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Posts with tag lung cancer
Posted Sep 11th 2007 2:14PM by Brian White
Filed under: Lung Cancer, Prevention
Want to prevent lung cancer? That's great -- just don't rely on vitamins and supplements to get the job done, and lessen those CT scans as well. Those do, after all, use radiation.
Members of the American College of Chest Physicians made both statements in the latest edition of the "Guide to Lung Cancer Prevention" -- and the suggestions go towards smokers and non-smokers alike.
The kicker is the
knockout stat mentioned here: lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the U.S., with more dying from it that from colon, breast, prostate and pancreatic cancer combined. Wow.
But the biggest lung cancer prevention tip? Don't smoke, be near smokers and watch that smog intake if at all possible.
Posted Sep 6th 2007 4:31PM by Brian White
Filed under: Daily news
If you smoke during pregnancy or as a new mother, be advised that the nicotine being passed through to that infant in the form of breast milk (if you choose that route) may be hindering the sleep patterns of your child.
There's more -- a recent study also indicated
that nicotine in breast milk may also be causing naps to be shortened by a third -- which you'll probably see as your child is up more instead of sleeping more at that precious nap time.
The findings form this study lend even more support to giving up smoking during pregnancy or during the breastfeeding years. Lung cancer is not the only 'side effect' -- the health of your child is also in the mix now if you breast feed.
Posted Sep 5th 2007 4:35PM by Brian White
Filed under: Lung Cancer
Think that the package cigarette you may have every day (several times, in many cases) is weaker than a hand-rolled cigarette? Think again, according to a new lung cancer study out of Norway.
The study found that smokers of hand-rolled cigarettes
run a greater risk of developing lung cancer compared to those that smoke manufactured cigarettes. In Norway, one-third of tobacco sales are used for self-made cigarettes, which is an unusually high amount among civilized countries.
Although Norwegian citizens who smoke may smoke less in terms of quantity, the quality is worse for their health due to so much smoking being done with haand-rolled cigarettes, said the study.
Posted Sep 4th 2007 1:43PM by Brian White
Filed under: Lung Cancer, Politics
Isn't it a little odd to see arthritis being tied to lung cancer? That is precisely what a new research report has stated, though. The correlation between
arthritis of the knee and initial signs of lung cancer in heavy smokers made up the conclusion of a new report yet to be published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.
Monoarthritis -- inflammation in just one knee joint -- was found to be the first sign of non-small lung cancer in a group of patients that were studied. The interesting thing here is that all those lung cancer cases were completely undiagnosed before each knee arthritis case was examined.
The good news is that the lung cancer in most of these men who were studied (all of which had been heavy smokers) were in the operable stage -- and when the cancerous tissue had been removed from each patient, knee arthritis problems subsided. Interesting connection, yes?
Posted Sep 3rd 2007 12:54PM by Brian White
Filed under: Lung Cancer, Smoking
To those who follow cancer on a daily basis, it may be no surprise that lung cancer is the leading type of cancer that kills globally. With billions of cigarettes being smoked each year in probably every country in the world, t should not come as a surprise that lung cancer occurs in such large numbers.
1.3 million lives each year are snuffed out due to lung cancer, yet my guess is that over a billion people continue to smoke worldwide. That's just a guess, but when 300 million smoke in China alone, it's probably a good guess.
If that weren't enough, about 60 percent of those diagnosed with lung cancer
die within a year of officially being diagnosed, and almost 75 percent die within two years. Are you still smoking or know someone who is? Read that last sentence again and again.
Posted Sep 3rd 2007 10:30AM by Brian White
Filed under: Lung Cancer
A new tumor classification system may indeed give more lung cancer patients hope for treatment, as it divvies up the various stages of lung cancer tumors where some will be classified as "more treatable" that in the past.
This marks the first change in a system used to predict cancer survival related to tumors in about ten years. Those who have had lung cancer but have been told that
their cases are not that treatable (read: denied treatment by insurance companies) will surely be glad at this news.
With lung cancer being rated as the deadliest cancer form globally, and with more and more smoking bans coming to cities and entire countries, perhaps lung cancer will be receiving the even more recognition it deserves. That, my friends, is not a bad thing.
Posted Aug 30th 2007 2:37PM by Brian White
Filed under: Lung Cancer, Research
If you used to smoke but do no any longer, did you know that genes that have been 'activated' by your past smoking habit
remain on even long after you quit?
This conclusion comes from a new study that is being published today. Researchers analyzed gene activity in the respiratory tracts of 24 smokers, non-smokers and ex-smokers and came up with the suggestion that cancer-related genes just don't "reset" once a smoker stops smoking.
Although those quitters can breathe a sigh of relief (literally and figuratively), the propensity for lung cancer does not automatically diminish once you stop smoking, although it may decrease over time (years and years).
There are so many reasons to quit smoking these days, and this this is yet another good one, even though it may suggest otherwise.
Posted Aug 24th 2007 5:01PM by Brian White
Filed under: Drug, Lung Cancer
Looks like Roche's Avastin anti-cancer drug has received approval by the European Union for the treatment of lung cancer. The treatment will be available to non-small cell lung cancer patients in concert with traditional chemotherapy.
