Ilar age who didn’t die and who replied to a subsequent questionnaire. Our study involved a cohort in which only about 15 had been lifelong non-smokersBMJ VOLUME 321 five AUGUST 2000 bmj.comNicotine replacement is usually obtained on prescriptionEditor–Moxham in his report on nicotine addiction as well as a current report by the Royal College of Physicians draw attention to the will need for nicotine replacement therapy to become made normally available on prescription within the UK.1 2 Nicotine replacement is actually a expense successful treatment3 four that saves lives. It saves income by minimizing the estimated .5bn burden of smoking associated disease at present met by the NHS.two It now transpires that, as a result of a regulatory loophole, a PubMed ID:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20016488 restricted number of nicotine replacement items which have been licensed not too long ago but not but been removed from the list of drugs offered for NHS prescription can in reality currently be prescribed. These products include things like the NiQuitin CQ transdermal patch, the Nicorette Microtab, the Nicorette inhalator, the Nicotinell lozenge, and possibly some other folks. For the time being, as a result, and until they may be removed in the list of medicines for which reimbursable prescriptions is often issued, these merchandise can apparentlyLettersIn addition, additional successful hormonal therapy primarily based on receptor specificity might be created.Carlo Palmieri CRC clinical analysis fellow [email protected] Sam Fishpool health-related student R C Coombes professor of health-related oncology Cancer Cell Biology Group, Cancer Analysis Campaign Laboratories, Imperial College College of Medicine–Hammersmith Campus, London W12 0NN1 Lindblom A, Liljegren A. Tumour markers in malignancies. BMJ 2000;320:424-7. (12 February.) 2 Jensen EV, DeSombre ER, Jungblut PW. Estrogen receptors in hormone-responsive tissues and tumours. In: Wissler RW, Dao TL, Wood S, eds. Endogenous variables influencing host-tumor balance. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1967:15-30. 3 Locker GY. Hormonal therapy of breast cancer. Cancer Treat Rev 1998;24:221-40. 4 Gustafsson JA. Estrogen receptor b–a new dimension in estrogen mechanism of action. J Endocrinol 1999;163: 379-83. five Jarvinen TAH, Pelto-Hukko M, Hollo K, Isola J. Estrogen receptor b is coexpressed with ERa and PR and connected with nodal status, grade and proliferation price in breast cancer. Am J Pathol 2000;156:29-35.CA19.9 is valuable in many cancers . . . Editor–I was shocked that Lindblom and Liljegren mentioned CA19.9 just about as an aside as getting in the experimental stage in ovarian cancer.1 This marker is connected with other adenocarcinomas, particularly CCT245737 chemical information pancreatic cancer; when utilized in conjunction with information of your patient’s clinical state it could be a fantastic guide to diagnosis and response to therapy. It has been routinely applied inside the south west of London for some time, and also a survey of PubMed shows that quite a few papers have reported its usefulness within the management of pancreatic cancer. A further tumour marker, which the authors have omitted altogether, is lactic dehydrogenase; that is certainly one of the most useful indicators of relapse melanoma also as other malignancies. I am surprised that these omissions escaped the peer critique course of action.A G Dalgleish professor of oncology St George’s Hospital Medical School, Division of Oncology, Department of Cellular and Molecular Sciences, London SW17 0RE1 Lindblom A, Liljegren A. Tumour markers in malignancies. BMJ 2000;320:424-7. (12 February.)staging, and management and absolutely warrants conside.