- Email: [email protected]
European Institute of Oncology opens
about
aetiology and despite present treatsaid Peter Boyle (Milan). An "oncological time-bomb is ticking MDM2, GADD45, and WAF1 are candiaway", he added, "as the post-World War date genes implicated in, respectively, Li- Two baby-boom reaches age 50 by the Fraumeni syndrome, sarcoma, ataxia year 2000". Above aged 50, cancer telangiectasia, and cell-cycle regulation. becomes increasingly prevalent. By the
European Institute of Oncology opens In just twenty-six months, the European Institute of Oncology in Milan has been built and commissioned, and was formally opened on May 30. With 140 inpatient and 16 day-case rooms, and a chemotherapy suite, the institute offers advanced diagnostic and treatment facilities in an integrated programme of care and research. Private and health-service patients can attend, and the expected catchment area is southern Europe. The institute aims to have a permanent international staff (100 doctors and scientists, and 200 nursing and technical staff), and to work with existing European and other centres. It will be a comprehensive cancer centre, combining clinical research and treatment with diagnosis, prevention, training, and epidemiology. A unique feature is the funding and management style. The institute is funded privately (it cost 110 billion lire to build and equip) by donations from Italian banks, insurance companies, and industries. However, the institute remains a
Chromosome
ment successes,
are also translocation
translocations
important. t(15;17) is in acute occurring leukaemia, and leads
to
a
promyelocytic the expression of
year
2020, there would be about 630 000
of cancer in men in Europe, an increase from about 420 000 in the 1990s. Such absolute numbers have implications for planning treatment needs, the number of hospitals and oncologists, and the costs of health services. Of the 80-90% of human cancers that are avoidable, tobacco accounted for about 30%, alcohol for about 30%, and diet for about 35% (but with wide confidence limits for diet). Occupation, pollution, and geographical factors accounted for 3-4%, and infections for 10%. The new tobacco epidemic is in China and the former Eastern bloc countries. New directions for epicases
demiology
must
concentrate
on
pre-
ventable causes of cancer, stressed Boyle. The new European Institute of Oncology Colorectal cancer may prove to be the a PML/RARa fusion protein in all acute first target, because of the increasing evidence that vitamins E and C, folate, ’, promyelocytic leukaemia cell lines. The non-profit-making organisation, declaring protein blocks cell maturation, and carotenoids, and low-dose aspirin may that any financial excess will be re-invest- retinoic acid derivatives act by inducing have chemopreventive roles. In addition, ed in the institute. Business management differentiation. Pelicci concluded that faecal occult blood screening and flexible ensuring genomic stability and regulation sigmoidoscopy (with removal of any techniques will ensure efficiency and flexiof common pathways that signal growth, polyps) may reduce incidence. bility, avoiding the bureaucracy of tradidifferentiation, and cell survival are the The new European Code against Cantionally funded hospitals and research molecular mechanisms amenable to cer (colloquially called the ten commandcentres. Health services in other European countries will be watching this experiment manipulation in terms of prevention and ments) is due for revision, which will be : ratified in November. The present code in "social medicine". : treatment. Silvio Garattini (Milan) detailed five has stood the test of time. But the message On the second day of its inauguration,: the Institute of European Oncology host- classes of preclinical drugs: resistance about tobacco must be driven home (do ed a scientific meeting about the integrarevertants (eg, verapamil derivatives that not smoke, stop now, do not expose othtion of scientific and clinical research and antagonise the P-gp pump in resistant ers to your smoke), with the added warncare. Loss of cell-cycle control is the cntitumour cells), anti-metastatic agents ing to young people not to experiment cal event in neoplastic transformation, (invasion inhibitory factor-2 from bovine with smoking. The message about drinkemphasised Pier Pelicci (Perugia). The liver that blocks colon cancer spread), ing alcohol is not so clear-cut, because difmolecular events leading to such loss are angio-inhibins (2-methoxyoestradiol, batiferent countries have different rates of being unfolded, and Pelicci outlined the mastat, and fumagillin analogues), differalchol-related cancers. The new code will Shc/Crb2/SOS/pl40 signalling pathway .,’ entiating agents (retinoic acid and probably contain appendices to guide docthat links external signals (such as growth deltanoids), and chemopreventive agents tors and other advisers about "safe" levels factors) with intracellular tyrosine kinases (eg, dietary components such as indole-3of drinking. Other parts of the code will at the cell membrane and serine kinases, carbinol, d-limonene, and flavonoids). His probably alter little, except for advice via RAS proteins. About one-third of hope is that such classes of drug will soon .,’ about the need for physical activity and human tumours have mutated RAS and lead to early clinical trials at the new limiting calorific intake from fats. another third have activated Sch. Normal institute. : cells may contain genes whose function is Cancer incidence and mortality continto modulate genomic stability, and p53, : ue to increase, despite existing knowledge David McNamee
News in brief Restoring sight in India The World Bank has announced a US$117 million loan for cataract surgery in India, to help reduce the country’s prevalence of blindness from 1-3 per 1000 now (one of the highest in the world) to 0-3 per million within 6 years. The operations will be done at hundreds of eye camps in seven of the countries poorer states.
