http://www.tobacco.org/newsfeed/category/lung_cancer.rss Latest top tobacco news headlines en-us http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-02/hlmc-rfi020912.php http://tobacco.org/news/333553.html Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., have discovered that the immune response regulator IKBKE (serine/threonine kinase) plays two roles in tobacco-related non-small cell lung cancers. Tobacco carcinogens induce IKBKE and, in turn, IKBKE induces chemotherapy resistance. The study was published in a recent issue of Oconogene. "IKBKE is a newly identified oconogene, a gene linked to cancer," said study lead author Jin Q. Cheng, Ph.D., M.D., who studies genetic alterations and their molecular mechanisms in cancer. "In our study, we demonstrated that IKBKE is a STAT 3 target gene and is induced by tobacco. STAT3 is a signaling and transcription gene that is activated in various types of cancer and is required for cell transformation." As a "transcription factor" STAT3 plays a key role in many cellular processes, such as cell growth and programmed cell death, or "apoptosis." EurekAlert Ferdinand.DeVega@moffitt.org Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/health-science/you-don-t-need-to-smoke-to-get-lung-cancer-1.1267699 http://tobacco.org/news/333444.html Nonsmoking women are at greater risk for lung cancer than nonsmoking men. This issue received great national attention several years ago when Dana Reeve, wife of "Superman" star Christopher Reeve, died from lung cancer. Mrs. Reeve represents the 20 percent of women with lung cancer who have never smoked (8 percent of men with lung cancer are nonsmokers). However, make no mistake: Smoking increases your risk of lung cancer roughly 20 to 30 times, according to current research. Causes in nonsmokers There are many theories about why nonsmokers develop lung cancer. Dr. Norman Edelman of the American Lung Association says one reason nonsmoking women are more like to develop lung cancer is that more nonsmoking women in the United States live with men who smoke than the reverse. So if the man quits smoking, he is improving the health of two people, not one. Dr. Edelman believes secondhand smoke is the No. 1 reason nonsmokers develop lung cancer. In addition to secondhand smoke, other potential causes of lung cancer in nonsmokers are air pollution, radon exposure and asbestos exposure. Scranton Times-Tribune drpmackarey@msn.com (PAUL J. MACKAREY, P.T., D.H.Sc., O.C.S) Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www.ucsf.edu/news/2012/01/11408/new-lung-cancer-test-predicts-survival http://tobacco.org/news/333421.html In the two largest clinical studies ever conducted on the molecular genetics of lung cancer, an international team led by scientists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) has demonstrated that an available molecular test can predict the likelihood of death from early-stage lung cancer more accurately than conventional methods. The work may eventually help improve the odds of survival for hundreds of thousands of patients each year. Reported this week in The Lancet, the two studies demonstrated how the test, which measures the activity of fourteen genes in cancerous tissue, improves the accuracy of prognosis. This in turn could guide treatments for patients with the most common form of the disease, non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer. The research exemplifies UCSF’s efforts to advance patient care toward precision medicine, in which an individual's genetic makeup or specific molecular markers of their disease help to drive treatment decisions. University of California at San Francisco jason.bardi@ucsf.edu (Jason Bardi) Thu, 26 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/Health/Tobacco-is-India-s-biggest-cancer-worry/Article1-806490.aspx http://tobacco.org/news/333368.html Tobacco use is fuelling a cancer epidemic in India, making cancers of oral cavity (mouth) and lung the top two cancers in men. More than 10 lakh people develop cancer in India each year. The disease is projected to rise five fold — 2.8 times because of tobacco use and 2.2 due to ageing — by 2025, shows population-based cancer registry data from the Indian Council of Medical Research. Other causes include unhealthy lifestyle and pollution. . . . Lung cancer is the most common in men — 17% new cases and 23% deaths. Smokers are up to 22 times more likely to develop lung cancer than non-smokers. “Tobacco use is the single-largest preventable cause of cancer and discouraging use the most cost-effective intervention,” says Dr GK Rath, chief, Rotary Cancer Institute, AIIMS. “Tobacco kills 10 lakh people a year, more than AIDS, murders, suicides, alcohol and drug abuse put together.” Hindustan Times letters@hindustantimes.com (Sanchita Sharma, Hindustan Times) India Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www.rnw.nl/english/bulletin/lung-cancer-rise-among-dutch-women http://tobacco.org/news/333178.html The number of women suffering from lung cancer is expected to more than double in the coming decade. The Dutch Cancer Society (KWF) expects about 8,500 women will be suffering from the disease in 2020, compared to close to 4,000 in 2007. A spokesperson for the organisation says: "When women smoke just as much as men, they are more likely to get lung cancer. This is probably related to their hormonal system." Radio