Cancer News

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Not only these women describe what's happening in their lives as many other people do nowdays, SV moms are touching some sensitive and important topics, such as how to deal with the tragic news like having a cancer.

Read the article - It Happens. It's true that it's tough to talk about cancer, but it happens. Sharing the experience is important. So, give this article a read.

Six schools in the Halifax area have had higher levels of potentially harmful radon gas than the new, stricter limits Health Canada is considering.

The schools, among 14 tested in the province for radon gas in 2004, exceeded the proposed advisable limit of 200 becquerels per cubic metre but fell within the current federal guideline of 800, provincial records indicate.

They were: Atlantic Memorial Consolidated in Shad Bay, East St. Margaret’s Elementary in Indian Harbour, Five Bridges Junior High (the former Sir John A. Macdonald High) in Hubley, St. Margaret’s Bay Elementary in Head of St. Margarets Bay, Terence Bay School and William King Elementary in Herring Cove.

A new breath test has been reported to detect lung cancer in its early stage. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States, and doctors believe that early detection could offer sufferers their best chance for early survival.

Dr. Michael Phillips, CEO of Menssana Research, the company that developed the breath test, said, "We developed a breathalyzer that is one billion times more sensitive than those the police use to measure alcohol in the breath. It detects around 200 different chemicals in a person's breath, and some of these chemicals are markers of cancer. A breath test has great advantages over most other medical tests - it is completely safe, painless and non-invasive. All you have to do is breathe gently into a tube for two minutes. There are no potentially dangerous x-rays to worry about, and it will certainly be a lot less expensive than chest imaging."

The news appears in the March issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

In the study, researchers surveyed nearly 15,000 adult smokers in the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia to test the effectiveness of the warning labels used in those four countries. The surveys were conducted between 2002 and 2005.

Scientists in Taiwan have developed a simple, five-gene test aimed at showing which lung cancer patients most need chemotherapy, as similar tests now do for people with breast cancer and lymphoma.

The experimental test needs to be validated in larger groups of patients, so widespread use is perhaps a few years away. However, it's already winning praise for its possible use in everyday hospital settings instead of in limited situations by people with special genetics training.

"This has the potential to be extremely helpful," said Dr. David Johnson, a lung cancer expert at Vanderbilt University and former president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the world's largest group of cancer specialists.

China will have the world's highest number of lung cancer patients 1 million a year by 2025 if smoking and pollution are not effectively curbed, experts have warned, citing World Health Organization (WHO) figures.

According to the national tumor prevention and cure research office affiliated to the Ministry of Health, the country had 120,000 new lung cancer patients during the past five years.

Lung cancer killed more people than any other disease one out of every four, sources said.

When given to ease pain and other complaints in patients with late-stage non-small cell lung cancer, a longer, less intense course of radiotherapy offers better value for the money than short-course intense treatment, concludes a study by Dutch researchers.

A previous study by the Leiden University Medical Center team compared a short course of two treatments of 8 gray (Gy) of radiation each, or a long course of 10 treatments of 3 Gy each. Patients who received the long course had more symptom improvement and improved one-year survival compared to patients who received the short course.

In this new study, the researchers analyzed the costs of the two treatment approaches to determine which one offered the best value for the money. They estimated the costs of treatment and related expenses, such as medical care for people who survived their cancer.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) had said Alimta (pemetrexed disodium) should not be used in England and Wales.

The drug is used to treat mesothelioma, a type of cancer which most often affects the lining of the lungs and is mainly linked to asbestos exposure.

The original ruling was appealed by manufacturers Eli Lilly.

NICE has now announced the case will be reviewed by its appraisal committee.

Cell Therapeutics said late Thursday it has shut down its most important clinical trial because patients who took its cancer drug were dying more quickly than those receiving a standard chemotherapy drug.

The Seattle biotech company, which suspended the trial a month ago, will submit a newly designed study to the Food and Drug Administration by year's end. The company said data from the 200 patients who were treated so far will not be used if it eventually seeks FDA approval for the drug, called Xyotax.

GENEVA (Reuters) - Tobacco-related diseases including cancers and heart disease will kill 6.4 million people a year by 2015, 50 percent more than AIDS, a study said on Tuesday.

But the HIV/AIDS epidemic will be the leading cause of illness and disability in low- and middle-income countries by then and take an increasing number of lives worldwide, it said.

The study by World Health Organization (WHO) researchers projects global figures for mortality and the burden of 10 major disease groups in both 2015 and 2030. 

"According to our baseline projection, smoking will kill 50 percent more people in 2015 than HIV/AIDS and will be responsible for 10 percent of all deaths globally," said their study in the Public Library of Science Medicine (PLoS Medicine).

Lung cancer has claimed the title of most deadly cancer in the Chinese capital, sources with the Beijing Research Institute of Tumor Prevention and Control said on Monday.

Zhi Xiuyi , a professor with Capital Medical University, said Beijingers are increasingly familiar with lung cancer. One out of every four cancer sufferers in the city is a lung cancer patient.

With incidence of the disease on rise, the average age at which a patient contracts lung cancer goes down by 12 months every five years, Zhi added.