in New York City was announced last week at a meeting attended by First Lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton. The private research foundation will provide a focus for basic science and clinical research into dementia.
University
Liberal/Christian
Democrats
coalition. of Social Democrats in the Federal Council will oppose the law.
However, it is certain that
most
role for nurses Health authorities in New South Wales, Australia, have announced a pilot project under which nurses will perform tasks until now the preserve of hospital doctors. Supervised by doctors, nurses will soon be
Expanded
New German abortion law One year after Germany’s constitutional court’s decision to abandon the law passed by parliament, a new law has been introduced. It states that women will not be prosecuted if suturing wounds, making pathology Research strategy for Alzheimer’s disease : they have an abortion in the first three requests, prescribing some drugs, and be A$5 million donation to support research months of pregnancy. This law has been directly involved in the management of into Alzheimer’s disease at Rockefeller passed by the majority of the some common conditions.
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aetiology and despite present treatsaid Peter Boyle (Milan). An "oncological time-bomb is ticking MDM2, GADD45, and WAF1 are candiaway", he added, "as the post-World War date genes implicated in, respectively, Li- Two baby-boom reaches age 50 by the Fraumeni syndrome, sarcoma, ataxia year 2000". Above aged 50, cancer telangiectasia, and cell-cycle regulation. becomes increasingly prevalent. By the
European Institute of Oncology opens In just twenty-six months, the European Institute of Oncology in Milan has been built and commissioned, and was formally opened on May 30. With 140 inpatient and 16 day-case rooms, and a chemotherapy suite, the institute offers advanced diagnostic and treatment facilities in an integrated programme of care and research. Private and health-service patients can attend, and the expected catchment area is southern Europe. The institute aims to have a permanent international staff (100 doctors and scientists, and 200 nursing and technical staff), and to work with existing European and other centres. It will be a comprehensive cancer centre, combining clinical research and treatment with diagnosis, prevention, training, and epidemiology. A unique feature is the funding and management style. The institute is funded privately (it cost 110 billion lire to build and equip) by donations from Italian banks, insurance companies, and industries. However, the institute remains a
Chromosome
ment successes,
are also translocation
translocations
important. t(15;17) is in acute occurring leukaemia, and leads
to
a
promyelocytic the expression of
year
2020, there would be about 630 000
of cancer in men in Europe, an increase from about 420 000 in the 1990s. Such absolute numbers have implications for planning treatment needs, the number of hospitals and oncologists, and the costs of health services. Of the 80-90% of human cancers that are avoidable, tobacco accounted for about 30%, alcohol for about 30%, and diet for about 35% (but with wide confidence limits for diet). Occupation, pollution, and geographical factors accounted for 3-4%, and infections for 10%. The new tobacco epidemic is in China and the former Eastern bloc countries. New directions for epicases
demiology
must
concentrate
on
pre-
ventable causes of cancer, stressed Boyle. The new European Institute of Oncology Colorectal cancer may prove to be the a PML/RARa fusion protein in all acute first target, because of the increasing evidence that vitamins E and C, folate, ’, promyelocytic leukaemia cell lines. The non-profit-making organisation, declaring protein blocks cell maturation, and carotenoids, and low-dose aspirin may that any financial excess will be re-invest- retinoic acid derivatives act by inducing have chemopreventive roles. In addition, ed in the institute. Business management differentiation. Pelicci concluded that faecal occult blood screening and flexible ensuring genomic stability and regulation sigmoidoscopy (with removal