http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lung/lung-cancer-blog.html Lung cancer blog from medicineworld.org adds a personal touch to the stories related to lung cancer. This lung cancer blog brings you stories of hope, stories of survivors and latest news and research related to lung cancer. Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:21:55 GMT en-us http://medicineworld.org/images/blogs/lung-cancer/lung-cancer.jpg http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lung/lung-cancer-blog.html 116 72 http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/11-2009/predictive-value-of-lung-cancer.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/11-2009/predictive-value-of-lung-cancer.html Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:21:55 GMT A rapid decline in metabolic activity on a PET scan after radiation treatment for non-small cell lung cancer is correlated with good local tumor control, as per a research studypresented by scientists at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital at the 51st ASTRO Annual Meeting. In addition, the scientists also observed that the higher the metabolic activity and tumor size on a PET scan before therapy, the more likely a patient is to die from lung cancer........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/10-2009/drug-radiation-eliminates-lung-cancer.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/10-2009/drug-radiation-eliminates-lung-cancer.html Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:21:55 GMT Scientists at UT Southwestern Medical Center have eliminated non-small cell lung (NSCL) cancer in mice by using an investigative drug called BEZ235 in combination with low-dose radiation. In a study appearing in the recent issue of Cancer Research, UT Southwestern scientists observed that if they administered BEZ235 before they damaged the DNA of tumor cells with otherwise nontoxic radiation, the drug blocked the pro-survival actions of a protein called PI3K, which normally springs into action to keep tumor cells alive while they repair DNA damage........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/10-2009/african-american-lung-cancer-patients.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/10-2009/african-american-lung-cancer-patients.html Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:21:55 GMT Clinical research out of University Hospitals Case Medical Center has observed that African Americans with a common form of lung cancer have a lower frequency of drug-sensitizing genetic mutations, which may impact response to new cancer-fighting drugs. Published online in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the study by Rom Leidner, MD, and his colleagues report that ethnicity plays a significant role in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) genetics and more personalized therapys appears to be beneficial to cancer patients........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/9-2009/link-between-protein-and-lung-disease.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/9-2009/link-between-protein-and-lung-disease.html Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:21:55 GMT In a development that could lead to a novel approach to the therapy of a devastating lung disease, biochemists at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston report they are the first to link the osteopontin (OPN) protein to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Findings appear online and will be in the January 2010 print issue of The FASEB Journal, the journal of The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/6-2009/big-tobacco-dead-by-2047.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/6-2009/big-tobacco-dead-by-2047.html Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:21:55 GMT President Barack Obama's signature on a bill this week to grant the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory authority over tobacco was historic, and represents a step in the march to eliminate tobacco use in this country by 2047, two national tobacco experts said today (June 25). The pair published "Stealing a March in the 21st Century: Accelerating Progress in the 100-Year War Against Tobacco Addiction in the United States" in the recent issue of the American Journal of Public Health Michael Fiore and Timothy Baker, director and associate director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention (UW-CTRI), respectively, chart milestones in beating tobacco addiction and map a battle plan to eradicate tobacco use in the next few decades. The scientists analyzed data from the 1960s, when the first systemic tracking of smoking rates began, until the present........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/6-2009/brain-irradiation-in-lung-cancer.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/6-2009/brain-irradiation-in-lung-cancer.html Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:21:55 GMT A national Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) study led by a Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Center doctor at Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee has observed that a course of radiation treatment to the brain after therapy for locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer reduced the risk of metastases to the brain within the first year after therapy. The study was presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting in Orlando, June 1........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/6-2009/advanced-non-small-cell-lung-cancer.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/6-2009/advanced-non-small-cell-lung-cancer.html Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:21:55 GMT A new, international study observed that the combination of two drugs delays disease progression for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Results from the Phase III "ATLAS" trial were presented today by Dr. Vincent Miller of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/5-2009/breakthrough-drug-in-lung-cancer.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/5-2009/breakthrough-drug-in-lung-cancer.html Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:21:55 GMT Interim Phase II data from the LUX-Lung 2 study suggest BIBW 2992 has anti-tumor activity in advanced, second-line, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients who have epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations. "Lung cancer kills more people than any other cancer.3 The LUX-Lung 1 and 2 studies represent an opportunity to investigate BIBW 2992 across a range of different patient populations," said Dr. Manfred Haehl, corporate senior vice president, Medicine, Boehringer Ingelheim. "The preliminary data from the LUX-Lung 2 study suggests that BIBW 2992 may have activity in the second-line setting among NSCLC patients with EGFR mutations, which is encouraging news"........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/5-2009/personalized-treatment-for-early-lung-cancer.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/5-2009/personalized-treatment-for-early-lung-cancer.html Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:21:55 GMT Cancer vaccines and targeted therapies are beginning to offer new therapy options following surgery for patients with early stages of lung cancer, experts said at the first European Multidisciplinary Conference in Thoracic Oncology (EMCTO) in Lugano, Switzerland (1-3 May 2009). "Personalizing treatment is the key strategy for longer and better survival in lung cancer," said Prof Paris Kosmidis, head of the second Medical Oncology Department at Hygeia Hospital in Athens, Greece. "This is especially important for early stage disease when following surgery, decisions about preventive treatment are based on specific prognostic and predictive factors."....... ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/4-2009/improving-treatment-of-lung-cancer.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/4-2009/improving-treatment-of-lung-cancer.html Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:21:55 GMT Prevention, personalized therapies and closer collaborations between surgeons, medical oncologists and radiation oncologists will result in better outcomes for patients with lung cancer and those at risk, a leading European expert says. "Lung cancer is a complex disease. It is one of the most complex cancers, and the more we learn about the biology of the disease, the more we realize that improved cancer care will result from multidisciplinary therapy," said Prof Robert Pirker, from the Medical University of Vienna, Austria........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/3-2009/lung-cancer-molecular-scissors-in-action.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/3-2009/lung-cancer-molecular-scissors-in-action.html Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:21:55 GMT In the past few years, many anti-cancer drugs have been developed which are directed selectively against specific key molecules of tumor cells. Among these is an antibody called cetuximab, which attaches to a protein molecule that is found in large amounts on the surface of a number of types of cancer cells. When this surface molecule, called epidermal growth factor receptor, or EGF-R for short, is blocked by cetuximab, the cancer cell receives less signals stimulating cell division........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/2-2009/smoking-and-socioeconomic-inequities-in-lung-cancer.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/2-2009/smoking-and-socioeconomic-inequities-in-lung-cancer.html Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:21:55 GMT Europeans with the least education have a higher occurence rate of lung cancer compared with those with the highest education. However, smoking history accounts for approximately half of this risk, as per a research studyin the February 24 online issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/1-2009/better-methods-to-quit-smoking.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/1-2009/better-methods-to-quit-smoking.html Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:21:55 GMT Scientists from the UK Centre for Tobacco Control Studies led by Dr Linda Bauld at Bath, along with colleagues from the University of Glasgow, have published research in the recent issue of Addiction journal comparing the success and cost-effectiveness of two types of stop smoking support services offered by the NHS. These are community-based group stop smoking support and one-to-one support provided in a pharmacy setting........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/1-2009/who-with-lung-cancer-live-longer.html http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/1-2009/who-with-lung-cancer-live-longer.html Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:21:55 GMT Disparities in survival among black patients diagnosed with early-stage lung cancer are not seen when patients are recommended appropriate therapy, as per a report in the recent issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Lung cancer causes more deaths in the United States than any other cancer, as per background information in the article. Pulmonary resectionor surgery to remove a portion of the lungprovides the best chance for patients with early-stage disease to be cured. "Black patients with early-stage lung cancer have lower five-year survival rates than white patients, and this difference in outcome has been attributed to lower rates of resection among black patients," the authors write. "Several potential factors underlying racial differences in the receipt of surgical treatment include differences in pulmonary function, access to care, refusal of surgery, beliefs about tumor spread on air exposure at the time of operation and the possibility of cure without surgery, distrust of the health care system and physicians, suboptimal patterns of patient and doctor communication and health care system and provider biases." Of these, access to care is often considered the most important of factors underlying racial disparities........ ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/1-2009/cut-down-on-smoking-using-nicotine-gum.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/1-2009/cut-down-on-smoking-using-nicotine-gum.html Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:21:55 GMT Nicotine gum has been in use for over 20 years to help smokers quit abruptly yet close to two-thirds of smokers report that they would prefer to quit gradually. Scientists from the University of Pittsburgh and GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare have now observed that smokers who are trying to quit gradually can also be helped by nicotine gum. The results of the first study to test the efficacy and safety of using nicotine gum to assist cessation by gradual reduction are reported in the February 2009 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine....... ]]> http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/1-2009/new-tumor-suppressor-genes-for-lung-cancer.html http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/1-2009/new-tumor-suppressor-genes-for-lung-cancer.html Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:21:55 GMT Cancer and cell biology experts at the University of Cincinnati (UC) have identified a new tumor suppressor that may help researchers develop more targeted drug therapies to combat lung cancer. The study, led by Jorge Moscat, PhD, appears in the January 2009 issue of Molecular and Cellular Biology. Proto-oncogenes are genes that play a role in normal cell growth (turnover of cells and tissue) but, when genetically modified, can cause the out-of-control cell division that leads to cancer. Prior research had established that Ras, a proto-oncogene, is abnormally expressed in up to 25 percent of human lung cancers; however, scientists did not understand the specific cellular events by which abnormal Ras expression leads to transformation........ ]]>