Christine

http://healthology.healthology.com/emb_ ... gy&sky=hty ******************************************************************************** Webcast Transcript: ANNOUNCER: New therapies are prolonging the lives of patients with lung cancer and improving their quality of life. JACK WEST, MD: There is still a lot of pessimism among patients and even among other doctors about the value of giving treatment to patients with lung cancer. Some are skeptical that we can improve cure rates and some people who we can't cure, there is a perception that it's not worth bothering with treatment. What we have done in the last ten years and especially in the last five years is develop treatments that, in a curative setting, can improve the cure rates and, in the non-curative setting, can improve survival or, if keeping the same survival, can do that with fewer side effects for patients. LUIS RAEZ, MD: The chemotherapy that we use nowadays, the patient can go to work, try to have his life as normal as possible. The chemotherapy is outpatient, so you come to the center, you get your chemotherapy, and hopefully the rest of the week you are not sick. JORGE E. GOMEZ, MD: The most important thing to remember is that we have many drugs for lung cancer. Some of those include the basic drug, which is cisplatin, in combination with other drugs such as Taxotere, paclitaxel, gemcitabine, pemetrexed. There are multiple other drugs that can be used. LUIS RAEZ, MD: The problem with chemotherapy and the mechanism of action is they damage the DNA of the cancer cell, but they also damage your healthy cells. ANNOUNCER: And many of the side effects seen with chemotherapy stem from this collateral damage done to healthy cells. So in addition to traditional chemotherapies, doctors are also treating patients with newer targeted therapies. JORGE E. GOMEZ, MD: We've been trying to target the actual cause of the cancer. The actual metabolic or biological mechanisms that force the cell to become malignant in an effort to reverse that process. HOWARD WEST, MD: There are intelligently designed treatments that we have that are specifically focusing on a particular molecule on a cancer cell that is not shared on many of the cells of the body. And the idea is that a targeted therapy can hit the cancer with fewer side effects for a patient. ANNOUNCER: Tarceva is such a newly approved targeted drug. HOWARD WEST, MD: Erlotinib or Tarceva, which is a pill that was shown to improve survival as second- or third-line treatment after chemotherapy in patients with advanced lung cancer. ANNOUNCER: Tarceva targets the protein her1/egfr, the epidermal growth factor receptor. LUIS RAEZ, MD: This drug looks for the receptor, enters the receptor, and shuts down the growth of the cancer cell. HOWARD WEST, MD: There's a newer targeted therapy called bevacizumab or Avastin that targets the tumor blood supply and that has been added to carboplatin and paclitaxel and is shown to improve survival compared to just the two chemo drugs without the Avastin, the bevacizumab in a trial. ANNOUNCER: Targeted therapies such as tarceva and avastin may have unique side effects and patients should discuss these with their doctor before taking the drugs. Researchers are also studying immunotherapies. JORGE E. GOMEZ, MD: Some of the immunotherapies are vaccines where we inject substances into the body and have the body create antibodies against those molecules that are also present on cancer cells and, in that way, try to kill cancer cells. Other immunotherapies are actually antibodies that are created either artificially or grown in mice that are injected into humans geared towards specific targets on cancer cells, also to either let the cell die or to kill the cell. JACK WEST, MD: You can also potentially train the immune cells of your own body to recognize the tumor cells. That may involve taking out some blood or taking out the white cells of the body that do the infection fighting, training them in a lab setting to recognize and fight against a cancer and then actually injecting back those same cancer cells into the patient so that they can teach the rest of the body how to fight that cancer and that is really being studied in a pretty advanced way right now. ANNOUNCER: With all these new drugs, and the promise of immunotherapies, lung cancer patients are living longer and experiencing fewer treatment side effects. LUIS RAEZ, MD: Hopefully in the next years we will have very exciting times for our patients. Lung cancer hopefully will be from an incurable disease, will be making maybe a chronic disease, like diabetes or hypertension, that you do not get cured, however, you may survive 20 or 30 years. That's our goal. At least, if we cannot cure the lung cancer yet, we can provide you 10 or 20 years of life.