of any techniques will ensure efficiency and flexiof common pathways that signal growth, polyps) may reduce incidence. bility, avoiding the bureaucracy of tradidifferentiation, and cell survival are the The new European Code against Cantionally funded hospitals and research molecular mechanisms amenable to cer (colloquially called the ten commandcentres. Health services in other European countries will be watching this experiment manipulation in terms of prevention and ments) is due for revision, which will be : ratified in November. The present code in "social medicine". : treatment. Silvio Garattini (Milan) detailed five has stood the test of time. But the message On the second day of its inauguration,: the Institute of European Oncology host- classes of preclinical drugs: resistance about tobacco must be driven home (do ed a scientific meeting about the integrarevertants (eg, verapamil derivatives that not smoke, stop now, do not expose othtion of scientific and clinical research and antagonise the P-gp pump in resistant ers to your smoke), with the added warncare. Loss of cell-cycle control is the cntitumour cells), anti-metastatic agents ing to young people not to experiment cal event in neoplastic transformation, (invasion inhibitory factor-2 from bovine with smoking. The message about drinkemphasised Pier Pelicci (Perugia). The liver that blocks colon cancer spread), ing alcohol is not so clear-cut, because difmolecular events leading to such loss are angio-inhibins (2-methoxyoestradiol, batiferent countries have different rates of being unfolded, and Pelicci outlined the mastat, and fumagillin analogues), differalchol-related cancers. The new code will Shc/Crb2/SOS/pl40 signalling pathway .,’ entiating agents (retinoic acid and probably contain appendices to guide docthat links external signals (such as growth deltanoids), and chemopreventive agents tors and other advisers about "safe" levels factors) with intracellular tyrosine kinases (eg, dietary components such as indole-3of drinking. Other parts of the code will at the cell membrane and serine kinases, carbinol, d-limonene, and flavonoids). His probably alter little, except for advice via RAS proteins. About one-third of hope is that such classes of drug will soon .,’ about the need for physical activity and human tumours have mutated RAS and lead to early clinical trials at the new limiting calorific intake from fats. another third have activated Sch. Normal institute. : cells may contain genes whose function is Cancer incidence and mortality continto modulate genomic stability, and p53, : ue to increase, despite existing knowledge David McNamee
News in brief Restoring sight in India The World Bank has announced a US$117 million loan for cataract surgery in India, to help reduce the country’s prevalence of blindness from 1-3 per 1000 now (one of the highest in the world) to 0-3 per million within 6 years. The operations will be done at hundreds of eye camps in seven of the countries poorer states.
in New York City was announced last week at a meeting attended by First Lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton. The private research foundation will provide a focus for basic science and clinical research into dementia.
University
Liberal/Christian
Democrats
coalition. of Social Democrats in the Federal Council will oppose the law.
However, it is certain that
most
role for nurses Health authorities in New South Wales, Australia, have announced a pilot project under which nurses will perform tasks until now the preserve of hospital doctors. Supervised by doctors, nurses will soon be
Expanded
New German abortion law One year after Germany’s constitutional court’s decision to abandon the law passed by parliament, a new law has been introduced. It states that women will not be prosecuted if suturing wounds, making pathology Research strategy for Alzheimer’s disease : they have an abortion in the first three requests, prescribing some drugs, and be A$5 million donation to support research months of pregnancy. This law has been directly involved in the management of into Alzheimer’s disease at Rockefeller passed by the majority of the some common conditions.
1424