A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Protein shows reaction to breast cancer drug
MEASURING LEVELS of a particular protein in breast tumour tissue could ultimately help some early stage breast cancer patients avoid unnecessary drug treatment, according to new research.
The study centres on a protein called the cocaine- and amphetamine- regulated transcript, or Cart for short. By analysing samples from about 1,000 breast cancer patients, the international study, published online in the journal Oncogene, found levels of Cart are high in breast tumours that respond poorly to tamoxifen, one of the main anti-hormone drugs used to treat the disease.
Tamoxifen acts by blocking the growth-promoting action of oestrogen in breast cancer cells, but the current study suggests that the Cart protein could thwart the drug’s effect by switching on the oestrogen receptor – the main target of oestrogen in breast cancer cells – and so prevent tamoxifen from killing them.
While Cart has been studied elsewhere as a regulator of body weight and in the body’s response to drugs such as cocaine, this new study claims to be the first to demonstrate a link between the protein and response to breast cancer treatment.
The findings could help to stratify patients with early stage lymph node-negative breast cancer into high- and low-risk categories, and so inform doctors about the most appropriate course of treatment, according to Dr Darran O’Connor, a senior research fellow at UCD’s Conway Institute.
The research was led by Prof William Gallagher from UCD and the Science Foundation Ireland-funded cluster Molecular Therapeutics for Cancer Ireland.
CLAIRE O'CONNELL
Survey of deaf people finds TV subtitling patchy
THE DEAF community in Ireland has reported widespread dissatisfaction at the quality and availability of subtitles and sign language on television.
A survey carried out on behalf of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) by OCS research found 85 per cent of deaf people have switched off a programme because of the quality of subtitling. A similar number found the availability of subtitles to be either variable or poor.
Among the complaints that have been made is the poor visual quality of subtitles, the lack of continuity between the picture on the screen and the subtitles, with several examples of subtitles trailing well behind programmes, and also the placing of subtitles on the screen which interferes with the picture quality.
Though a majority of deaf people expressed satisfaction at subtitling at peak times, that fell to just 31 per cent outside peak times.
Many said they that they would rather watch British than Irish television because good subtitling was much more prevalent in the UK.
Satisfaction with each broadcaster varied dramatically, with 85 per cent saying RTÉ 1 produced satisfactory subtitling but only 4 per cent saying the same about TV3. Many deaf people have voiced concern about the lack of subtitling in TV3’s home-grown programming.
The BAI has launched a public consultation on proposed new rules to govern subtitling, sign language and audio description for Irish broadcasters. The deadline for submissions to the BAI is 5pm on January 24th.
RONAN McGREEVY
Nearly half of Irish workers get RSI
ALMOST HALF of Irish workers have experienced repetitive strain injury or RSI pain, according to research from IrishJobs.ie and Enable Ireland.
The survey was conducted among more than 1,000 workers and examined “the comfort factor” at work. Among those who have experienced RSI, one in five has taken time off work.
According to the survey, workers now typically spend from two to six hours and more seated at work daily, typing or on the phone.