Prolactin serum levels and breast cancer: relationships with risk factors and tumour characteristics among pre- and postmenopausal women in a population-based case-control study from Poland.

BACKGROUND: Previous prospective studies have found an association between prolactin (PRL) levels and increased risk of breast cancer. Using data from a population-based breast cancer case-control study conducted in two cities in Poland (2000-2003), we examined the association of PRL levels with breast cancer risk factors among controls and with tumour characteristics among the cases. METHODS: We analysed PRL serum levels among 773 controls without breast cancer matched on age and residence to 776 invasive breast cancer cases with available pretreatment serum. Tumours were centrally reviewed and prepared as tissue microarrays for immunohistochemical analysis. Breast cancer risk factors, assessed by interview, were related to serum PRL levels among controls using analysis of variance. Mean serum PRL levels by tumour characteristics are reported. These associations also were evaluated using polytomous logistic regression. RESULTS: Prolactin levels were associated with nulliparity in premenopausal (P=0.05) but not in postmenopausal women. Associations in postmenopausal women included an inverse association with increasing body mass index (P=0.0008) and direct association with use of recent/current hormone therapy (P=0.0006). In case-only analyses, higher PRL levels were more strongly associated with lobular compared with ductal carcinoma among postmenopausal women (P=0.02). Levels were not different by tumour size, grade, node involvement or oestrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, or human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 status. CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis demonstrates that PRL levels are higher among premenopausal nulliparous as compared with parous women. Among postmenopausal women, levels were higher among hormone users and lower among obese women. These results may have value in understanding the mechanisms underlying several breast cancer risk factor associations.

Preliminary evaluation of prostate cancer metastatic risk biomarkers.

Prostate cancer patients at high risk of metastasis need to be identified as early as possible since metastasis is invariably fatal. Treatment could be tailored to risk. Recent array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) studies of primary and metastatic prostate tumors identified 39 BAC clones capable of detecting genomic signatures of metastasis. We termed these loci the genomic evaluators of metastatic CaP (GEMCaP). Risk assessments were made on a set of men who were managed with radical prostatectomy. We compared the utility of GEMCaP loci and the Kattan nomogram, a common risk assessment tool, in relation to biochemical outcome. This preliminary evaluation experiment suggests we can use aCGH to detect genomic signatures of metastasis in primary tumors with an accuracy of 78%. The classification accuracy for the Kattan nomogram was 75%. Therefore, validation of GEMCaP is warranted in a larger, appropriately designed cohort.

The frequency of food allergy in Australia and Asia.

A review of the development of food allergy in a birth cohort of 620 Australian infants at high risk for development of atopic disease has recently been completed. Extrapolating to a random community population showed that at the age of two, egg appears the most frequent food allergen (3.2%), while cow milk (2.0%), and peanut are of similar frequency (1.9%). The prevalence of hypersensitivity to wheat and soy appears similar to sesame seed, cashew nut, hazelnut and walnut, but allergy to fish, brazil nut and shell fish are uncommon. Despite a different methodology, reports from several Asian centres suggest a similar frequency of hypersensitivity to these foods in young children although hypersensitivity to shellfish and seafood was more common than for nuts, peanut and wheat, if seafoods are part of the staple infant diet. Rice hypersensitivity was rare in both Australia and Asian countries.

Challenge confirmation of late-onset reactions to extensively hydrolyzed formulas in infants with multiple food protein intolerance.

BACKGROUND: Many infants with cow's milk protein intolerance have adverse reactions to soy, casein and whey hydrolysate formula and to other foods. The recent development of Neocate, a hypoallergenic, nutritionally complete infant formula composed of individual amino acids and other nutrients, has enabled these infants to be stabilized. OBJECTIVE: We observed the effect of food challenges in infants with reported hypersensitivity to hypoallergenic formulas. METHODS: Eighteen infants (median age, 7 1/2 months) were given Neocate formula for 2 months and then underwent a 7-day double-blind placebo-controlled challenge with the formula previously best tolerated. RESULTS: In 12 of the 18 infants irritability, vomiting, diarrhea, and/or eczema flares developed during the formula challenge. In two patients symptoms developed immediately, but in the remainder adverse reactions evolved within 7 days (range, 4 to 7 days). Adverse reactions were to soy formula (six patients), whey hydrolysate (two), and casein hydrolysate (four). When infants were 12 months of age, parents reported adverse reactions after the ingestion of other low allergen foods (median, six; from a panel of 10 such foods). CONCLUSION: A group of infants with late-onset adverse reactions to soy, extensively hydrolyzed casein, and whey formulas and to other foods has been identified. Neocate formula proved to be an effective substitute formula for these patients.