Summary Cyclin E is a GI cyclin which has been proposed to be one of the key regulators of the important GI/S transition, and could consequently be a potential deregulated molecule in tumours. Recently, it has been observed that cyclin E is overexpressed in a variety of malignancies including breast cancer and that several isoforms of the protein exists. In this study we have characterised the cyclin E expression in 114 tumour specimens from patients with primary breast cancer using Western blotting. Various expression of cyclin E was observed among tumours and a group of 27 patients out of 100 patients with stage I-III disease, identified as having tumours with high cycin E levels, had a significantly increased risk of death and relapse from breast cancer (P=0.0002 and P=0.015 respectively). Even in the subgroup of axillary node-negative patients the cyclin E level was of prognostic importance. There was also a strong association between cyclin E expression and oestrogen receptor status (P<0.00001), and tumours with high cyclin E expression were in general oestrogen receptor negative, suggesting a potential role for cyclin E in mechanisms responsible for oestrogenindependent tumour growth.

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Cancer incidence data for Circumpolar Inuit populations were developed and compiled from Greenland, Canada and Alaska from 1969 to 1988 to provide the largest possible base of data for documenting the unusual patterns of cancer previously reported for these populations. Cancer incidence and population data were transferred to the Danish Cancer Registry. Coded information from various ICD-classifications and codes for the basis of diagnosis were transformed to one format, enabling joint analysis. Standard descriptive analysis was carried out with presentation of number of cases, crude incidence rates (CR), age-standardized rates (world) (ASR), cumulative rates to age 64 years, and indirectly standardized ratios (SIR) to the populations of Connecticut (USA), Canada and Denmark. The resulting database can be used to support collaborative international research among the Inuit populations.

Two cases of Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) are described in patients of pure Eskimo trait from the northernmost part of the world. The clinical and histological findings corresponded to KS in other parts of the world. This report on KS in Eskimos from the sparsely populated Arctic areas may support the opinion that KS is more common outside Africa than the literature indicates.