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Exploring the links between the environment and sarcoma There is a growing body of literature investigating potential links between various environmental conditions and sarcoma. Here are some articles that we have encountered:
Risk of soft tissue sarcomas and residence in the neighborhood of an incinerator of industrial wastes, by P Comba, V Ascoli, S Belli, M Benedetti, L Gatti, P Ricci and A Tieghi, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 2003; 60(9): 680-683. This study concludes, “The study shows a significant increase in risk of STS associated with residence within 2 km of an industrial waste incinerator; an aetiological role of 2, 3, 7, 8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) can be hypothesized.”
Implanted Depleted Uranium Fragments Cause Soft Tissue Sarcomas in the Muscles of Rats, by Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol. 110, No. 1, January 2002
Soft-Tissue Sarcoma and Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma Clusters around a Municipal Solid Waste Incinerator with High Dioxin Emission Levels, by Jean-François Viel, Patrick Arveux, Josette Baverel and Jean-Yves Cahn, American Journal of Epidemiology, 2000, Vol. 152, No. 1: 13-19
Pesticides and Childhood Cancer, by Environmental Health Perspectives Supplements, Vol. 106, No. S3, June 1998
Exposure to Agent Orange and Occurrence of Soft-Tissue Sarcomas or Non-Hodgkin Lymphomas: An Ongoing Study in Vietnam, by Environmental Health Perspectives Supplements, Vol. 106, No. S2, April 1998
Cancer Incidence in Danish Phenoxy Herbicide Workers, 1947-1993, by Elsebeth Lynge, Environmental Health Perspectives Supplements, Vol. 106, No. S2, April 1998
Cancer mortality in workers exposed to phenoxy herbicides, chlorophenols, and dioxins. An expanded and updated international cohort study, by M Kogevinas, H Becher, T Benn, PA Bertazzi, P Boffetta, HB Bueno-de-Mesquita, D Coggon, D Colin, D Flesch-Janys, M Fingerhut, L Green, T Kauppinen, M Littorin, E Lynge, JD Mathews, M Neuberger, N Pearce and R Sara, American Journal of Epidemiology, 1997, Vol. 145, Issue 12 1061-1075
Additional resources to explore potential inks between the environment and sarcoma The National Institutes of Health Environmental Health Perspectives “EPH online” website contains articles that have been exploring potential environmental causes for soft tissue sarcomas. The Center for Health and the Global Environment, Harvard Medical School has an article, Persistent Organic Pollutants, augmented with a lecture video, slides, and pre-lecture recommended readings. Also see Why Canadian Physicians are Concerned about the Policies Regulating Pesticide Use, presentation by Kelly Martin, M.D. to the Standing Committee on the Environment, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment. Finally, Dr. Amy D. Kyle’s website, www.envirohealthpolicy.net/, contains some additional environmental references related to sarcoma.
Molecular Oncology, Markers Molecular Oncology, Markers, Clinical Correlates c-Kit Expression in Patients with Uterine Leiomyosarcomas, A Potential Alternative Therapeutic Treatment, by Maria Rosaria Raspollini, Gianni Amunni, Alessandro Villanucci, Pamela Pinzani, Lisa Simi, Milena Paglierani and Gian Luigi Taddei, Clinical Cancer Research Vol. 10, 3500-3503, May 15, 2004. Conclusion: “The conventional chemotherapy in leiomyosarcomas appears to be ineffective for patients with metastatic or unresectable disease, and the management of these patients poses a special problem. In these women, new therapeutic strategies are warranted. The treatment with STI571 in leiomyosarcoma patients might be hypothesized, because uterine leiomyosarcomas also express c-KIT”.
Chromosomal Instability in Cancer — Causes and ConsequencesIn his article on the Ewing’s Sarcoma Family of Tumors in this issue of ESUN, Dr. Randall discusses translocations that involve the mechanical breakage and reconnection between different chromosomes. David Gisselsson’s article, Chromosomal Instability in Cancer — Causes and Consequences, on the Atlas of Genetics and Cytogenetics in Oncology and Haematology website examines chromosomal issues in greater detail and contains an extensive set of references.
