tobacco – Page 34 – Oral Cancer News

New cases of cancer decline in the United States

Source: nytimes.com Author: Roni Cryn Rabin The incidence of new cancer cases has been falling in recent years in the United States, the first time such an extended decline has been documented, researchers reported Tuesday. Cancer diagnosis rates decreased by an average of 0.8 percent each year from 1999 to 2005, the last year for which data are available, according to an annual report by the National Cancer Institute, the American Cancer Society and other scientific organizations. Death rates from cancer continued to decline as well, a trend that began some 15 years ago, the report also noted. It was published online in The Journal of the National Cancer Institute. “Each year that you see these steady declines it gives you more confidence that we’re moving in the right direction,” said Dr. John E. Niederhuber, director of the National Cancer Institute, who is not an author of the report. “This is not just a blip on the screen.” Death rates from cancer fell an average of 1.8 percent each year from 2002 to 2005, according to the new report. Although last year’s report said death rates dropped an average of 2.1 percent each year from 2002 to 2004, a modest 1 percent decline in 2005 lowered the average percentage for the period. The decline is primarily due to a reduction in death rates from certain common cancers, including prostate cancer and lung cancer in men, breast cancer in women and colorectal cancer in both sexes. The report attributes the reductions [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-11-26T10:36:32-07:00November, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

Reynolds American to sell dissolvable tobacco

Source: biz.yahoo.com Author: Vinnee Tong Reynolds American gave details to investors Monday about its latest smokeless tobacco products, saying that it would begin selling Camel brand dissolvable tobacco products in mid- to late January in three trial markets. The nation's second-biggest tobacco company said that dissolvable strips, orbs and sticks -- made from finely milled tobacco -- will be sold early next year, starting in Columbus, Ohio; Indianapolis; and Portland, Ore. They come in fresh and mellow flavors. Among their biggest selling points for smokers, who have fewer and fewer places to light up, is that there is no spitting and nothing left to throw away. Cigarette companies are trying to find new ways of selling tobacco as cigarette demand has fallen because of smoking bans, health concerns and social pressure. They are focusing more on cigars and smokeless products such as moist snuff, chewing tobacco and snus. Anti-tobacco groups objected last month when Reynolds first said it would begin selling dissolvable tobacco. "These new products pose serious threats to the nation's health," a statement from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids said then. "They are likely to appeal to children because they are flavored and packaged like candy, are easy to conceal even in a classroom and carry the Camel brand that is already so popular with underage smokers." Reynolds, which sells Camel, Kool and American Spirit cigarettes, defended the new dissolvable tobacco in part by saying the products come in child-resistant packs. The company's dissolvable tobacco products come in [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-11-23T18:01:10-07:00November, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

Cost of smoking still staggering

Source: www.pe.com Author: Lora Hines The number of smokers nationwide dropped last year, but the amount of money they rack up in health care and financial losses is on the rise, according to federal health officials. In 2007, more than 43 million people smoked, compared to an estimated 45 million smokers in 2006, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Despite the decrease, average annual smoking-related costs reached nearly $100 billion between 2001 and 2004, compared to $75 billion in 1998, the agency found. Smoking's total annual economic burden comes close to $195 billion, which includes lost productivity. The CDC released the information as the American Cancer Society today marks its 32nd Great American Smokeout, the organization's annual campaign to encourage people to quit smoking. Tobacco use still is the single largest preventable cause of disease and premature death in the United States, according to the society. Smoking causes an estimated 438,000 people to die prematurely every year. That includes 38,000 deaths of nonsmokers because of secondhand smoke. Half of all people who keep smoking will die from smoking-related diseases, the organization says. "Quitting smoking is the most important step smokers can take to improve their health and protect the health of nonsmoking family members," said Janet Collins, director of the CDC's National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. State Program Praised Meanwhile, UC San Francisco researchers earlier this year concluded that the California Tobacco Control Program saved the state $86 billion in health-care costs between [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-11-23T17:56:17-07:00November, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

