4/6/2005 New York, NY Amanda Gardner Forbes.com Two gospels of medicine, preached over and over during the past 40 years, have been the dangers of smoking and the benefits to health of quitting. But a footnote to that gospel is that there's never a guarantee. TV newscaster Peter Jennings, who announced Tuesday that he had lung cancer, is an ex-smoker. According to the American Lung Association, about 87 percent of lung cancer cases are caused by smoking, and 40 percent to 50 percent of new cases may occur in former smokers. Because most lung cancers are diagnosed at a late stage, the five-year survival rate is only 15.2 percent, compared with 63 percent for colon cancer, 88 percent for breast cancer and 99 percent for prostate cancer, according to the American Lung Association. In 2005, lung cancer will take about 163,500 American lives and will maintain its place as the number one cancer killer, outpacing deaths from the second, third, fourth and fifth most common causes of cancer deaths combined, said Dr. Bill Solomon, associate professor of medicine at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in New York City. Ninety percent of people who are diagnosed with lung cancer will eventually die of the disease, added Dr. Jay Brooks, chairman of hematology/oncology at the Ochsner Clinic Foundation in Baton Rouge, La. Not everyone who smokes will get lung cancer and not everyone who quits will be protected. Why? No one knows for sure. People who smoke have a 10- to 15-fold greater [...]

4/6/2005 Marco Island, FL Virginia Wallace Marco Island Sun Times Many people perceive cigar smoking as being more "civilized" and less dangerous than cigarette smoking. Yet a single large cigar can contain as much tobacco as an entire pack of cigarettes. The secondhand smoke it gives off and that others breathe in can fill a room for hours. How are cigars different from cigarettes? A cigar is defined, for tax purposes, as "any roll of tobacco wrapped in leaf tobacco or in any substance containing tobacco," while a cigarette is "any roll of tobacco wrapped in paper or any substance not containing tobacco." Most cigars are made up of a single air-cured or dried burley tobacco. Cigar tobacco leaves are first aged for about a year and then fermented in a multi-step process that can take from three to five months. Fermentation causes chemical and bacterial reactions that change the tobacco and give cigars a different taste and smell from cigarettes. Cigars come in different sizes, some as small as a cigarette (called a cigarillo), others much larger. Large cigars typically contain between five and 17 grams of tobacco. It is not unusual for some premium brands to have as much tobacco in one cigar as in a whole pack of cigarettes. Large cigars can take between one to two hours to smoke. Who smokes cigars? Cigar smoking continues to be a popular trend in the United States, especially among young men and women. It is fueled in part by [...]

4/6/2005 Bethesda, MD Edward S. Kim, Waun Ki Hong Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Vol. 97, No. 7, 468-470, April 6, 2005 The use of natural agents as medicinal treatments has a long history. The Greek physician Hippocrates (circa 400 BCE) was one of the earliest proponents of nutritional healing. His favorite remedies were apples, dates, and barley mush (1). The term "chemoprevention," which was coined in 1976 (2), describes the use of specific natural, synthetic, or biologic agents to reverse, suppress, or prevent the development of disease. Chemoprevention is an appealing approach to treating patients with a variety of medical conditions. For instance, cardiac patients who take low-dose aspirin do so in hopes of preventing a future ischemic event. Cancer chemoprevention's best model is early-stage breast cancer, for which hormonal agents are used to prevent recurrence and contralateral disease in patients with the appropriate hormone receptor status. Both basic biologic research and clinical chemical intervention are the underpinnings of chemoprevention aimed at delaying or halting the process of carcinogenesis. The principles of chemoprevention are based on the concepts of multifocal field carcinogenesis and multistep carcinogenesis. In field carcinogenesis (3), diffuse epithelial injury results from carcinogen exposure; genetic changes and premalignant and malignant lesions in one region of the field translate to an increased risk of cancer developing in the entire field. Multistep carcinogenesis occurs through the stepwise accumulation of alterations, both genotypic and phenotypic (4–7). Arresting one or several of the steps may impede or delay the development [...]

