Among the highlights in the Jan. 1998 Cancer Watch issue are: Angiogenesis is a Formidable Marker for Ovarian Cancer, Lactation in Relation to Breast Cancer Risk, Skin Cancer Increases Incidence of Other Cancers, Herpavirus Stimulates Angiogenesis, Genti(cal) Correctness, Cell Cycle Arrest and Induction of Apoptosis by Green Tea, Controversy Surrounds Tamoxifen in Breast Cancer Prevention Trial, Hormone Replacement Therapy – Good or Evil?, DNA, The Master Molecule On the Road to Drug Design to Switch Off Disease-Causing Genes, Heavy Ions to Treat Cancer, Novel Concepts to Medical Breakthroughs, Are Antioxidants Good for You ?, Designer Estrogens, Shared Cancer Risk Among Fraternal Twins, The Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor in Node-Negative Breast Cancer: Prognostic Significance.

• Angiogenesis is a Formidable Marker for Ovarian Cancer
• Lactation in Relation to Breast Cancer Risk
• Skin Cancer Increases Incidence of Other Cancers
• Herpavirus Stimulates Angiogenesis
• Genti(cal) Correctness

• Polyphenol compounds present in green tea may protect against cancer by causing cell cycle arrest and inducing apoptosis.

• Although Breast Cancer Prevention Trial (BCPT) is in progress, expert remain divided over the safety of prophylactic use of tamoxifen. Tamoxifen does have benefits in breast cancer patients but for chemoprevention in healthy women one should be concerned about the drug's adverse side effects, including: tumor promotion in some breast cancers, elevated risk of endometrial cancer, and clot formation in heart vessels, reduction in bone density in premenopausal women and elevated bone fracture rates on long-term follow up. Proponents and opponents are very strong in supporting their evidence. New drugs are being investigated that will have beneficial effects like tamoxifen without the adverse side effects. Toremifen (Fareston, Schering-Plough) which is recently approved by FDA may be promising.

• For the better part of half a century, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in women (and in men) has been envisaged as a fountain of youth – not eternal youth, but at least postponing the process of aging. Advances in public health and the general life conditions keep increasing life expectancy. Today, this increase is not the result from statistically averaging the drop in infant mortality; lifespan is expanding in real terms and as of now, the average North American woman will be post-menopausal for about a third of her life. With our hedonistic lifestyle, we are also increasingly concerned with the quality of life, not just with the number of years lived inactively. The aging process however is inexorable (a cliché maybe, but true, nevertheless). The decline and eventual failure to produce adequate amounts of steroids (which is more and sooner expressed in women) has – among many others – well-known deleterious effects on the bone mass and the deposition of lipids in the vessels. Apart from psychosomatic problems in the menopause, these two are the main factors which influence the quality and length of life in aging women. It seemed that replacement by minute amounts of steroids would take care of these problems; however, since one can not ignore the Nemesis of gynecological malignancies, HRT has become a decision which requires careful waging of the risk-benefit ratio.

• Synthetic small proteinlike molecules have been shown to penetrate cells, find and bind target genes, and then shut down the machinery.

• Carbon-12 ion beam can be focused very precisely on tumor site with greater energy than X-ray and this discovery opens up a modality to treat certain cancers without causing much damage to the surrounding healthy tissues. This is a very expensive procedure.

• The adjunct administration of histamine hydrochloride, in concert with interleukin-2 (IL-2) immunotherapy, has been shown to markedly enhance the treatment of patients with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), protecting against relapse and prolonging survival. Recombinant human keratinocyte growth factor (rHuKGF), a recombinant form of the naturally occurring growth factor that stimulates the growth of cells in the lining of the gastrointestinal tract, may be a potential treatment for the reduction of mucositis (inflammation of membranes) resulting from chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy. A novel erythropoiesis stimulating protein (NESP) has been identified that has been shown to have higher in vivo biological activity in stimulating red cell growth than the standard recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO). The new protein is an analogue of rHuEPO containing more carbohydrate molecules.

• The complexity of influences from the individual genetic make-up, long-term environmental factors and the variability of food intake make it virtually impossible to single out a "good" nutrient. The primary mechanisms of chemoprevention by antioxidants is thought to be through reduction of DNA-damaging free radicals. Recently, experimental studies have suggested that antioxidants can directly increase tumor cell apoptosis and certain compounds have been found to enhance the cytotoxic effect of commonly used agents such as 5-fluorouracil and doxorubicin. However, the mechanisms may be complex and may depend on presence or absence of some cellular factors.

• Long-term estrogen replacement therapy that prevents osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease in postmenopausal women may increase the risk of breast and endometrium cancer. Raloxifene, an analogue of tamoxifen, however, is reported to have beneficial effect on bone and heart without the risk.

• Breast and testicular cancer risk is found to be elevated in same-sex twins, if one of the them is diagnosed with the cancer at an early age.

• Vascular endothelial growth factor produced by tumors with very active new blood vessel formation (angiogenesis) could be used as an independent prognostic indicator in node-negative breast cancer. In patients whose tumor contained very high level of this growth factor, showed poor prognosis. Anticancer strategy could be developed to block the effect of this growth factor in stimulating new blood vessel formation.

Glossary

• A glossary of unfamiliar words and jargons in Cancer Watch, January 1998.