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Independent associations exist between stable heart disease and C-reactive protein, homocysteine, cysteine and von Willebrand factor. Strong combined effects were observed between these and conventional risk factors, particularly smoking. Smoking cessation may profoundly reduce risk associated with other risk factors. We found no evidence of a relationship between activated factor XII and disease.

Colonic tumors of human origin produce abundant transforming growth factor (TGF)-␤ suggesting that TGF-␤ is critical to their growth. Dietary lipids regulate a number of growth factors including TGF-␤. Whether elevated TGF-␤ levels are consistently expressed in colonic tumors irrespective of the environmental milieu in an in vivo model is not known and forms the main objective of the present study. Male F344 rats were injected with azoxymethane, 10 weeks later, rats bearing preneoplastic lesions were fed a low fat (5% corn oil) diet and 3 high fat (5% corn oil with 18% corn oil, fish oil or beef tallow) diets for 16 weeks. Colonic tumors and mucosae were processed and assessed for TGF-␤ status. TGF-␤1 and -␤2 mRNA levels were upregulated in colonic tumors more than in mucosae of all diet groups. Dietary lipids modulated TGF-␤ mRNA in both tumors and mucosae, high corn and fish oil diets upregulated TGF-␤1 significantly more than the low fat corn oil or high fat beef tallow diets. Immunohistochemical assessments of tissues with different biological features revealed that TGF-␤1 and -␤2 were elevated in tumors and in selected microscopic preneoplastic lesions compared to normal mucosae. This is the first in vivo study, documenting that developing colonic tumors acquire upregulated TGF-␤ phenotype even in the presence of lipid environments capable of differentially regulating TGF-␤ in normal mucosae. Elevated expression of TGF-␤ in a selected subset of microscopic preneoplastic lesions suggests that TGF-␤ plays an important role on both early and late stages of colon carcinogenesis.

Background: The benefits of mentorship on residents are well established. The current state of mentorship in General Surgery (GS) residency programs in Canada is unknown. The objectives of this study were to obtain GS residents’ and program directors’ (PD) perspectives on resident mentorship.Study Design: An electronic survey was developed and distributed to all 601 GS residents in Canada. All 17 PDs were invited for telephone interviews.Results: A total of 179 of the 601 residents responded. Ninety-seven percent (n=173) felt mentorship was important. Only 67% (n=116) identified a mentor and only 53% (n=62) reported a mentorship program. Most who identified a mentor (n=87/110, 79%) were satisfied with the mentorship received. Significant variations in mentorship existed between demographic subgroups and mentorship program types. Overall, residents (n=121, 74%) favoured having a required mentorship program.A total of 11 out of 17 PDs participated in the telephone interviews. The majority of PDs (n=9, 82%) were satisfied with current resident mentorship but most acknowledged that barriers exist (n=8, 73%).Conclusion: GS programs in Canada should ensure they are providing equal opportunities for mentorship across demographic subgroups. Programs are encouraged to examine both their program’s and their residents’ needs as well as local barriers to improve mentorship.

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