11/4/2004 Montreal, Quebec Ross Marowits Montreal Gazette A cancer survivor who started smoking when he was 10 years old was in court Thursday, hoping his class-action lawsuit will secure billions of dollars in damages from Canada's leading tobacco companies. "I'm an example of what cigarettes can do to you,'' Jean-Yves Blais said during a break in proceedings in Quebec Superior Court. "I've lost my health.'' The 60-year-old taxi driver from St-Hubert, Que., lost a lung to cancer in 1997. A year later, he launched the class-action suit with the Quebec Council on Tobacco and Health against Imperial Tobacco, Rothmans, Benson & Hedges, and JTI-MacDonald. He's trying to win up to $100,000 for each of the estimated 40,000 to 45,000 Quebecers who have suffered emphysema or cancer of the lungs, larynx or throat between 1995 and 1998. For six years, he has waited while efforts to have his lawsuit certified have been repeatedly delayed. Joining him in court was Cecilia Letourneau, who says she has been addicted to nicotine since she began smoking in 1964 as a 19-year-old. She filed a separate class-action suit in 2001 that is seeking $5,000 each for an estimated two million Quebec smokers addicted to nicotine. "I'm doing this so in the end future generations can have truthful and complete information about the real dangers related to smoking,'' she told reporters. Family members of smokers who have since died would be covered in both lawsuits. Both plaintiffs say they have been unable to kick their smoking [...]

11/3/2004 Carmia Borek, PhD Integrative Cancer Therapies, Vol. 3, No. 4, 333-341 (2004) Epidemiological studies show that a high intake of anti-oxidant-rich foods is inversely related to cancer risk. While animal and cell cultures confirm the anticancer effects of antioxidants, intervention trials to determine their ability to reduce cancer risk have been inconclusive, although selenium and vitamin E reduced the risk of some forms of cancer, including prostate and colon cancer, and carotenoids have been shown to help reduce breast cancer risk. Cancer treatment by radiation and anticancer drugs reduces inherent antioxidants and induces oxidative stress, which increases with disease progression. Vitamins E and C have been shown to ameliorate adverse side effects associated with free radical damage to normal cells in cancer therapy, such as mucositis and fibrosis, and to reduce the recurrence of breast cancer. While clinical studies on the effect of anti-oxidants in modulating cancer treatment are limited in number and size, experimental studies show that antioxidant vitamins and some phytochemicals selectively induce apoptosis in cancer cells but not in normal cells and prevent angiogenesis and metastatic spread, suggesting a potential role for antioxidants as adjuvants in cancer therapy.

11/3/2004 Hsin-Chia Hung, Kaumudi J. Joshipura et al. Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Vol. 96, No. 21, 1577-1584, November 3, 2004 Background: Studies of fruit and vegetable consumption in relation to overall health are limited. We evaluated the relationship between fruit and vegetable intake and the incidence of cardiovascular disease and cancer and of deaths from other causes in two prospective cohorts. Methods: A total of 71,910 female participants in the Nurses' Health study and 37,725 male participants in the Health Professionals' Follow-up Study who were free of major chronic disease completed baseline semiquantitative food-frequency questionnaires in 1984 and 1986, respectively. Dietary information was updated in 1986, 1990, and 1994 for women and in 1990 and 1994 for men. Participants were followed up for incidence of cardiovascular disease, cancer, or death through May 1998 (women) and January 1998 (men). Multivariable-adjusted relative risks were calculated with Cox proportional hazards analysis. Results: We ascertained 9329 events (1964 cardiovascular, 6584 cancer, and 781 other deaths) in women and 4957 events (1670 cardiovascular diseases, 2500 cancers, and 787 other deaths) in men during follow-up. For men and women combined, participants in the highest quintile of total fruit and vegetable intake had a relative risk for major chronic disease of 0.95 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.89 to 1.01) times that of those in the lowest. Total fruit and vegetable intake was inversely associated with risk of cardiovascular disease but not with overall cancer incidence, with relative risk for an increment of five servings [...]

