Among the highlights in the September 1996 Cancer Watch issue are: Cancer and Mutated DNA in Blood, Childhood Leukemia and Chernobyl, Cancer of the Uterine Cervix: Treatment, Male Sexual Behavior and Cervical Cancer, DNA, The Master Molecule: The Coup de Grâce of Messenger RNA, Scientific Meeting Reports, Treatment of Solid Tumors by p53 Gene Transfer, Cervical Cancer Incidence and Mortality by Race/Ethnicity, The 20th Anniversary of the Great American Smokeout, Molecular Genetic Tests in Planning Surgery and Placental Blood Transplantation in Cancer Patients.

• The DNA released in the blood from cancer cells may serve as an important source to detect the disease and follow its progression. Genome alterations almost always occur in most cancers. Such modifications present in the microsatellite DNA, a region of DNA with repetitive sequence, are associated with many cancers. Currently available highly sensitive techniques can detect minute quantities of this DNA present in plasma, the cell-free component of blood.

• Childhood leukemia rates in Greece were studied to assess effects of nuclear fallout from the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in 1986. Infants aged up to one year old who were exposed in utero to Chernobyl irradiation were found to have a 2.6-fold increase in leukemia compared to children born earlier or later. The results indicate a specific effect on the fetus from environmental irradiation.

• Standard treatment for cervical cancer is surgery or radiation therapy or a combination of these depending upon the extent of the disease. Chemotherapeutic agents, though sometimes produce initial response, are not very effective in reducing relapse rate or improving survival. Several new agents are currently under investigation.

• Human papillomavirus, which is known to be a risk factor for cervical cancer, may be transmitted to monogamous women through sexual contact with sexually promiscuous partners.

• The genes, which initiate the preliminary reactions that lead to the ruin of mRNA by nucleases have been discovered. This provides another modality for scientists to develop new drugs based on natural processes to contain a disease by destroying the mRNA of disease genes.

• Duration of Tamoxifen Therapy Still not Answered; Most Breakthrough Pain Agents are too Slow

• Functioning tumor suppressor gene p53 was directly introduced into tumors of lung cancer patients whose conventional treatment failed. Though the patients did not survive, the research results are encouraging.

• Ethnic patterns for cancer of the cervix uteri in U.S. women are quite different from those for any other female reproductive system cancer. The highest incidence is among Vietnamese women, with a rate more than seven times that of Japanese women, who have the lowest incidence. Among groups for whom mortality rates are available, black women have the highest rate followed by Hispanic women. The major risk factor for the disease is infection with certain types of human papillomaviruses. Death from cervical cancer can be prevented through screening with the Pap test.

• November 21st will mark the 20th anniversary of the American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout. For two decades, the staff and volunteers of the American Cancer Society have used this day to help smokers quit smoking for at least one day.

• By detecting the location of mutation in the gene responsible for the development of familial adenomatous polyposis a specific surgical choice, beneficial for the patients in long run, could be made.

• Placental blood may be a convenient alternative source of stem cells to treat cancer patients. Because of the low immunogenic property of the immature T lymphocytes of the cord blood, there is less chance of graft-versus-host disease which is a problem in unmatched bone marrow transplant therapy.

• A glossary of unfamiliar words and jargons in Cancer Watch, September 1996.