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Perceived access to cigarettes predicts youth smoking
2009-09-21 04:46:00
Washington, DC Kids who see cigarettes as easily accessible are more likely to end up as regular smokers, especially if they have friends who smoke, as per a new report reported in the current issue of Annals of Family Medicine The study, funded by the Substance Abuse Policy Research Program (SAPRP) of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, could be valuable to smoking intervention efforts by allowing health professionals to identify and target high-risk children........
More About: Youth , Smoking , Cigarettes , Access

Women more vulnerable to tobacco carcinogens
2009-09-21 04:46:00
Women appears to be more vulnerable than men to the cancer-causing effects of smoking tobacco, as per new results reported this week at the European Multidisciplinary Conference in Thoracic Oncology (EMCTO), Lugano, Switzerland. Swiss scientists studied 683 patients with lung cancer who were referred to a cancer centre in St Gallen between 2000 and 2005 and found women tended to be younger when they developed the cancer, despite having smoked on average significantly less than men........
More About: Women

Controlling indoor radiation to improve lung cancer risk
2009-09-21 04:46:00
About 1100 people each year die in the UK from lung cancer correlation to indoor radon, but current government protection policies focus mainly on the small number of homes with high radon levels and neglect the 95% of radon related deaths caused by lower levels of radon, as per a research studypublished on bmj.com today........
More About: Cancer , Lung Cancer , Risk , Improve , Radiation

Tobacco smuggling is killing more people than illegal drugs
2009-09-21 04:46:00
Tobacco smuggling causes around 4,000 premature deaths a yearfour times the number of deaths caused by the use of all smuggled illegal drugs put togetherbut the UK government is not doing enough to tackle the problem, claim experts on bmj.com today. Professor Robert West from the Cancer Research UK Health Behaviour Research Centre and his colleagues argue that more smokers would quit if cigarettes cost more, but at around half the price, smuggled tobacco is keeping the prices down........
More About: People , Drugs , Smuggling , Illegal

Racial disparities in the treatment of lung cancer
2009-09-21 04:46:00
Black patients suffering from lung cancer are less likely to receive recommended chemotherapy and surgery than white patients with lung cancer, a disparity that shows no signs of lessening. That is the conclusion of a newly released study reported in the May 15, 2009 issue of CANCER, a peer-evaluated journal of the American Cancer Society. The study's findings indicate that efforts are needed to provide appropriate therapys for black patients and to educate them about the value of those therapys........
More About: Treatment , Lung Cancer , Racial

Pazopanib shrinks lung cancers before surgery
2009-09-21 04:46:00
Pazopanib, a new oral angiogenesis inhibitor, has demonstrated interesting activity in difficult to treat non-small-cell lung cancer, US researchers report. In a phase II trial, 30 out of 35 patients treated with preoperative pazopanib for a minimum of two weeks saw their tumor size shrink by up to 85%........
More About: Surgery

Tobacco industry manipulated cigarette menthol content
2009-09-21 04:46:00
Menthol cigarette brands have been rising in popularity with adolescents, and the highest use has been among younger, newer smokers. Scientists at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) explored tobacco industry manipulation of menthol levels in specific brands and found a deliberate strategy to recruit and addict young smokers by adjusting menthol to create a milder experience for the first time smoker. Menthol masks the harshness and irritation of cigarettes, allowing delivery of an effective dose of nicotine, the addictive chemical in cigarettes. These milder products were then marketed to the youngest potential consumers........
More About: Industry , Content , Cigarette

Genetic mutation and risk of lung cancer
2008-05-27 00:00:00
Carriers of a common genetic disorder previously associated with lung disease may have a 70-percent to 100-percent increased risk of lung cancer, as per a report in the May 26 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. The disorder, alpha1-antitrypsin deficiency (1ATD), is one of the most common genetic conditions affecting the U.S. population and particularly those of European descent, as per background information in the article. Individuals with two copies of the associated genetic mutation often develop emphysema at an early age. However, 1ATD carriersthose with only one copy of the mutated genedo not normally have severe diseases correlation to 1ATD and may not be aware of their status. However, they may be more vulnerable to cancer-causing tobacco smoke than non-carriers........
More About: Cancer , Lung Cancer , Risk

New method to test for lung cancer
2008-04-03 00:00:00
Scientists from Boston University School of Medicine have developed a new clinicogenomic model to accurately test for lung cancer. The model combines a specific gene expression for lung cancer as well as clinical risk factors. These findings currently appear on-line in the journal Cancer Prevention Research........
More About: Lung Cancer , Test , Method

Researchers ID gene linked to lung cancer
2008-04-03 00:00:00
Scientists at Johns Hopkins, as part of a large, multi-institutional study, have found one gene variant that is associated with an increased risk of lung cancer. The study would be reported in the April 3 issue of Nature Gene tics. The research team collected DNA from 1,154 smokers who have lung cancer and 1,137 smokers without lung cancer. Each DNA sample was analyzed at more than 300,000 points, looking for variationsknown as single nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNPs for shortbetween those with cancer and those without. They then analyzed the top 10 SNPs in an additional 5,075 DNA samples from smokers with and without lung cancer........
More About: Cancer , Lung Cancer