11/2/2004 TB Sun, RL Chen, and YH Hsu Undersea Hyperb Med, June 1, 2004; 31(2): 251-60 Discoveries of the beneficial cellular and biochemical effects have strengthened the rationale for the administration of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO2) as an adjunctive therapy for the treatment of osteoradionecrosis (ORN). Malignancies, however, are considered a contraindication for HBO2 because of the possible tumor-promoting effects. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of HBO2 therapy on tumor weight, and to measure the progression of apoptosis and tumor cell proliferating activity in a cultured human oral cancer cell line. Twenty 5-week-old male NODscid mice underwent daily HBO2 of 2.5 atm abs, 90 minutes for 20 treatments. The control group, n = 20, did not undergo HBO2 and tumor weight, apoptosis index, and proliferating activity parameters were compared between the two groups. The results showed no significant differences (p < 0.05) in the whole-body weights, tumor weights, apoptotic index or proliferating activity index between the two groups. By using the apoptosis and proliferating activity assays which were better indicators of tumor cell growth than tumor weight alone, our results suggest that the clinical application of HBO2 does not promote the growth or proliferation of human oral cancer cells. Authors: TB Sun, RL Chen, and YH Hsu Division of Plastic Surgery, Center for Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan

11/2/2004 Medical News Editor Medical News Today HSA welcome the clarity from NICE (National Institute for Clinical Excellence) today about dental patient visit frequency guidelines. Yet despite the reduction in demand that this will create, with 12 months to go until the implementation of the new NHS dental contracts, the crisis in NHS dentistry is set to worsen. HSA research shows that even with Government promises to make NHS dentistry better, dentists are already leaving the NHS ahead of the new patient and practitioner contracts and state dentistry is more difficult to access than ever. HSA research released today shows: -- Despite the investment in the NHS over recent years, more than a third of UK adults think that NHS dentistry is getting worse, with only 11% believing it is improving. -- This decline is worse in rural areas, with the experience of 46% adults of NHS dentistry getting worse - reflecting the emphasis in government investment in dental access centres only in major conurbations. -- There are already 11 million adults in the UK without a dentist and there is no doubt that difficulty in accessing and affording dentistry affects the nation's oral health. -- Dentists are already reacting to the new proposed practitioner contract and are leaving NHS dentistry, believing it uneconomic for them. It is not yet known what the new patient contract will hold, even though there is less than a year before implementation. HSA believes the delay will lead to more dentists leaving NHS dentistry, [...]

11/2/2004 no attribution Medical News Today Scientists at Bristol University have found that a protein present in normal body tissues can prevent tumor growth. A team led by Dr Dave Bates, British Heart Foundation Lecturer, and Dr Steve Harper, Senior Research Fellow in the Microvascular Research Laboratories, in the Department of Physiology at Bristol University, have discovered that a type of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) found in normal tissue, including blood, can prevent cancers from growing. The research findings will be published in the world's most prestigious scientific cancer journal, 'Cancer Research', next week [1 November 2004]. The growth of any cancer depends on its ability to maintain a blood supply that will deliver nutrients. For a cancer to grow from the size of a pinhead to that of a golf-ball, the blood supply of the tumor has to grow with the expansion of the tumor itself. Most forms of VEGF help this blood vessel growth. The new form of VEGF, VEGF165b, which was discovered by the same team in 2002, inhibits the growth of new blood vessels required for tumors to grow above one millimeter. They have also found that this form of VEGF is generally found in many normal parts of the body, including the prostate, but not in prostate cancer, and have established how this form of VEGF works on blood vessels. The identification of how this new form of VEGF works, and its effects on tumors, means that it could be possible to prevent tumor [...]

11/2/2004 Washington, D.C. Marilynn Marchione Yahoo News Efforts to develop the world's first vaccine to prevent cervical cancer took a key step forward Monday with test results suggesting that it can provide long-lasting protection. Four years after getting the vaccine, 94 percent of women were protected from infection with the virus that causes most cervical cancers and none had developed worrisome precancerous conditions, a study showed. "We're thrilled about these results. The immune responses seem to be really long-lasting," said Dr. Eliav Barr, who leads development of the vaccine for Merck & Co. The company plans to seek U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval next year for an expanded version of the vaccine that also could be used to prevent genital warts in both women and men. The new study was funded by Merck and led by University of Washington researchers who presented results Monday at a meeting of the American Society for Microbiology. "They showed clear effectiveness," said Dr. Scott Hammer, a Columbia University infectious disease expert who reviewed the work but has no ties to Merck or the study. "This is a very important issue for women's health around the world." If the vaccine makes it to market, it would be the second developed to prevent cancer. The hepatitis B vaccine has dramatically reduced the number of infections that progress to liver cancer. Cervical cancer strikes nearly half a million women worldwide each year and kills about half. In the United States, about 15,000 women get it and [...]