Experts say new tobacco product targets young adults

Source: www.marketwatch.com Author: staff New research at West Virginia University is examining whether a smokeless, spitless tobacco product aimed at young adults is catching on. And the researchers have found that RJ Reynolds' Camel Snus - touted as a socially acceptable way to satisfy addiction - contains surprisingly high levels of nicotine. "Camel Snus contains more nicotine than most other snuff products," said Bruce Adkins of the state Division of Tobacco Prevention in Charleston. "In fact, the Camel Snus currently being marketed in West Virginia contains double the nicotine of an earlier tested version sold elsewhere in the United States. This provides a new example of the tobacco companies' manipulating nicotine levels without informing consumers." "West Virginia has extremely high rates of smokeless tobacco use and high rates of smoking," said Cindy Tworek, Ph.D., a member of WVU's Translational Tobacco Reduction Research Program (T2R2). "It would appear that tobacco companies are trying to strategically market new smokeless, spitless tobacco products in these areas of high use, such as West Virginia, and also promoting their use as a way to get nicotine in places where you can't smoke." T2R2 is a joint effort of the Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center at WVU and the West Virginia Prevention Research Center. Tworek is conducting a survey of several hundred young adults on or around college campuses in West Virginia to see whether the product's marketing has scored a hit. She hopes to have results compiled early in 2009. Snus comes in a pouch [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-11-23T09:38:24-07:00November, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

Lorillard at Morgan Stanley

Source: www.apply-best-credit-card.com Author: staff Executives of cigarette maker Lorillard Inc. are scheduled to speak to investors Tuesday at the Morgan Stanley Global Consumer & Retail Conference. Chief Executive Martin L. Orlowsky and Chief Financial Officer David H. Taylor are scheduled to speak at 10:30 a.m. EST. Greensboro, N.C.-based Lorillard sells Newport, Kent and Old Gold cigarettes. The company was spun off from Loews Corp. in June, a move that may have made it a more attractive acquisition target. The tobacco industry has been consolidating, with U.S. sellers becoming more aggressive about smokeless products such as moist smokeless, chewing tobacco and snus. Snus is a teabag-like pouch users stick between their cheek and gum. Altria Group Inc., which owns Marlboro maker Philip Morris USA, is expected to close on its acquisition of smokeless tobacco leader UST Inc. by the first week of January. Reynolds American Inc. owns the Conwood business and sells moist snuff under the Grizzly brand.

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-11-21T14:31:35-07:00November, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

Adult smoking is at record low

Source: www2.journalnow.com Author: Richard Craver A rate below 20 percent has more symbolic than commercial significance, tobacco analyst says Smoking among U.S. adults hit a record low during 2007, with less than one in five lighting up. Although breaking through the 20 percent threshold was applauded by anti-smoking groups last week, they acknowledged that an ambitious goal of a 12 percent adult-smoking rate by 2010 is not likely to happen. The goal was set in November 2000 as part of the Healthy People 2010 project. "If we want to see far more people quit smoking, we need expanded access to stop-smoking programs, continued progress in eliminating secondhand smoke exposure and ongoing investment in programs that work," said Dr. Matthew McKenna, the director of the Office on Smoking and Health at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency reported that 43.4 million U.S. adults smoked in 2007, or 19.8 percent, compared with 45.3 million in 2006, or 20.8 percent. The rate essentially was unchanged from 2004 through 2006. The peak of U.S. adult smokers was 53.5 million in 1983, according to U.S. government figures. The number of adult men who smoke still exceeds women -- 22 percent of men smoke, compared with 17.4 percent of women. The number of white adult smokers was 21.4 percent, compared with 19.8 percent for blacks and 13.3 percent for Hispanics. The report also found that the percentage of everyday smokers who have tried to quit smoking has dropped from 47 percent in [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-11-15T12:43:05-07:00November, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

Dietary factors and oral and pharyngeal cancer risk

Source: Oral Oncol, November 4, 2 Authors: Ersilia Lucenteforte et al We reviewed data from six cohort studies and approximately 40 case-control studies on the relation between selected aspects of diet and the risk of oral and pharyngeal cancer. Fruit and vegetables were inversely related to the risk: the pooled relative risk (RR) for high vegetable consumption was 0.65 from three cohort studies on upper aerodigestive tract cancers and 0.52 from 18 case-control studies of oral and pharyngeal cancer; corresponding RRs for high fruit consumption were 0.78 and 0.55. beta-carotene, vitamin C and selected flavonoids have been inversely related to the risk, but it is difficult to disentangle their potential effect from that of fruit and vegetables. Whole grain, but not refined grain, intake was also favorably related to oral cancer risk. The results were not consistent with reference to other foods beverages, and nutrients, but it is now possible to exclude a strong relation between these foods and oral and pharyngeal cancer risk. In western countries, selected aspects of diet may account for 20-25% of oral and pharyngeal cancer, and the population attributable risk increases to 85-95% when tobacco and alcohol consumption are also considered. Authors: Ersilia Lucenteforte, Werner Garavello, Cristina Bosetti, and Carlo La Vecch Authors' affiliation: Dipartimento di Epidemiologia, Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche "Mario Negri", via Giuseppe La Masa 19, 20156 Milan, Italy

