A drug commonly used to minimize the toxic effects of chemotherapy has been shown in mice to cause bone loss and promote tumor growth, according to the results of a recent study.

This drug, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) -- also known as Neupogen, Neulasta, and Granocyte -- helps restore white blood cell counts that take a beating during chemotherapy, protecting cancer patients from an increased risk of infection.

According to researchers, G-CSF -- essentially a growth factor -- encourages bone breakdown. And any therapy that decreases bone density can enhance tumor growth in bones. So doctors are urged to closely monitor their patients during chemotherapy with regular bone density scans. They can also prescribe medications to prevent bone loss if necessary. And patients can protect their bones by consuming enough calcium and vitamin D and engaging in regular exercise.

Currently, research on cancer patients treated with G-CSF have not yielded the same strong results researchers found among mice.

The details of this study appear online in the journal Blood, and will be published in an upcoming print issue.

Pfizer announced that Chantix (varenicline), a drug designed to help smokers quit smoking, is now available in US pharmacies. This is the first new prescription drug for smoking cessation treatment approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in a decade. When prescribed Chantix, smokers will be offered a chance to participate in a behavioral modification program called GETQUIT Support Plan at no extra cost.

Chantix acts on the areas of the brain affected by nicotine and helps those who smoke cigarettes to quit smoking in two ways: by providing some nicotine effects to ease the withdrawal symptoms and by blocking the effects of nicotine from cigarettes if they start smoking again. There is no magic bullet here, although in clinical trials the drug quadrupled the chances of a smoker quitting and was shown to be twice as effective as the currently prescribed drug Zyban.

Pfizer Helpful Answers has a program available for people without prescription coverage. People with low incomes may even qualify for free medications. For more information about Chantix and the free GETQUIT program, visit the Chantix website.

MTV -- the ultimate source of music videos and pop culture -- has been around for 25 years now. And that amount of time makes for a lot of memories.

So in recognition of the entertainment MTV has offered over the years, Indystar.com, Indiana's #1 local media site, takes a walk down memory lane and counts down 25 best MTV memories. It's fitting that many of the memories include actual music -- although some may say MTV is not really about music anymore, with music videos hard to come by -- so Michael Jackson's 1983 14-minute video Thriller makes the list and so does the 1985 performances of Live Aid, a conglomeration of musicians who sang to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia.

But many memories are not recollections of music videos -- or even musical performances. They are nostalgic remembrances of other media events -- like a kiss between Madonna and Britney Spears during an award show, the running of the popular Beavis and Butthead show and Remote Control game show, peeks into spring break extravaganzas, and roof-raising reality shows like The Real World and The Osbourne's.

And even one socially-conscious piece that aired to raise awareness of testicular cancer. On May 23, 2000, wacky, stunt-pulling comedian Tom Green let viewers into his private world, in an operating room while he underwent surgery to remove a cancerous testicle and several lymph nodes. Green survived the surgery well -- and he is surviving cancer still today -- and his public handling of a serious disease goes down in MTV history as something truly memorable.