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Background: Oestrogens play a crucial role in breast carcinogenesis. Earlier studies have analysed the serum levels of endogenous hormones measured by conventional assays. In this study, we analysed the capacity of serum from breast cancer cases and controls to transactivate the oestrogen receptor alpha (ER-alpha) and beta (ER-beta).Methods: We used a receptor oestrogen-responsive element (ERE) -- the green fluorescent protein (GFP)-reporter test system in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Oestrogen receptor-alpha or ER-beta bioactivity was determined in serum from 182 randomly chosen postmenopausal women with breast cancer and from 188 age-matched controls.Results: High serum ER-alpha and ER-beta bioactivity were independently associated with the presence of breast cancer. Women whose levels of serum ER-alpha and ER-beta bioactivity were in the highest quintile among controls had a 7.57-(95% confidence interval (CI): 2.46-23.32; P=0.0004) and a 10.14 (95% CI: 3.19-32.23; P<0.0001)-fold risk for general and oestrogen receptor-positive breast cancer, respectively.Conclusion: The use of serum ER-alpha and ER-beta bioactivity assays as clinical tools in the management of breast cancer warrants further research. Future studies will dictate whether surrogate markers of ER-alpha and ER-beta bioactivity will provide a means to monitor the efficacy of anti-endocrine, adjuvant and chemopreventive strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Der Onkologe is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Stool testing based on tumour-derived markers might offer a promising approach for non-invasive colorectal cancer (CRC) screening. The aim of this study was to estimate the potential of a new test for faecal tumour M2-PK to discriminate patients with CRC from a large sample of unselected older adults. Faecal tumour M2-PK concentrations were determined in 65 CRC patients and in a population-based sample of 917 older adults (median age: 65 and 62 years, respectively). Sensitivity and specificity of the test were calculated at different cutoff values, and receiver-operating characteristic curves (ROC) were constructed to visualise the discriminatory power of the test. The median (interquartile range) faecal tumour M2-PK concentration was 8.6 U ml−1 (2.8–18.0) among CRC patients and <2 U ml−1 (<2–3.2; P<0.0001) in the population sample. At a cutoff value of 4 U ml−1, sensitivity (95% confidence interval) was 85% (65–96%) for colon cancer and 56% (41–74%) for rectum cancer. Specificity (95% confidence interval) was estimated to be 79% (76–81%). Given the comparatively high sensitivity of the tumour M2-PK stool test (especially for colon cancer) and its simple analysis, the potential use of the test for early detection of CRC merits further investigation. Possibilities to enhance specificity of the test should be explored.British Journal of Cancer (2007) 96, 1329–1334. doi:10.1038/sj.bjc.6603712 www.bjcancer.com Published online 3 April 2007 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analysed incidence data of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the skin from the Cancer Registry Saarland, Germany. During 1995-1999, the age-standardised incidence rates (world standard population) of BCC and SCC were 43.7 and 11.2 per 100?000 among men and 31.7 and 4.4 per 100?000 among women.British Journal of Cancer (2003) 89, 1205-1208. doi:10.1038/sj.bjc.6601294 www.bjcancer.com [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early diagnosis is a tenet in oncology and should enable early treatment with the expectation of improved outcome. Extent and determinants of patient delay of diagnosis in breast cancer patients and its impact on stage of disease were examined in a population based study among female breast cancer patients in Germany. Two hundred and eighty-seven women, aged 18 to 80 years with newly diagnosed invasive symptomatic breast cancer, were interviewed with respect to the diagnostic process. Patient delay was defined as time from onset of first symptoms to first consultation of a doctor. Median patient delay was 16 days among symptomatic patients. Eighteen per cent of all breast cancer patients waited longer than 3 months before consulting a physician. Long patient delay was associated with old age, history of a benign mastopathy, obesity, and indices of health behaviour such as not knowing a gynaecologist for out-patient care and non-participation in general health screening examinations. A strong association between patient delay and stage at diagnosis was observed for poorly differentiated tumours. These results suggest that at risk groups for delaying consultation can be identified and that a substantial proportion of late stage diagnoses of poorly differentiated breast cancer cases could be avoided if all patients with breast cancer symptoms would present to a doctor within 1 month. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several studies have suggested that incidence and mortality of colorectal cancer (CRC) may be strongly reduced for up to 10 years by endoscopic screening with removal of precancerous lesions, but so far there are no data on risk reduction beyond this period. We assessed long-term reduction of CRC risk following screening endoscopy in a statewide population-based case-control study in Saarland, Germany. Lifetime history of screening endoscopy was compared between 320 cases with CRC aged 45-80 and 263 controls with other forms of cancer recruited from the same population. Potential confounding factors were controlled for by multiple logistic regression. 11% of cases compared to 27% of controls had a history of endoscopy for screening purposes (adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 0.28, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.16-0.48). This strong risk reduction was also seen (OR = 0.41, 95% CI: 0.19-0.89) in subjects who had their last screening endoscopy more than 10 years ago (median: 18.9 years). Long term (> 10 years since last screening) risk reduction appeared to be particularly strong for advanced (Dukes C or D) CRC (OR = 0.19, 95% CI: 0.06-0.64). We conclude that risk reduction by screening endoscopy is long lasting, in particular with respect to advanced CRC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the first population-based analysis of certain epidemiologic features of primary malignancies of the small intestine in Germany, we used data from the Saarland Cancer Registry (1982-1993) and from the former National Cancer Registry of the German Democratic Republic (1976-1989). The age-standardized incidence rates for ages 0-74 years is 3.3-6.2 per million per year. The average incidence rates of the federal state Saarland are for men about 1.3 times and for women about 1.4 times the rate of the former German Democratic Republic. After the age of 30 years, the incidence rates increased with increasing age. Incidence rates for carcinoids levelled off after the age of 54 years. Rates for men were 35-40% higher than for women after adjusting for age. The risk for carcinomas, malignant carcinoids and malignant lymphoma were higher for men than for women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Social & Preventive Medicine is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)