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Can a company use worker diversity to its financial and societal advantage? This author tells how one company managed diversity to help capture an important market - and changed an [...]

All 62 coding exons of the ATM gene, along with 10–20 bases of the intronic region flanking each exon, were screened for DNA base sequence alterations by using denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC) in a series of 52 breast cancer patients. Six (12%) of these patients exhibited a total of eight different novel germ-line mutations that do not represent common polymorphisms. Of these, three patients possessed four nonconservative missense mutations while two conservative missense and two synonymous mutations were detected in the other three patients. In addition, 43 patients were found to have a total of 141 DNA sequence variations representing 21 different common polymorphisms and rare variants. An analysis of the relationship between the presence of a novel ATM mutation and either patient demographics or tumor properties demonstrated a significant difference between African Americans (3/7 = 43%) and other ethnic groups (3/45 = 7%, P = 0.026). None of the other characteristics examined was found to be related to mutation status. Environ. Mol. Mutagen. 38:200–208, 2001. © 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

All 62 coding exons of the ATMgene, along with 10–20 bases of the intronic region flanking each exon, were screened for DNA base sequence alterations by using denaturing high‐performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC) in a series of 52 breast cancer patients. Six (12%) of these patients exhibited a total of eight different novel germ‐line mutations that do not represent common polymorphisms. Of these, three patients possessed four nonconservative missense mutations while two conservative missense and two synonymous mutations were detected in the other three patients. In addition, 43 patients were found to have a total of 141 DNA sequence variations representing 21 different common polymorphisms and rare variants. An analysis of the relationship between the presence of a novel ATMmutation and either patient demographics or tumor properties demonstrated a significant difference between African Americans (3/7 = 43%) and other ethnic groups (3/45 = 7%, P= 0.026). None of the other characteristics examined was found to be related to mutation status. Environ. Mol. Mutagen. 38:200–208, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

Although there is renewed interest in prostate brachytherapy, little information is available on the effect of the procedure on prostate-specific antigen (PSA) changes over time. This study describes PSA kinetics after iodine-125 (I-125) transrectal ultrasound-guided transperineal implantation of the prostate. From February 1991–September 1997, 207 patients were treated with an I-125 prostate implant alone for T1–T2 prostate cancer. PSA values were obtained prior to treatment and at 1–73 months (median, 24 months). The change in PSA after implantation of the prostate was measured as a fraction of the pretreatment PSA (PSA at follow-up/pretreatment PSA). PSA failure was defined as two elevations in PSA or PSA > 1 ng/ml. One hundred fifty-five patients had PSA values recorded at the 1-month time period. A PSA value greater than the pretreatment PSA at 1 month was found in 27% (42/155). This had no significant effect on future PSA failure. The median percentage change in PSA after implantation for all patients were as follows: 1 month, 0.73; 3 months, 0.30; 6 months, 0.18; 12 months, 0.12; 18 months, 0.12; 24 months, 0.08; 30 months, 0.07; 36 months, 0.08; 42 months, 0.08; and 48 months, 0.05. The most significant decline occurred in the first 12 months. This was followed by a more gradual decline between 12–24 months. There was little change in PSA values after 24 months. The 1-year PSA value had a significant effect on PSA failure. Patients with a 1-year PSA <1 ng/ml (66) had an actuarial 4-year freedom-from-failure rate of 90%, compared to a rate of 62% for those with values >1 ng/ml (69) (P = 0.002). Twenty-seven patients developed PSA failure. The time to PSA failure ranged from 12–48 months (median, 24 months), but most (20/27) failures occurred after 18 months. We conclude that the greatest decline in PSA after I-125 implantation of the prostate occurs during the first year, and little change occurs after 2 years. A 1-year PSA value >1 ng/ml is highly predictive of eventual PSA failure, which occurs in most patients after 18 months posttreatment. Radiat. Oncol. Invest. 7:30–35, 1999. © 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.