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Gene panel predicts lung cancer survival, study finds 

Researchers from four leading cancer centers have confirmed that an analysis involving a panel of genes can be used to predict which lung cancer patients will have the worst survival. The finding could one day lead to a test that would help determine who needs more aggressive treatment.

The study, the largest of its kind, appears online in Nature Medicine.

The researchers looked at 442 lung cancer tissue samples collected from six cancer hospitals in North America. They

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Lung Cancer Trial Targets Asbestos-Related Disease 

Patients are being recruited for a clinical trial of a new targeted radiation and chemotherapy protocol for pleural mesothelioma, a cancer of the lung's lining that's almost always caused by exposure to asbestos.

Currently, the standard treatment is to remove the affected lung.

"Current surgical and chemotherapy treatments of patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma are unsatisfactory and have not been shown to significantly prolong survival. In this study, we will investigate whether a combination of chemotherapy and radiation targeted directly at the lung's lining can improve outcomes while avoiding surgery," principal investigator Dr. Robert Taub, director of the Mesothelioma Center at New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University Medical Center, said in a news release.

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Gene Profiles Might Help Guide Lung Cancer Care 

A sweeping genetic analysis suggests that the activity of certain genes might someday allow doctors to predict which lung cancer patients need more aggressive therapies and which do not.

But the findings also underscore the difficulty of making such predictions, especially in the case of people with the earliest forms of the disease, when aggressive therapies could be of greatest value.

The goal is to build effective predictors based on gene expression (activity) and use them prospectively to guide treatment decisions, experts said.

However, to do that, "you have to know what are the potential issues that might influence how well gene expression might predict," . . .

For Beer, the data highlight the difficulties of working with such a variable disease as lung cancer, which stems from both genetic and environmental (i.e., smoking) factors.

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Case Points to Link Between Crohn's Treatment, Cancer  

An unusual case involving a sudden remission of lung cancer highlights the carcinogenic potential of certain drugs used to treat Crohn's disease, experts say.

The patient, a 69-year-old female ex-smoker, developed lung cancer while being treated with anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) medications for her Crohn's disease.

However, the malignancy vanished after doctors stopped giving her the medications, British researchers report in the July 17 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

"There is an underlying concern about the use of these drugs and the possible increase of certain kinds of cancer," said Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, deputy chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society.

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Drive to snuff smoking propels charity cyclist 

There is a reason John Fischer bikes. Tobacco killed both his parents and his two half sisters. His son has developed asthma after smoking for years but won't quit. His brother smokes.

"I have been angry with tobacco for many years," he said.

Thirteen years ago, Fischer decided to bike the Trek Across Maine, a 200-mile ride, as a fundraiser for the American Lung Association. That year, he raised $1,100. Almost every year since, that number has increased. He returned June 16 from his most recent ride, a 1,710-mile loop through northern New England, which raised more than $26,000. All told, Fischer has garnered over $190,000 in donations for the American Lung Assocation.

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Monitoring of biological markers of passive smoking key to establishing level of cancer risk 

While the link between lung cancer and second-hand smoke (SHS) has been established for many years, the extent of the risk remains a subject of much debate. Screening for biological markers specific to SHS and related to lung cancer could be a more reliable approach to establishing this risk level. The issues are discussed in a Review in the July edition of The Lancet Oncology, authored by Dr Ahmad Besaratinia and Dr Gerd Pfeifer, Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, USA. The edition is dedicated to lung cancer and will be presented at the International Lung Cancer Conference, Liverpool, UK, from 9-12 July.

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• Smokeless Tobacco Products Do Raise Cancer Risk  

Smokeless tobacco products (STPs), which include products such as snuff and chew tobacco, do increase the user's risk of cancer -- just not as much as smoking does.

So say researchers who examined worldwide patterns of STP use and the associated risk of cancer.

Reporting in the July issue of The Lancet Oncology, a team led by Dr. Paolo Boffeta, of the International Agency for Research on Cancer, in France, noted that STPs contain more than 30 carcinogens, including nitrosamines and metals.

Their analysis of studies from around the world found that STP users had an overall 80 percent increased risk of oral cancer and a 60 percent increased risk of esophageal cancer. They also had a similar increase in the risk of pancreatic cancer. European studies suggest no increased risk of lung cancer among STP users, but American studies suggest an 80 percent increased risk of lung cancer, the team said.

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Circulating Tumor Cells Reveal Insights Into Lung Cancers  

A new technique for finding and analyzing stray cancer cells in the blood of lung cancer patients may make it possible for doctors to one day not only determine the genetic "signature" of particular tumors but to monitor changes in those cells and adjust treatments accordingly.

"I think this is key to personalized medicine," said Dr. Daniel Haber, senior author of a paper detailing the technology, to be published in the July 24 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine but released early online Wednesday. "As we get to targeted therapies in increasing numbers, and increasing understanding about the genetics that guide targeted therapies, we need a way to know what we're treating."