Karen, please accept my sincere condolences on the loss of your father. I will keep you and your family in my prayers. Christine

I still can't believe it. My mother passed away this morning. I have never been so heartbroken. She appeared to be without pain, and for that I am so very grateful. I don't know what else to say, other than I loved my mother. Her life mattered, and I will miss her every day for the rest of mine. Christine

Thanks for the info Randy!

The link is for an article published in 1989. This treatment was not offered in 2000 to treat the tumor in my father's esophagus or my mother's lung tumor. Therefore, I wonder.... is this a viable treatment option, has anyone here utilized it as part of their treatment plan or know anyone who has? Christine

Genzyme’s laboratory test to help identify non-small-cell-lung cancer (NSCLC) patients who may not respond to targeted therapies is now commercially available. Genzyme says its KRAS Mutation Analysis will help identify NSCLC patients who test positive for specific KRAS mutations, which have been associated with resistance to certain drugs, including the tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) Tarceva® (erlotinib) and IRESSA® (gefitinib). "Between 15 and 30 percent of tumors from NSCLC patients have mutations in the KRAS gene and clinical studies show that this information plays an important role in making treatment decisions," says Mara Aspinall, president of Genzyme Genetics. "We believe this test will provide physicians and their patients with critical information to help determine how best to move forward with their treatment." Recent clinical studies have shown that mutations in the KRAS gene are found more frequently in patients who show limited clinical response or who have a shorter time-to-disease progression with TKI treatment. A retrospective study published in a 2005 Journal of Clinical Oncology demonstrated a decrease in time-to-disease progression and in overall survival in KRAS mutation-positive patients when treated with Tarceva plus chemotherapy, versus chemotherapy treatment alone. Conversely, with TKI treatment, NSCLC patients with mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene have shown improved response rates, and longer time-to-disease progression

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6160245.stm It may be possible to save more lives by reversing drug resistance in lung cancer patients, scientists say. Most lung cancer deaths are the result of the tumour adapting to block the effects of chemotherapy drugs. Scientists have now pinpointed the chemistry which one type of the disease - small cell lung cancer - uses to achieve this effect. The Cancer Research UK study, which appeared in the EMBO Journal, raises hopes of sabotaging this process. The researchers have identified a number of key proteins, which they believe might play a key role in the development of resistance, not only of small cell lung cancer, but other forms of cancer too. The majority of small cell lung cancer patients can only be treated with chemotherapy because most are undetected until the disease is at an advanced stage when it is too late for surgery. Tumours with a protein called FGF-2 are known to be less likely to respond to treatment. The latest study proves that this is because the protein plays an active role in the development of drug resistance. Second Target However, the researchers also pinpointed the key role of a second protein, called S6K2. They found higher levels of this protein in drug-resistant cancer samples. They also found that patients who had relapsed after treatment had higher levels of S6K2 in their tumours. Researcher Dr Julian Downward said: "This suggested that chemotherapy initially killed lots of cancer cells, but cells with S6K2 were able to survive and pass on their resistance. "New cancer cells therefore also had increased levels of S6K2 and the tumour became increasingly resistant to treatment." Professor Michael Seckl, who also worked on the study, said drugs were already in development that can block the action of FGF-2. However, he said there was a risk of side effects because the protein also plays important functions in healthy cells. He said: "S6K2 has fewer functions in healthy cells, so if we can develop new drugs that stop it working, it may be a better way to reverse drug resistance." Professor John Toy, Cancer Research UK's medical director, said: "This research increases our understanding of how some lung cancer cells survive chemotherapy. "If this kind of drug resistance could be overcome, it would be a major step forward in the treatment of lung cancer, which has proved so difficult to beat with existing chemotherapy drugs."

