SummaryBackground The incidence of skin cancer, both melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC), is rising throughout the world. The evaluation of trends in skin cancer will allow better planning of the future development of skin cancer services. Objectives Using data collected from the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry (NICR), the incidence of the three major cutaneous cancers, basal cell carcinoma (BCC), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and malignant melanoma (MM), was determined and the workload associated with their management assessed. Methods The records of patients with a first diagnosis of BCC, SCC or MM occurring between 1993 and 2002 were retrieved from the NICR database. The annual age-and sex-adjusted incidence rates of all three skin cancers were computed per 100 000 person-years by direct standardization according to the European Standard Population. Trends in incidence were estimated by calculating the estimated annual percentage change using Microsoft Excel. For patients registered with the NICR as having BCC, SCC or MM, the number of pathological reports where malignant samples had been examined was counted and then summed to provide the number of specimens examined each year between 1993 and 2004. Results For all three cancers the age-specific rates for both males and females increased with age, except for MM in men aged 75 years and over, where the rates were seen to decrease. Over the 12-year period there was a 62% increase in the overall number of skin cancer samples processed by local pathology laboratories and a 20% increase in the number of patients. These data highlight the fact that many patients will have more than one skin cancer, which reinforces the benefit in collecting data for both patient and sample numbers in order to obtain a true reflection of the workload. The data have also shown that more affluent men and women have higher rates of BCC and MM than their less affluent counterparts. Conclusions In view of the data presented it is clear that management of NMSC and MM will impose significant demands on services in the years ahead. This will impact on the entire multidisciplinary team. Future planning, in terms of manpower and resources, will prove essential if we are to remain in a position to manage our patients with these malignant tumours appropriately.

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The primary objective of the present study was to compare the effect of a neoprene sleeve on knee joint position sense during a sitting open kinetic chain test and a supine closed kinetic chain test. Young (24 +/- 2 years old), healthy subjects (18 men and 18 women) performed knee joint angle replication tests during open kinetic chain knee extension (sitting) and closed kinetic chain leg press (supine with an axial load of 15% body weight) before and after application of a neoprene sleeve over the dominant knee. The improvement in ability to replicate joint angles after application of the sleeve (sleeve effect) was significantly less during the supine closed kinetic chain test (0.3 degree +/- 1.4 degrees) than during the sitting open kinetic chain test (1.2 degrees +/- 1.1 degrees). The sleeve effect was inversely related to subjects' performance without the sleeve during both the sitting open kinetic chain and supine closed kinetic chain tests, suggesting that some people may derive greater benefit from the sleeve than others. Although the sleeve effects were small, particularly during the supine closed kinetic chain test, 72% of subjects felt that the sleeve improved their overall test performance. Future research is needed to establish the functional relevance of the small sleeve effects observed and to identify the characteristics of people who might derive greatest benefit from sleeve use.

SUMMARY BackgroundChronic infection of the stomach with Helicobacter pylori is widespread throughout the world and is the major cause of peptic ulcer disease and gastric cancer. Short-term benefit results from community programmes to eradicate the infection, but there is little information on cumulative long-term benefit.