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• Biomarkers needed to gauge passive smoke exposure 

Biological indicators, or "biomarkers" of exposure to secondhand smoke that can be analyzed in blood, tissue or other samples, or through imaging scans are needed to examine whether exposure to secondhand smoke may cause lung cancer.

That's the conclusion of the writers of a report in a special issue of The Lancet Oncology medical journal, which is dedicated to lung cancer.

Although numerous reports have linked exposure to secondhand smoke to lung cancer, the extent of the risk remains debatable, Dr. Ahmad Besaratina and Dr. Gerd P. Pfeifer, from the City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, California, note in their report.

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• Smoking's hidden death toll revealed  

SMOKING causes hundreds of thousands more deaths each year than previously thought, dramatic scientific research has revealed.

A study, led by experts in Glasgow, showed heightened chances of dying from cancers of the colon, rectum and prostate, as well as from lymphatic leukaemia.

These illnesses cause 930,000 deaths worldwide each year, in addition to more than five million smoking-related deaths estimated by the World Health Organisation as being caused by diseases such as lung cancer, which have long been linked to smoking.

Scotland's health minister and anti-smoking campaigners have welcomed the study as further proof of the need to clamp down on the habit. . . .

The new study, which has been published in the journal Annals of Oncology, was carried out by a team led by experts at Glasgow University and was based on data from 17,363 male civil servants based in London.

Information about their health and habits has been collated since the 1960s

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• Smoking and poverty blamed as cancer kills 20 per cent more in the North  

People living in the North of England have a 20 per cent higher chance of dying from cancer than those living elsewhere, according to new evidence underlining stark divides in the nation's health.

Deaths due to various forms of cancer are significantly higher in the North, a major report concludes today, with higher rates of smoking, unhealthy lifestyles and poverty likely to be at the root of the problem.

There were, on average, 380 cases of cancer -- and 182.3 deaths -- for every 100,000 people in England, the latest figures show.

But the mortality rate was much higher in the North, rising to 215.9 deaths per 100,000 in Merseyside and parts of Cheshire, while a large swath of the country, from Manchester to the Scottish border, also reported above-average death rates. . . .

Experts believe this North-South divide is due to a number of factors, especially higher smoking rates in the North, which are linked to increased risks of smoking-related cancers.

For example, 68 per 100,000 men in the North of England died from lung cancer in 2005, compared with the England average of 51. The Surrey, West Sussex and Hampshire area had the lowest rate of deaths from lung cancer, with about 36 men in every 100,000 dying from the disease.

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Hi-Tech Radiation Zaps "Moving Targets" On Lungs - Powerful Radiation Therapy Yields Remarkable Results In Lung Cancers 

It might surprise you to know that lung cancer claims more lives than breast, colon, and prostate cancers combined. Part of the problem is that lung cancer is often diagnosed late, so there aren't as many treatment options for patients. Now, that may be changing. Doctors are now using powerful radiation beams to zap lung tumors and give patients new hope. . . .

Arthur went to Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York, where doctors are using powerful radiation to zap tumors that can't be taken out in surgery, especially in cases like his where surgery would be too risky.

"For these patients it's really important to limit the amount of radiation to the non-cancerous lung," says Chumy Nwogu, MD at Roswell Park Cancer Institute.

This is where the high-precision radiation therapy comes in. Doctors can do two months worth of radiation treatments in a matter of hours. But there's a catch. The radiation is so intense and powerful that doctors can only blast the tumor itself. The tumor moves up and down every time the patient takes a breath. However, by using precise image guidance and controlled breathing, doctors can accurately track and attack the tumor.

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• Cancer deaths 'higher in north' 

Death rates from cancer are higher among people living in the north than in the rest of England, research shows.

The National Cancer Intelligence Network (NCIN) looked at data from 2005, and found death rates in the north were around 20% higher.

Cancer deaths were lowest in the south and midlands.

Experts believe higher smoking rates in the north could be the major factor - but not the only one - behind the stark north-south divide.

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Lung cancer no more common in women smokers: study 

Women who smoke are no more likely than men to get lung cancer but, among non-smokers, women appear to have a higher risk than men, U.S. researchers reported on Friday.

Women who had never smoked were 1.3 times more likely to develop lung cancer than men who had never smoked, Dr. Neal Freedman of the National Cancer Institute and colleagues found.

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'Gender equality' of lung cancer 

Women who smoke are no more likely to develop lung cancer than men, US researchers have concluded.

There had been conflicting evidence on women's risk, but the National Cancer Institute study of over 450,000 people found no gender difference.

The study published in Lancet Oncology found a difference of only 0.9% between the risk for men and that for women.

The most recent UK statistics show that in 2006, 23% of men and 21% of women were cigarette smokers.

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