High-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) infection is the major risk factor for cervical cancer (CxCa). The role of genetic susceptibility in the disease has been suggested, but the existing data lack consistency. We conducted a nested case-control study on 973 CxCa cases and 1,763 matched controls, from two Swedish population-based cohorts to examine the association of common genetic variants with CxCa risk. Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles and 24 other polymorphisms in 14 genes were selected on the basis of reported association or mechanistic plausibility with an HPV infection or cervical cancer development. Genotyping was conducted using multiplex PCR and Luminex technology. A significant association of CxCa with various polymorphisms was observed: rs1800797 in the IL-6 gene (odds ratio [OR] 5 0.88, 95% confidence intervals [CI]: 0.79-0.99); rs1041981 in the LTA gene (OR 5 0.87, 95% CI: 0.78-0.98), and rs9344 in the CCND1 gene (OR 5 1.14, 95% CI: 1.02-1.27), for those individuals carrying the rare allele. Additionally, the alleles 0401 and 1501 of the HLA class II DRB1 locus were associated with an increased risk (OR 5 1.23, 95% CI: 1.04-1.45 and OR 5 1.29, 95% CI: 1.11-1.50, respectively), and allele 1301 was associated with decreased risk (OR 5 0.59, 95% CI: 0.47-0.73). The effects of CCND1 and the HLA*DRB1 alleles were independent of the effect of smoking. We did not find any association of risk with polymorphisms in genes related to the innate immune system. In conclusion, our study provides evidence for genetic susceptibility to CxCa due to variations in genes involved in the immune system and in cell cycle. ' UICCKey words: nested case-control study; genetic study; host factors; polymorphisms; human papillomavirus; HPV Cervical cancer (CxCa) is the second most common cancer in women worldwide. It accounts for 250,000 deaths per year and at least 80% of them occur in developing countries.

The targeted RAAPD program was implemented effectively in the national maternity care program in Finland. An accurate fetal RHD screening test allows discontinuation of newborn testing without risking the postnatal prophylaxis program. In the future, the main area to investigate will be the clinical effect of RAADP on subsequent pregnancies.

International rare blood donor panels or registries are important in the consistent availability of rare blood for patients who need this scarce resource. In countries where it has been possible to commit resources to this effort and often where the need is great, donors have been entered into a registry. The ISBT leadership recognized the importance of this very challenging inventory management activity and created a Working Party to support it. Individual countries support the WHO International Rare Donor Panel by submitting their donors' phenotype or genotype information to be catalogued into the database. It is extremely important that this database be cultivated and grown. The contributing countries keep their list updated and supply the blood product as they can when requested. It is known that some blood types are extremely scarce worldwide and requests for these are particularly difficult to fulfil. Thus, it is important to have a protocol to identify and recruit donors with rare blood types. It is equally or perhaps more important to ensure that the patients who need the rare blood are being managed appropriately in the presence and absence of rare blood products being available.

The Fcgamma receptor cluster on chromosome 1q23 contains a number of genes that may affect susceptibility to celiac disease, but previous studies have yielded contradictory results. We studied the FcgammaRIIa*A519G (rs1801274) and FcgammaRIIIa*A559C (rs396991) single nucleotide polymorphisms in celiac disease families from Hungary and Finland and in celiac disease case-control materials from Hungary and Italy. Neither the Hungarian nor the Italian case-control material or a meta-analysis of the combined case-control material showed significant single-marker or haplotype association. In addition, neither linkage nor family-based association tests showed evidence for association in the Finnish or Hungarian family material. This study thus does not support a previous publication showing FcgammaR association with celiac disease.

Background: Ula, part of the Kell blood group system, is a low-frequency antigen found predominantly in the Finnish population. Anti-Ula is a rare antibody to cause hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn (HDFN). Methods and Findings:We report one woman with two pregnancies in which anti-Ula caused severe HDFN requiring intrauterine (IU) transfusions. In the first affected pregnancy, two IU transfusions were performed, but the cause of fetal anemia was unknown at the time and an immune-based mechanism was not suspected. In the following pregnancy, anti-Ula with a titer of 1-2 was identified, and as the fetus was anemic, six IU transfusions were performed. The detection of anti-Ula is difficult, because it is not usually included in the antibody screening cells. Conclusions:The possibility of a rare antibody as the cause of severe HDFN should be kept in mind in cases in which the antibody screening has been negative, and further antibody detection studies should be performed as part of fetal anemia investigations. If anti-Ula is identified in a pregnant woman, close ultrasound monitoring of the fetus is important because HDFN may develop even when the antibody titers are low.