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-11-15T09:58:35-07:00November, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

Smokeless tobacco becomes a target

Source: Winston-Salem Journal (www2.journalnow.com) Author: Richard Craver In bars and restaurants, theaters and stadiums, malls and offices, tobacco manufacturers are trying to reassert their presence in the market with innovative smokeless products such as snus and dissolvable products. "We're meeting the adult tobacco consumer where they are in society today," said Maura Payne, a spokeswoman for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. But health-advocacy groups, having won the day with bans on smoking in most public venues after a 16-year fight, are gearing up their efforts and rhetoric to try to prevent those products from taking root. "These smokeless products are likely to discourage smokers from quitting by sustaining their nicotine addiction in the growing number of places where smoking is not allowed," said Matthew Myers, the executive director of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. The evolution of the health-advocacy groups from anti-smoking to anti-tobacco is ratcheting up the moralistic aspect of buying and consuming a legal product. It also is pitting more health-care and anti-smoking officials on both sides of the smokeless debate since it's unclear whether smokeless tobacco equals reduced risk, particularly involving cancer. There have been mixed findings from the few studies that have been conducted on snus. What is clear is that the major U.S. tobacco manufacturers are putting more emphasis on smokeless products, such as snuff and snus, to gain market share and sales as the smoking rate among adults declines. Government figures show that fewer than 44 million Americans smoke, down from a peak of 53.5 million [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-11-11T13:49:31-07:00November, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

Altria prices offset cigarette volume declines

Source: Associated Press (ap.google.com) Author: Vinnee Tong Altria Group demonstrated its pricing power as interest in cigarettes dropped off further, and its CEO said Thursday that its buyout of smokeless tobacco maker UST positions it for long-term growth amid the widespread financial turmoil. The company's third-quarter profit fell 67 percent from a year ago, when results included the Philip Morris International business. But the maker of Marlboro, Parliament and Virginia Slims said earnings from continuing operations rose 15 percent and it confirmed its full-year profit forecast. "Because of the economic uncertainties we all face, Altria is taking steps now to continue adding value to shareholders over the long term," Chief Executive Michael Szymanczyk said. One of the ways Altria — owner of No. 1 U.S. cigarette maker Philip Morris USA — will expand is acquiring UST Inc., maker of Copenhagen and Skoal. But because of difficulties in the credit market, Szymanczyk said it had become more expensive to finance the acquisition. The deal passed antitrust review last month, and the company plans to schedule a special meeting in December to let shareholders vote on it. Szymanczyk expects the deal to close no later than the first week of January. Altria also reported net income of $867 million, or 42 cents per share, in the quarter that ended Sept. 30. That compares to $2.63 billion, or $1.24 per share, a year earlier. Richmond, Va.-based Altria, which spun off the international business in March, said revenue rose 5 percent to $5.24 billion. [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-10-24T08:05:23-07:00October, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

Foreign docs bring home message on cancer

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com Author: staff A group of seven leading specialists who have been globe-trotting with a special message -- to spread the word on preventing head and neck cancer -- stopped by in Mumbai on Monday. The busy doctors, well-known names in the medical world, planned the stopover in the city in October as it coincides with the month in which the Centre's ban on smoking in public places comes into force. "If we can prevent people from tobacco use, it will be a bigger advance in the field of head and neck cancer than molecular biology,'' said Dr Jatin Shah of the International Federation of Head and Neck Oncologic Societies (IFHNOS) who is spearheading the world tour. The doctors who have taken five weeks off from work, have already visited seven cities including London, Barcelona, Rome and Moscow and will spend three days in Mumbai during which they will interact with cancer specialists, doctors and medical students. The focus was on exchanging latest treatment modalities and research in the field of head and neck cancer. "There has been significant medical and technological advances in the field. If we could successfully treat two in every four patients of head and neck cancer in the seventies, we can cure three out of four today,'' said Dr Shah. Earlier the diagnosis, better is the chance of treatment, pointed out Dr A K D'cruz of Tata Memorial Hospital. "People should look out for warning signs and consult a doctor within four weeks if [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-10-21T10:01:17-07:00October, 2008|Oral Cancer News|