Although Avastin has shown to
prolong survival over one year in those diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer, one has to wonder why it's being suggested for use with chemotherapy at the same time. Will it help the cancer patient live easier through chemotherapy treatments?
Is prolonging the lives of cancer patients an additional year (or more) the sole purpose for the approval of Avastin? One has to ask these hard questions in an age where there are still no cures for cancer, although targeted drug like Avastin -- which targets and kills cancer cells by taking out their blood supply -- are indeed steps forward.
Posted Aug 22nd 2007 4:02PM by Brian White
Filed under: Drug, Lung Cancer, Research
Although I'm no fan of smoking, many of my friends are and I constantly have to ask them not to smoke in my presence. I sure hope none of them develop lung cancer, but if they do, chances are there will be a
pharmaceutical drug soon that will help them fight it.
Aside from constantly extolling the virtues of remaining smoke-free, I like to research the drug industry's efforts to attack the next big ailment on the medical radar -- cancer fighting. I say an attitude of "cancer prevention" is much more doable (and way, way cheaper), but for some, treatment after the fact is the only thing going.
With that, Swiss company Antisoma has a new lung cancer drug that produced good final results in a patient trial. 's meant to treat? Lung cancer, of course.
Posted Aug 10th 2007 9:18AM by Patricia Mayville-Cox
Filed under: Lung Cancer
Flaws in a key gene LKB1 helps lung cancers develop swiftly into metastasising tumors according to a
study in mice led by by Kwok-Kin Wong of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. LKB1 has previously been identified as helping the body to suppress cancer. In mice, the researchers found that mutations of this gene result in more aggressive tumors.
The researchers examined human non-small-cell lung tissues also and discovered that of the 144 samples, 34% of the lung adenocarcinomas and 19% of the squamous cell carcinomas contained abnormal versions of LKB1.
According to the authors, analyzing this gene could help predict how cancer will develop in a patient.
Posted Jul 28th 2007 3:03PM by Patricia Mayville-Cox
Filed under: Lung Cancer, Radiation
Lung cancer patients may not need to wait until their radiation treatment is over to know if it worked according to a new
study.
A PET scan several weeks after starting radiation for lung cancer can indicate whether the tumor will respond to treatment, according to researchers the University of Michigan.
PET, positron emission tomography, has been used after radiation treatment to assess response. However, researchers found that PET could be used only a few week into treatment, with a strong correlation between tumor response a few weeks in and three months after treatment completion.
This could allow doctors to change plans midway through treatment and improve outcomes.
Posted Jul 27th 2007 4:31PM by Patricia Mayville-Cox
Filed under: Lung Cancer
Patients with inoperable non-small-cell lung cancer who receive an high dose of chemotherapy initially, before their treatment begins, can expect an increase in overall survival, according to a new
study out of M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and published in the July issue of the
International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics.
When patients with NSCLC are not eligible for surgery, a combination of chemotherapy and radiation is suggested. NSCLC is the most common form of lung cancer in the U.S.
Patients who received this initial treatment, or induction therapy, saw an increase in overall survival of six months. The rates for distant metastasis-free survival were also better for the group that received the induction therapy, with a success rate of 42 percent versus 23 percent in the group that only received the chemoradiation therapy.
Posted Jul 13th 2007 5:11PM by Patricia Mayville-Cox
Filed under: Lung Cancer, Research
Testing exhaled breath with a sensor can detect lung cancer with moderate accuracy, according to researchers at the Cleveland Clinic report, led by Dr. Peter J. Marrone.
The testing device detects patterns of volatile organic compounds in exhaled breath. The study compared the patterns of 49 patients with non-small-cell lung cancer, 73 with other, non-malignant health diseases and 21 control patients.
A predictive pattern was determined that was able to detect over 70 percent of the cancers. However, 28 percent of the non-malignant conditions were incorrectly identified as cancerous using this sensor.
Dr. Marrone adds that further work is needed to, "guide refinement of the sensor array and breath collection system to maximize the diagnostic accuracy of the test."
Posted Jul 10th 2007 5:30PM by Patricia Mayville-Cox
Filed under: Lung Cancer
Women with advanced lung cancer have a better survival rate than men, but this is only true for women over the age of 60. For women under the age of 60, the survival rate is the same as men's.
"We don't know why, but the hypothesis is that age is acting as a surrogate for lower estrogen levels and those lower levels of estrogen may affect the metabolism of chemotherapy agents," said Regina Vidaver, Ph.D., executive director of the National Lung Cancer Partnership based in Madison, Wisc.
These findings were presented at the 2007 Annual Meeting of the American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO).
At the meeting, researchers showed data that indicated that pre-menopausal estrogen levels were associated with a higher death rate among women receiving chemotherapy for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), which makes up about 85 percent of all lung cancer cases.
In addition, women who have never smoked are more at risk for lung cancer than men who never smoked, with some research indicating that estrogen is again involved.
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There's no shortage of strange and downright bizarre ideas that people come up with in the quest to cure cancer, and here's one for the books: 