11/1/2004 Jonathan Maze Charleston Post and Courier South Carolina residents less likely to get cancer, more likely to die if they do. First the good news: South Carolinians are less likely to get cancer than the average American. The bad news? Those who get cancer are less likely to survive. That is the conclusion of the South Carolina Cancer Alliance in its recently released "Cancer Report Card." The alliance gave the state an "A" because people here are less likely to develop cancer but an "F" because the rate of death in South Carolina is much higher than the national average. "Something is not right," said Gailya Walter, who worked on the report card for the Columbia-based alliance. One likely reason for the higher death rate: Many South Carolinians don't have their cancer detected until it's too late. The report indicates the state's prevention and screening efforts need improvement. According to the report, 8,320 South Carolinians died of cancer in 2002. "I would have to presume that many of those were unnecessary," said Dr. Terry Day, an oral surgeon at the Medical University of South Carolina and chairman of the alliance. "Many could have been prevented." Those people, he said, could have been diagnosed and treated without significant complications. South Carolina received its failing mark because its rate of cancer deaths, 207.2 deaths per 100,000 people in 2001, was much higher than the national average of 195.6, according to the South Carolina Central Cancer Registry. The state's rate placed it [...]

11/1/2004 Jennifer R. Grandis et al. Cancer Research 64, 8126-8129, November 1, 2004 Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the most common malignant neoplasm arising in the mucosa of the upper aerodigestive tract. Nearly two thirds of patients present with advanced (stage III and IV) disease. Fifty percent of HNSCC patients die of their disease, and 5% of HNSCC patients per year will develop additional second primary tumors. Currently used therapeutic modalities (surgery, radiation, and/or chemotherapy) have been associated with rather modest improvements in patient survival. The Head and Neck Cancer: Research and Therapeutic Opportunities Workshop (held in Washington, DC, May 24–26, 2004) was organized by the Division of Cancer Biology at the National Cancer Institute to identify research areas and directions that will advance understanding of HNSCC biology and accelerate clinical translation. The primary goal of the workshop was to identify the barriers that impede basic science discovery and the translation of these developments to the clinical setting. Over a 2.5-day period, experts in both HNSCC and other cancer-related fields met to identify and prioritize the key areas for future research. The overall consensus was that HNSCC is a relatively understudied malignancy and that investigations that focus on the biology of this tumor have the potential to impact significantly on the prevention and treatment of epithelial malignancies. The chief objective is to communicate these research goals to the cancer biology community and encourage more interest in HNSCC as a tumor model to test translational research hypotheses. Authors: [...]

11/1/2004 Brodhead, WI Ellen Williams-Masson Munroe Times Dale Everson's voice has been stilled, but his actions speak louder than words to illustrate how he feels for his church. The 43-year member of the Congregational United Church of Christ was diagnosed with throat cancer in December 1997 and received chemotherapy and radiation to kill the tumor. Although his cancer was eradicated, continuing throat pain led to surgery in March of 1999 to remove parts of his tongue, esophagus and larynx. Dale Everson has devoted about 200 hours to restoring this bell to mint condition after it was damaged in a move to the Congregational United Church of Christ in Brodhead. "He never complained one time, or questioned God," Dale's wife, Holly, said. "He just asked the doctors, 'What do I need to do?" Dale's positive attitude and sense of humor carried the couple through their challenges, and Holly said that Dale considers the loss of his voice an adequate trade-off in order to be free of pain. "I won this round with cancer," he said. Dale communicates by e-mail, text messaging, gestures and handwriting. When asked if he had any regrets about choosing the surgery, he scribbled with a smile, "Holly talks enough for both." It would be understandable if a cancer survivor chose to withdraw and become self-absorbed as a result of his ordeal, but Everson has donated all his spare time during the past year to a project for his congregation. The members of the Congregational Church of Christ [...]