• The following are headlines from on-line news articles published during the past week.
• The headlines and lead sentence are exactly as they appear in the popular press and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or recommendations of CDC.
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“Gene Tests To Identify Ovarian Cancer Have Little Clinical Value” (Oct 23) Medical News Today reports, “Many genomic tests that are currently used to diagnose and guide treatment of ovarian cancer are not shown to decrease the number of women who die from the disease or improve their quality of life, according to a new evidence report supported by a partnership of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, and CDC's National Office of Public Health Genomics.”

“Pioneering study looks at p53's role in tumor-stroma interactions”
(Oct 25) EurekAlert! reports, “Atlanta, GA-Researchers at Emory University's Winship Cancer Institute have conducted the first comprehensive study of the role an important tumor suppressor gene plays in cancer development.“

“Free Training on Genomic Resources During American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2006” 
(Oct 25) PR Web reports, “OpenHelix will be presenting four free tutorials on the most popular and powerful publicly accessible, web-based genomics resources during American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2006 in Chicago, November 12-14.”

“Unraveling the Listeria Genome”
(Oct 24) USDA reports, “If knowledge is power, researchers are gaining the upper hand over Listeria monocytogenes, a pathogen that causes listeriosis.”

“Genetic variation impacts aspirin's effectiveness in preventing colon cancer, Dartmouth study finds”
(Oct 24) Dartmouth News reports, “Dartmouth researchers are among a team of doctors that have learned more about how people may or may not benefit from taking aspirin in the effort to curb colon cancer.”

“Amgen, Brigham and Women's Hospital, NIH to launch women's health genome study”
(Oct 24) News-Medical.Net reports, “Biotechnology company Amgen, Boston-based Brigham and Women's Hospital and NIH plan to launch the Women's Health Genome Study -- which aims to discover the genetic causes of disorders affecting women, including breast cancer -- the Wall Street Journal reports.”

“Genetic Disorder Linked To Rapid Lung Function Decline In Some World Trade Center Rescue
Workers”
(Oct 24) Medical News Today reports, “A rare genetic disorder known as alpha-1 antitrypsin (A1AT) deficiency may predispose patients to developing lung conditions, but a new rapid-response test could help identify patients with the deficiency before significant lung damage has occurred.”

“Diabetes gene carries similar risk to obesity”
(Oct 23) EurekAlert! reports, “Carrying two copies of a common variant of a particular gene doubles your chances of developing diabetes and puts you in a similar risk category to being clinically obese, according to a collaborative study led by UCL (University College London) researchers.”

“Huntington's gene has led to clues, but not yet cures”
(Oct 23) The Boston Globe reports, “When Todd Bliss was 19 and found out that he almost surely faced the degenerative death sentence of Huntington's disease, there was no treatment, no cure -- nothing even close.”

“Genetic Repair Mechanism Clears The Way For Sealing DNA Breaks”
(Oct 20) Medical News Today reports, “Scientists investigating an important DNA-repair enzyme now have a better picture of the final steps of a process that glues together, or ligates, the ends of DNA strands to restore the double helix.”

“Insights into activity-dependent neuronal growth through RSRF-supported research”
(Oct 20) EurekAlert! reports, “Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has been a subject of keen interest in neuroscientific circles for several years, turning up in studies of conditions ranging from central hypoventilation syndrome to obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia -- a range of disorders uncannily parallel to those produced by mutations in the "Rett gene," MeCP2.”

“Affymetrix 500K array used to identify memory gene”
(Oct 19) EurekAlert! reports, “Affymetrix Inc. announced today that researchers at the Translational Genomics Research Institute in Phoenix, Arizona have used the Affymetrix 500K Array to discover a gene--called Kibra--associated with memory performance in humans.”

“NCI Releases Preliminary Data on Genetic Susceptibility for Prostate Cancer”
(Oct 19) NIH News reports, “The National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, has released new data from the Cancer Genetic Markers of Susceptibility (CGEMS) study on prostate cancer.”

Gene modifiers of lung disease
Knowles MR
Curr Opin Pulm Med 2006 Nov;12(6):416-21

Genetics of ischemic stroke: future clinical applications
Wang MM
Semin Neurol 2006 Nov;26(5):523-30

Clinical implications of Parkinson's disease genetics
Lorincz MT
Semin Neurol 2006 Nov;26(5):492-8

Genetic basis for sleep regulation and sleep disorders
Raizen DM, et al.
Semin Neurol 2006 Nov;26(5):467-83

The merits of testing hardy-weinberg equilibrium in the analysis of unmatched case-control data: a cautionary note
Yong Zou G & Donner A
Ann Hum Genet 2006 Nov;70(Pt 6):923-33

Investigation of the ability of haplotype association and logistic regression to identify associated susceptibility Loci
North BV, et al.
Ann Hum Genet 2006 Nov;70(Pt 6):893-906

U.S. genetics nurses in advanced practice
Lea DH, et al.
J Nurs Scholarsh 2006;38(3):213-8

Transferability of tag SNPs in genetic association studies in multiple populations
de Bakker PI, et al.
Nat Genet 2006 Oct

Consent for genetics studies among clinical trial participants: findings from Action for Health in Diabetes (Look AHEAD)
Espeland MA, et al.
Clin Trials 2006;3(5):443-56

“How breast cancer inheritance was halted”
(Oct 23) The Sydney Morning Herald reports, “Austin Quinn displays all the accomplishments of a typical three-year-old: he is an affectionate, gregarious bundle of energy.”

