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Metformin Prevents Tobacco Carcinogen–Induced Lung Tumorigenesis  

Activation of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway is an important and early event in tobacco carcinogen–induced lung tumorigenesis, and therapies that target mTOR could be effective in the prevention or treatment of lung cancer. . . .

Metformin decreased tumor burden by 72%, which correlated with decreased cellular proliferation and marked inhibition of mTOR in tumors. These studies show that metformin prevents tobacco carcinogen–induced lung tumorigenesis and support clinical testing of metformin as a chemopreventive agent.

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Diabetes drug may keep lung cancer at bay  

The common diabetes drug metformin may hold promise as a way to keep smokers from developing lung cancer, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday.

They said metformin prevented lung tumor growth in mice exposed to a cancer-causing agent found in tobacco smoke, and because it is already widely used in people, it may be worth further study.

Metformin has been shown to switch on an enzyme that blocks mTOR -- a protein that helps tobacco-induced lung tumors grow.

A team led by Dr. Philip Dennis of the National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, studied metformin in mice exposed to a potent, cancer-causing agent in tobacco called nicotine-derived nitrosamine ketone or NNK.

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• Can Fruits, Veggies Help Ward Off Lung Cancer?  

Eating a wide variety of fruits and vegetables may help protect some smokers from lung cancer, a new European study suggests.

But, the researchers stressed that quitting smoking will do far more to reduce risk than "an apple a day" or having a salad for lunch.

In the study, participants who ate a diet that contained a diverse mix of fruits and vegetables appeared to have a 27 percent lowered risk of a common type of lung cancer, the researchers reported.

"First and foremost, the best way to reduce one's risk of lung cancer is to quit smoking. That is of paramount importance," said principal investigator Dr. H. Bas Bueno-de-Mesquita, project director of cancer epidemiology at the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment in the Netherlands. "However, we realize that there are still millions worldwide who cannot and don't want to quit smoking. To just ignore them would be somewhat of a pity. This study shows there is a possibility of reducing one's risk even if one is a smoker."

Keep in mind that "wide variety" meant more than a banana with breakfast and a helping of peas and carrots with dinner. Think kale and spinach; berries and melons; cabbage, cauliflower and eggplant -- some 40 different fruits and vegetables in all.

The researchers analyzed data on more than 450,000 adults from 10 European countries

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• Diabetes Drug Metformin Linked to Lower Lung Cancer Rate in Mice  

A drug widely used to treat high blood sugar in type 2 diabetics may hold some promise in the prevention of tobacco-induced lung cancer, according to extremely preliminary findings in a mouse study.

In the September issue of Cancer Prevention Research, researchers report that metformin was associated with a substantial reduction (up to 73 percent) in the number of tumors mice developed when they were given a common carcinogen found in tobacco.

Despite the fact that there have been no randomized controlled trials on whether metformin really can prevent cancer, researchers expressed excitement both over this animal study and previous epidemiological evidence pointing to this possibility.

Metformin (originally marketed as Glucophage, though it is now available as an inexpensive generic) has been in use for more than two decades and is currently prescribed to 40 million Americans.

"This is a very safe agent and has been around for a while," said Cancer Prevention Research editor-in-chief Dr. Scott Lippman, chair of thoracic head and neck medical oncology at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, at a Wednesday news conference.

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Eating mix of fruits, veggies may cut lung cancer risk  

Now a new study, published this week in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, finds that eating a diverse diet of veggies and fruit can decrease your risk of developing lung cancer, especially if you are a smoker.

Scientists from The National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, The Netherlands, used data from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study and focused on the 452,187 participants' health information. Of these participants, 1,613 had a diagnosis of lung cancer.

Researchers compared participants' diets and noted their consumption of fruit and vegetables, which came in a variety of fresh, canned or dried products. Previous studies had shown that the quantity of vegetables and fruits an individual consumed could decrease risk of lung cancer, in particular the risk of one specific type of lung cancer, squamous cell carcinoma. The new studies found that regardless of the amount, the risk of lung cancer also decreased when a variety of vegetables and fruits were consumed. In addition, the risk of squamous cell carcinoma, which is common in smokers, decreased substantially when a variety of fruit and vegetables were eaten.

