Lung Cancer, 2 (1986) 247-283 247 Elsevier

ABSTRACTS

i, PREVENTION

Primary Prevention of the Bronchial Carci- noma, Possibilities and Limitations. Eich, F., Trendelenburg, F. Abteilung ffir Pneumonologie, Medizinische Universit~ts- klinik und Poliklinik, Homburg/Saar, Germa- ny. Prax. Klin. Pneumol. 39: 807-808, 1985.

Prognosis of the bronchial carcinoma continues to be infaust. This underlines the need for preventive measures. Inhalato- ry smoking should be definitely discouraged. Programmes to cure smoke addiction represent preventive measures; three such programmes are described. The problem of passive smo- king is also mentioned. Professionnally con- ditioned cancerogenic substances are listed.

Falling Rates of Lung Cancer in Men in the United States. Horm, J.W., Kessler, L.G. Surveillance and Operations Research Branch, Division of Can- cer Prevention and Control, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD 20892-4200, U.S.A. Lancet i: 425-426, 1986.

Lung-cancer incidence and mortality rates in the United States were calculated for the years 1973 to 1983. The historical- ly increasing age-adjusted rates for white men levelled off in the late 1970s and fell between 1982 and 1983. These falls were seen for white men only. Both the incidence and mortality rates for women continued to rise with no hint of a reduction.

International Control of Smoking and the US Experience. Cullen, J.W., McKenna, J.W., Massey, M.M. Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, National Cancer Institute, National Insti- tutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, U.S.A. Chest 89: 206S-218S, 1986.

International data demonstrate convin- cingly that lung cancer death rates follow and parallel cigarette smoking prevalence rates in both men and women. Effective con- trol of lung cancer and the many other dis- eases associated with smoking can be achie- ved only by continued reductions in smoking prevalence in developed countries and the arrestment of smoking in developing coun- tries. Smoking control strategies can take the form of prevention programs, cessation programs, regulatory and legislative mea- sures, and modifications in tobacco product composition. Because of uncertainties sur- rounding the efficacies of specific smoking control approaches, the National Cancer In-

stitute recently initiated a major inter-

vention research program to identify and as- sess the most promising strategies to reduce smoking prevalence in the general public and high-risk populations: heavy smokers, blacks, Hispanics, women, youth, and smokeless tobac- co users. By 1990, trial results will be available to allow systematic application of smoking control strategies (demonstrations) using physicians and dentists, mass media, school programs, self-help materials, and the community as a laboratory. For a number of reasons, such approaches are strongly re = commended over efforts to reduce cigarette tar and nicotine levels as the primary focus of lung cancer control.

Enhanced Formation of Benzo(a)pyrene: DNA Adducts in M0nocytes of Patients with a Pre- s~ned Predisposition to Lung Cancer. Rudiger, H.W., Nowak, D., Hartmann, K., Ce- rutti, P. Unit of Hereditary and Constituti- onal Diseases, Department of Internal Medici- ne, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany. Cancer Res. 45: 5890-5894, 1985.

Blood monocytes from 45 selected patients with lung cancer and ~ healthy controls we- re incubated with (G---)benzo(a)pyrene for 30 h, and the formation of covalently bound DNA adducts was determined. The lung cancer patients were either relatively young (below 46 yr), nonsmokers, or had at least one first degree relative with lung cancer. The- refore, they might be considered cancer prone. The DNA adducts were significantly elevated in 22 patients with early age cancer (4.34 fmol/mug of DNA; P < 0.04). In 12 familial cases, the slight elevation (2.77 fmol/mug of DNA) was not statistically significant in comparison to healthy controls. Benzo(a)py- rene: DNA adduct levels did not differ sig- nificantly between smokers and nonsmokers. Eight of 9 lung cancer patients with DNA adducts below this value had either oat cell or squamous cell cancer (P<0.05). The obser- ved enhanced formation of covalent DNA ad- ducts in blood monocytes exposed to a carci- nogenic polycyclic hydrocarbon may be gene- tically determined and could play a role in the development of lung cancer at an early age.

2, EPIDF~IIOLOGY AND ETIOLOGY A Population-based Study of Lung Cancer Inci- dence Trends by Hist01ogicType, 1974-81. Dodds, L., Davis, S., Polissar, L. Division of Public Health Sciences, Program in Biosta- tistics, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Cen- ter, Seattle, WA 98104, U.S.A.J. Natl. Cancer

Inst. 76: 21-29, 1986.

0169-5002/87/$03.50 © 1987 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. (Biomedical Division)