well aware that most of today's adult smokers began smoking as...

USING MAGNETOMETRY TO DETECT LUNG OVERLOAD
July 1, 1998... This (University of Rochester) report details the use of a magnetic test aerosol and a magnetomeric system, for the measurement of dust-clearance rates in rodents. Fischer-344 rats are exposed to micronized 1-5 micrometer diameter magnetite, and...

THE IMPORTANCE OF BRONCHIAL HYPERREACTIVITY IN GRAIN- DUST-INDUCED AIRWAY INFLAMMATION
July 1, 1998... This (University of Iowa) work concerns exposure studies performed on five subjects with bronchial hyperreactivity (BHR), in an effort to better understand the relative importance of BHR in the physiologic and inflammatory responses of the lung...

THE EFFECTS OF IONIZING RADIATION ON BLOOD AND ITS COMPONENTS
July 1, 1998... This translation from Austria (International Atomic Energy Agency) presents a comprehensive review of relevant literature on the effects of ionizing radiation on whole blood, blood cells, and other blood components. It presents sufficient...