EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 3 P.M. (CT), MONDAY, June 20, 2005
Media Advisory: To contact Marie-France Demierre, M.D., FRCPC, call Gina Digravio at 617-638-8491.

EARLY DETECTION OF THICK MELANOMAS

CHICAGO—Despite campaigns promoting early detection and increased awareness of melanoma (skin cancer) the proportion of the most aggressive and deadly form of melanoma remains the same, according to an article in the June issue of the Archives of Dermatology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Incidence and mortality of melanoma (skin cancer) in the United States have risen steeply from 1969 to 1999, according to background information in the article, with a disproportionally greater increase in men 65 years and older. Melanoma mortality (death) is strongly associated with the thickness of the primary lesion.

Marie-France Demierre, M.D., FRCPC, of Boston University School of Medicine, and colleagues analyzed data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database to determine trends in distribution of thin and thick melanoma from 1988 to 1999. The researchers found that the number of new melanoma cases in a three year period increased 60 percent from 1988-1991 (n=9,132) to 1996-1999 (n= 14,575). The proportion of thick melanomas (at least two millimeters thick) remained relatively stable during the 12 study years. Nodular melanoma (NM, an aggressive type of melanoma) comprised nine percent of all recorded cases but 34 percent of the thick melanomas. In contrast, superficial spreading melanoma (a more common type of melanoma, that grows more horizontally in the skin) was almost uniformly diagnosed as an early tumor, mostly presenting as thin melanoma.

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 3 P.M. (CT), MONDAY, June 20, 2005
Media Advisory: To contact corresponding author Tom R. DeMeester, M.D., call Jon Weiner at 323-442-2830.

STUDY EXAMINES CHARACTERISTICS OF CANCERS OF THE ESOPHAGUS

CHICAGO—Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) may be associated with more cases of cancers than previously thought, according to a study in the June issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

The relationship of GERD and adenocarcinoma (type of cancer) of the esophagus is clear for tumors located along the tubular portion of the esophagus, regardless of whether Barrett mucosa (a condition where the cellular lining of the esophagus has been changed, often caused by gastric reflux) is found, according to background information in the article. But there is controversy about the origin of tumors located at the far end of the esophagus where it connects to the stomach. Two distinct cancer types arise there. One type is associated with Barrett mucosa and that it is caused by reflux is widely accepted, the authors write, but the second type has no associated Barrett mucosa and it has been proposed that these tumors originate differently. The major evidence in support of this position has been that the second type of tumor has a worse prognosis.

Guiseppe Portale, M.D., of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, and colleagues compared demographic information, clinical features and tumor characteristics in 215 patients who underwent surgery for cancer of the lining of the far end of the esophagus from January 1992 to December 2002. Pathology reports were reviewed to determine whether there was adjacent Barrett mucosa and whether these tumors represented distinct tumor types.

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 3 P.M. (CT), MONDAY, June 20, 2005
Media Advisory: To contact Itzhak Brook, M.D., M.Sc., call Amy DeMaria at 202-687-5100.

CHILDREN WHO ARE PRONE TO EAR INFECTIONS HAVE HIGH RATES OF POTENTIAL DISEASE PRODUCING BACTERIA

CHICAGO—Children who are prone to frequent ear infections may have a high number of potentially infectious bacteria and a relatively low number of protective bacteria in their noses, according to a study in the June issue of the Archives of Otolaryngology—Head & Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Smoking is associated with an increased risk of respiratory tract infections in adults and also with oral colonization by some potentially pathogenic species of bacteria, according to background information in the article. In children, exposure to cigarette smoke is a risk factor for respiratory tract infections, including otitis media (ear infections). This study compared the frequency of potential pathogens (infectious bacteria) and of "interfering" bacteria (potentially protective bacteria) in otitis media-prone (OMP) children and their smoking or non-smoking parents.

Itzhak Brook, M.D., M.Sc. and Alan E. Gober, M.D., of Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington, D.C., compared potential pathogens and bacteria with interfering capabilities against those organisms cultured from samples taken from the back of the noses of two groups, 20 ear infection-prone children and their non-smoking parents and 20 ear infection-prone children and their smoking parents.

The researchers found 14 potential pathogens in the smoking parents and 17 in their children, compared with three potential pathogens in non-smoking parents and 16 in their children. Bacterial interference against potential pathogens were noted in 58 instances in smoking parents and in 55 instances in their children compared to 129 instances in non-smoking parents and 55 instances in their children.