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The Immune Response To Influenza Virus Isn't 'All Good'
Complications following infection with the virus that causes flu (influenza virus) are one of the top ten causes of death in the United States. Although infection with influenza virus can directly cause death, many deaths following infection with influenza virus occur because the individual develops pneumonia due to secondary infection with bacteria such as Streptococcus pneumoniae. How influenza makes individuals more sensitive to pneumonia-causing secondary bacterial infections is not well understood. However, Jane Deng and colleagues, at the University of California, Los Angeles, have now determined, through studies in mice, one mechanism by which influenza might sensitize individuals to secondary bacterial pneumonia.
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New Study Uncovers Mode Of Action Of Enzyme Linked With Several Types Of Cancer
Scientists at the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC) of the Universitç© de Montrç©al have discovered a key mechanism used by cells to efficiently distribute chromosomes to new cells during cell multiplication. Published in the journal Molecular Cell, the study is the first to demonstrate that this mechanism relies on the polo kinase, an enzyme implicated in several cancers. Inhibiting this mechanism could be key to developing effective therapies to treat cancer.
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Stop Seeing Red By Looking Through Blue-Tinted Lenses, UK
As the UK enters a summer of discontent, one company has a vision to make the outlook decidedly brighter - by looking at life through blue-tinted spectacles.
Endocrinology

Hormone Therapy Use Associated With Increased Risk Of Ovarian Cancer

Compared with women who have never taken hormone therapy, those who currently take it or who have taken it in the past are at increased risk of ovarian cancer, regardless of the duration of use, the formulation, estrogen dose, regimen or route of administration, according to a study in the July 15 issue of JAMA. Primary prevention of ovarian cancer is challenging because little is known about its cause. Studies have suggested an increased risk of ovarian cancer among women taking postmenopausal hormone therapy (HT), according to background information in the article. Data have been limited on the differing effects of formulations, regimens and routes of administration. Lina Steinrud MÃñrch, M.Sc., of Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University, Denmark, and colleagues conducted a study to examine the risk of ovarian cancer associated with hormone therapy use. The study included all Danish women age 50 through 79 years from 1995 through 2005 through linkage to Danish national registers. Prescription data from the National Register of Medicinal Product Statistics provided individually updated information on HT use. The National Cancer Register and Pathology Register provided ovarian cancer incidence data. The analysis included a total of 909,946 women without hormone-sensitive cancer or who had not had both ovaries removed. At the end of follow-up, 63 percent of the women had not been taking HT, 22 percent were previous users of hormones, and 9 percent current users of hormones. Among the current users, 46 percent had used hormones for more than 7 years. During an average of 8 years of follow-up, 3,068 ovarian cancers were detected . Of these, 2,681 were epithelial tumors (a type of ovarian cancer). Compared with never users, current users of HT had an overall 38 percent increased risk of ovarian cancer. When restricting the analyses to epithelial ovarian cancer, the relative risk among current HT users was 44 percent higher, with previous HT users having a 15 percent increased risk compared with women who had never used HT. The risk for ovarian cancer and epithelial ovarian cancer did not increase significantly with increasing durations of HT. The risk of ovarian cancer declined with longer time since last HT use. The risk of ovarian cancer did not differ significantly by formulation, regimen, type of progestin or route of administration. The absolute risk indicated approximately 1 extra ovarian cancer for roughly 8,300 women taking hormone therapy each year. "If this association is causal, use of hormones has resulted in roughly 140 extra cases of ovarian cancer in Denmark over the mean follow-up of 8 years, i.e., 5 percent of the ovarian cancers in this study. Even though this share seems low, ovarian cancer remains highly fatal, so accordingly this risk warrants consideration when deciding whether to use HT," the authors write. JAMA 2009;302[3]:298-305. Journal of the American Medical Association


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