Cannabis based medicines may help smokers to quit
2008-03-13 00:00:00
Smokers trying to quit in the future could do it with the help of cannabis based medicines, as per research from The University of Nottingham. Teams of pharmacologists, studying the cannabis-like compounds which exist naturally in our bodies (endocannabinoids), are exploring the potential for medical therapy. This includes treating conditions as diverse as obesity, diabetes, depression and addiction to substances like nicotine........
More About: Medicines , Quit , Cannabis , Smokers

Surgery for lung cancer better att teaching hospitals
2008-03-05 00:00:00
Patients cared for by hospitals with residents in training have a 17 percent less chance of dying after lung cancer surgery compared with patients undergoing surgery at non-teaching hospitals, as per results of a Johns Hopkins study reported in the recent issue of the Annals of Thoracic Surgery . Theres a public perception that teaching hospitals can be dangerous places because of training issues, and concerns are frequently voiced by patients and echoed in the press regarding a fear of physicians-in-training practicing on them, says the lead author of the paper, Robert Meguid, M.D., a surgical resident at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. The data from our study help refute these fears........
More About: Cancer , Teaching , Lung Cancer , Hospitals

PET Outperforms CT In Malignant Lung Nodules
2008-02-07 00:00:00
Researchers involved in a large, multi-institutional study comparing the accuracy of positron emission tomography (PET) and computed tomography (CT) in the characterization of lung nodules found that PET was far more reliable in detecting whether or not a nodule was malignant. "CT and PET have been widely used to characterize solitary pulmonary nodules (SPNs) as non-cancerous or malignant," said James W. Fletcher, professor of radiology at Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis, Ind. "Almost all previous studies examining the accuracy of CT for characterizing lung nodules, however, were performed more than 15 years ago with outdated technology and methods, and previous PET studies were limited by small sample sizes," he noted........

Number of Russian women smokers has doubled
2008-01-29 00:00:00
In 1992, seven per cent of women smoked, compared to almost 15 per cent by 2003. In the same period, the number of men who smoke has risen from 57 per cent to 63 per cent. The researchers behind the study, published in the journal Tobacco Control, blame the privatisation of the previously state owned tobacco industry and the behaviour of the transnational tobacco companies (TTCs) for what they describe as a "very worrying increase"........
More About: Women , Russian , Smokers , Number

Cells That Promote Formation of Lethal Lung Metastases
2008-01-21 00:00:00
Cancer patients commonly ask what can be done after a primary tumor has already spread, or metastasized, to other organs. In a number of cases, they learn, little can be done. Hence the importance of a discovery by researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) of a type of cell that regulates the transformation of small, dormant lung metastases into large, aggressive metastases - the kind that kill cancer patients........
More About: Promote

Improving the prognosis of lung cancer
2008-01-10 00:00:00
A group of researchers led by Professor Xavier Pars of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Universitat Autnoma de Barcelona, has published a research on AKR1B10, an enzyme that is detected in large quantities only in lung cancers, especially those caused by smoking. This enzyme can appear even when the cancer has still not developed and lesions are premalignant. Thus this molecule would serve as a good marker in the diagnosis and prognosis of the disease. Moreover, its activity could play a relevant role in the development of lung cancer, which makes the research of great interest for potential future therapeutical applications as well........
More About: Cancer , Lung Cancer , Prognosis

Smoking rate among New York City teens
2008-01-04 00:00:00
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, and Consumer Affairs Commissioner Jonathan Mintz released new data today from the 2007 New York City Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) showing that cigarette smoking among New York City teens declined by 20 percent between 2005 and 2007. The citys teen smoking rate has dropped by more than half over the past six years, from 17.6 percent in 2001 to 8.5 percent in 2007. The current rate that is about two thirds lower than the latest available national teen smoking rate of 23 percent. The Mayor linked the continuing decline which far exceeds the national decline to the Citys sustained efforts to reduce smoking among adults. Those efforts include a tax increase, the smoke-free workplace law, and TV and subway ads that graphically depict the realities of tobacco-related illnesses........
More About: Teens , Smoking

High school activities lowers risk of smoking
2007-12-07 00:00:00
Scientists from the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania reported today that students who participate in high school sports or individual physical activity are less likely to smoke than their classmates. The new study indicates that the protective effect of participation extends at least three years beyond graduation. The Penn team discovered, however, that girls do not derive the same level of protection from school sports as do boys........
More About: School , High School , Smoking , Activities , Risk

Tobacco marketers targeting teens near schools
2007-11-30 00:00:00
Joe Camel may be long gone, but that doesnt mean tobacco marketers have abandoned their efforts to get young people hooked on smoking. A new Canadian study reports that tobacco marketers have found a way around tobacco advertising restrictions, reaching teens by marketing in retail shops located near high schools. The findings, reported in the Canadian Journal of Public Health, suggest the strategy is working........
More About: Teens , Schools , Targeting , Marketers , Tobacco