4/6/2005 Quebec City, Quebec, Canada PRNewswire Taking high-dose vitamin E supplements for an extended period doesn't protect against cancer; in fact, it may even speed up the development of latent cancers, according to a study by researchers from Hotel-Dieu de Quebec Research Centre and Universite Laval. Their results are published in the April issue of the prestigious Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Isabelle Bairati, professor at the Universite Laval Faculty of Medicine and researcher at Hotel-Dieu de Quebec's Oncology Research Centre, and colleagues conducted the study among 540 volunteers over an eight-year period. All the participants were treated for early stage head and neck cancer and were at high risk of developing another cancer. During the first three years, half of the participants received 400 international units of vitamin E daily, while the rest were given a placebo. Researchers put forth an initial hypothesis that people who eat a lot of fruits and vegetables are less likely to develop cancer. This beneficial effect might come from the many antioxidant vitamins contained in those types of foods. Dr. Bairati and her colleagues thus decided to analyze the impact of vitamin E intake, in the form of a daily food supplement, among a population at high risk of developing a second cancer. The main results were as follows: - In the three years during which participants were given either vitamin E supplements or a placebo, researchers recorded more cancer cases in the vitamin E group than in the placebo group. [...]

4/5/2005 Edwardsville, IL Sara West The Alestle (www.thealestle.com) Nearly 41,000 American citizens will be diagnosed with oral cancer, including cancer of the larynx, this year, according to the Oral Cancer Foundation. The foundation also reported more than 8,000 of those suffering from the disease will die, one person per hour, 24 hours per day, this year. The heightened death rate related to oral cancer is due to the fact the cancer is typically found in its later stages of development, most likely when the disease has already begun to spread to lymph nodes in the neck. The cancer, which is part of a group of cancers called head and neck cancers, is quite dangerous because it may produce second, primary tumors. "This means that patients who survive a first encounter with the disease have up to a 20 times higher risk of developing a second cancer," the foundation reported. "This heightened risk factor can last for five to 10 years after the first occurrence." The American Dental Association suggested avoiding behaviors strongly associated with developing oral cancer, such as using any kind of tobacco product, overusing alcohol and overexposure of the sun on the lips. Other risk factors include genetics, liver function and having a diet low in fresh fruits and vegetables, and the association advised people to screen for oral cancer regularly. "Regular visits to your dentist are important in protecting yourself from the effects of oral cancer," the ADA said. "Detecting and treating cancerous tissues as early as [...]

4/4/2005 San Jose, CA Barbara Feder Ostrov The Mercury News (mercury.com) Talk about a communication gap: Gope Mirchandani couldn't speak. His wife Kamala couldn't hear. Now the San Jose couple can do both. Last year, Kamala received a cochlear implant to restore her hearing. For nearly 25 years, as her hearing degenerated, she had communicated with Gope through lip reading, notes and a series of hearing aids that helped only a little. Gope's voice too grew weak over time, the result of throat cancer. In 2000, doctors at Kaiser Permanente-Santa Clara removed his larynx, replacing it a few months later with a throat valve that allows him to speak in a raspy voice. The first word Kamala heard from Gope -- ``Congratulations!'' -- might have sounded like gravel to anyone else, but not to her. Gope, 77, helped her relearn sounds long forgotten -- this is the wind, these are the birds. Today, the Mirchandanis talk freely about their three children and six grandchildren. Kamala listens to the wind chimes outside their apartment. She converses with her children on the telephone, which she vastly prefers to their former e-mail chats. The couple, who emigrated from India in 1987 and have been married for nearly a half-century, now bicker without resorting to written notes. ``It's so much better now,'' said Kamala, who is 74. ``We are both very happy.''

4/3/2005 Trenton, NJ Ed Silverman The Star Ledger (New Jersey) Parents balk at idea of STD drug for kids At first blush, a vaccine that prevents a deadly form of cancer would seem like a no-brainer for parents. But as two major drug makers prepare to introduce such a product, sides are already being drawn in what promises to be an all-out culture clash. Within two years, Merck and GlaxoSmithKline hope to market a pair of groundbreaking vaccines to prevent a sexually transmitted disease. Known as the human papillomavirus, or HPV, the disease is a leading cause of cervical cancer. About 5,000 women in the United States die each year from cervical cancer, and the drug makers expect to use this as a rallying cry to make their vaccines widely available and generate billions of dollars in sales. One drug maker, Merck, says it will try to convince states to require vaccination before children as young as 12 can enter school. "The best way to prevent infection is to vaccinate the population just before they become sexually active, which is when they're young," Eliav Barr, Merck's senior director of biologics clinical research, said. "This way, it can be folded into routine medical care." But the rollout of the vaccines promises be anything but routine. Vaccinating children for a disease caused by sexual activity will be a tough sell, especially for parents who fear children will take it as a green light to have sex. The HPV vaccine is likely to [...]

