Other highlights in the October 1 issue of JNCI

Adjuvant chemotherapy has been proposed as a way to improve the poor survival rates of patients with surgically removed non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, a new study has found no such benefit associated with adjuvant chemotherapy in these patients. Giorgio V. Scagliotti, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Torino, Italy, and colleagues compared outcomes of patients with completely resected stage I, II, or IIIA NSCLC who were randomly assigned to receive either adjuvant chemotherapy or no treatment after surgery. The chemotherapy regimen consisted of mitomycin C, vindesine, and cisplatin every three weeks for three cycles. After 5 years of follow-up, overall and progression-free survival were similar in the treated and untreated groups. The authors report poor compliance with the chemotherapy regimen used in this study due to toxicity. "Future studies should explore more effective treatments," they conclude.

Selenium Ineffective for Preventing Secondary Skin Cancers, Study Shows

Among individuals at high risk for nonmelanoma skin cancer, selenium supplementation does not appear to prevent basal cell carcinomas and may increase the risk of squamous cell carcinoma and total nonmelanoma skin cancer, according to results from the Nutritional Prevention of Cancer Trial. Anna J. Duffield-Lillico, Ph.D., of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, James R. Marshall, Ph.D., of the Roswell Park Cancer Institute, and colleagues examined the risk of nonmelanoma skin cancer among 1,312 patients who had previously had the disease. The patients were randomly assigned to receive 200 micrograms of selenium per day or a placebo. At the end of the study, there was no association between selenium supplementation and risk of basal cell carcinoma. However, selenium supplementation was associated with an increased risk of squamous cell carcinoma and of total nonmelanoma skin cancer.

Contact: Deborah Pettibone, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, 716-845-8593;
fax: 716-845-8362, deborah.pettibone@roswellpark.org.

Titles of additional articles appearing in the October 1 JNCI:

• Obesity, tamoxifen use, and outcomes in women with estrogen receptor-positive early-stage breast cancer: http://www.eurekalert.org/emb_releases/2003-09/jotn-sfo092503.php
• Interval carcinomas in the European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC)–Rotterdam: http://www.eurekalert.org/emb_releases/2003-09/jotn-pcs092503.php
• Commentary: Comparing Survival of a Sample to That of a Standard Population. Dianne M. Finkelstein (Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston), et al.
• Review: Enhancing Radiotherapy with Cyclooxygenase-2 Enzyme Inhibitors: A Rational Advance? Hak Choy (Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Nashville), et al.
• Brief Communication: Germline BRCA1 Mutations and a Basal Epithelial Phenotype in Breast Cancer. William D. Foulkes (McGill University Health Centre, Montreal), et al.
• Brief Communication: Polymorphisms in XRCC1 and Glutathione S-Transferase Genes and Hepatitis B–Related Hepatocellular Carcinoma. Ming-Whei Yu (National Taiwan University), et al.

Note: The Journal of the National Cancer Institute is published by Oxford University Press and is not affiliated with the National Cancer Institute. Attribution to the Journal of the National Cancer Institute is requested in all news coverage.