He added that for example mutated Bcl10 may provide a suitable target for the design of a new

He added that, for example, "mutated Bcl10 may provide a suitable target for the design of a new cancer drug".Bruce Ponder, professor of oncology at Cambridge University, said the discovery of genes involved in cancer is helping scientists to understand not only what triggers the disease, but how to prevent it."In many ways we're still dancing around the problem, but more and more genes are emerging that enable us to build up a clear picture of the problem," Professor Ponder said.. "It's clearly involved in programmed cell death and it is directly relevant to human cancer," Professor Lane said.Professor Peter Garland, chief executive of the Institute of Cancer Research, said further studies on Bcl10 could lead to new ways of fighting cancer. Defects in the gene seem to prevent this cell suicide, causing a tumour to grow.David Lane, professor of molecular oncology at Dundee University, who was involved in identifying the p53 gene in 1979, said the importance of the Bcl10 gene will become apparent only when scientists identify the precise number of cancers linked with its mutations. Our preliminary results indicate that Bcl10 is contributing to the development of at least as many," he said.Mutations in Bcl10 could be an "early event'' leading to cancer, he added. "It may be that chronic exposure to cigarette smoke or asbestos may ultimately be responsible for Bcl10 mutations."Studies have shown that the gene is implicated in the natural mechanism the body uses to kill its cells should they become defective. "This is only the second gene to be discovered which is implicated in such a large number of cancers.

The first was p53, which is abnormal in about 50 per cent of all cancers. Scientists are heralding it as one of the most important breakthroughs to date because the new gene seems to be involved in so many different types of cancer.A team of scientists from the Institute of Cancer Research and University College London found the gene, called Bcl10, after analysing the stomach tumour of a 75-year-old man.They subsequently found that a number of patients suffering from a range of cancers carried mutations of the same gene, indicating the genetic faults may be important in tumour development.The only other cancer gene implicated in so many kinds of cancer is the p53 gene, which is known to suppress cancer in its normal form but which can trigger a tumour to grow when the gene is damaged.Martin Dyer, a leader of the team from the Institute of Cancer Research, said the gene could prove to be one of the most important discoveries in cancer research. Defects in the gene are believed to be involved in a wide range of cancers - including the most common tumours of the colon, lungs and breasts - and the research could eventually lead to new treatments aimed at correcting the genetic faults. The discovery, published in the journal Cell, is the latest success in cancer genetics. It's a good method of contraceptive when a woman wants to use it and is properly selected. Anyone thinking of using the Pill should have their blood pressure and a good family history taken."Deborah Orr, Review page 5. SCIENTISTS have discovered a new gene involved in cancer that they hope will provide an understanding of the basic causes of the disease.

"The study is reassuring, as it supports other findings which show the risks of the Pill, when correctly prescribed, are negligible."Toni Bellfield, the association's director of information added: "There is a widespread lack of confidence about the Pill. There's always a desire to say the Pill is bad news, and it isn't. Professor Beral said it was likely the introduction of the low-dose pills meant the risks had fallen even lower.Anne Weyman, chief executive of the Family Planning Association, said it was important GPs obtained an accurate picture of women's health, so that they could prescribe the correct type of Pill. Women who smoked as well as taking the Pill were at highest risk of stroke.Professor Beral, director of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund's Cancer Epidemiology Unit in Oxford, said: "Because deaths in this age group are low, these excess deaths are really very small indeed."Most of the women had used a combined Pill containing 50 micrograms of oestrogen, higher than the low-dose pills common today. They were on average 25 when the study started and half were on the Pill. By the end, two-thirds had taken the Pill for an average of five years.

The results show that among current and recent users of the Pill, deaths from stroke were 90 per cent higher and deaths from cervical cancer were 150 per cent higher than among non-users, but deaths from ovarian cancer were 80 per cent lower.However, the actual increase or decrease in risk was small because of the small number of deaths involved - 38 from cervical cancer among women who had used the Pill compared with 13 who had never used it, and 87 deaths from cerebrovascular disease (mainly stroke) among those who had used it compared with 38 among non-users. We have known for a long time about the effects of the Pill but there has always been a lurking fear that something dreadful might pop out of the woodwork after 15, 20 or even 25 years, and this study shows clearly that it hasn't."During the study, 1,600 of the 46,000 women died. Yesterday he said: "There are few other studies which have involved quite so many people for so long Its findings must be reassuring. In the nine months after this latest scare there were 10,000 extra abortions, taking the total number to its highest level since records began in 1969.The current study was begun in 1968 by Clifford Kay, a Manchester GP, who collected information on all aspects of the health of women on the Pill from 1,400 general practitioners. We have known for a long time that the risk of developing certain conditions is slightly increased in women taking the Pill."Our new figures show that by the time women who have used the Pill have been off it for 10 years, their risk of developing these conditions is similar to what it would have been if they had never taken the Pill at all."About 3 million women are current users of the Pill in Britain and 300 million have used it worldwide. Introduced to the UK in 1961, it ushered in an era of sexual freedom for women but from the start there were fears about side-effects.The first scare, linking it with blood clots in the legs, came in 1969 and the most recent in October 1995, also involving blood clots.

It had been feared the Pill's known tendency to increase slightly the risk of blood clots (causing strokes) and certain cancers, including those of the breast and cervix, might persist long after women had given up and reached middle or old age. The increased risk would then be more serious, because these diseases are more common at older ages. Yesterday Valerie Beral, leader of the 25-year study, conducted among 46,000 women and published in the British Medical Journal, said: "This is good news for women. THE CONTRACEPTIVE pill was cleared of causing long-term harm to women after one of the world's longest and largest studies concluded that its small adverse effects on health disappear within 10 years of giving it up. For our part, LVMH has a strategy aimed at strengthening our presence in the US and Europe All kinds of opportunities present themselves.". Last summer Gucci's arch-rival, Prada, acquired a 5 per cent stake in the company and soon afterwards took another 4.5 per cent, making it the label's largest shareholder.When asked at that time whether he would be able to resist stepping into the fray, Mr Arnault said: "Gucci is a remarkable company which has had excellent growth.