The youngest lung cancer sufferer diagnosed by the Lung Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment Center of Beijing's Xuanwu Hospital was only 21 years old.

ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Jim Boyd smoked for 40 years before quitting this summer. Both of his parents died of smoking-related illnesses.

Boyd, 61 and a resident of Wentzville, Mo., hopes to avoid their fate by participating in a multinational research study through St. Joseph Health Center in St. Charles, part of the SSM Health Care System. The study aims to catch lung cancer early by using spiral CT scans to find tiny cancerous lesions in patients' lungs.

Early results, published last month in the New England Journal of Medicine, found the process was able to detect lung cancer in its earliest stage, when surgery could be most successful.

However, Boyd's insurance company will not cover the $300 cost of the test.

John W. Eaton, one of the researchers, presented the findings today at an international cancer conference in Prague, Czech Republic.

Eaton, deputy director of UofL's James Graham Brown Cancer Center, said that the results in mice are promising but that much more research is needed — particularly into whether the results will translate to humans.

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Radiation treatment for prostate cancer can go a lot smoother if the patient doesn't smoke.

According to researchers from the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, smokers end up with significantly worse side effects from the treatment than nonsmokers.

The study was conducted among nearly 1,200 men being treated with 3-D conformal radiation therapy. Investigators collected information on smoking habits and history and then monitored the men for gastrointestinal and genitourinary side effects.

"Our patients who smoked during treatment reported having more acute gastrointestinal side-effects such as diarrhea," reports lead study author Niraj Pahlajani, M.D.

The New England Journal of Medicine reported recently that early detection of lung tumors by using advanced CT imaging yields an estimated 10-year survival rate of more than 90 percent, and smokers and others at high risk should be routinely screened.

Researchers said the study of more than 30,000 patients in seven countries indicates that the scans, which allow physicians to detect much smaller objects than can be seen on a conventional chest X-ray, are as cost-effective and beneficial as mammography for breast cancer.

Still, some cancer experts said the study does not prove that screening reduces deaths from lung cancer and that it is too soon to recommend widespread use. While there may be some validity to that argument and further study is needed, it would seem to make sense for smokers and former smokers to have scans for early lung cancer detection.

Those scans are very important, especially when it is estimated that 162,460 people will die of lung cancer this year.

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by Jacki Donaldson, The Cancer Blog

In 2006, 174,470 people will be diagnosed with lung cancer in the United States. About 92,700 men and 81,770 women will develop the disease -- the leading cause of cancer death among both men and women.

An estimated 162,460 men and women will die of lung cancer this year, accounting for 28 percent of all cancer deaths and taking more lives than colon, breast, and prostate cancers combined. While most people diagnosed with lung cancer will die within the first two years of diagnosis -- this has not changed in 10 years -- some people are cured. There are currently about 333,000 long-term survivors.

Their findings from three restaurants in a little-studied field come just a week before voters in Arizona, Nevada and Ohio consider dueling smoking-related initiatives. Ballots in each state include a tough ban on smoking in public places and a more lenient proposal — with exemptions for bars and casinos — backed by industry groups.

Two of the restaurants studied were Mesa, Ariz., establishments that had claimed their ventilation systems would comply with that city's smoke-free restaurant law.

The survey found that close to half of lung cancer patients admitted that their diagnosis was discovered by chance during a visit to the doctor for another reason.

It also revealed that of the lung cancer patients polled, 83% of those receiving chemotherapy endured difficult side effects and a compromised quality of life from their treatments.

According to consultant medical oncologist Prof Desmond Carney, Lung Cancer Awareness Month this month offers a great opportunity to improve the general public's knowledge of the signs and symptoms of lung cancer, particularly in at-risk groups.

WASHINGTON - A federal appeals court in Washington has blocked a judgment against tobacco companies, clearing the way for them to continue selling "light" and "low tar" cigarettes.

In August, Judge Gladys Kessler ruled that the companies violated racketeering laws and conspired for decades to mislead the public about the health hazards of smoking. She ordered the companies to publish "corrective statements" on the adverse health effects and addictiveness of smoking and nicotine. She also ordered tobacco companies to stop labeling cigarettes with terms such as "low tar," "light," or "mild," because those cigarettes were no safer than others.Tobacco companies argued that the marketing ban would cost them (m) millions of dollars and lead to a loss of customers. Today's decision, issued without comment, puts Kessler's ruling on hold.

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That's the rather disturbing suggestion of a study of teens who had watched tobacco-industry-funded television ads urging parents to talk to their children about smoking. The study shows that these teens were more likely to have smoked in the past month and more likely to say that they planned to smoke in the future.

by Kristina Collins, The Cancer Blog, 27 Oct 2006

Celebrex (celecoxib) does not seem to show any benefit in patients receiving second line chemotherapy for lung cancer. Second line chemotherapy refers to treatment given when the initial treatment does not work or stops working.