Transimmunization The April issue of ESUN had an immunotherapy emphasis, discussing both vaccine therapy and antibody therapy. There were a number of articles on immunotherapy and related clinical trials cited in the Q and A on Immunotherapy. There were additional immunotherapy references in the Clinical Trial News column, in the Odds and Ends column, and a number of immunotherapy resources were discussed in the Research Corner column. For those who would like to continue exploring immunotherapy, we recommend the TransImmune website that deals with work being done at Yale University. In particular there are links to a Video Presentation that discuss “Transimmunization: Dendritic Cell Therapy for Cancer and T Cell Mediated Disorders” a copy of annotated slides as a Microsoft file, “Transimmunization”, an article (also in Microsoft Word format) entitled, “Transimmunization: Perspective and Future Prospects”, and a list of Recent Publications on Transimmunization.
Cell division can be halted in multiple ways, with implications for cancer “Brown University researchers have found that at least two molecular mechanisms trigger senescence, a cellular process associated with aging and a key to understanding cancer and age-related illnesses. Their research is reported in the current edition of the journal Molecular Cell.”
Rediscovering Heat Shock Proteins, courtesy of Pramod Srivastava, The Scientist, Volume 18, Issue 6, 14, Mar. 29, 2004. “The molecular nature of TRAs of chemically induced mouse sarcomas is now well understood.”
New Tumor Suppressor Genes Discovered “US researchers have identified a group of tyrosine phosphatase genes that appear to be tumor suppressor genes, according to a new study. Protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTP) mutations were most strongly associated with colorectal cancer. Twenty-six percent of colorectal tumors analyzed harbored such mutations.”
Soft tissue sarcomas treated with postoperative external beam radiotherapy with and without low-dose-rate brachytherapy, by Andrews SF, Anderson PR, Eisenberg BL, Hanlon AL, Pollack A., Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2004 Jun 1; 59(2): 475-80. “Local control at 5 years was high in both groups at 83% and 90%. On univariate analysis, Stage III patients had improved 5-year local control and a trend was found toward better local control for high-grade tumors. On multivariate analysis, no predictors were found for better local control; however, the numbers of Stage III and high-grade patients were small, which may have masked a possible benefit of BT plus EBRT in this population.”
Efficacy and Safety of Carbon Ion Radiotherapy in Bone and Soft Tissue Sarcomas, by Tadashi Kamada, Hirohiko Tsujii, Hiroshi Tsuji, Tsuyoshi Yanagi, Jun-etsu Mizoe, Tadaaki Miyamoto, Hirotoshi Kato, Shigeru Yamada, Shinroku Morita, Kyousan Yoshikawa, Susumu Kandatsu, Akio Tateishi, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Vol 20, Issue 22 (November), 2002: 4466-4471. “CONCLUSION: Carbon ion radiotherapy seems to be a safe and effective modality in the management of bone and soft tissue sarcomas not eligible for surgical resection, providing good local control and offering a survival advantage without unacceptable morbidity.”
Prognostic factors in soft tissue leiomyosarcoma of the extremities: a retrospective analysis of 42 cases, by Massi D, Beltrami G, Mela MM, Pertici M, Capanna R, Franchi A. Eur J Surg Oncol. 2004 Jun; 30(5):565-72. “Conclusions: Large tumor size and high mitotic rate resulted adverse prognostic factors. Adjuvant radiation therapy, in combination with wide surgical excision, allowed the best chance of cure.”
Gemcitabine in the Treatment of Soft Tissue Sarcomas, by S. Bauer, S. Seeber, J. Schütte, Onkologie Vol. 27, No. 2, 2004:180-186. Abstract: “Soft tissue sarcomas (STS) are rare mesenchymal tumors with poor prognosis once they present as advanced or metastasized disease. Only few cytostatic drugs have been proven to be active in sarcoma patients and there is a clear need for further treatment options in patients with tumors refractory to standard chemotherapy. Gemcitabine, a nucleoside analogue, has shown activity in several epithelial tumors. Clinical data on the activity of gemcitabine in STS, however, are scarce and heterogeneous. In trials including all subtypes of sarcomas response rates observed with single and multiagent schedules are ranging from 3 to 53%. Histopathological subtypes which seem to exhibit an increased susceptibility to gemcitabine are uterine leiomyosarcomas and angiosarcomas. The synergistic role of other cytostatic drugs, e.g. the role of taxanes, still remains unclear and warrants further trials. We here review the available literature on gemcitabine in the treatment of STS.”
V1N3 ESUN Copyright © 2004 Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative
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