Netherlands Netherlands Fri, 03 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://greece.greekreporter.com/2012/02/02/lung-cancer-becomes-an-epidemic-in-greece/ http://tobacco.org/news/333141.html In spite of stricter laws banning smoking in public places, including cafes, bars and nightclubs, that have been enforced since 2010, deaths due to lung cancer in Greece show no sign of abating, and actually rose in 2011, scientists reported. The figures showed that there were still 7,000 deaths related to lung cancer every year in Greece, with scientists noting that the disease has become a public health problem of epidemic proportions. The number of incidents treated by cancer clinics in public hospitals has increased over the last year - an increase attributed to both a rise in the number of incidents and the economic crisis that sends people that would have otherwise sought private health care to the public health system. Cases at the 'Sotiria' Hospital cancer clinic have increased by 24-30 percent as a result, while lung cancer remains the top cause of death among both men and women, surpassing breast cancer for the latter. The figures were presented during a press conference to announce the 2nd International Conference on Lung Cancer "From the Laboratory to Clinical Practice" that will be held in Athens on February 3-4. Greek Reporter Greece Thu, 02 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://search.eurekalert.org/e3/cs.html?url=http%3A//www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/l-nlc012412.php&charset=iso-8859-1&qt=tobacco%2C+smoking%2C+cigarettes&col=ev3rel&n=4&la=en http://tobacco.org/news/333129.html In patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC: comprising 80% of all lung cancers), long-term survival outcomes can be poor even for those who have had surgery at an apparently early stage of disease (stages I and II)***. This is mainly because in some of these patients, the disease has spread (metastasised), but the metastases are undetectable. Research on a new lung cancer assay, published Online First by The Lancet, shows it is possible to more accurately predict which patients will be cured by surgery and those who may die within five years of the operation. The study is by Dr Michael J Mann and Professor David M Jablons, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Thoracic Surgery Division, San Francisco, CA, USA, and colleagues. EurekAlert Jason.Bardi@ucsf.edu Thu, 26 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://consumer.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=661114 http://tobacco.org/news/333128.html A new industry-funded study suggests that a molecular test can provide insight into whether patients are at high risk of a relapse after surgical treatment for a form of lung cancer. The test, which is currently available, could help doctors decide whether the patients should undergo chemotherapy to prevent the cancer from returning. There are caveats: The test is expensive, and researchers don't yet know whether patients determined to be at high risk will live longer if they undergo chemotherapy. Still, "this may be one of the very first examples of where we understood enough about the molecular biology of a cancer to truly personalize the treatment of patients and actually improve the cure rate for that cancer," said study co-author Dr. Michael Mann, an associate professor of surgery at the University of California, San Francisco. . . . The research was funded by the firm that developed the molecular test, and several of the study authors serve as consultants to the firm. HealthDay [HealthScout] Thu, 26 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www.hollywoodlife.com/2012/01/31/teen-mom-2-leah-messer-jenelle-evans-smoking/ http://tobacco.org/news/332929.html Teen Mom 2 stars Leah Messer and Jenelle Evans need to quit smoking not just for their own health risks, but also for the damage they may be causing their children. HollywoodLife.com spoke to a group of pediatricians, and they all agree: Secondhand smoke may cause their 2-year-olds Jace, Aliannah and Aleeah to get lung cancer. Dr. Carl Ivey, a retired pediatrician who practiced in Chicago and Indiana for over 20 years, agrees. “As long as they’re smoking, they’re being inadequate parents,” he says. “There is a higher risk of lung cancer and lung disease — it’s a proven fact. To avoid secondhand smoke the parent has to smoke outside of the house and not just in another room. If they stay inside the house, the smoke will travel through the air and can harm the child.” Hollywood Life Tue, 31 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www.aidsbeacon.com/news/2012/01/30/smoking-not-hiv-aids-causes-higher-lung-cancer-risk-in-people-with-hiv/ http://tobacco.org/news/332878.html Results from a recent Swiss study indicate that the higher risk of developing lung cancer in people with HIV compared to the general population arises from heavy smoking, not HIV infection. Based on the results, the study authors recommended implementing strategies to reduce smoking, and therefore lung cancer risk, in HIV-positive adults. The study authors also speculated that links between lung cancer and HIV or immune deficiency in previous studies were caused by overrepresentation of people with advanced HIV infections in lung cancer studies or accidental inclusion of cancers known to be caused by