Compound Promotes Death Of Lung-cancer Cells
2007-11-14 00:00:00
Human lung-cancer tumors grown in mice have been shown to regress or disappear when treated with a synthetic compound that mimics the action of a naturally occurring "death-promoting" protein found in cells, scientists at UT Southwestern Medical Center report. The findings, appearing in today's issue of Cancer Cell, suggest that the compound might one day be used in targeted therapies for lung and possibly other cancers, the scientists said........
More About: Lung Cancer , Death , Mote

Tumor-suppressor gene for lung cancer
2007-11-14 00:00:00
The GPRC5A gene, which is under-expressed in human lung cancer cells, suppresses lung tumors in mouse models and could provide a key to attacking lung cancer in humans, scientists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report in the Nov. 21 edition of The Journal of the National Cancer Institute........
More About: Tumor , Lung Cancer , Gene

CAD plus MDCT useful in finding lung nodules
2007-11-07 00:00:00
Computer-aided detection combined with MDCT improves radiologists ability to detect solid lung nodules early enough for them to be treated without increasing interpretation time as per a recent study conducted by scientists at Hopital Pitie-Salpetriere in Paris, France. The comparison of a current examination with previous examinations is a time-consuming and tedious task, said Philippe A. Grenier, MD, lead author of the study. This study wanted to evaluate the potential of a computerized automated system to improve human efficiency in this way, and determine whether CAD systems improve the detection of actionable lung nodules, he said........

New insights into lung cancer
2007-11-05 00:00:00
An international consortium of researchers today in an advanced online publication in the journal Nature revealed a comprehensive view of the altered genetic background of the type of lung cancer that is the most common cause of cancer deaths in humans. Of particular interest was a specific proto-oncogene called NKX2-1 that appears involved in as a number of as 12 percent of lung adenocarcinomas the most common cause of cancer deaths worldwide, said the group, whose work was in part financed by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI). The group noted, however, that analysis indicates that a number of of the genes that play a role in the disease remain to be discovered........
More About: Cancer , Lung Cancer , Insights

Preventing lung scarring in lung cancer patients
2007-10-30 00:00:00
Scientists have observed that using a special type of drug called a pharmaceutical monoclonal antibody to block the integrin beta6-TGF-beta pathway prevents a serious side effect of radiation treatment for patients with lung cancer pulmonary fibrosis (scarring of the lungs), thereby extending patients lives and improving their quality of life, as per a research studypresented at the Plenary I session on October 29, 2007, at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncologys 49th Annual Meeting in Los Angeles........
More About: Cancer , Lung Cancer , Patients , Eventing

Early warning system for lung cancer
2007-10-11 00:00:00
An immune system protein could act as an early warning system for lung cancer, reveals research published ahead of print in the journal Thorax. Lung cancer kills around 900,000 people every year, and can take 20 years or more to develop fully. But it is commonly only picked up at an advanced stage, when the chances of successful therapy are slim........
More About: System , Cancer , Lung Cancer , Warning , Early

Lung cancer subtype and treatment outcomes
2007-09-30 00:00:00
In clinical research, patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) that are classified as having a non-squamous histology achieve statistically significant higher survival when treated in the second-line setting with ALIMTA (pemetrexed for injection) when in comparison to histologically-similar patients treated with docetaxel. The data (ECCO Abstract # 6521) were presented at the 14th European Cancer Conference (ECCO) in Barcelona. ALIMTA, manufactured and marketed by Eli Lilly and Company, is currently indicated for the second-line therapy of advanced NSCLC in more than 85 countries........
More About: Treatment , Lung Cancer

Young smokers want to quit, but don't try
2007-09-15 00:00:00
Despite tried and true methods to quit smoking, young adults do not take advantage of these proven smoking cessation therapys that can double their chances of quitting, University of Illinois at Chicago public health scientists report. The research is published online and will appear in the recent issue of the American Journal of Public Health........
More About: Young , Quit , Smokers

Who's Quitting, And Who's Not?
2007-09-15 00:00:00
Quitting smoking is not easy, but thousands of New Yorkers succeed at it every year. Who's trying to kick the habit, and who's succeeding? In a new report titled Who's Still Smoking, the Health Department sheds light on both questions. The report, based on a large survey of New York City adults, shows that two thirds of the city's smokers - almost 800,000 adults - tried to quit in the past year, but only 17% of those succeeded. Data from the survey identify emotional distress and binge drinking as possible obstacles to quitting, and finds that less than a fifth of New York City smokers are using nicotine replacement treatment - even though it doubles the chances of success........
More About: Quitting

Increasing survival rates in lung cancer
2007-09-15 00:00:00
Patients with inoperable non-small cell lung cancer who receive an initial high dose of chemotherapy before their therapy begins can expect an increase in overall survival, as per a research studyin the July 1 issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics, the official journal of ASTRO........
More About: Cancer , Lung Cancer , Survival , Rates , Rate

Gene variations, inflammation and lung cancer
2007-09-15 00:00:00
Variations in two genes correlation to inflammation may be a major risk factor for developing lung cancer, as per a team of researchers from the National Cancer Institute and the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. The effect of these genes is particularly strong among heavy smokers, suggesting that the inflammatory response is important in modulating the damage caused by tobacco smoke........
More About: Lung Cancer , Gene