A new and official report shows cancer is the leading cause of death and disability in Australia.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare reveals that cancer is taking more lives -- about 19 percent -- than cardiovascular disease, currently at 18 percent. Cancer is the now to blame for Australia's burden of disease, according to the report, and the disease doesn't appear to be slowing anytime soon.

Burden of disease refers to not only mortality but also takes into account impact of illness and disability. Essentially, this means cancer takes away from healthy life years.

Secondhand smoke rears its ugly head once again -- this time in the form of study results revealing high levels of secondhand smoke in the workplace can double the risk of lung cancer for non-smokers.

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago looked at results from 22 studies conducted in the United States, Canada, Europe, India, Japan, and China. What they found -- and published in the American Journal of Public Health -- is a lung cancer risk 50 percent higher than normal for non-smokers exposed to smoke on the job for more than 30 years. They also found risk increases with level of exposure.

"We believe that our study provides the strongest evidence to date that smoking in the workplace does present a substantial risk to workers -- and particularly to workers who are working in highly exposed areas such as bar workers or restaurant workers," lead researcher Leslie Stayner said.

Previous evidence for increased lung cancer risk caused by secondhand smoke comes from studies of non-smokers married to smokers.

Secondhand smoke -- also known as passive smoke and environmental tobacco smoke -- is smoke from a cigarette, pipe, or cigar as well as smoke exhaled from the lungs of smokers and inhaled by non-smokers. It can cause cancer, respiratory problems, and asthma in non-smokers and is leading to increased efforts by communities to ban or limit smoking in the workplace.

This week in France, bans begin in offices, stores, schools, and hospitals. Come January 2008, cafes and restaurants must also comply with bans. For now, smoking in these areas is permitted in hermetically sealed rooms without any services.

Pancreatic cancer is considered one of the most deadly of cancers. The statistics are grim, as 95 percent of patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer do not survive, and 50 percent of patients die within six months after the cancer is diagnosed. There might be some hope in an allergy medication that has been around for 40 years.

According to University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center researchers, the allergy medication cromolyn reduced pancreatic tumor growth in mouse model studies, and when the drug was combined with the chemotherapy drug gemcitabine, the standard chemotherapy treatment was three times more effective. They are reported to be in the process of starting a clinical trial.

The study's lead author, Craig Logsdon, Ph.D. is quoted as saying, "The study demonstrates in mouse models of human pancreatic cancer that the cromolyn-gemcitabine combination reduced cancer growth by 85 percent compared to control animals. Cromolyn used alone actually had a good effect on reduction of tumors compared to control animals, which surprised us. It reduced tumor growth by 70 percent, compared to growth reduction of 50 percent when gemcitabine was used as a single agent."

"Our goal is to offer longer life to these patients, and the combination of these two agents may well do that."

To learn more about pancreatic cancer, visit the pancreatic cancer category here and the National Cancer Institute's What You Need To Know About Cancer of the Pancreas.

While most are celebrating the new blooms of Spring, my aunt is stocking up on antihistamines for another season of itchy eyes and sneezing. According to University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center researchers, that might not be a bad thing, as allergies and asthma seem to offer protection from the development of brain tumors.

"It appears that allergies and asthma rev up the immune system," said Michael Scheurer, the study's lead author and a postdoctoral fellow in M.D. Anderson's department of epidemiology. "They seem to produce enough inflammation in the brain to keep immune system cells active and working to prevent cancer from beginning to develop." Before I call my aunt to give her the good news though, researchers also said that antihistamine use might increase the chances of brain tumor development by taking away the protection offered by allergies. They are not absolutely sure of this fact -- no one is certain of the reasons leading to brain cancer.

The researchers are now looking to discover a gene susceptibility to developing brain tumors, and if they can find one, people who have the gene that indicates a higher risk of developing a brain tumor could be warned about using antihistamines. I am guessing even if my aunt had the faulty gene, she would still use antihistamines for allergy relief. Unless you are an allergy sufferer, or watch someone who is suffering the misery of allergies, you might not fully understand why someone would throw caution to the wind and take a calculated risk, if there is one. In the case of asthma, not being able to breath seems riskier than the vague possibility of a brain tumor.

New research is indicating that adults with asthma may have higher risks for other health issues due to their breathing conditions. Older adults are more susceptible to developing cancer and younger adults may have an increased risk for heart disease. An article published in the February edition of CHEST, the peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), shows that adults older than age 55 with asthma are more likely to develop cancer than those without asthma. In addition, younger adults with asthma are twice as likely to suffer from chronic conditions,such as heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, stroke and osteoporosis. The link between asthma and other conditions is unclear. Some researchers believe that the respiratory problems from asthma could lead to a more sedentary lifestyle. In turn, weight gain and limited activity could lower the immune system, possibly leading to conditions such as diabetes, heart disease or cancer. Understanding asthma and how it affects all aspects of a person's life is key to developing management programs to help asthma sufferers lead healthier, more productive lives.