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Fruits, vegetables cut cancer risk for smokers: study 

Eating a variety of fruits and vegetables may decrease the risk of some kinds of lung cancer for smokers, according to a study released Monday.

"Although quitting smoking is the most important preventive action in reducing lung cancer risk, consuming a mix of different types of fruit and vegetables may also reduce risk, independent of the amount, especially among smokers," said H. Bas Bueno-de-Mesquita of the Netherlands-based National Institute for Public Health and the Environment.

The study published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, was based on research involving more than 450,000 people in Europe, including 1,600 who were diagnosed with lung cancer.

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• A varied diet is key in preventing lung cancer, even for smokers  

A new study published in the August 31 online edition of the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention has found that eating a variety of fruits and vegetables, rather than quantity, may lower your lung cancer risk.

"Although quitting smoking is the most important preventive action in reducing lung cancer risk, consuming a mix of different types of fruit and vegetables may also reduce risk, independent of the amount, especially among smokers," explained H. Bas Bueno-de-Mesquita, MD, MPH, PhD, senior scientist and project director of cancer epidemiology at The National Institute for Public Health and the Environment in the Netherlands.

The collaborative European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study found 1,613 out of 452,187 Europeans developed lung cancer during nearly nine years of follow-up.

The authors noted "Diet diversity scores (DDS) were used to quantify the variety in fruit and vegetable consumption. Multivariable proportional hazards models were used to assess the associations between DDS and lung cancer risk. All models were adjusted for smoking behavior and the total consumption of fruit and vegetables."

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VIDEO: LUNDBERG: Should We Screen for Lung Cancer? 

Patients and physicians must and do screen. The issue is cautious appropriateness. Self-screening by patients is easy, free, and fundamentally harmless. Look at your skin for potential melanomas, be alert to warning symptoms of a stroke, learn the early signs of alcohol dependence, observe your urine for gross blood.

These are observations that have almost no downsides and could trigger life saving interventions. But when the American Medical Marketing Machine (AMMM) starts screening campaigns, watch out. Both the well intended zeal of the advocacy groups and the ambitious avarice of the suppliers and providers can wreak real havoc, especially when they combine forces.

Is the benefit to individuals or the public going to be worth the harm to individuals and the costs to whomsoever pays the bills? Case in point: lung cancer.

The number one cancer killer in America. A really big deal. Caught late; usually kills; caught early; also often kills. How could even earlier change that equation? What are the downsides to screening for it? . . .

Good things can happen after screening. But so can bad. A false positive means you found something that was not there; a false negative means something was there and you did not find it; a misidentification means you found something that was there but you called it the wrong thing.

Those are all bad. It is a little like in football; you throw a forward pass; three things can happen, but two of them are bad.

So, sure, screen; but remember Hippocrates. First, do no harm.

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• Lung cancer deaths in women alarm Philippine Cancer Society 

CEBU, Philippines - An official of the Philippine Cancer Society yesterday expressed alarm over the increasing lung cancer deaths among women, saying more and more women are drying from the disease.

PCS executive director, Dr. Rachel Rosario said based on their data, lung cancer is the top cause of cancer-related death for males but added that "while breast cancer among females is most prevalent, the mortality rate for women caused by lung cancer is significant," she stressed.

In new statistics released by the group, 2,043 out of the 2,500 (per 100,000 research population) women inflicted with lung cancer have died.

The higher mortality rate is due to the fact that more females are becoming cigarettes smokers

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• Most China smokers doubt cancer link 

Only a quarter of Chinese people believe that smoking tobacco increases the risk of cancer. And anti-smoking campaigns are failing to influence them, according to a government survey.

Three quarters of people in China are regularly exposed to second-hand smoke, often in the workplace, in a country that puffs its way through around a third of the world's cigarettes.

The survey, conducted by the country's Center for Disease Control and Prevention, showed that barely one in four adults believes smoking increases the risks of lung cancer, strokes and heart attacks.

