Filed under: Lung Cancer Lung cancer screening by using CT scans may not be the best thing to do, according to a recent report by the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP). That group stated that, outside of research studies , studying lung cancer using CT technology is not worth the risk since it rarely (if at all) leads to reduced lung cancer deaths. The reason? Sounds to easy, but with CT tests only looking at lung cancer detection, actual survival rates were not looked at in many cases (and weren't affected anyway). Read     Permalink     Email this     Linking Blogs     Comments

Filed under: Research , Smoking , Daily news , Thought for the Day You should think about protecting your pets from secondhand smoke. According to researchers at Oklahoma State University, secondhand smoke has been determined cancer-causing for household pets, such as dogs, cats, and birds "There have been a number of scientific papers recently that have reported the significant health threat secondhand smoke poses to pets," says Dr. Carolynn MacAllister, an Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension Service veterinarian. "Secondhand smoke has been associated with oral cancer and lymphoma in cats, lung and nasal cancer in dogs, as well as lung cancer in birds." The news about smoking just keeps getting worse and worse. When we will get the hint? /**/ var adsonar_placementId="1307909",adsonar_pid="151757",adsonar_ps="-1",adsonar_zw=190;adsonar_zh=200,adsonar_jv="ads.adsonar.com"; qas_writeAd(); / Read     Permalink     Email this     Linking Blogs     Comments

Filed under: Lung Cancer , Magazines , Smoking Did you know the number one symptom of lung cancer is a persistent cough? Other symptoms include bouts of wheezing, shortness of breath, trouble swallowing, blood-streaked sputum, and a hoarse voice. Did you know 28 percent of all cancer deaths are due to lung cancer and that it's the number one killer among both men and women? Did you know that Hookahs -- used to inhale tobacco through a water pipe -- let in the same cancer-causing substances as cigarettes and are just as harmful as smoking, despite the fact that many people believe they are safer? Now you know. Source: WebMD: the Magazine, March/April 2007 Permalink     Email this     Linking Blogs     Comments

Filed under: Drug , Lung Cancer , Research Antisoma , a biotechnology company specializing in the development of novel drugs for the treatment of cancer, released a statement that the vaccine ASA404 improves anticancer responses and survival for patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

Filed under: Breast Cancer , Ovarian Cancer , Lung Cancer , Prevention Wouldn't it be great if we could receive full-body scans every year to check for early signs of cancer and other disease? Even if possible and affordable -- right now, scans cost about $900 -- it still wouldn't be such a great idea. Full-body scans often result in false alarms. People with harmless abnormalities may end up facing more tests, more risks, and more worry in order to rule out illness. The scan itself can present health hazards too. It exposes patients to more radiation than a chest X-ray and could slightly increase the risk of cancer, especially for those scanned every year. How do we know, then, if something has gone awry in our bodies? Well, we can do our self-exams -- breast exams, testicular exams, skin exams -- and we can report for annual check-ups. We can respond to symptoms we experience -- if headaches are bothersome and persistent, your doctor may prescribe a head scan -- and we can pursue tests and screening that we really need for cancer prevention and early detection. Here are just a few: Breast ultrasound In addition to mammogram, women with dense breast tissue would be wise to request this test. Mammograms miss up to 50 percent of cancers in dense breasts so having both tests offers a more comprehensive check. These ultrasound exams cost between $75 and $300. Lung scan Those 50 and older who have smoked an equivalent of one pack of cigarettes per day for at least 10 years -- or two packs per day for five years, and so on -- should try this method for detecting lung cancer in its earliest stages. Once symptoms occur, the disease is usually so advanced that most don't live for five years. Lung scans cost $250-$350. Transvaginal ultrasound Women with a family history of ovarian cancer should begin receiving this test 10 years before the earliest age a relative developed the disease. Ovarian cancer cannot be detected during a routine OB/GYN exam so most patients go undiagnosed until the cancer is advanced and deadly. If caught before it spreads, the survival rate is 85 percent, in contrast to 25 percent for late diagnoses. The transvaginal ultrasound has a high rate of false positives and is advised only for those at special risk. Source: Good Housekeeping, May 2007

Filed under: Research , Smoking , Daily news You might think, like many people do, that smokeless tobacco products are safe alternatives to cigarettes. Wrong. According to researchers at the University of Minnesota Cancer Center, smokeless tobacco users are exposed to higher amounts of carcinogenic molecules than cigarette smokers. In a study of 182 users of chewing tobacco or oral snuff and 420 cigarette smokers, they found snuff users were exposed to higher levels of 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK) than smokers. NNK is a human carcinogen known to produce lung cancer. In laboratory animals, it also contributes to cancers of the pancreas, nasal mucosa, and liver. Published in the August issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, this study serves to remind us that there is only one safe alternative to smoking -- not smoking. Read     Permalink     Email this     Linking Blogs     Comments

