The world's largest drug maker -- Pfizer Inc. -- announced Monday it will cut 10,000 jobs and close at least five facilities due to fierce competition from generic drug makers. The goal, says Pfizer spokespeople, is to whittle away annual costs by $2 billion by the end of the year -- to combat the prediction that the company will lose 41 percent of its sales to generic drugs between 2010 and 2012.

Pfizer's other obstacles include expiring drug patents -- costing Pfizer about $14 billion in revenues between 2005 and 2007 -- as well as demands for lower prices by insurers and large purchasers, and repeated requests for evidence of products' worth.

The 10,000 layoffs amount to 10 percent of the company's global workforce and will take jobs from 2,200 United States employees. The company will cut 20 percent of its European sales force, will close three research sites in Michigan and two manufacturing plants in New York and Nebraska, and is considering selling a manufacturing site in Germany and closing two research sites in Japan and France. In the midst of all of this, the company will focus its efforts on transforming the way they do business.

"I believe we must transform the way we've done business in the past in order to be more successful in the future," said Jeffrey Kindler, CEO and chairman of Pfizer. " Incremental evolution is not enough. Fundamental change is imperative -- and it must happen now."

Pfizer's Monday announcement is the second declaration of budget cuts. A previous announcement has the company -- the maker of cancer drugs Aromasin, Ellence, Camptosar, and Sutent -- slashing costs by $4 billion a year until 2008.

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.

I'm not sure it matters what color computer hard drives come in. What does matter is that the Seagate Pocket Hard Drive has partnered with one of the leading breast cancer foundations -- the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. And to signify this partnership, Seagate has chosen the power of one color that really does matter when it comes to breast cancer causes. Pink.

Ten percent of the price of this 6-Gbyte drive will go to the Komen Foundation. Seagate, also a sponsor of the Komen Race for the Cure in San Francisco, reports that the drive comes preloaded with songs and videos from popular musicians -- like Joan Jett, Stefy, Toby Lightman, and more. The hard drive will be sold through Amazon.com and Buy.com for an estimated $109.

Scientists have determined that mouth cancer develops in two different ways which dictates the seriousness of the disease. This finding, revealed on Tuesday, could lead to better prevention and treatment. In laboratory experiments with healthy, early, and advanced cancer cells, researchers were able to pinpoint differences in the cells that determined the aggressiveness of the cancer. They found faults in the p53 gene, which stops damaged cells from dividing, and in the p16 gene, which helps regulate and prevent cancer from developing. Both changes are linked to more aggressive tumors. This is first-time evidence that some mouth cancer tumors are more aggressive than others and are unfortunately linked to poor patient survival.

Oral cancer typically stems from pre-cancerous lesions, changes, or patches in the mouth -- all of which are early signs of cancer. Recognizing which pre-cancerous changes are more likely to develop into aggressive tumors would allow doctors an insight that could help them prescribe the best treatment.

Smoking, use of chewing tobacco, and heavy alcohol consumption are the leading causes of mouth cancer. And smoking and drinking are a very dangerous combination. Like lung cancer, mouth cancer usually develops in people age 50 or older.

It is not yet clear how -- or if -- this will affect American women but a piece of the breast cancer puzzle has been located for Icelandic women. Scientists reported this week that women with a bad gene that raises their risk of breast cancer were almost certain to develop the disease if they also had a mutation of second gene. This gene -- BARD1 -- seems to add a large risk for these women.

Two genes -- BRCA1 and BRCA2 -- were discovered 10 years ago and account for 10-15 percent of total breast cancer cases. Scientists have been searching for other genes that act alone or with these two genes to raise the risk for breast cancer. BARD1 appears to be one of the genes they were looking for.  Women with a BARD1 mutation and also a BRCA2 mutation -- the  most common in Iceland -- have a 50 percent increase in risk. In the United States, BRCA1 is most common so the puzzle is not quite the same. So for the 213,000 American cases of breast cancer that will emerge this year -- making it the most common major cancer in women and the second leading cause of deaths in women -- it is uncertain if BARD1 will be significant. But the discovery of this gene will help unravel the mystery of breast cancer -- and that is a step in the right direction for sure.

"The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated." -- Mark Twain

According to several international news services and tabloid newspapers with an online presence, Elizabeth Taylor, legendary movie star and cancer survivor, is suffering heart failure and near death. Reported to be bedridden at her home in Bel Air, California, she is said to have cancelled her annual Easter party to plan her funeral. According to an unnamed friend, "Liz is inching closer to death every day and she knows it. It is not a pretty picture. She's not leaving a lot of money to her children. She wants the bulk of her fortune to go to AIDS research." I guess dying isn't enough of a news story, a publisher decided to add this scurrilous gossipy little comment from an anonymous friend on how her estate will be settled. Other than her attorneys and estate planners, I doubt few know the status of her will.

Her publicist, Dick Guttman, states that Taylor is not near death, and is instead, quite busy with her successful perfume and jewelry lines and the work she does for AIDS. "The endless health stories surrounding Taylor's supposed impending death," Guttman says, "have just become exasperating." Mark Twain predicted this one right. I cannot find any credible reports indicating that Guttman is playing smoke and mirrors with the public. All the reports of Taylor's impending death do seem to be coming from very specific, and perhaps slightly questionable, sources for news information. My vote for accuracy goes to Guttman. We send her our best wishes for continued good health.