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Biomoda's CyPath assay for lung cancer detection receives Canadian patent 

Cancer diagnostics company Biomoda, Inc. (OTCBB: BMOD) (www.biomoda.com) has received a notice of allowance for a Canadian patent application for a method of using its proprietary porphyrin-based compound that binds to cancer cells and causes them to fluoresce under specific frequencies of light when viewed under a fluorescent microscope.

“Protecting our intellectual property at the international level is the first step toward a global strategy for the commercialization and marketing of the CyPath® assay for early detection of lung cancer.”

Allowed by the Canadian Intellectual Property Office, Canadian patent application 2,429,526, "Compositions and Methods for Detecting Pre-Cancerous Conditions In Cell And Tissue Samples Using 5, 10, 15, 20-Tetrakis (Carboxyphenyl) Porphine," is similar to Biomoda's U.S. patent 6,838,248, which was issued in 2005.

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• 'No increased cancer risk' for Greenock plant staff 

Workers at a Scottish semiconductor plant are not at increased risk of developing occupational cancers, new research has suggested.

The Health and Safety Executive said long-held concerns about occupational cancer at the National Semiconductors UK factory in Greenock were unfounded.

Campaigners said they were disgusted at the report and branded it a "cover-up". . . .

Fears of a cancer link at the plant were first raised in the late 1990s. In 2001, the HSE revealed higher than expected levels of lung, stomach and breast cancer in women and brain cancer in men who worked at the plant.

However, its study did not look at other factors such as diet and smoking.

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EDITORIALS From Nicotine to Breast Cancer, Implications of Cholinergic Receptor Pathway (PDF) 

The fact that Lee et al. ( 1 ) were able to show that nicotine enhances the growth of breast cancer cells via
9-nAChRs suggests not only that smoking could be causally related to breast carcinogenesis but also that nicotine could directly contribute to the molecular mechanism of carcinogenesis in addition to indirectly contributing by promoting addiction to smoking. In addition, the studies by Falvella et al. ( 19 ) indicate that some of the polymorphisms associated with nicotine addiction and susceptibility may increase the expression of
5-nAChRs in parenchymal tissue from lung cancer patients. . . .

Better understanding the molecular mechanisms of the cholinergic pathways will lead to more opportunities for intervention and prevention of tobacco toxicity.

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• Smoking blamed for cancers in Port Clinton  

Port Clinton's rate of pancreatic cancer is 90 percent higher than what the Ohio Department of Health believes it should be for a city its size.

And its rate of lung and bronchus cancers is 50 percent higher too, according to a new state report that was issued Monday.

But state health officials said that is more likely the result of excessive smoking, not exposure to industrial chemicals or environmental pollutants.

The state agency issued its findings after crunching data of 503 Port Clinton cancer cases diagnosed between 1996 and 2007, the most comprehensive and latest years on record. The study was done at the request of the Ottawa County Department of Health, following concerns by area residents who believed a cancer cluster with an environmental trigger existed.

That is not the case, according to Holly Sobotka, chief of the state health department's chronic disease and behavioral epidemiology section.

She acknowledged the number of cases of pancreatic and lung/bronchus cancers were statistically higher than chance alone, but said the leading risk factor for both of those is smoking.

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• Smoking women: the alarming statistics 

More and more women are dying from lung cancer. In new statistics released by the Philippine Cancer Society (PCS), with a rate of 2,500 (per 100,000 research population) new cases of women with lung cancer monitored, 2,043 patients have died. The higher mortality rate is due to the fact that more females smoke cigarettes; and unlike breast cancer, lung cancer is detected only during advanced stages.

“Based on data that we have at the Philippine Cancer Society, lung cancer is the top cause of cancer-related death for males. And while breast cancer among females is most prevalent, the mortality rate for women caused by lung cancer is significant,” said PCS executive director Dr. Rachel Rosario. . . .

In 1950, lung cancer accounted for only three percent of all cancer deaths among women. However, by 2000, it accounted for an estimated 25 percent of cancer deaths an estimated one of every four cancer deaths and nearly one of every eight newly diagnosed cancers among women.

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