Below is the link to the Lung Cancer Journalism Awards website. Click on 2006 Results to find out who received an award in 2006, and to read the winning articles. http://www.lungcancerjournalism.com/

Featured in National Health Magazine LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 1, 2006) The focus of this month's issue of Environmental Health Perspectives is "Signs of the Times: Biomarkers in Perspective," and it includes an article describing the work of a team of University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center researchers to produce a blood test that can detect lung cancer in its early stages. For the past five years, Drs. Edward A. Hirschowitz and Li Zhong have led a team developing the blood test to detect non-small cell lung cancer, which could potentially help detect early stage lung cancer in people with high risk factors for developing the disease, such as age, smoking and genetic history. The team is now working through the final phase of the project – translating what they know into a testing format that can easily and cost-effectively be used in any doctor's office. "Early detection of lung cancer is the key to improving survival," Zhong said. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death for both men and women in the United States and around the world, mainly because lung cancers are found in late stages and the best treatment opportunities already have been missed. In Kentucky, the incidence of lung cancer is 49 percent higher than the national rate. Specifically, non-small cell lung cancer is associated with 80 percent of all diagnosed lung cancers, making the availability of such a test to detect lung cancer in its early stages – when it is more treatable – a very exciting development. The multi-biomarker blood test, which works by identifying the body's own immune response to tumors, would help diagnose lung cancer at the earliest stage in those with high risk factors. Zhong, who also was the lead author of an article about the blood test appearing in the July 2006 issue of the Journal of Thoracic Oncology described how the test is 90 percent accurate in correctly predicting non-small-cell lung cancer in patients years before any CT scan can detect it. Once developed and in use clinically, it could become the first clinical blood test to predict a cancer since the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test was introduced in the 1970s. Both Hirschowitz and Zhong are faculty in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine at UK. Environmental Health Perspectives is a monthly journal of peer-reviewed research and news on the impact of the environment on human health. EHP is published by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

LONDON, November 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Following the success of the 2006 Lung Cancer Journalism Awards, The Global Lung Cancer Coalition (GLCC) is excited to launch the 2007 Lung Cancer Journalism Awards during Lung Cancer Awareness Month, a global initiative to recognise excellence in lung cancer reporting. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death in both men and women. Every year more than 1.2 million new cases of lung and bronchial cancer are diagnosed worldwide. Yet despite the severity and widespread nature of the disease, lung cancer is often forgotten and under-recognised. Through the launch of the 2007 Lung Cancer Journalism Awards, we are still aiming to raise the profile of lung cancer in the media, increase worldwide disease awareness and reward the dissemination of intelligent, thought-provoking reporting. This year, the judges will also be recognising superior clinical review papers that provide a beneficial source for journalists to acquire accurate information on lung cancer. These will be included in a section of the website devoted to the judge's pick of noteworthy research articles. The award categories for the 2007 Lung Cancer Journalism Awards are: - Best Medical Article - Best Consumer Article - Best Broadcast Report The winner of each award category will receive a EUR7000 research grant. Like this year, the winning articles will also be announced via an international press release to provide global recognition for their reporting excellence in lung cancer. Who can enter? The awards are open to all global media and entries are invited on all issues relating to lung cancer. When are the boundary dates? The entry must have been published or broadcast between 1 September 2006 and 1 September 2007. CLOSING DATE: 28 September 2007 Who will be reviewing the entries? All entries will be judged by an independent, international panel comprised of a surviving lung cancer patient, a lung cancer specialist, and representatives from the Global Lung Cancer Coalition, the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer and the European Journal of Oncology. When will the winners be announced? The winners will be announced during Lung Cancer Awareness Month, November 2007. Where can I find out more? For more information including full application details, visit www.lungcancerjournalism.com or e-mail info@lungcancerjournalism.com. The Lung Cancer Journalism Awards are supported by a grant from Roche Contact: Amelia Baio T +44-(0)-207-357-8187

