Background: Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is widely used to detect prostate cancer. The low positive predictive value of elevated PSA results in large numbers of unnecessary prostate biopsies. We set out to determine whether a multivariable model including four kallikrein forms (total, free, and intact PSA, and human kallikrein 2 (hK2)) could predict prostate biopsy outcome in previously unscreened men with elevated total PSA.

SUMMARY1. Two clones of rat phaeochromocytoma PC12 cells have been used to study the expression of Ca2+ channels and their possible involvement in neuronal differentiation. One clone differentiated morphologically when exposed to nerve growth factor (NGF) for 4 days (PC12 cells), while the other clone was insensitive to NGF, but differentiated morphologically in the presence of ouabain (041 mM

A single PSA test at age 44 to 50 years predicts subsequent clinically diagnosed prostate cancer. This raises the possibility of risk stratification for prostate cancer screening programs.

Thyroid hormones influence both normal breast cell differentiation and breast cancer cell proliferation and stimulate the angiogenesis of certain cancer forms. Several cross-sectional studies have measured thyroid hormones/autoantibodies in breast cancer ceases vs. controls, but it is difficult to determine the cause-effect direction in these studies. Only three prospective studies have reported on the subject so far. The aim of our study was to investigate prediagnostically measured levels of thyroid hormones, thyrotropin (TSH) and thyroid autoantibodies in relation to subsequent risk of breast cancer. The Malmoe Diet and Cancer study examined 17,035 women between 1991 and 1996. Blood samples were collected at baseline and free triiodothyronine (T3), free thyroxin (T4), TSH and thyroid peroxidase autoantibodies (TPO-Ab) levels were measured in 676 cases and 680 controls. Relative risks with 95% confidence intervals were assessed using a logistic regression analysis adjusted for potential confounders. Free T4 levels were positively associated with a high risk of breast cancer, and the OR for women with free T4 levels above vs. below the median was 1.40 (1.10-1.77). This association was most pronounced in overweight women (1.51:1.07-2.12). Women with high levels of TPO-Ab had a lower risk of breast cancer, but only the analysis of TPO-Ab as a continuous variable reached statistical significance. Free T4 was in our study positively associated with a high risk of breast cancer. This association was most pronounced in overweight/obese women. Women with a high level of TPO-Ab had a relatively low risk of breast cancer.Experimental, clinical and epidemiological studies suggest that there is an association between thyroid disorders and breast cancer risk. There have been several record-linkage studies using cohorts of patients with thyroid disorders that have investigated the risk of subsequent breast cancer, but the results are not conclusive. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] Another category of studies have investigated the association between thyroid hormone levels/autoantibodies and breast cancer risk, the majority of these studies were cross-sectional measuring hormone levels in cases following diagnosis, as compared to controls, and they may suggest a cause-effect relationship, but it is difficult to draw conclusions from cross-sectional studies. [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] To date, there are only three prospective studies that have reported on the association between thyroid hormone/thyrotropin (TSH) levels and subsequent risk of breast cancer. The smallest found that low levels of free thyroxin (T4), and high levels of TSH, were associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. 24 Another, investigating only TSH, found no association with breast cancer risk. 25 We have in a previous study found that triiodothyronine (T3) levels were positively associated with breast cancer risk in postmenopausal women. 26 Autoimmune thyroiditis has also been positively associated with breast cancer ris...