Validation of a measure of excessive drinking: frequency per year that BAL exceeds 0.08%

Although self-report data are generally evaluated as reliable, validity estimates for self-reported drinking behavior are not as favorable. A new method of measurement addressing problems currently associated with the questionable validity of self-report drinking information is introduced. Study 1 tests the correspondence between the new measure (occasions per year blood alcohol level exceeded 0.08%), traditional self-report measures, and laboratory alcohol consumption. The novel measure correlated most strongly with volume of alcohol consumed in the laboratory compared to the traditional measures. In Study 2 the novel measure was favored over a traditional measure when discriminating between the presence and absence of problem-drinking symptoms.     

Skin cancers at Tertiary Referral Skin Hospital in Singapore

BACKGROUND: Skin cancer is the seventh most common cancer in Singapore. This study was performed to determine the pattern of skin cancers seen in a tertiary referral skin hospital. METHODS: Histologically confirmed skin cancers, seen between 1980 and 1991, were analyzed according to age, sex, race, site, and presence/absence of preexisting skin conditions. RESULTS: Of a total of 520 patients, the commonest skin cancer was basal cell carcinoma (BCC) (36.5%), followed by squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) (24.4%), Bowen's disease (16.7%), and mycosis fungoides (9.0%). Malignant melanomas (2.7%) were rare. The sharp increase (26.2%) in BCC in the recent 3 years was largely contributed by a fivefold increase of non-resident Caucasian patients with BCC. All types of skin cancers were more common in Chinese (78.1%) and less frequent in the more pigmented races (9.4%). The men to women ratio was 1.72:1. The peak age distribution was in the 51-70-year group, with the exception of mycosis fungoides (31-50 years). The commonest site involved in BCC was the head and neck (67.0%) and in Bowen's disease the trunk (33.3%). Squamous cell carcinoma was found on the head and neck and the lower extremities with equal frequency (29.3%) and 46.2% of all SCC on the lower extremities occurred in leprosy patients with chronic trophic ulcers. Of patients with Bowen's disease involving the nonsunexposed parts (trunk and upper extremities), 42.6% had probable arsenic exposure evident either from the history or clinical examination. Malignant melanomas were commonly located on the foot (71.4%). CONCLUSIONS: The commonest skin cancers seen were BCC, SCC, Bowen's disease, and mycosis fungoides. There were differences in the site distribution of SCC, Bowen's disease, and malignant melanomas in our study when compared to studies in Caucasians.     

An interview with Sue Hall Esleck. Interview by Connie R. Curran

The present report covers the results of a 38-month period in which 2853 consecutive intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) cycles were performed in 1953 couples. These couples were afflicted with male factor infertility and had at least one previous failed conventional in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment cycle. In other couples, the husband had semen parameters incompatible with conventional IVF or suffered from excretory or secretory azoospermia where it was possible to recover spermatozoa by microsurgical epididymal sperm aspiration (mesa) or by testicular sperm extraction (tese) procedure. Overall, the 2-PN fertilization rate was 62% per retrieved metaphase II oocyte and 70% per successfully injected metaphase II oocyte. Embryo transfer was performed in 91% of started cycles. The cumulative pregnancy rate (positive HCG) was 34% per started ICSI treatment and 37% per embryo transfer.     

Paget bone disease involving young adults in 3 generations of a Korean family

Pancreatic cancer is an aggressive disease with a dismal prognosis. It has long been regarded as one of the most difficult cancers to accurately diagnose and stage preoperatively. The purpose of this review is to provide an update of the state-of-the-art for early detection, diagnosis, and staging of pancreatic cancer. These methods include spiral CT scans, magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography (PET) imaging, laparoscopy, endoscopic ultrasound, CA 19-9 serology, fine needle aspiration cytology, ERCP brush cytology, and screening for p53 and ras oncogenes. These advanced techniques should help us to detect pancreatic cancers in high-risk populations at a curative stage and to decrease pancreaticoduodenectomies for benign disease which could otherwise be treated with less morbid procedures. In addition, these tests will help reliably diagnose pancreatic cancer preoperatively.     

Endometriosis in monozygotic twins

OBJECTIVE: To describe the occurrence of endometriosis in monozygotic twins. DESIGN: Postal questionnaire plus confirmation of disease status. SETTING: Twins were recruited via the American Endometriosis Association and the National Endometriosis Society of Great Britain and via British gynecologists. RESULT(S): Fourteen twin pairs were concordant for endometriosis, and two were discordant. Nine pairs of twins had moderate-severe endometriosis. CONCLUSION(S): These findings contribute to the growing body of literature that suggests endometriosis has a genetic basis.     

A survey of transformation markers in differentiating epidermal cell lines in culture

Primary mouse epidermal cells underwent spontaneous malignant transformation in culture. TWelve malignant epidermal cell lines were established which produced squamous cell carcinomas in syngeneic hosts. These lines were used to define criteria for recognizing transformed epidermal cells in vitro. Growth in suspension in agar, agarose, or Methocel was minimal for 11 of the lines. All lines tested retained specific epidermal antigens (pemphigus, pemphigoid, keratin) by indirect immunofluorescence, but keratin content was reduced when quantified by radioimmunoassay. Basal activity of ornithine decarboxylase and activity induced by the tumor promoter 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate were variable among lines. All malignant lines as well as normal epidermal cells grew well at reduced extracellular calcium concentrations. When the extracellular calcium was elevated, normal cells ceased proliferation, terminally differentiated, and sloughed from the culture dish, while malignant cells continued to proliferate although they expressed differentiative functions. These results indicate that malignant transformation in epidermis is associated with a fundamental alteration in the program of terminal differentiation which allows some cells to escape the proliferative block and cell death which accompanies differentiation in normal keratinocytes. This alteration should be useful to select for transformants during the process of carcinogenesis in vitro.