European Journal of Cancer: Highlights of Issue 40:01

Trends in mortality in the EU

Trends in mortality from lung cancer in the European Union vary by age, country and gender

Recent trends in lung cancer mortality rates in the 15 European Union (EU) countries are examined by Bray and colleagues in this issue. The trends in mortality vary by age, gender and country. For men, they are mostly in the downward direction and this was also observed in younger men reflecting changes in smoking habits. Portugal is the exception, where increases in mortality were observed in both age groups examined (<65 years and 65 years and over). In women, the reverse picture is observed, with most countries showing increases in mortality rates. The United Kingdom and Ireland are the exceptions to this trend, where rates are declining in younger women and stabilising in older women. "It is imperative that anti-tobacco strategies urgently target women living in the EU, in order to halt their rapidly increasing risk of lung cancer, and prevent unnecessary, premature deaths among future generations of women", they said.

A role for trastuzumab in transitional cell bladder cancer (TCC)?

Only 5% of G3 pT2 TCCs showed HER2/neu amplication and protein overexpression in a study of 75 patients reported in this issue. In breast cancer, only tumours with this amplication/overexpression status are expected to show a response to trastuzumab (Herceptin™) therapy. This suggests any role for the drug in TCCs may be limited. However, polysomy 17, increased HER2/neu copy number and HER2/neu protein overexpression (assessed by fluorescent in situ hybridisation and immunohistochemistry) were common (97%, 92% and 57%, respectively). Latif and colleagues conclude that these results suggest that HER2/neu is important in TCCs, but its role needs to be defined further.

Confirmation of TIMP-1as a prognostic factor in rectal cancer?

High preoperative tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases 1 (TIMP-1) levels were associated with a poorer survival in rectal cancer patients, authors report in this issue. In their confirmatory study including 352 rectal cancer patients, Holten-Andersen and colleagues measured preoperative TIMP-1 levels using an immunoassay with a good reproducibility. Dukes' D patients had significantly higher levels than Dukes' A, B or C patients, although these high levels were not restricted to those with advanced disease. Furthermore, patients with higher levels had a poorer survival. Plasma TIMP-1 was confirmed as an independent prognostic marker.

Back . . .