http://www.lung-cancer-blog.com/ New Article Alert From From Lung cancer blog en-us http://www.lung-cancer-blog.com/images/blogs/lung-cancer-new-article-659020.jpg http://www.lung-cancer-blog.com/ 10072 http://www.lung-cancer-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/10-2008/tobacco-smuggling-is-killing-more-people.html Tobacco smuggling causes around 4,000 premature deaths a yearfour times the number of deaths caused by the use of all smuggled illegal drugs put togetherbut the UK government is not doing enough to tackle the problem, claim experts on bmj.com today. Professor Robert West from the Cancer Research UK Health Behaviour Research Centre and his colleagues argue that more smokers would quit if cigarettes cost more, but at around half the price, smuggled tobacco is keeping the prices down........ http://www.lung-cancer-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/9-2008/pazopanib-shrinks-lung-cancers-before-surgery.html Pazopanib, a new oral angiogenesis inhibitor, has demonstrated interesting activity in difficult to treat non-small-cell lung cancer, US researchers report. In a phase II trial, 30 out of 35 patients treated with preoperative pazopanib for a minimum of two weeks saw their tumor size shrink by up to 85%........ http://www.lung-cancer-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/7-2008/cigarette-menthol-content.html Menthol cigarette brands have been rising in popularity with adolescents, and the highest use has been among younger, newer smokers. Scientists at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) explored tobacco industry manipulation of menthol levels in specific brands and found a deliberate strategy to recruit and addict young smokers by adjusting menthol to create a milder experience for the first time smoker. Menthol masks the harshness and irritation of cigarettes, allowing delivery of an effective dose of nicotine, the addictive chemical in cigarettes. These milder products were then marketed to the youngest potential consumers........ http://www.lung-cancer-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/7-2008/perceived-access-to-cigarettes.html Washington, DC Kids who see cigarettes as easily accessible are more likely to end up as regular smokers, especially if they have friends who smoke, as per a new report reported in the current issue of Annals of Family Medicine The study, funded by the Substance Abuse Policy Research Program (SAPRP) of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, could be valuable to smoking intervention efforts by allowing health professionals to identify and target high-risk children........ http://www.lung-cancer-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/5-2008/genetic-mutation-and-risk-of-lung-cancer.html Carriers of a common genetic disorder previously associated with lung disease may have a 70-percent to 100-percent increased risk of lung cancer, as per a report in the May 26 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. The disorder, alpha1-antitrypsin deficiency (1ATD), is one of the most common genetic conditions affecting the U.S. population and particularly those of European descent, as per background information in the article. Individuals with two copies of the associated genetic mutation often develop emphysema at an early age. However, 1ATD carriersthose with only one copy of the mutated genedo not normally have severe diseases correlation to 1ATD and may not be aware of their status. However, they may be more vulnerable to cancer-causing tobacco smoke than non-carriers........ http://www.lung-cancer-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/4-2008/researchers-id-gene-linked-to-lung-cancer.html Scientists at Johns Hopkins, as part of a large, multi-institutional study, have found one gene variant that is associated with an increased risk of lung cancer. The study would be reported in the April 3 issue of Nature Genetics. The research team collected DNA from 1,154 smokers who have lung cancer and 1,137 smokers without lung cancer. Each DNA sample was analyzed at more than 300,000 points, looking for variationsknown as single nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNPs for shortbetween those with cancer and those without. They then analyzed the top 10 SNPs in an additional 5,075 DNA samples from smokers with and without lung cancer........ http://www.lung-cancer-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/4-2008/new-method-to-test-for-lung-cancer.html Scientists from Boston University School of Medicine have developed a new clinicogenomic model to accurately test for lung cancer. The model combines a specific gene expression for lung cancer as well as clinical risk factors. These findings currently appear on-line in the journal Cancer Prevention Research........ http://www.lung-cancer-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2008/cannabis-based-medicines-may-help-smokers-to-quit.html Smokers trying to quit in the future could do it with the help of cannabis based medicines, as per research from The University of Nottingham. Teams of pharmacologists, studying the cannabis-like compounds which exist naturally in our bodies (endocannabinoids), are exploring the potential for medical therapy. This includes treating conditions as diverse as obesity, diabetes, depression and addiction to substances like nicotine........ http://www.lung-cancer-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2008/lung-cancer-better-att-teaching-hospitals.html Patients cared for by hospitals with residents in training have a 17 percent less chance of dying after lung cancer surgery compared with patients undergoing surgery at non-teaching hospitals, as per results of a Johns Hopkins study reported in the recent issue of the Annals of Thoracic Surgery. Theres a public perception that teaching hospitals can be dangerous places because of training issues, and concerns are frequently voiced by patients and echoed in the press regarding a fear of physicians-in-training practicing on them, says the lead author of the paper, Robert Meguid, M.D., a surgical resident at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. The data from our study help refute these fears........ http://www.lung-cancer-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/2-2008/pet-outperforms-ct-in-malignant-lung-nodules.html Researchers involved in a large, multi-institutional study comparing the accuracy of positron emission tomography (PET) and computed tomography (CT) in the characterization of lung nodules found that PET was far more reliable in detecting whether or not a nodule was malignant. "CT and PET have been widely used to characterize solitary pulmonary nodules (SPNs) as non-cancerous or malignant," said James W. Fletcher, professor of radiology at Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis, Ind. "Almost all previous studies examining the accuracy of CT for characterizing lung nodules, however, were performed more than 15 years ago with outdated technology and methods, and previous PET studies were limited by small sample sizes," he noted........ http://www.lung-cancer-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/1-2008/number-of-russian-women-smokers-has-doubled.html In 1992, seven per cent of women smoked, compared to almost 15 per cent by 2003. In the same period, the number of men who smoke has risen from 57 per cent to 63 per cent. The researchers behind the study, published in the journal Tobacco Control, blame the privatisation of the previously state owned tobacco industry and the behaviour of the transnational tobacco companies (TTCs) for what they describe as a "very worrying increase"........ http://www.lung-cancer-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/1-2008/promote-formation-of-lethal-lung-metastases.html Cancer patients commonly ask what can be done after a primary tumor has already spread, or metastasized, to other organs. In a number of cases, they learn, little can be done. Hence the importance of a discovery by researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) of a type of cell that regulates the transformation of small, dormant lung metastases into large, aggressive metastases - the kind that kill cancer patients........ http://www.lung-cancer-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/1-2008/improving-the-prognosis-of-lung-cancer.html A group of researchers led by Professor Xavier Pars of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Universitat Autnoma de Barcelona, has published a research on AKR1B10, an enzyme that is detected in large quantities only in lung cancers, especially those caused by smoking. This enzyme can appear even when the cancer has still not developed and lesions are premalignant. Thus this molecule would serve as a good marker in the diagnosis and prognosis of the disease. Moreover, its activity could play a relevant role in the development of lung cancer, which makes the research of great interest for potential future therapeutical applications as well........ http://www.lung-cancer-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/1-2008/smoking-rate-among-new-york-city-teens.html Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, and Consumer Affairs Commissioner Jonathan Mintz released new data today from the 2007 New York City Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) showing that cigarette smoking among New York City teens declined by 20 percent between 2005 and 2007. The citys teen smoking rate has dropped by more than half over the past six years, from 17.6 percent in 2001 to 8.5 percent in 2007. The current rate that is about two thirds lower than the latest available national teen smoking rate of 23 percent. The Mayor linked the continuing decline which far exceeds the national decline to the Citys sustained efforts to reduce smoking among adults. Those efforts include a tax increase, the smoke-free workplace law, and TV and subway ads that graphically depict the realities of tobacco-related illnesses........ http://www.lung-cancer-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/12-2007/high-school-activities-lowers-risk-of-smoking.html Scientists from the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania reported today that students who participate in high school sports or individual physical activity are less likely to smoke than their classmates. The new study indicates that the protective effect of participation extends at least three years beyond graduation. The Penn team discovered, however, that girls do not derive the same level of protection from school sports as do boys........