According to the results of a phase II clinical trial published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the effectiveness of Celebrex is not seen when added to chemotherapy for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Researches conducted the trial among 133 patients with stage IIIB or Stage IV NSCLC. Aside from pain, the addition of Celebrex did not improve patient symptoms or outcomes. One year survival was 24 percent among patients treated with Celebrex and chemotherapy and 36 percent among patients treated with chemotherapy alone.

EntreMed has launched a first round of human trials on lung cancer patients for a drug already in clinical tests to battle other forms of cancer.

The Rockville company is starting Phase I trials of MKC-1, its small-molecule drug to treat lung cancer -- the same drug it began testing in Phase I for leukemia one month ago and in Phase II trials for advanced breast cancer 10 months ago.

The lung-cancer trial is taking place at various medical centers, but the lead institution is Indiana University Cancer Center, which is also a site for EntreMed's trials of another drug candidate, Panzem, which treats advanced breast and prostate cancer.

The Irish Cancer Society is calling on the Government to increase the price of 20 cigarettes by at least €2 in this December's budget.

The society, which makes a similar call every year, says increasing the price is the most effective way of encouraging people to quit the habit and discouraging them from starting in the first place.

However, the Government is usually reluctant to introduce massive price increases due to the effect it would have on inflation

The Cancer Society claims the number of young smokers, particularly girls, is currently increasing because the price of cigarettes has not been increased in the last two budgets.

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Smokers will be denied life-changing operations unless they agree to kick the habit, it was revealed today.

Cash-strapped hospitals say patients will not be given treatments such as hip and knee replacements until they try to give up. Those who fail could be denied treatment all together.

Managers in Norfolk and Newcastle, where trusts are millions of pounds in debt, say smokers are at a greater risk of complications and the move will help save them money on further care.

Eli Lilly and Company has launched a major clinical trial evaluating ALIMTA (pemetrexed for injection) in extensive stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC), a devastating and rapidly spreading form of lung cancer. SCLC is sometimes called oat cell cancer because small cell lung cancer cells resemble oat grains. Patients with SCLC are staged according to a two-stage system, being diagnosed as having either limited stage disease or extensive stage disease. About 65 to 70 percent of patients with SCLC are diagnosed with extensive stage disease and the current two year survival rate is less than 10 percent.

by Dalene Entenmann, The Cancer Blog, 22 Oct 2006

The local chapter of the New York City American Cancer Society is asking that candy-flavored cigarettes be banned from sale because they feel it is a tobacco industry marketing ploy to appeal to teens. During a City Council meeting, the bill introduced would prohibit the sale of cigarettes with fruity flavors, like Twista Lime, and Midnight Berry; candy flavors like Warm Winter Toffee; and any cigarettes with flavors resembling chocolate, vanilla, honey, candy, mint, cocoa, dessert, or an alcoholic beverage.

But is this the way to go?

Scientists at Johns Hopkins have discovered how taking the brakes off a "detox" gene causes chemotherapy resistance in a common form of lung cancer.

Products made by a gene called NRF2 normally protect cells from environmental pollutants like cigarette smoke and diesel exhaust by absorbing the materials and pumping them out of the cell. Another gene called KEAP1 encodes products that stop this cleansing process. But lung cancer cells sabotage the expression of these same genes to block assault from chemotherapy drugs.

by Jacki Donaldson, 13 Oct 2006

Dr. Chandra Belani, Professor of Medicine and Oncology at the University of Pittsburg Cancer Institute, is a leader in the study of lung cancer. During a podcast interview, Belani shares some thoughts on the state of lung cancer -- currently the most common cause of cancer death in the United States.

DUNDEE, Scotland, Oct. 11 (UPI) -- Scottish bar workers showed significant improvement in respiratory and lung function within two months following a ban on smoking in confined public places.

Daniel Menzies and colleagues from Ninewells Hospital and Medical School in Dundee, Scotland, examined the effect of the recently introduced smoke-free legislation on bar workers' health in Scotland.

By Michael Gormley, AP, 11 Oct 2006

ALBANY, N.Y. - R.J. Reynolds has agreed to a domestic ban on flavored cigarettes such as "Twista Lime" and "Mocha Taboo" that critics say are marketed to youths, officials from 38 states and a U.S. territory said Wednesday.

The tobacco giant settled the broad investigation of domestic sales of the flavored products without paying any penalty. The company agreed to stop identifying cigarettes with candy, fruit, desserts or alcoholic beverage names, imagery or ads, according to a statement from New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. The company will also stop using scented promotional material, including scrach-and-sniff samples.

By Deena Beasley, 11 Oct 2006

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - U.S. regulators agreed to expand the use of Genentech Inc.'s drug Avastin, now used against colon cancer, to include treatment of the most common type of lung cancer, the company said on Wednesday.

Avastin, the first drug designed to starve tumors of blood and nutrients, was approved as an initial treatment, in combination with chemotherapy, for patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

Oct. 9, 2006 -- Having a close family member who's had lung cancer doubles your own risk for the disease -- even if you don't smoke.

The finding comes from a 13-year study of more than 102,000 Japanese men and women. Study participants were aged 40 to 69 at the start of the study. Over the study period, nearly 800 participants developed lung cancer.