Soy food and isoflavone intake and endometrial cancer risk: the Japan Public Health Center-based prospective study.

OBJECTIVE: Compared with western populations, the consumption of soy foods among Japanese is very high and the incidence of endometrial cancer very low. We evaluated the association of soy food and isoflavone intake with endometrial cancer risk in Japanese women. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: Ten public health centre areas in Japan. POPULATION: Forty nine thousand one hundred and twenty-one women of age 45-74 years who responded to a 5-year follow-up survey questionnaire. METHODS: Intakes of soy foods as well as other covariates were assessed in 1995-1998 by a self-administered food frequency questionnaire. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Incidence of endometrial cancer. RESULTS: During an average of 12.1 years of follow up, 112 newly diagnosed endometrial cancer cases were identified. Energy-adjusted intakes of soy food and isoflavone were not associated with the risk of endometrial cancer. The multivariate-adjusted HR per 25 g/day increase in the intake of soy food was 1.02 (95% CI 0.94-1.10), and the corresponding value for isoflavone intake per 15 mg/day was 1.01 (95% CI 0.84-1.22). CONCLUSION: In this population-based prospective cohort study of Japanese women, we observed no evidence of a protective association between soy food or isoflavone intake and endometrial cancer risk.

Plasma vitamin D and risk of colorectal cancer: the Japan Public Health Center-Based Prospective Study.

We investigated the association between plasma 25(OH)D and the subsequent colorectal cancer incidence risk by a nested case-control study in The Japan Public Health Center-based Prospective Study, covering 375 newly diagnosed cases of colorectal cancer from 38 373 study subjects during a 11.5-year follow-up after blood collection. Two controls were matched per case on sex, age, study area, date of blood draw, and fasting time. In a conditional logistic regression model with matched pairs adjusted for smoking, alcohol consumption, body mass index, physical exercise, vitamin supplement use, and family history of colorectal cancer, plasma 25(OH)D was not significantly associated with colorectal cancer in men or in women. However, the lowest category of plasma 25(OH)D was associated with an elevated risk of rectal cancer in both men (odds ratio (OR), 4.6; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.0-20) and women (OR, 2.7, 95% CI, 0.94-7.6), compared with the combined category of the other quartiles. Our results suggest that a low level of plasma 25(OH)D may increase the risk of rectal cancer.

Immunohistochemical properties of lipid peroxidation and prognosis in adenocarcinoma of the lung.

Glutathione-related enzymes are thought to influence the prognoses of patients with adenocarcinoma of the lung. In this study, the localization of these enzymes was examined immunohistochemically in the primary lesions and metastatic lymph nodes of 61 patients with primary adenocarcinoma. Strong immunoreactivity for glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PO) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) was found in tissue from patients with poor prognoses, while tissue from patients with favorable prognoses demonstrated only immunoreactivity for these enzymes. Therefore, believe that glutathione-related enzymes may serve as predictors of tumor resistance in patients with adenocarcinoma, hence measuring these enzymes may be useful in determining the need for adjuvant therapy.

Spontaneous regression of hepatocellular carcinoma: a case report.

We report a hepatocellular carcinoma that appeared to undergo spontaneous regression twice. On June 5, 1995, two hepatocellular carcinomas were detected by ultrasonography in a 72-year-old woman. On July 1, 1995, the tumor in the lateral segment had increased in size from 2.0 cm to 3.2 cm in 27 days, and the level of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) had increased from 743 to 1300 ng/ml. On September 22, 1995, one tumor appeared as a typical hypervascular lesion on contrast-enhanced computed tomography. It was 3.9 cm in size and located in the posterior segment. The other was a 3.9-cm cystic mass located in the lateral segment. The tumor in the posterior segment was treated with an emulsion of epirubicin and lipiodol administered via the posterior branch of the right hepatic artery and percutaneous ethanol injection. The tumor in the lateral segment was kept under observation because it was avascular, had regressed to 2.0 cm in size, and the patient's AFP level had decreased to 237 ng/ml by December 5, 1995. By February 21, 1996, the AFP level had increased again to 105,340 ng/ml, and by March 22, 1996, the latter tumor had increased in size to 3.8 cm. However, it later regressed again to 1.6 cm, and the AFP level decreased spontaneously to 7 ng/ml. From the changes in the contrast-enhanced computed tomographic images, and the level of AFP, we cannot rule out the possibility that the spontaneous regression might have been caused by the tumor's rapid growth.

Bone morphogenetic protein 2 stimulates osteogenesis but does not affect chondrogenesis in osteochondrogenic differentiation of periosteum-derived cells.