http://www.wate.com/Global/story.asp?S=5733720&nav=E8Yv KNOXVILLE (WATE) -- It's terrifying enough to find out you have lung cancer. Then it may take months to know if chemotherapy is working. But a clinical trial way in Knoxville can speed up the process and save lives. Connie Smith, of Knoxville, is in remission after a battle with advanced lung cancer. She took part in a clinical trial at UT Medical Center designed to find out faster than ever if her chemo was working. "Why go through four months of chemo if the doctor can tell right off if the medicine is not working. He can change it," Connie says. The trial, the only one of its kind in the world, put patients like Connie through a PET (Positron emission tomography) scan once a week for seven weeks, changing her chemo at one point to get better results. The results showed quite a difference from the previous nine to 12 weeks to get that answer. The next step is to get the answer in a mere two weeks. "This way, I can change from one to the other and come up with the right combination, the right drug, within a few weeks," says Dr. Wahid Hanna. Traditional treatment involves checking the patient with a PET scan every four weeks. Any more than that and they're getting too much radiation. But Dr. Hanna says using lower doses means he can do the test more often. And Connie is grateful to be alive and lend a hand to other cancer patients through the clinical trial. "Anything we can do, I feel like to help anybody that's diagnosed with cancer. That's what we need to do." PET scans are most often used to detect cancer and examine the effects of cancer therapy. The scans can be performed on the whole body or on the heart or brain. Patients receive a radioactive substance that helps doctors see images inside the body. This study is going on at UT Medical Center. Dr. Hanna and his staff are even up for some awards in the national medical field due to this research. If you'd like more information about this study, call the UT Cancer Institute at (865)-544-9773.

http://suburbanjournals.stltoday.com/ar ... _1.ii1.txt By Sandi Villarreal Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer death in both men and women. Surgery to remove cancerous tissue can be disfiguring and painful with an extensive recovery period. But that doesn't have to be the case, says Dr. Hon Chi Suen, a new cardiothoracic surgeon at Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital. He's been at the hospital for about three months, and in that time he's performed two video-assisted thoracic surgeries - or VATS lobectomies. VATS lobectomies provide a less aggressive surgery with limited scarring and a much shorter recovery period, Suen said. And it's available right here in St. Charles County. "I think it's important for the public to know that in suitable patients we can do this in a very minimally invasive way," said Suen, who has studied at both Harvard University, Washington University and the University of Hong Kong. About six weeks ago, Gary Keeney's doctor told him he found a spot on his lung. Fortunately, his doctor knew of Suen. Keeney, 59, and his wife made the hour drive from Union to St. Peters. "That week before I came to see him, I didn't sleep," Keeney said. "... and after I talked to him, I went home that night and slept well all the way up to when I had my surgery done. He has that calming effect that you understand everything you're going to go through, and it made a difference." Suen scheduled him for surgery that Monday - Oct. 23. "In no time, I was in and out and done," he said about three weeks later. Suen said the best treatment for lung cancer is to completely remove the tumor, but in typical surgeries, that involves making a foot-long incision and cutting through a considerable amount of muscle. Sometimes even ribs are removed for better access. "When the incision is so big and so many structures are being cut, just the incision itself before you go and remove the lung cancer, the trauma is already severe," Suen said. "The patient will have a lot of pain, and it takes a long time to recover." Because VATS lobectomies involve using video cameras, large incisions aren't necessary. And BJC-St. Peters recently shifted to high definition cameras so doctors can see the area more clearly. "With a video camera, the data transmits digitally and you magnify and can produce it on several screens," Suen said. Surgeons, nurses and others assisting can see what the surgeon is doing throughout the surgery. Suen said for a VATS lobectomy, three to four small incisions are made, and a scope is inserted in one incision. Small instruments are passed through the other incisions. The lung being operated on is deflated to allow working space, and the surgeon separates the lobe affected by the cancer. Suen said the surgeon inserts a plastic bag in the chest, puts the lobe inside the bag and enlarges the incision just enough to pull the bag out. "It's with these kinds of specialized miniature instruments and also technology and knowledge and skill, one can actually do a lung cancer removal just through very small incisions," Suen said. And what about recovery time? "Probably Tuesday morning sometime, they took the epidural out of my back for pain because I didn't really have any," Keeney said. "Then they took the oxygen out because I didn't need it. And I've never really had pain." Keeney spent a total of eight days in the hospital, but by the second day he was already walking the halls. "One day I walked for about three hours with the guard," he said. "... I felt great." Keeney said he plans to return to his job as a machinist at GKN Nov. 27. Video-assisted surgeries have been implemented in many areas, mainly abdominal, over the past 10 years. But Suen said the VATS isn't as prevalent. "It's not completely brand new, but as far as I know, there are very few surgeons in St. Louis who really do this," Suen said. Suen said patients have come from all over Missouri and Illinois to see him for lung cancer surgeries. "We're trying to get people to see that you don't have to cross the river," said Suzanne Shenkman, communications and marketing manager for BJC-St. Peters. "... You can get quality, world-class health care right here in St. Charles County." Patients who are suitable for VATS lobectomies must meet certain criteria. Suen said the cancer can't be very sizable. "If physically, it is very big, then you still need to make an adequate incision to remove it," Suen said. Also, the cancer can't be spreading to other vital structures, such as a major artery or organ. Suen said the reason VATS lobectomies aren't done more often is the skills and risks involved. The pulmonary artery, which runs from the heart to the lungs, is very delicate. "To do this thorocoscopically, you need different type of skills," Suen said. " ... It's about 2.5 liters that go through one lung each minute, so if you make a hole in the pulmonary artery, it's a dangerous thing." Suen has performed 17 VATS lobectomies during his career and two at BJC-St. Peters. "So much of what he brings to our hospital has so much benefit to the average consumer in the types of surgeries he does in terms of quick recovery, less pain," Shenkman said. With the opening of the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center last year, BJC-St. Peters is proving itself as a contender in the St. Louis metro area health-care arena. "If you think about individuals that have cancer and how much more fatigue they have, making that hour-plus roundtrip on a weekly basis either to get radiation or chemo can be very trying," Shenkman said. "Now that we have our cancer center, people can go for their weekly chemotherapy treatments right here in their backyard." Because Keeney's tumor was caught so early and removed thoroughly by Suen, he said he won't need chemotherapy or radiation. "To me it's a miracle," he said.

