"Usually reliable sources" who "Merck told me?"  Sorry, Mitchel - 
this may be a wonderful human being, but I can't run with this.


>No one special. That's why I didn't add her name. Just someone on a 
>list who decided to contact Merck directly and ask for information.
>
>Mitchel
>
>
>
>At 11:48 AM 2/27/2007, you wrote:
>>Hard to debate with "a letter I just received."  Who's it from?
>>
>>
>>
>>>Nothing is ever as simple as it fears appears. For instance, 
>>>here's a letter I just received:
>>>
>>>"Here are a couple of things that Merck told me: girls under 18 
>>>were only tracked for 18 months, so no they don't know the long 
>>>term effects or the long term efficacy by my way of thinking. 
>>>9,700 women had cervical cancer last year, 3,700 died. Of those 
>>>diagnosed, about 30% of them [1,100] had no known origin (cause) 
>>>of the cervical cancer. That means they have no idea why these 
>>>women got it and HPV was not present. Of the rest [2,600] some did 
>>>indeed have an HPV causal relationship (no numbers for how many) 
>>>but many had a causal relationship with other viruses. So in terms 
>>>of numbers, HPV is a pretty weak case."
>>>
>>>Now, I wouldn't go so far as the writer above who says that HPV is 
>>>a pretty weak case. There clearly is SOME sort of correlation. 
>>>But, and this has not yet been discussed,
>>>
>>>1) how many people get genital warts (HPV) each year, and how many 
>>>of those people get cervical cancer? and,
>>>
>>>2) how many cases of cervical cancer are there each year among 
>>>people who do not have genital warts?
>>>
>>>
>>>Mitchel Cohen
>>>
>>>
>>>At 07:59 AM 2/27/2007, you wrote:
>>>>This paper suggests that Vitamin C might have a therapeutic 
>>>>effect in treating cervical cancer, although we would want to see 
>>>>clinical results that it actually works in practice. If an 
>>>>effective vaccine is indeed available, we would have few cervical 
>>>>cancer cases to treat in the first place.
>>>>
>>>>MB
>>>>
>>>>On 2/27/07, Jonathan Campbell <<mailto:[log in to unmask]>[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>>>FROM: 
>>>><http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11401473&dopt=Abstract>Biochem 
>>>>Biophys Res Commun 2001 (Mar 30);   282 (2): 409-15
>>>>
>>>>Reddy VG, Khanna N, Singh N
>>>>
>>>>Department of Biochemistry, All India Institute of Medical 
>>>>Sciences, New Delhi, India
>>>>
>>>>Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) is associated in most instances with 
>>>>cervical cancer. The HPV oncoproteins target P53 protein for 
>>>>degradation, leading to deregulation of cell cycle. We 
>>>>investigated whether stabilization of P53 in cervical cancer 
>>>>cells, by downregulating HPV transcription would restore the 
>>>>apoptotic ability of these cells. Our findings show that vitamin 
>>>>C downregulates the redox sensitive transcription factor AP-1 and 
>>>>decreases one of its transcription targets HPV E6, and stabilizes 
>>>>P53. This was associated with an increase in Bax and decrease in 
>>>>Bcl-2 and telomerase activity. Accumulation of P53 and its target 
>>>>gene bax then sensitized HeLa cells to cell-cycle arrest, cell 
>>>>death/apoptosis induced by cisplatin, and etoposide. Increasing 
>>>>drug sensitivity of cervical carcinoma cells by stabilizing P53 
>>>>using vitamin C is a novel approach and has potential clinical 
>>>>relevance.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>--
>>>><http://www.michaelbalter.com>www.michaelbalter.com
>>>>
>>>>******************************************
>>>>Michael Balter
>>>>Contributing Correspondent, Science
>>>><mailto:[log in to unmask]>[log in to unmask]
>>>>******************************************
>>
>>--
>>Martha Livingston, Ph.D.
>>Associate Professor of Health and Society
>>SUNY College at Old Westbury
>>Box 210
>>Old Westbury, New York 11568
>>(516) 876-2748

-- 
Martha Livingston, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Health and Society
SUNY College at Old Westbury
Box 210
Old Westbury, New York 11568
(516) 876-2748