“Blue eyes – a clue to paternity”
(Oct 23) Springer science-business media reports, “Before you request a paternity test, spend a few minutes looking at your child’s eye color.”

“Genetic counseling helps assess risk”
(Oct 22) The Huntsville Times reports, “Genetic counseling is another aspect of Clearview Cancer Institute's complete care spectrum.”

Family history of stroke and severity of neurologic deficit after stroke
Meschia JF, et al.
Neurology 2006 Oct;67(8):1396-402

Familial genetic predisposition, epilepsy localization and antecedent febrile seizures
Abou-Khalil B, et al.
Epilepsy Res 2006 Oct

Family history of suicide and impulsivity
Roy A
Arch Suicide Res 2006;10(4):347-52

Personalised risk communication for informed decision making about taking screening tests
Edwards A, et al.
Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2006(4):CD001865

Mother to child transmission of diabetes mellitus: does gestational diabetes program Type 2 diabetes in the next generation?
McLean M, et al.
Diabet Med 2006 Nov;23(11):1213-5

Type 2 diabetes and inheritance: what information do diabetes organizations provide on the Internet?
van Esch SC, et al.
Diabet Med 2006 Nov;23(11):1233-8

“Test helps guide cancer treatment, U.S. study shows” (last accessed 2/2008)
(Oct 22) UPMC Cancer Centers reports, “A new test that looks at genetic material from a patient's tumor is 80 percent accurate in predicting which drugs would be most effective against that particular cancer, U.S. researchers reported on Sunday.”

“Gene variation affects pain sensitivity and risk of chronic pain”
(Oct 22) EurekAlert! reports, “A new NIH-funded study shows that a specific gene variant in humans affects both sensitivity to short-term (acute) pain in healthy volunteers and the risk of developing chronic pain after one kind of back surgery.”

“Studies Link Gene Variant to Macular Degeneration”
(Oct 19) MedicineNet reports, “Two international research teams say they've found a genetic variation that greatly increases the risk of age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of vision loss in older people.”

HLA genotyping is useful in the evaluation of the risk for coeliac disease in the 1st-degree relatives of patients with coeliac disease
Karinen H, et al.
Scand J Gastroenterol 2006 Nov;41(11):1299-304

Genetic testing, genetic information, and the role of maternal-child health nurses in Israel
Barnoy S, et al.
J Nurs Scholarsh 2006;38(3):219-24

Prognostic factors for hereditary cancer distress six months after BRCA1/2 or HNPCC genetic susceptibility testing
van Oostrom I, et al.
Eur J Cancer 2006 Oct

Diagnosis of {alpha}-1-Antitrypsin Deficiency: An Algorithm of Quantitation, Genotyping, and Phenotyping
Snyder MR, et al.
Clin Chem 2006 Oct

Ethical, Legal, and Social Dimensions of Epilepsy Genetics
Shostak S & Ottman R
Epilepsia 2006 Oct;47(10):1595-602

Articles that report on population prevalence of genotypes, gene-disease associations, gene-environment and gene-gene interactions and evaluation of genetic tests. For more information on HuGE, please visit the HuGENet™ home page

For the week ending October 25, 2006, there are HuGE articles in the following areas:

Gene Variant Frequency
Infectious and Parasitic Diseases
Neoplasms
Endocrine, Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases
Diseases of the Blood and Blood-Forming Organs Disorders
Mental Disorders
Diseases of the Nervous System and Sense Organs
Diseases of the Circulatory System
Diseases of the Respiratory System
Diseases of the Digestive System
Diseases of the Genitourinary System
Complications of Pregnancy, Childbirth and the Puerperium
Diseases of the Skin and Subcutaneous Tissue
Diseases of the Musculoskeletal System and Connective Tissue
Congenital Anomalies
Certain Conditions Originating in the Perinatal Period
Symptoms, Signs, and Ill-defined Conditions
Injury and Poisoning

For more information on HuGE, please visit the HuGENet™ home page

Genetic testing
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Center for Genetics and Genomics
Harvard Medical School (HMS) and Partners HealthCare System (PHS) established the Center for Genetics and Genomics to promote genetics and genomics in research and clinical medicine.