Polymorphisms in genes encoding enzymes involved in estrogen metabolism are held to be candidates for associations with breast disease, since there is evidence that circulating estrogens are associated with breast cancer risk. In this study, we evaluated the frequency of different polymorphisms related with estrogen metabolism [COMT Val158Met, CYP17 (5'UTR, T27C); HSD17ß1 Gly313Ser and MnSOD Val16Ala] in a breast cancer resistant population, the Xavante Indians, and the frequencies were compared with the ones reported in other populations where breast cancer case-control studies dealing with these polymorphisms have been carried out. The data obtained showed that, apart from the MnSOD Val16Ala polymorphism where the frequency of the variant allele was much higher than that reported in other populations, all the others were within the range reported in other populations. Considering these data we carried out a case-control study in the Portuguese population (241 cases and 457 controls) in order to evaluate the potential role of this polymorphism in breast cancer susceptibility. The results obtained did not reveal a significant association between individual genotypes and breast cancer risk. However, when the population was stratified for breast feeding, it was observed that for the patients that never breast fed the presence of the variant allele (Ala) was marginally associated with a decreased risk for this pathology (adjusted OR: 0.575 (0.327-1.011). These data seem to suggest that individuals who never breast fed with MnSOD Val16Ala variant allele are at a lower risk for breast cancer, but larger studies are required to confirm these results.

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Objective: To evaluate the profile and severity of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in ophthalmology ambulatory of Federal University of Parana in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study with data collected among the 6155 outpatients ophthalmic appointments (november 2011 to november 2013) Comparando com a literatura, uma maior proporção de casos avançados de DMRI (50% de forma exsudativa) foi encontrada. Em relação à etnia, tabagismo e IMC, não houve diferença entre pacientes com forma exsudativa e não exsudativa. Estes resultados podem ser comparados com estudos disponíveis, considerando a pouca informação referente a DMRI existente no Brasil.

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gaining increasing attention. Our aim was to analyse the prognostic value of CRP and explore the association between tumour sidedness and SIR.Methods: 2061 patients treated for stage I-III CRC, identified from the prospectively sampled ScotScan Collaborative dataset, were included. The clinical and prognostic value of five different CRP levels was examined (<10, 11-30, 31-60, 61-100 and >100 mg/l). Additionally, the relationship between SIR and tumour sidedness was explored.Results: Increasing levels of CRP were associated with impaired overall and cancerspecific outcome. Presence of SIR was independently associated with right-sided tumour location (odds ratio [OR] 1.19, 95% CI 1.07-1.31). The impact of SIR on cancerspecific survival was greater for left-sided tumour location (hazard ratio [HR] 1.50, 95% CI 1.18-1.92), compared to the right (HR 1.28, 95% CI 1.00-1.64).Conclusions: This study confirms CRP as an easy, valid and clinically relevant strong prognostic marker of SIR in CRC patients. Right-sided tumours were more often associated with SIR, but the prognostic impact was stronger in left-sided tumours.