http://www.SeniorJournal.com/NEWS/Healt ... liance.htm November 22, 2006 – Riding the crest of interest created by the recent study indicating the high value of low-dose CT screening in the early detection of lung cancer, the Lung Cancer Alliance has launched a new Website aimed at educating people on the deadliest cancer and this new hope for early detection. The launch of LCA's site, which targets at risk people, comes less than one month after the landmark study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The study found that yearly low-dose Computed Tomography (CT) screening for people at high risk can detect lung cancer at the earliest stage, dramatically increasing chance of survival. The current five-year survival rate for people diagnosed with lung cancer is only 15 percent. More than 70% of new lung cancers are diagnosed in people whose cancer is at late- stage, when survival is poor. Remarkably, the study showed an estimated 92 percent ten-year survival rate for those whose cancers are detected early and removed immediately. Lung cancer has long been the number one cancer killer of men, but it did not become the number one killer of U.S. women in 1987, primarily the result of increased smoking by women. Lung cancer passed up breast cancer as the top female killer and many point to one reason being the lack of early diagnosis and treatment for lung cancer. Over 72,000 U.S. women are expected to die from lung cancer this year, which will be 30,000 more than die from breast cancer and more than 25 percent of all cancer deaths for women. Surprisingly, however, less than 82,000 new cases of lung cancer are expected this year, while there will be 213,000 new cases of breast cancer, according to the American Cancer Society. Lung cancer will kill about 90,000 U.S. men this year. "We now know that screening those at high risk can detect lung cancer at the earliest stages, when it's most treatable," said Laurie Fenton, President of Lung Cancer Alliance. "This new site provides smokers, former smokers, or anyone at high risk for developing lung cancer with an education about the screening process. It is critical for people to know their risks, and to know that they can now do something to protect themselves from this lethal disease." Screenforlungcancer.org provides information on the importance of screening and the screening process, tools for assessing a person's risk for developing lung cancer, and a directory of leading institutions with the highest screening standards. Visitors can also experience the entire screening process by viewing videos of a person undergoing a CT scan, as well as photographs. LCA is the only national organization solely dedicated to patient support and advocacy for people living with or at risk for lung cancer, which causes more deaths in the United States than any other cancer. As the number one cancer killer, lung cancer will kill more than 160,000 Americans this year alone, causing more deaths than breast, prostate, colon, liver, kidney cancers and melanoma combined. For more information on the services provided by Lung Cancer Alliance, visit http://www.lungcanceralliance.org/. >> New Website - http://www.screenforlungcancer.org/

