Change in the area of premalignant lesions is an end point in estimating the efficacy of chemopreventive agents. When examiners round measurements of lesion length and width, they introduce variability, which perturbs the relative percent change in lesion area and, consequently, the percent of subjects showing a clinical response. We use simulations to illustrate the resulting bias when the age...

In this edition of Blood, Bertaina et al report 3-year survival exceeding 90% by using haploidentical αβ+CD3+/CD19+-depleted allogeneic transplantation for children with nonmalignant disorders.

To the Editor: The article by William et al. (1) reports the lack of activity of high-dose fenretinide (1,800 mg/m/d, given as 900 mg/m twice daily) in patients with oral leukoplakia. The same authors had previously shown that a lower dose of fenretinide (i.e., 200 mg/d, once daily) for 3 months was effective (34% partial responses) with a trough drug concentration in plasma at steady state (Cs...

Colorectal carcinoma represents a major cause of cancer deaths in the United Kingdom. Tumours detected at an early or even premalignant stage have a better prognosis. In this review we consider the argument for screening for colorectal carcinomas and discuss the means available and the implications of implementing screening programmes using some of these methods. A suggestion is made for the mo...

We studied a core cancer gene regulatory network motif to uncover possible source of cancer heterogeneity from epigenetic sources. When the time scale of the protein regulation to the gene is faster compared to the protein synthesis and degradation (adiabatic regime), normal state, cancer state and an intermediate premalignant state emerge. Due to the epigenetics such as DNA methylation and his...

Development of cancer requires the acquisition of multiple oncogenic mutations and selection of the malignant clone. Cancer evolves within a finite host lifetime and mechanisms of carcinogenesis that accelerate this process may be more likely to contribute to the development of clinical cancers. Mutator mutations are mutations that affect genome stability and accelerate the acquisition of oncog...

The effects of the stiffness of the microenvironment on the molecular response of 3D colony organization, at the maximum level of mammographic density (MD), are investigated. Phenotypic profiling reveals that 3D colony formation is heterogeneous and increased stiffness of the microenvironment, within the range of the MD, correlates with the increased frequency of aberrant 3D colony formation. F...

Intestinal homeostasis is a complex and tightly regulated process governed by a variety of signalling pathways that balance cell proliferation and differentiation. As revealed by extensive use of defined mouse models, perturbations within the signalling circuitry trigger initial expansion of premalignant cells. In this review, we attempt to summarise recent advances in the knowledge of the cell...

BACKGROUND The Gail model is a validated breast cancer risk assessment tool that is primarily based on nonmodifiable breast cancer risk factors. Conversely, mammographic breast density is strongly correlated with breast cancer risk and responds to risk-modifying interventions. The purpose of our study was to correlate mammographic density with breast cancer risk as calculated by the Gail model ...