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                           JeffNEWS, June 1, 1995
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Team Led By Dr. Antonio Giordano Identifies Gene Involved
in Nasopharyngeal Cancer
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A team of Jefferson Cancer Center researchers, led by Antonio Giordano, MD,
PhD, assistant professor of microbiology and immunology at Jefferson
Medical College and Jeffeson Cancer Institute and president of the Sbarro 
Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine, has isolated a human 
gene called RB-2, that when repressed, may lead to to nasopharyngeal 
cancer.

Nasopharyngeal cancer is cancer of the nasopharynx, which is the upper part
of the throat behind the nose. This type of cancer could be linked to
exposure to hazardous environmental agents.

The investigators' work suggests a possible link between cancer in humans
and exposure to environmental pollution. Certain, adverse environmental
agents may repress the body's production of RB-2, thus predisposing people
to cancer tumor development.

The researchers supported their findings by demonstrating that RB-2, when
applied in high levels in the lab against three different types of human
cancer cells, has tumor-growth suppressive properties.

"Nasopharyngeal cancer is rare in most parts of the world, although it does
have a racial and geographical distribution. The people of southern China
are among those who deviate from the low-risk profile so much that
nasopharyngeal carcinoma is the most common cancer in the city of Canton 
and constitutes 32 percent of all cancers," said Dr. Giordano.

Future studies will aim to screen patient populations using RB-2 as a 
genetic marker to determine who is susceptible to associated cancers, to 
diagnose cancer at an early stage and, eventually, develop genetic 
techniques to correct the chromosomal errors.

RB-2 is related to the RB-1 gene, and is found in a region of the human 
chromosome that is frequently missing in a number of human cancers, such as 
breast, ovarian and prostate cancers. Scientists have shown that the
absence of, or a defect in, RB-1 results in the development of 
retinoblastoma (a rare childhood cancer of the eye), osteosarcoma (cancer 
of the bone) and a number of other cancers.

Dr. Giordano, along with Frederica Perera, MD, PhD, professor at 
Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York and associate director of 
the Columbia Cancer Center, recently received the first Irving J. Selikoff 
Awards for Cancer Research, which are given for excellence in research into 
the detection and repair of damage from cancer-causing agents in work and 
community environments. The awards are named for the late Dr. Selikoff, who 
was an expert on cancer and asbestos, and are sponsored by the Selikoff 
Fund of The Ramazzini Institute for Occupational and Environmental Health 
Research.


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