The link below will direct you to the website which has the article shown; and a video news report. http://www.news8austin.com/content/top_ ... vid=40148& *************************************************************************** Lung cancer strikes 170,000 patients a year in the United States and kills about that same number every year. It kills more people than cancers of the breast, prostate, colon and pancreas combined. Only about a quarter of patients are eligible for surgery to remove tumors. Researchers at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville are enrolling patients in a new study aimed at finding pre-cancerous lesions in the lung and treating them with an investigational drug in an effort to prevent cancer. Those eligible are people who are current or ex-smokers and have smoked one pack of cigarettes a day for more than 20 years, or two packs a day for 10 years. The participants must be adults who have not already been diagnosed with lung cancer but are at risk for the disease. Patients take three pills, two times a day of a drug called Iloprost -- marketed as Ventavis. It's a synthetic compound that basically mimics the activity of a natural compound called PGI-2. Cancer patients have low levels of PGI-2, while they have high levels of PGE-2. Iloprost works by boosting levels of PGI-2. In animal studies, doing so decreased incidence of cancer and also reduced tumor size. These results were first reported by Dr. Bob Keith at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, who is now the principle investigator of the current study. In this new study, researchers hope the cancer will not to develop as fast and eventually prevent cancer from happening. "Although in the last 30 years or so many efforts have been made to decrease the burden of lung cancer in the American population in treating this disease, we’ve not been very successful," Dr. Pierre Massion, a cancer researcher and pulmonologist with Vanderbilt, said. Massion adds that because research has suggested lung cancer takes a long time to develop, there is a long window of time they have to potentially prevent it. That's where Iloprost comes in -- a "chemo-preventive" -- or disease prevention, technique. "People take aspirin to prevent colon cancer from happening. There’s a lot of chemo-preventive strategies just for preventing melanoma from happening in avoiding sunshine. So this is not a new concept. But in lung cancer we really don’t have any tools to provide patients with a strategy along the lines of chemo-prevention," Massion said. The Iloprost study is designed to determine whether at the end of six months of treatment Iloprost will reduce the number of abnormalities found in bronchial biopsies. Researchers won’t know until they have analyzed the 150 patients at six research centers around the country -- half of whom have been taking a placebo, or sugar pill, instead of the drug. Researchers are hoping to indeed find a reduction in the number of precancerous lesions. But knowing that lesions are reduced from it won't tell doctors definitively that the drug will go on to prevent cancer from happening. They will have to wait much longer to determine that, but if the lesions go down, Massion said that will be an important first step. He adds quitting smoking is still the quintessential aspect of preventing lung cancer.

My non-smoking grandmother had five children and still got LC. My mother had three children and still got LC. Does that mean because I don't have any children I'm really scr*wed? These studies are interesting but frankly, don't do anything to alleviate my fears!

Below is a section of an article from Medical News Today (the portion which addresses lung cancer risk). To read the full article please go to http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medical ... wsid=56758 ****************************************************** Women's reproductive behavior (having children or not) may increase their risk of lung cancer later in life, a study at the Harvard School of Public Health has found. Jessica Paulus, a graduate student in epidemiology, and her colleagues studied data from 1,075 women with lung cancer and 867 cancer-free women who took part in a research study from 1992 to 2004 at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. The researchers found that women who had any children (one or more) had nearly 40 percent less risk of lung cancer as compared to women without children. That risk of lung cancer also declined in a linear fashion with increasing numbers of children born. "Patterns of lung cancer incidence suggest that women may be at a greater risk of lung cancer as compared to men," said Paulus. "Given the role of estrogen as a risk factor in other cancers, and the relationship between number of births and estrogen levels in the body, we hypothesized that having children may be associated with lung cancer risk in women." While the researchers found a linear relationship between lung cancer and number of children, having one child did not significantly decrease the cancer risk compared to women who never had given birth. Having two children reduced the risk of cancer by 20 percent, and having three or more children reduced that risk by 40 percent. The protective effect of childbearing was strongest -- but not significant statistically -- in women who had never smoked as compared to current and former smokers. Also, the protective effect of childbearing on lung cancer risk was limited to cases of average age of onset, and was not observed in women diagnosed with lung cancer before age 55 years. "Our study supports the idea of an inverse relationship between having children and the risk of lung cancer among women," Paulus said. "While smoking behavior remains the strongest risk factor for lung cancer in women, our work indicates a need to further examine the role played by reproductive factors in lung cancer."

