Age-independency of AP site incision capacity in women

Women in the age range 40-59 years have a >4 Fold higher risk to develop ca ncer as compared to women in the age range birth-39 years. This age-related increase in cancer incidence might be partially linked to reduced efficien cy of the DNA repair machinery. We have investigated the abasic (AP) site i ncision capacity of peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) from 23 women in the age range 27-57 years. The AP sites incision capacity was determined in re lation to protein or DNA content of PBI extracts. In either case, no signif icant correlation was Found between AP sites incision capacity and age, thu s suggesting that no decline occurs in the age range investigated. (C) 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.