Epidemiological Characteristics and Changes of Prevalence for Green Tobacco Sickness among Korean Tobacco Harvesters / 한국역학회지

PURPOSE: This study was carried out to investigate the epidemiological characteristics and changes of prevalence for green tobacco sickness (GTS) for 2 years. METHODS: The author conducted a questionnaire survey on the tobacco harvesters (875 persons from 478 out of 555 tobacco harvesting households surveyed last year) in Cheongsong-gun for 4 days from May 26 to 29, 2003. RESULTS: The study subjects comprised 456 males and 419 females. The prevalence of GTS in 2002 was 50.5%, which was significantly higher than the 43.0% in 2001 (p<0.01). The incidence density of GTS in 2002 was 11.3 spells/100 person?working-days, which was lower than the 12.1 spells in 2001. Regardless of risk factors such as smoking, workingdays, and working hours, the prevalence of GTS in 2002 was higher than that in 2001. Among various GTS symptoms reported by the tobacco harvesters in 2002, cases of nausea were increased, while diarrhea, dyspnea and cough were decreased compared with 2001. The degree of GTS symptoms in 2002 was increased in 198 cases (64.5%), and decreased in 42 cases (13.7%). The proportion of harvesters who underwent treatment from their local medical facilities in 2002 was significantly decreased compared with that in 2001. CONCLUSIONS: In Korea, there are many tobacco-harvesting households, most of which may be stricken with GTS. It is very important for doctors to diagnose the disease exactly and to develop prevention methods for GTS. I expect that more extensive epidemiological studies including the incidence and associated risk factors will be needed. In addition, surveillance system and measurements of urinary cotinine should be conducted.

Heat-Shock Protein 70 and p53 Protein Expression in Gastric Carcinomas

Gastric adenocarcinoma is the most common cancer of the gastrointestinal tract in Korea, and its prognosis is related to several factors, such as depth of invasion, lymph node metastasis, and differentiation. Heat-shock proteins (HSPs) are present constitutively in normal cells, where they play an important role in normal cell metabolism. In mammarian cells, they are induced by a variety of physical and chemical stimuli. Among them, HSP70 is found at a higher level in growing cells than in resting cells. The p53 gene is located on the short arm of the chromosome 17 and acts as a cancer suppressor gene. A mutant p53 gene induces a malignant transformation. The mutant p53 protein binds with HSP70 and the p53-HSP70 complex has functional significance in the transforming capacity of the mutant p53. We evaluated the correlation between the HSP70 scores and the p53 protein expression by immunohistochemical methods and compared it with well-known prognostic factors, such as depth of invasion, size, histologic type, and DNA ploidy pattern, in 37 gastric adenocarcinomas. The HSP70 expression was scored according to the staining intensity and extent. An immunoreactivity of over 1% in tumor cell nuclei was considered as positive for p53 protein. The results are summarized as follows: The p53 protein expression rate did not significantly differ based on depth of invasion, histologic type, lymph node metastasis, or DNA ploidy. The HSP70 scores was higher in group II (AGC with TNM stage III) than in group I (EGC & AGC with TNM stage II) and in p53-positive carcinomas than in p53- negative carcinomas(P<0.05). In conclusion, the p53 protein and HSP70 were closely correlated to each other in our immunohistochemical study for gastric adenocarcinomas and the HSP70 scores may play a role in the progression of a gastric adenocarcinoma. However, further studies are needed for determining their prognostic values in gastric adenocarcinomas. HSP70 and p53 expression are factors, just like depth of invasion. The question is their value.

Heat-Shock Protein 70 and p53 Protein Expression in Gastric Carcinomas

Gastric adenocarcinoma is the most common cancer of the gastrointestinal tract in Korea, and its prognosis is related to several factors, such as depth of invasion, lymph node metastasis, and differentiation. Heat-shock proteins (HSPs) are present constitutively in normal cells, where they play an important role in normal cell metabolism. In mammarian cells, they are induced by a variety of physical and chemical stimuli. Among them, HSP70 is found at a higher level in growing cells than in resting cells. The p53 gene is located on the short arm of the chromosome 17 and acts as a cancer suppressor gene. A mutant p53 gene induces a malignant transformation. The mutant p53 protein binds with HSP70 and the p53-HSP70 complex has functional significance in the transforming capacity of the mutant p53. We evaluated the correlation between the HSP70 scores and the p53 protein expression by immunohistochemical methods and compared it with well-known prognostic factors, such as depth of invasion, size, histologic type, and DNA ploidy pattern, in 37 gastric adenocarcinomas. The HSP70 expression was scored according to the staining intensity and extent. An immunoreactivity of over 1% in tumor cell nuclei was considered as positive for p53 protein. The results are summarized as follows: The p53 protein expression rate did not significantly differ based on depth of invasion, histologic type, lymph node metastasis, or DNA ploidy. The HSP70 scores was higher in group II (AGC with TNM stage III) than in group I (EGC & AGC with TNM stage II) and in p53-positive carcinomas than in p53- negative carcinomas(P<0.05). In conclusion, the p53 protein and HSP70 were closely correlated to each other in our immunohistochemical study for gastric adenocarcinomas and the HSP70 scores may play a role in the progression of a gastric adenocarcinoma. However, further studies are needed for determining their prognostic values in gastric adenocarcinomas. HSP70 and p53 expression are factors, just like depth of invasion. The question is their value.