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Mesothelioma: A Killer
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Doctor Who Pioneered PMS Research Dies
LONDON (AP) -- Dr. Katharina Dalton, a gynecologist who did pioneering research on premenstrual syndrome and was said to have coined the term, has died. She was 87.
Dalton died Sept. 17 in Poole, Dorset, her family said. The family did not specify the cause of death.
Born Katharina Kuipers in London to Dutch parents, she aspired to be a doctor but instead became a chiropodist first, trained to treat foot ailments.
After her first husband, Wilfred Thompson, died in World War II, leaving her with a son, she went to medical school and eventually became a general practitioner before specializing in gynecology, The Independent newspaper reported in an obituary.
Later, she began a research career, publishing pioneering studies on PMS. She introduced the idea of treating PMS with the hormone progesterone, which she found alleviated many symptoms.
Dalton also believed the hormone might be useful in treating postnatal depression.
Dalton ran the PMS clinic at London's University College Hospital, among the first of its kind in the world.
Many of her books posted big sales internationally, including "Once a Month: The Original Premenstrual Syndrome Handbook" (1978) and "Depression after Childbirth: How to Recognize, Treat, and Prevent Postnatal Depression."
Dalton , who remarried after her first husband's death, is survived by four children and five grandchildren.
© 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Virus not linked to type of lung cancer
Last Updated: 2004-09-24 15:49:13 -0400 (Reuters Health)
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Infection with simian virus 40 (SV40) plays little or no role in the development of mesothelioma, a cancer affecting the lining of the lungs that has been linked to asbestos exposure, according to a report in The Lancet.
In the 1950s and 1960s, several hundred thousand military recruits in the US received a vaccine contaminated with SV40. Since then, concerns have been raised that SV40 may cause cancer after researchers noticed the presence of its DNA in various tumor specimens.
However, the new results indicate that the SV40 DNA seen in these specimens may have simply resulted from contamination in the lab -- the virus was not actually present in the tumor before it was removed from the patient.
The current findings are just the latest in a series of reports that have failed to show a link between SV40 and various cancers, such as mesothelioma, lymphoma, and brain tumors.
In the study, Dr. Marc Ladanyi and colleagues, from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, looked for SV40 DNA in 71 mesothelioma samples.
The authors found no evidence of genuine SV40 DNA in the tumor specimens. They did, however, find SV40 DNA that came from circular molecules called plasmids, not from the virus itself. The researchers suggest that these plasmids were probably introduced as contaminants in the lab.
"Because SV40 appears unlikely to have a major role, if any, in human mesotheliomas, (doctors) should continue to consider asbestos exposure as the most likely and most thoroughly established (cause) in individuals with this cancer," the researchers conclude.
SOURCE: The Lancet, September 25, 2004.
Copyright © 2004 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.
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