Filed under: Drug , Chemotherapy , Lung Cancer , Research , Daily news A new study shows certain genes may make some lung cancer patients more sensitive to chemotherapy. This is a good thing -- increased sensitivity in this case means lower doses of drug therapy work as good or better than higher doses. Researchers looked at more than 21,000 genes in cells common to non-small-cell lung cancer, the most common type of the disease. Of these genes, 87 came up with heightened sensitivity to the chemotherapy drug Taxol. To be exact, the genes were 1,000 times more sensitive when exposed to the drug for 48 hours. Chemotherapy is a very blunt instrument, says one researcher. Locating genes that make chemotherapy drugs more potent at lower doses is a critical step toward tailoring treatment and minimizing side effects for patients. Two other drugs -- Navelbine and Gemzar -- were tested on six of the Taxol-sensitive genes. The genes did not respond to these drugs.

Filed under: Lung Cancer , Television The final nine episodes of HBO's Sunday night hit The Sopranos feature the stuff of life. You know -- blood, guts, betrayal, angst, and cancer. It's not quite the stuff of my life, well, except for the cancer part. Actor Vince Curatola, who plays Johnny "Sack" Sacramoni, powerfully weaves cancer into the end of this popular television drama. Diagnosed with lung cancer, his character is given three months to live -- in a prison hospital bed. Johnny Sack says very little in the last episodes. He does gasp to his wife in episode two, "I'm very, very sick," but he lacks the lung capacity to muster up much more. He disease is considered stage four. The cancer depictions -- one shows Johnny Sack shuffling down a long corridor in his hospital robe, oxygen tank dragging behind -- are right on, say those who've taken an early peek at the shows. And reportedly, the cancer scenes pretty accurately reflect the concerns of the larger culture -- where cancer has become an epidemic that sadly, won't come to end in nine episodes. Read     Permalink     Email this     Linking Blogs     Comments

Filed under: Drug , Pancreatic Cancer , Research , Daily news ImClone Systems Inc.'s drug Erbitux has failed to help pancreatic cancer patients live longer. It's also failed to grow ImClone's market -- not surprising since it's the company's only drug. Imclone, partnering with Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., wanted to see Erbitux -- already cleared for use with colon, head, and neck cancers -- extend the lives of patients with cancer marked by a spread to the pancreas. No one is giving up just yet, and Imclone plans additional tests on Erbitux's use in pancreatic cancer. A study using a combination of Erbitux and Avastin and chemotherapy is up next. "There are reasons to think Erbitux works in pancreatic cancer, but the current results are not as dramatic as we hoped," said Alex Denner, lead for an executive committee that manages ImClone. "We remain committed to evaluating Erbitux in pancreatic cancer." If approved, Erbitux will compete with Tarceva, sold by Roche Holding AG, Genentech Inc., and OSI Pharmaceuticals Inc. as a treatment for pancreatic and lung cancers. About 37,170 new cases of pancreatic cancer are expected to occur in 2007 in the United States. And 33,370 people will die from the disease, according to the American Cancer Society . Pancreatic cancer is one of the most aggressive cancers, and there is no screening option that works at catching the disease in its early stages. Only about 5 percent of patients with pancreatic cancer are still alive five years after being diagnosed.

Filed under: Drug , Lung Cancer , Smoking When I told my husband that the use of cannabis is being linked to a five percent increase in lung cancer risk -- that's 15 new cases each year in New Zealand where a study was just conducted -- he seemed to think this risk is comparable to his dying from a grasshopper landing in his eye. A scientist John is not, but his thoughts on the matter seem to parallel international thinking on the drug which goes something like this: the risk marijuana use has on cancer incidence is so very low it's hardly worthy of much worry. A California study of more than 1600 people last year found no link between cancer and smoking the drug, despite researchers' prediction they would find some kind of connection. New Zealand researchers have found a connection, though, and however small it may seem, they say it's significant. They found the risk of developing lung cancer increased by about eight percent each year for people whose cumulative exposure equated to smoking one joint per day -- about the same as the increase for someone who smokes one pack of cigarettes per day. They also found the younger someone starting smoking cannabis, the greater the risk and that contributing risk factors include smokers' deeper inhalation and the tendency to hold smoke in their lungs. Cannabis, the most commonly used recreational drug in the world with 161 million users, has been thought to have a protective effect against cancer due to its chemical THC, which appears to kill aging cells and keep them from becoming cancerous. This study may prove otherwise. Read     Permalink     Email this     Linking Blogs     Comments