4/3/2005 Charlotte, NC Alison Morris The Charlotte Observer April 11-17 is International Oral, Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Week. Head and neck cancer is a general term applied to several types of cancer in a variety of locations in the head and neck, including the throat, mouth, voice box and tongue. About 4 percent of new cancers diagnosed are head and neck cancers, said Dr. Frank Mauldin of Graystone Ear Nose & Throat Associates in Hickory. According to recent statistics, more than 55,000 Americans will be diagnosed with head and neck cancer this year, and more than 12,000 will die of the disease. Sadly, most cases could be prevented. In a survey of more than 40,000 Americans, 75 percent of those polled did not know or incorrectly identified the signs of oral cancer. As many as 90 percent of head and neck cancers arise after prolonged exposure to tobacco and alcohol. Use of tobacco (cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco or snuff) and alcohol are linked with cancers of the mouth, throat, voice box and tongue. In adults who neither smoke nor drink, cancer of the mouth and throat are nearly nonexistent. Cancer of the head and neck is curable if caught early. While prevention is the primary goal of increasing the awareness of head and neck cancer, early detection is even more important. People at high risk for developing head and neck cancer should know and recognize the warning signs of these cancers: A lump in the neck; hoarseness or change [...]

4/3/2005 United Kingdom BBC News A chemical extracted from green tea could help scientists to develop new drugs to fight cancer. Tests by UK and Spanish researchers showed polyphenol EGCG taken from green tea leaves inhibits cancer cell growth. The effect was seen even at low concentrations, equivalent to drinking two or three cups of green tea a day. However, the study, published in Cancer Research, also found high concentrations of the chemical may increase the risk of birth defects. Previous research has suggested that drinking green tea helps to cut the risk of certain forms of cancer. The latest study found that EGCG binds to a key enzyme - dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) - that is targeted by established anti-cancer drugs. This stops the enzyme from triggering the manufacture of new DNA in tumour cells. It appears to work in the same way as the cancer drug methotrexate - but in practice would probably have fewer side effects. Drug development Professor Roger Thorneley, from the John Innes Centre in Norwich, conducted the research with team from the University of Murcia in Spain. He said: "This is a very exciting discovery. For the first time we have a clear scientific explanation of why EGCG inhibits the growth of cancer cells at concentrations which are found in the blood of people who drink two or three cups of green tea a day. "We have identified the enzyme in tumour cells that EGCG targets and understand how it stops this enzyme from making [...]

4/1/2005 Durham, NC Marshall R. Posner, M.D. The Oncologist, Vol. 10, No. 3, 174-175, March 2005 In May of 2004, two articles appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine, reporting the final results of large Phase III trials comparing adjuvant post-operative chemoradiotherapy to standard post-operative radiotherapy in patients with resected, poor-prognosis Squamous Cell Cancer of the Head and Neck (SCCHN) [1, 2]. The trials were performed by the EORTC and the North American Intergroup; they gave identical chemotherapy, almost identical radiotherapy, treated somewhat different populations, and were started over a decade ago. In this issue of The Oncologist Jacques Bernier and Jay Cooper, the principal investigators of the trials, review the background, the results of the trials, and the evidence supporting a standard role for chemoradiotherapy for the post-operative adjuvant therapy of patients with resected SCCHN [3]. Graph of results available here Both trials resulted in a substantial and significant increase in local regional control with post-operative adjuvant chemoradiotherapy in poor prognosis patients. There is no question that post-operative chemoradiotherapy with bolus cisplatinum improves local regional control and prevents the devastating consequences of locally or regionally recurrent disease in patients with SCCHN. Both trials and the historical data support the role of platinum based chemoradiotherapy for this purpose [4, 5]. Is this enough? Shouldn’t we expect a survival advantage for therapy? Both trials also demonstrated a substantial short-term increase in survival, although only the European trial proved to have significant and sustained increase in this important result. In absolute [...]