Source: (University of Louisville, KY) Monday, November 13, 2006 LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Nov. 13, 2006 – Vaccinating mice with embryonic stem cells appears to have prevented lung cancer in the mice, a team of researchers say. The research team led by Dr. John Eaton, deputy director of the Brown Cancer Center, Robert Mitchell, assistant professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Louisville School of Medicine say their findings suggest that it could be possible to develop embryonic stem cell vaccines that prevent cancers in humans at high risk, such as hereditary breast and colon cancer and lung cancer caused by smoking and other environmental factors. They presented their findings today at an international cancer symposium in Prague, Czech Republic, sponsored by the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer, the National Cancer Institute and the American Association for Cancer Research. Eaton, told a news briefing that the team tested the vaccine in two ways: by implanting lung cancer cells after vaccination and by using a model of lung cancer that mimics cancer caused by smoking. "Our results raise the exciting possibility of developing a vaccine capable of preventing the appearance of various types of cancers in humans, especially those with hereditary or environmental predispositions for developing disease," said Eaton. However, he warned that the work was still in its very early stages and that, while the results in mice look promising, it could be some time before this approach is tested in humans. Eaton and Mitchell found that, in the case of implanted lung cancer cells, the vaccine was consistently 80-100 percent effective in preventing tumor outgrowth. All non-vaccinated control animals developed tumors. The researchers tried the experiment again four months after the initial vaccination and again, mice given lung cancer cells did not develop tumors, suggesting that the effect of the vaccination is long lasting. The equivalent period in a human would be more than ten years. In a model of lung cancer development that mimics smoking, mice vaccinated after exposure to carcinogens developed almost no tumors and those few that did appear were much smaller than in non-vaccinated mice. "Our progress over the next few years will depend, to a large extent, on whether we can attract significant funding. Our work is presently supported by a pilot grant from the Brown Cancer Center and a small grant from the Kentucky Lung Cancer Research Program." SOURCE: James Graham Brown Cancer Center, University of Louisville, Kentucky, press release.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/h ... 63,00.html Rocky Mountain News November 21, 2006 Researchers at the University of Colorado Cancer Center are collecting spit to see if saliva holds information that can be used in screening for lung cancer. Dr. Glen Weiss, chief fellow of hematology/medical oncology at the center, received funding from the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer to conduct the pilot study. Samples of saliva will be collected from healthy people who are current or former smokers, and from those who never smoked. The samples will be compared between healthy participants and those with lung cancer to identify alterations in genes that may indicate lung cancer. If differences are found, researchers will work to define consistent genetic markers that could be used for routine saliva screening for lung cancer. Individuals between the ages of 50 and 79 with varied smoking histories are invited to apply to participate in the study. Forty-eight participants will be asked to provide a saliva sample. Call DeLee Peake, clinical research associate, at 303-372-9360 for more information.

