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.

A decade of research specific to the inherited form of pancreatic cancer has turned up a gene that could lead to earlier diagnosis and treatment for one of the deadliest forms of cancer.

The magical gene -- called palladin -- was discovered at the University of Washington after the extensive study of one family that has lost nine members over four generations to pancreatic cancer and has nine additional members with early signs of the disease.

Washington resident Ryan Chappell, a member of this family who had his pancreas removed just before cancer could strike, is very excited about this breakthrough.

"I feel really good that my family has not suffered (in vain)," the 21-year-old says. "Something has been accomplished from their contribution."

What the Chappell family has contributed to research is an understanding of a breakdown in a gene that makes a protein for the skeleton of pancreas cells. In this one family, the gene was mutated and produced large amounts of a misshapen protein that rolls like tumbleweed through the body, migrating 50 percent faster than other cells.

Scientists hope to translate their research findings into a diagnostic test to find excess amounts of the protein and to prevent the cancer cells from moving.

For now, early detection of pancreatic cancer rare because the pancreas is deep in the body, making it difficult to feel or see tumors through imaging tests. Symptoms -- like jaundice, abdominal and back pain, and digestive problems -- usually surface only after the cancer has spread.

Cancer of the pancreas is rare but is the third-leading cause of cancer death among people age 40 to 60.

All cancers are not treated equally. Some attract a frenzy of attention -- breast cancer -- and some receive not much attention at all -- gallbladder cancer. Some are vigorously researched and studied. Others sit by idly, rarely the subject of investigation. Some are feverishly funded. Some never prosper by way of financial support. Yet they all share something very important in common. They are all cancer.

All cancers are marked by an uncontrollable division and spread of abnormal cells. And they are all capable of delivering shock and despair and even death to any one of us. And that makes each one -- brain cancer, cervical cancer, colon cancer, eye cancer, liver cancer, prostate cancer, stomach cancer, you name it -- worthy of equal attention.

And so I bring to you Cancer by the Numbers, a series of posts that will feature the basics about all sorts of cancer, beginning with the numbers -- the statistics -- to help define the prevalence of each cancer, followed by important facts about screening, diagnosis, treatment, survival, and more. I will cover the well-known cancers, the sort-of-known cancers, the barely-known cancers. And while I can only offer what I can track down on each form of cancer, I intend to dish out every piece of data I can dig up -- so we all can become a little more informed, a little more prepared should we have to personally do battle with any one of the 100 possible cancers out there.

The American Cancer Society reports that 1,399,790 new cancer cases will be diagnosed in 2006. This estimate does not include most carcinoma in situ (noninvasive cancer) cases and also does take into account the estimated one million cases of basal and squamous cell skin cancers that will be diagnosed this year. Of these predicted cases, about 564,830 will result in death -- that's more than 1,500 people each day. Cancer is the second most common cause of death in the United States, exceeded only by heart disease, and accounts for one of every four deaths.

These numbers are staggering. But without further explanation, they are broad and all-encompassing and don't say much about how all the individual diseases add up. That's what I plan to do -- break it all down, cancer by cancer, until the numbers make sense. And the cancers do too.

Writer Richard Morris of www.breadandmoney.com coins the word nutritainment in a recent article about foods that are hyped to magically make us healthy -- foods that can cancel out cancer and wipe out heart disease. Nutritainment is nutritional news delivered in entertainment-like fashion, designed to urge consumers to buy into the latest, greatest super foods. Yet making small changes in diet -- what most consumers will do -- to incorporate these so-called powerful products is unlikely to do much good, Morris says. And he offers some thoughts on why the media continues to force this news down our throats and why we continue falling for their tactics.

Morris says human nature and marketplace economics motivate those engaged in nutritional sciences to strive for media attention and exposure. As a result, bits and pieces of nutritional studies make their way to medical journals and then land in media's lap through press releases. Some will even ghostwrite nutrition articles to promote products. These articles end up in the hands of the media and spread like wildfire to the public, in as-is format. Consumers may be left with the notion that these bits and pieces are important, relevant, non-biased research -- when this is not the case.

Morris says knowledgeable health experts who have the time to accurately report on important nutrition news are scarce. And when they do have time to share words of wisdom that really do matter, the packaging of the news is often technical and not so sensational. A headline that reads, Pomegranate juice packs power to prevent cancer will bury a scientific -- yet more accurate -- headline. Catchy headlines grab readers, and readers buy products. But headlines can be misleading -- and pomegranate juice alone is not likely to have many health benefits.

There are also issues with advertising and editorial content, according to Morris, who compares overall good nutrition to car maintenance. "Just like changing the air freshener in your car won't prevent a breakdown if the car desperately needs a tune-up, adding one item of magical food to your diet won't protect you from a breakdown either," he says and shares that a complete dietary makeover is what's necessary for good health -- that and stress reduction, physical activity, emotional balance, and life fulfillment. A quick dose of pomegranate juice may not do the trick. But a steady, consistent dose of these items will.