infectious diseases, such as Kaposi’s sarcoma of the lung. According to the study authors, previous research has shown that people with HIV are at about a two- to seven-fold increased risk for lung cancer compared to people without HIV (see related AIDS Beacon news). However, scientists are uncertain whether this higher risk arises from HIV or from lifestyle factors, such as a greater rate of smoking in people with HIV. The AIDS Beacon Switzerland Mon, 30 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lung-cancer-alliance-offers-condolences-to-paterno-family-137862513.html http://tobacco.org/news/332868.html Today, Lung Cancer Alliance (LAC) offers condolences to the family of legendary Penn State University coach Joseph Paterno who died of lung cancer this morning. His death came just a few weeks after being diagnosed with a late stage, untreatable form of the disease. Lung Cancer Alliance President Laurie Fenton-Ambrose said: "So many patients have faced this, so many families have been hurt by this disease which is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States and the world." . . . "And just as sadly this is the only cancer that continues to be blamed on the patient," she said, pointing out that four out of five new cases are people who never smoked or who had already quit smoking, often decades ago. "It is time - it is long overdue - that we take a more compassionate and comprehensive approach to this disease, give people at high risk the benefit of CT screening and give priority attention to improving the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of all types of lung cancer," she said. PR Newswire kay@lungcanceralliance.org Sun, 22 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cncr.26545/abstract http://tobacco.org/news/332610.html CONCLUSIONS: After diagnosis, a substantial minority of patients with lung and colorectal cancers continued smoking. Patients with lung cancer had higher rates of smoking at diagnosis and after diagnosis; whereas patients with colorectal cancer were less likely to quit smoking after diagnosis. Factors that were associated with continued smoking differed between lung and colorectal cancer patients. Future smoking-cessation efforts should examine differences by cancer type, particularly when comparing cancers for which smoking is a well established risk factor versus cancers for which it is not. Cancer epark@partners.org Mon, 23 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/w-mpc011812.php http://tobacco.org/news/332604.html A new analysis has found that a substantial number of lung and colorectal cancer patients continue to smoke after being diagnosed. Published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study provides valuable information on which cancer patients might need help to quit smoking. When a patient receives a cancer diagnosis, the main focus is to treat the disease. But stopping smoking after a cancer diagnosis is also important because continuing to smoke can negatively affect patients' responses to treatments, their subsequent cancer risk, and, potentially, their survival. Elyse R. Park, PhD, MPH, of the Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School in Boston, led a team that looked to see how many patients quit smoking around the time of a cancer diagnosis, and which smokers were most likely to quit. EurekAlert healthnews@wiley.com Mon, 23 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www.acsh.org/factsfears/newsID.3342/news_detail.asp http://tobacco.org/news/332568.html Unfortunately, harm reduction approaches have yet to be widely accepted for those addicted to cigarettes. A new study by the American Cancer Society illustrates the depth of this addiction and the difficulty some smokers face even when a diagnosis of cancer makes it imperative that they quit. One woman, a smoker whose cancerous lung was removed, explained in an MSNBC interview the draw of cigarettes despite the litany of cessation methods she tried. We can't help but think that tobacco harm reduction products could have been a great help to this woman, as well as to many people like her. The new study, published in the journal Cancer, looked at nearly 2,500 lung cancer patients . . . "Wouldn't it be nice," ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan asks, "if these patients had a spectrum of smokeless products, which are both effective and at least 90 percent less harmful than cigarettes, to choose from?" ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross agrees. "It's absurd that we're recognizing the benefits of harm reduction for IV drug addicts, but we won't acknowledge how much it would help people who can't quit smoking even after a cancer diagnosis." American Council on Science and Health Tue, 24 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www.clinicalconnection.com/clinical_trials/condition/cancer.aspx http://tobacco.org/news/332562.html Your search returned 250 studies: OSI-774 in African American Patients With Advanced and Previously Treated Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Conditions: Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung 1 Location available Effects of Selected Vegetable and Herb Mix (SV) on Advanced Non-small Cell Lung Cancer Conditions: Non-small Cell Lung Cancer 1 Location available ClinicalConnection Tue, 24 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT