Malignancy tissue production

Sugawara I. Expression and function of P-glycoprotein (mdrl gene product) in normal and malignant tissues. Acta Pathol Jap 1990 40 545-53. 

Efforts to obtain tumor-selective cytostatic agents, based on a selective bioactivation in the malignant tissues, have not been very successful up to now. This is mainly due to a lack of enzyme specificity in malignant tissues as compared to healthy vital tissues. Diethylstilbestrol, an estrogen, is active against tumors of the prostate. The phosphate ester of diethylstilbestrol, Honvan, is inactive but is converted to the active product by the acidic phosphatase that is abundant in the prostate tissue. The enzyme concerned, however, is not restricted to the prostate kidney and bone tissues are also rich in acidic phosphatase, so that the bioactivation is not restricted to the target tissue. 

An evaluation of the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (Giovannucci et al., 1995) has detected a lower prostate cancer risk associated with the greater consumption of tomatoes and related food products. Tomatoes are the primary dietary source of lycopene and lycopene concentrations are highest in testis and adrenal tissue (Clinton, 1998). In paired benign and malignant prostate tissue from 25 American men, 53-74 yrs, undergoing... 

In a group of uranium mill workers, there was an excess of deaths from malignant disease of lymphatic and hematopoietic tissue data from animal experiments suggested that this excess may have resulted from irradiation of lymph nodes by thorium-230, a disintegration product of uranium. Some absorbed uranium is deposited in bone. A potential risk of radiation effects on bone marrow has been postulated, but extensive clinical studies on exposed workers have disclosed no hematologic abnormalities. ... 

Wrba, F., Gullick, W. J., Fertl, H. et al. 1989. Immunohistochemical detection of the c-erbB-2 proto-oncogene product in normal, benign and malignant cartilage tissues. Histopathology 75 71-76. 

In general, the adverse effects of radium are believed to be the consequence of the radiation emitted from the element itself and its daughter products. Because there is already a considerable amount of information on the effects of radiation on humans and animals derived from studies on the effects of the atomic bomb and of therapeutic x-ray and gamma-ray treatments of malignancies, the experimental animal studies with radium have made no attempt to duplicate this information. They have instead concentrated on radium s most sensitive endpoint, cancer. For example, it can be predicted that the beta and gamma rays emitted by a radium source will produce local radiation burns and tissue damage when the source is placed on human or animal skin, hence there have been no valid reasons to conduct such studies with radium. 

---