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The Labour Party National Executive Committee looks likely to discuss this issue next week. Labour needs a sizeable group on the London Assembly in order to continue investment in public services in the capital. London Labour Party members want a united campaign in order to maximise Labour's vote and promote Labour's values.

Nicky Gavron's proposal to unite the London Labour vote is a welcome step. Nicky is right to say that the best way of achieving unity is to combine the strengths of her campaign and Ken Livingstone's for the good of Labour and London. The Labour party NEC looks likely to discuss this issue next week.

In October 1992, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) conjugate vaccine was introduced to infants in the United Kingdom with a “catch-up” program for those aged <4 years. Initially, the rate of invasive Hib disease decreased dramatically but has been increasing since 1999. To determine possible reasons for this increase, the effectiveness of Hib conjugate vaccine was estimated by use of the screening method. Between October 1993 and December 2001, a total of 443 cases of Hib infection occurred in children eligible for vaccination; 363 (82%) were fully vaccinated. Vaccine effectiveness was estimated to be 56.7% (95% confidence interval, 42.5–67.4). Effectiveness was lower in children vaccinated during infancy, compared with those who were vaccinated during the catch-up campaign (P=.0033), declined with time since vaccination (P=.0008), and was lower in children born during 2000–2002, compared with other children scheduled for infant vaccination (P=.0041). Use of a catch-up vaccination program enhanced the control of Hib infection in England and Wales. Since 1999, however, low effectiveness in infants, declining effectiveness with age, and the use of lower-efficacy vaccines have contributed to increased rates of Hib infection. The potential role of boosters needs to be considered

The influence and inspiration which international events assert cm young people can-: no', be overestimated. The British taxpayer, who pays so much for sport, is entitled to see top-level competition in. this country. The Games will be enhanced by what the NEC has to offer and in their turn the Games will enhance the reputation of the NEC. The Games provide Birmingham, and the West Midlands in general, with a marvellous opportunity to project their reputation and to attract prestige and commercial success.

We report here the identification of a gene associated with the hyperparathyroidism–jaw tumor (HPT–JT) syndrome. A single locus associated with HPT–JT ( HRPT2 ) was previously mapped to chromosomal region 1q25–q32. We refined this region to a critical interval of 12 cM by genotyping in 26 affected kindreds. Using a positional candidate approach, we identified thirteen different heterozygous, germline, inactivating mutations in a single gene in fourteen families with HPT–JT. The proposed role of HRPT2 as a tumor suppressor was supported by mutation screening in 48 parathyroid adenomas with cystic features, which identified three somatic inactivating mutations, all located in exon 1. None of these mutations were detected in normal controls, and all were predicted to cause deficient or impaired protein function. HRPT2 is a ubiquitously expressed, evolutionarily conserved gene encoding a predicted protein of 531 amino acids, for which we propose the name parafibromin. Our findings suggest that HRPT2 is a tumor-suppressor gene, the inactivation of which is directly involved in predisposition to HPT–JT and in development of some sporadic parathyroid tumors.

The Collaborative Group on Hormonal Factors in Breast Cancer has brought together and reanalysed about 90% of the worldwide epidemiological evidence on the relation between risk of breast cancer and use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Individual data on 52 705 women with breast cancer and 108 411 women without breast cancer from 51 studies in 21 countries were collected, checked, and analysed centrally. The main analyses are based on 53 865 postmenopausal women with a known age at menopause, of whom 17 830 (33%) had used HRT at some time. The median age at first use was 48 years, and 34% of ever-users had used HRT for 5 years or longer. Estimates of the relative risk of breast cancer associated with the use of HRT were obtained after stratification of all analyses by study, age at diagnosis, time since menopause, body-mass index, parity, and the age a woman was when her first child was born. Among current users of HRT or those who ceased use 1–4 years previously, the relative risk of having breast cancer diagnosed increased by a factor of 1·023 (95% CI 1·011–1·036; 2p=0·0002) for each year of use; the relative risk was 1·35 (1·21–1·49; 2p=0·00001) for women who had used HRT for 5 years or longer (average duration of use in this group 11 years). This increase is comparable with the effect on breast cancer of delaying menopause, since among never-users of HRT the relative risk of breast cancer increases by a factor of 1·028 (95% CI 1·021–1·034) for each year older at menopause. 5 or more years after cessation of HRT use, there was no significant excess of breast cancer overall or in relation to duration of use. These main findings did not vary between individual studies. Of the many factors examined that might affect the relation between breast cancer risk and use of HRT, only a woman's weight and body-mass index had a material effect: the increase in the relative risk of breast cancer associated with long durations of use in current and recent users was greater for women of lower than of higher weight or body-mass index. There was no marked variation in the results according to hormonal type or dose but little information was available about long durations of use of any specific preparation. Cancers diagnosed in women who had ever used HRT tended to be less advanced clinically than those diagnosed in never-users. In North America and Europe the cumulative incidence of breast cancer between the ages of 50 and 70 in never-users of HRT is about 45 per 1000 women. The cumulative excess numbers of breast cancers diagnosed between these ages per 1000 women who began use of HRT at age 50 and used it for 5, 10, and 15 years, respectively, are estimated to be 2 (95% CI 1–3), 6 (3–9), and 12 (5–20). Whether HRT affects mortality from breast cancer is not known. The risk of having breast cancer diagnosed is increased in women using HRT and increases with increasing duration of use. This effect is reduced after cessation of use of HRT and has largely, if not wholly, disappeared after about 5 years. These findings should be considered in the context of the benefits and other risks associated with the use of HRT.