The effects of recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein 2 (rhBMP-2) on osteochondrogenesis were examined in high-density cultures of periosteum-derived cells, which have the potential to differentiate into bone and hypertrophic cartilage in vitro. Proliferation of these cells was inhibited by treatment with rhBMP-2. The time course for alkaline phosphatase (ALP) expression was shortened and the mineralization of the culture was increased by supplementation with rhBMP-2. These stimulatory effects of rhBMP-2 were observed at doses of 10-100 ng/m. Bone Gla protein (BGP) was immunocytochemically detectable earlier in the culture treated with rhBMP-2, and the BGP-positive layer of the rhBMP-2-treated cultures was thicker than that of the control cultures. On the other hand, there was no difference in uronic acid content or the time course of alpha 1(II) collagen mRNA expression between the rhBMP-2-treated and the control cultures. These results indicate that rhBMP-2 shortens the time course of osteogenesis and increases the amount of bone formation, whereas chondrogenesis remains unaffected.

Clonal analysis for developmental potential of chick periosteum-derived cells: agar gel culture system.

The developmental potential of periosteum-derived cells was clonally assessed with an agar gel culture system. Morphologically, two types of colonies were predominantly observed. By immunocytochemical observation with antibodies against aggrecan or bone Gla protein, one type of colony was judged to be chondrogenic, and the other osteogenic. By chronological observation, each type of colony did not convert to the other. Supplementation with transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta 1 shortened the time course of chondrogenesis and also increased colony forming efficiency of chondrogenic colonies. On the other hand, colony forming efficiency of osteogenic colonies decreased with TGF-beta 1 treatment, whereas the time course of osteogenesis remained unaffected. These observations suggest that there are both committed osteoprogenitor and chondroprogenitor cells present in the periosteal cell population, and TGF-beta 1 stimulates proliferation and differentiation of chondrogenic cell population by its targeted action.

Gomisin A inhibits tumor promotion by 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate in two-stage carcinogenesis in mouse skin.

Gomisin A, isolated from the fruits of Schisandra chinensis, is one of the dibenzocyclooctadiene lignans. Application of 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA, 1 microgram/ear), a tumor-promoting agent, to the ears of mice induces inflammation. Among seven dibenzocyclooctadiene lignans assayed, gomisin A, gomisin J, and wuweizisu C inhibited the inflammatory activity induced by TPA in mice. The ED50 of these compounds for TPA-induced inflammation was 1.4-4.4 mumol. Gomisin A, with an ED50 of 1.4 mumol, showed the strongest inhibitory effect. Furthermore, at 5 mumol/mouse, it markedly suppressed the promotion effect of TPA (2.5 micrograms/mouse) on skin tumor formation in mice following initiation with 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (50 micrograms/mouse). It is assumed that the inhibition of tumor promotion by gomisin A is due to its anti-inflammatory activity.

Biloma following transcatheter oily chemoembolization.

Hepatic biloma (bile cyst) developed in a patient after transcatheter oily chemoembolization (TOCE) with Lipiodol for hepatocellular carcinoma. The patient was treated conservatively and underwent the next TOCE uneventfully. An inappropriately large dose of Lipiodol, anticancer agent, and Gelfoam can induce biloma; however, it is not reasonable to abstain from TOCE for hepatocellular carcinoma in fear of biloma.

Metabolic analysis of reepithelializing rabbit cornea using phosphorus-31 nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

To investigate metabolic differences between the central and peripheral cornea the latter including the limbal area, corneas were dissected and examined using phosphorus-31 (31P) nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Since most 31P signals originate from the epithelium, 31P spectra of the cornea primarily represent the metabolic state of the epithelium. The spectra of the peripheral cornea showed all phosphorus resonances detected in the whole cornea; in contrast, the central cornea showed no phosphocreatine and glycerophosrylethanolamine, and only low levels of ATP. These results indicate that there is a higher metabolic activity in the peripheral epithelium, especially in the limbal area, than in the central epithelium. To evaluate the metabolic state of corneal epithelium during regeneration, we also examined corneas reepithelializing after 7 mm of central epithelial tissue had been removed by mechanical scraping. Rabbits were killed 24 and 48 h after scraping. The reepithelializing corneas clearly showed an increase in ATP, phosphocreatine, and sugar phosphates with time, although phosphorylcholine remained depressed. These findings suggest that the reepithelializing cornea has an elevated level of energy production and that it may have reached a higher steady state, thereby indicating accelerated metabolism of the epithelium during regeneration.