Information on risk levels is an essential part of the prevention of colorectal cancer (CRC). The objective of this article is to describe a tailored intervention carried out to inform the protagonists about the high risk of CRC due to family history and then to understand, through an interdisciplinary analysis, the mechanisms implemented during the intervention.

The aim of this prospective and blinded study was to investigate the diagnostic accuracy of conventional cytopathology of oral brush biopsies taken from suspicious oral lesions. In addition we checked slide based DNA image cytometry as an adjuvant diagnostic tool. Our hypothesis is that DNA aneuploidy is a sensitive and specific marker for earliest detection of oral cancer using brush biopsies. Therefore the nuclear DNA contents were measured after Feulgen re-staining using a TV image analysis system. DNA aneuploidy was assumed if abnormal DNA stemlines or cells with DNA content greater 9c were observed. Sensitivity of our cytological diagnosis in oral smears for the detection of cancer cells thus was 91.3%, specificity for the detection of non-neoplastic cells was 95.1%, positive predictive value 94.4% and negative predictive value 92.3%. The adjuvant DNA image cytometry reached a sensitivity of 97.8%, the specificity and the positive predictive value were 100% and negative predictive value was 98.1%, respectively. Smears from oral brush biopsies of all visible oral lesions are an easily practicable, cheap, minimal invasive, painless and safe screening method for detection of oral precancerous lesions and squamous cell carcinomas in all stages. We conclude that DNA image cytometry is a very sensitive and highly specific, objective and reproducible adjuvant tool for identification of neoplastic cells in oral smears.

To compare flow cytometric data (ploidy and proliferative activity or percentage SG2M-phase cells) to cytologic and histologic data of the bladder carcinomas.

Thirty-six French centres are involved in an evaluation of the techniques used for MDR phenotype measurement. Until now, 14 samples of various kinds of leukemia (mainly acute myelogenous leukemia) and three cell lines with different levels of resistance were sent by one centre and tested. MRK16 antibody was used for flow cytometry and immunocytochemistry, RNA was measured by RT-PCR, rhodamine or anthracyclin efflux were tested for functional assay. Wide discrepancies were observed in the results, mainly with flow cytometry, specially for the samples with a probable low level of MDR1 expression. The importance of histogram interpretation was documented by the comparative analysis of results obtained on cells already marked with MRK16, fixed and sent to all centers. The use of the ratio of the mean of fluorescence, instead of percentage, should help for standardization. The use of only one control RNA (used at different dilutions) for standardisation of RT-PCR could help in decreasing the discrepancies observed. The mean of fluorescence should also be used for expressing the rhodamine cell content.

A certain percentage of cancers are primarily or subsequently resistant to chemetherapeutic agents. Several biological mechanisms are implicated in this phenomenon, including multidrug resistance/P-glycoprotein (mdr1/P-gp), resistance related proteins (P-95 and P-110), multidrug resistance associated protein (P-190), iso-enzymes of gluthatione S-transferase, topo-isomerases, glutathione peroxidase and others. mdr1/P-gp overexpression has been studied in many types of cancer. It represents an inducible, transferable and phylogenetically ancestral biological system. It is expressed at the surface of the cell, and in that way, it participates to several normal functions. The recent introduction of modulators/revertants of mdr1/P-gp may change some concepts in using chemotherapy for cancers. The first step is represented by a better knowledge of the cancers which overexpressed mdr1/P-gp, with determination of the best biological technique, including the gold standards. This allows the clinician to clarify the best impact of such a therapeutic way and to define the criteria of modulator selection. Such criteria includes in vitro selection using a panel of sensitive/resistant cell lines, in vivo tests including transgenic mice, nude or SCID mice, and toxicological studies. Choice of modulated drug is easier and depends on the biological target. For mdr1/P-gp, major drugs included doxorubicin and vinca-alkaloids. Due to the fact that some modulators have an influence on the pharmacokinetic parameters of chemotherapeutic drugs, it is important to verify such parameters. The last choice concerns the strategy of drug development with three levels of action: 1) modulation of clinical chemoresistance, intrinsic or acquired one; 2) modulation of biological resistance; 3) leading to the prevention of the amplification of low levels of chemoresistance. A new therapeutic way is born, which takes care of a dynamic aspect of the tumor, and necessitates a new use of chemotherapy.

Breast cancer remains a key concern for oncologists. The possibility of tamoxifen treatment to prevent breast cancer in high-risk women was one of the central topics discussed for the 1992 ASCO edition. The rationale for the studies being developed in the US and Europe rests on experimental data and results of adjuvant hormone therapy trials. Decreased risks of cancer in the opposite breast, of cardiovascular disease, and of osteoporosis are effects that make tamoxifen extremely attractive for breast cancer prevention trials in postmenopausal women. In premenopausal women, however, preventive tamoxifen should be viewed with special caution because increased incidence of second cancers have been reported, although with dosages higher than those suggested for preventive therapy, and also because of difficulties with defining familial forms. The value of anthracyclines for adjuvant therapy has been demonstrated by several studies. Furthermore, a dose-response relationship has been reported with anthracyclines used as adjuvant therapy or in metastatic disease. New dose-limiting toxic effects, including thrombocytopenia and mucitis, develop when dosages are increased, with concomitant rG-CSF therapy. In patients with metastases, taxol seems to be a promising drug. Ongoing phase I trials seek to determine the optimal dosage and administration modalities for the taxol-doxorubicin combination.

We searched for colorectal tumors in asymptomatic patients older than 40 years with family history of sporadic colorectal cancer (only first degree relatives). One hundred and four patients at risk had a left-sided (n = 60) or a total colonoscopy (n = 44) and were compared to 104 control patients, matched for age, sex and type of colonic investigation. Three cancers were detected in the group at risk, 1 in the control group (NS). One or more adenomas without carcinoma were found in 10 percent of the patients at risk and in 9 percent of the controls (NS). There was no difference between groups in the number, size, histologic type, degree of dysplasia, or location of adenoma in the colon. These results do not exclude a family predisposition to sporadic colorectal cancer or adenoma. Because of the low rate of adenoma detection, relatives of patients with sporadic colorectal carcinoma but without personal risk factors cannot be considered as a high risk group for colorectal endoscopic screening.