Lipocalin 2 in cancer: when good immunity goes bad.

Lipocalin 1

A lipocalin that was orignally characterized from human TEARS. It is expressed primarily in the LACRIMAL GLAND and the VON EBNER GLANDS. Lipocalin 1 may play a role in olfactory transduction by concentrating and delivering odorants to the ODORANT RECEPTORS.

Monitoring, Immunologic

Testing of immune status in the diagnosis and therapy of cancer, immunoproliferative and immunodeficiency disorders, and autoimmune abnormalities. Changes in immune parameters are of special significance before, during and following organ transplantation. Strategies include measurement of tumor antigen and other markers (often by RADIOIMMUNOASSAY), studies of cellular or humoral immunity in cancer etiology, IMMUNOTHERAPY trials, etc.

Double Effect Principle

Guideline for determining when it is morally permissible to perform an action to pursue a good end with knowledge that the action will also bring about bad results. It generally states that, in cases where a contemplated action has such double effect, the action is permissible only if: it is not wrong in itself; the bad result is not intended; the good result is not a direct causal result of the bad result; and the good result is "proportionate to" the bad result. (from Solomon, "Double Effect," in Becker, The Encyclopedia of Ethics, 1992)

Immunity, Herd

The non-susceptibility to infection of a large group of individuals in a population. A variety of factors can be responsible for herd immunity and this gives rise to the different definitions used in the literature. Most commonly, herd immunity refers to the case when, if most of the population is immune, infection of a single individual will not cause an epidemic. Also, in such immunized populations, susceptible individuals are not likely to become infected. Herd immunity can also refer to the case when unprotected individuals fail to contract a disease because the infecting organism has been banished from the population.

Seer Program

A cancer registry mandated under the National Cancer Act of 1971 to operate and maintain a population-based cancer reporting system, reporting periodically estimates of cancer incidence and mortality in the United States. The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program is a continuing project of the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health. Among its goals, in addition to assembling and reporting cancer statistics, are the monitoring of annual cancer incident trends and the promoting of studies designed to identify factors amenable to cancer control interventions. (From National Cancer Institute, NIH Publication No. 91-3074, October 1990)