Serum growth factors and oncoproteins in firefighters.
Firefighters are potentially at increased risk for cancer and non-malignant respiratory disease due to their toxic exposures on the job. Growth factors and oncogene proteins are thought to play a role in the development of various malignancies and pulmonary fibrotic diseases. Therefore, a cohort of firefighters and matched controls have been screened for the presence of nine different growth factors and oncoproteins using an immunoblotting assay. Fourteen of the firefighters were found to be positive for beta-transforming growth factor (beta-TGF) related proteins compared to no positives in the controls (P = 0.0017). These results suggest that beta-TGF may be a possible biomarker for monitoring firefighters and other exposed workers for the potential development of cancer or non-malignant respiratory disease.
Ford
J
J
Department of Medicine, Columbia University, New York, New York 10032.
Smith
S
S
Luo
J C
JC
Friedman-Jimenez
G
G
Brandt-Rauf
P
P
Markowitz
S
S
Garibaldi
K
K
Niman
H
H
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D005390:Fires / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology; D009519:New York City / Q000453:epidemiology; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D015513:Oncogene Proteins / Q000097:blood* / Q000737:chemistry; D010982:Platelet-Derived Growth Factor / Q000032:analysis*; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011658:Pulmonary Fibrosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta / Q000097:blood*
D015513:Oncogene Proteins; D010982:Platelet-Derived Growth Factor; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta