Selected risk factors for transitional cell bladder cancer.

Cancer of the bladder has long been associated with environmental risk factors, such as occupational hazards and smoking. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the contribution of known risk factors on a community basis in the 1990s, in view of the recent worldwide efforts to control environmental hazards. The study population included 140 male patients and 280 matched controls. Information on demographic data, occupational exposure, smoking habits and disease history was obtained by personal interviews. Our study confirmed the role of industrial occupation (OR=2.21; 95% Cl=1. 21-4.02) and exposure to 3 or more metals (OR=3.65; 95% Cl=1.21-11. 08) as risk factors. Prostate enlargement was also found significant, but probably not causal (OR=2.23; 95% Cl=1.29-3.87). Surprisingly, smoking showed only an inconsistent association with higher rates among those who started to smoke before 18 years of age (OR=2.64; 95% Cl=1.4-4.99) and those who smoked more than 30 cigarettes per day (OR=1.82; 95% Cl=0.95-3.49). The above data suggest that current efforts to reduce the load of bladder cancer in the population, via environmental measures, have not as yet yielded significant effects.

Cavernous hemangioma of the adrenal gland.

Adrenal hemangiomas are rare and seldom found ante mortem. We report a case of adrenal hemangioma that was discovered incidentally and removed surgically. The pertinent literature is reviewed.

Gossypol in cottonseed products: toxicology and inactivation.

The little attention given to the potential of cottonseeds as food for monogastric animals and man is due to the presence of toxic principles in them, especially gossypol. The injury to livestock associated with ingestion of cottonseeds results from the unfavorable physiological effect of gossypol per se, as well as from its adverse effects on the protein nutritive value of the food (mainly by rendering lysine metabolically unavailable). Various approaches have been employed to overcome these problems, by removing the gossypol glands, growing glandless varieties, extraction of gossypol with solvents, or through inactivation by heat processing, reacting with cations or with certain organic compounds. In this study the phospholipid fraction (gums) derived from soybeans, which is relatively rich in phospholipids containing a free amino group, was used with a view to lowering the tendency of gossypol to bind with lysine, and at the same time to inactivate the gossypol by converting it into a bound form. Dehulled and flaked cottonseeds were mixed with 5% soybean gums and 0.5% NaOH, in a laboratory cooker resembling the apparatus used in the cottonseed processing industry. The meat was cooked for different periods and at several temperatures. Later the oil was extracted with hexane and the meal was tested for free gossypol, "available lysine" and protein nutritive value, in comparison with a control batch treated similarly but without gums. The results proved the superiority of the meal treated with gums, as evidenced by all the above parameters.