© 2004 by Oxford University Press
© 2004 Oxford University Press
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In Brief
Researchers Find X-Linked Form of Fanconi Anemia
A new study has found that one of the 11 genes responsible for Fanconi anemia—a rare recessive genetic disorder associated with bone marrow failure, congenital defects, and increased cancer susceptibility—can be found on the X chromosome and is subject to X-chromosome inactivation. Previously, researchers had believed that the disease was not linked with either of the sex chromosomes.
In a study published October 24 in the Advanced Online Publication section of Nature Genetics, Hans Joenje, of the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and colleagues found that a protein that is defective in individuals with subcategory B Fanconi anemia (there are 11 subcategories, or complementation groups, of Fanconi anemia) is part of a DNA damage response pathway associated with both Fanconi anemia and breast cancer.
The gene responsible for this protein, the researchers discovered, is located on the X chromosome. Males who inherit the mutated form of this gene are at increased risk of Fanconi anemia and cancer. Females who inherit one mutated and one normal copy of the gene may also be at increased risk of cancer because of X-chromosome inactivation. Cells that express the mutant protein may be more prone to genomic instability and more likely to become cancerous.
See also News, Vol. 95, No. 16, p. 1190, "Fanconi Anemia Research Opens New Doors in Understanding of Cancer."
Growth Patterns in Early Life Influence Breast Cancer Risk, Study Finds
A new study concludes that birth weight and childhood and adolescent growth influence a woman's risk of breast cancer later in life.
In the October 14 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, Martin Ahlgren, M.D., of the Statens Serum Insitut in Copenhagen, Denmark, and colleagues investigated the association between childhood growth patterns and breast cancer risk in a cohort of more than 117,000 Danish women through the use of school records and national registries.
The researchers found that high birth weight, early age of peak growth, high height at age 14, low BMI at that same age, and high growth rate during childhood and particularly during puberty were all independent risk factors for breast cancer later in life. The underlying biological factors for these findings still need to be elucidated, the authors wrote.
Study Examines Racial Differences in Sexual, Urinary Function After Prostate Surgery
Five years after a prostate cancer diagnosis, black men who were treated with a prostatectomy had better sexual and urinary function than non-Hispanic white men, but they were more likely to be dissatisfied with problems related to their sexual function, according to a new study.
Using data from the Prostate Cancer Outcomes Study, a population-based cohort study that had surveyed prostate cancer patients at various intervals after diagnosis, Ann S. Hamilton, Ph.D., of the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine in Los Angeles, and colleagues investigated racial differences in functional outcomes after prostate cancer treatment with either prostatectomy or radiation therapy.
The researchers found no difference in urinary, bowel, or sexual function between racial groups among men who had been treated with radiation therapy. Among men who had been treated with prostatectomy, however, 5 years after diagnosis black men had better overall urinary and sexual function than non-Hispanic white men, but they reported more problems with sexual function. The study was published in the October 15 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
See related article from Prostate Cancer Outcomes Study, Vol. 96, No. 18, p. 1358.
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