For those who may have missed this story on the Today show, please click on the link below to view the video. http://video.msn.com/v/us/msnbc.htm?g=0 ... 0&fg=email Christine

For those who missed the lung scan segment on the Today Show and would like to see it, please click on the link below. http://video.msn.com/v/us/msnbc.htm?g=0 ... 0&fg=email Christine

Dr. Mark G. Kris, one of the nation's leading lung cancer specialists, will give a free public speech Wednesday night (11/1) at the Hyatt Regency in Louisville as part of a Norton Healthcare Foundation and Norton Cancer Care lecture series. Kris is chief of thoracic oncology service and associate chairman of clinical trials in the Department of Medicine at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. He is a noted clinical investigator in the field of chemotherapy. His research focuses on new anti-cancer agents for lung cancer and support in the care of patients. He's also an expert in anti-nausea therapy, working to reduce the gastrointestinal side effects of anti-cancer drugs. Kris played a key role in establishing a new treatment approach for the most common form of lung cancer by using an effective combination of chemotherapy to shrink tumors before surgery or radiation. In advance of his visit, we spoke with him in a telephone interview from his office in New York. Here are excerpts from the conversation: Q: How would you rate public awareness of lung cancer and its deadliness? A: People aren't as knowledgeable as they could be. It's sad. While it is the No. 2 killer of women (heart disease is No. 1), they often don't think about lung cancer. Would you describe how lung cancer ranks as a cancer killer? Lung cancer is the leading cancer killer of both men and women. If you're going to lose a loved one or friend to cancer, lung cancer is the most likely thing. If people think back to friends and family whom they have lost from cancer, lung cancer is always there. But people don't think of it. (Lung cancer takes more lives than breast, colon, ovarian and prostate cancers combined, Kris confirmed.) In your experience do people who are diagnosed with lung cancer receive less empathy and understanding than they deserve because of a notion that "they did it to themselves" by smoking? Clearly there is a feeling of guilt. There have been lung cancer sufferers who have died and in their obituaries they've asked that people put in that they never smoked. It is because there is this societal feeling that this person brought this on himself. People need to understand, and physicians are part of this too. You say, oh, they should have stopped smoking. They should have heard the word. Well, the majority of people who get lung cancer in 2006 don't smoke. They either never smoked or they heard the word to stop smoking and they did. The truth is these people have an illness and they're human beings and all the resources our society has should be brought to bear to help them, and these questions (about smoking) aren't relevant. If you talk to patients with this illness, they are fairly livid about it. Does society kind of blame lung cancer sufferers? Yes. Do they blame themselves? Yes. That's one sort of hurdle we all need to get over. As you pointed out, nonsmokers also get lung cancer. Dana Reeve, a nonsmoker and widow of "Superman" star Christopher Reeve, died of lung cancer earlier this year. What can you tell us about the number of lung cancer deaths among nonsmokers? It's a sizable number -- between 10,000 and 20,000 Americans every year who have never smoked get lung cancer. Gender issue Does lung cancer have a gender bias? People are debating this. Bottom line is it's just as deadly for men and women. It does appear, however, that women with the diagnosis of lung cancer live longer than men. Reasons for that are not known. There is some scientific data that women who contract lung cancer from smoking have smoked for fewer years (than men who get lung cancer) or get it earlier with the same amount of smoking. It's still controversial. Has the incidence of lung cancer among men and women changed since you started practicing medicine? When I started it was four (males) to one (female). If you saw a woman sitting there and you were scheduled to meet a patient for the first time you'd say, "where's the patient?" meaning her husband. Now if I see a man, I say, "Where's the patient?" I think for the last four years at Sloan Kettering we've actually seen more women than men. It's just amazing how it's changing, and it does reflect the increase in cigarette smoking that occurred in women in the '50s and '60s. Another thing that happened with men and women is the proportional decrease in smokers is huge in men. Over 50 percent of men smoked in 1965 and 30-some percent of women. Both groups are now close to 20 percent. The decrease in smoking among men is much greater than in women. Does lung cancer have a racial bias? I don't know about susceptibility to lung cancer, but the course of lung cancer is more virulent in African Americans. People are trying to discover whether that's due to socioeconomic factors, genetic factors or something else. What about early detection of lung cancer? We don't have an established way to find lung cancer early. There is no screening test for lung cancer endorsed by anybody that would do that -- nothing like a mammogram or Pap test. Sadly, most lung cancer is discovered when the patient has symptoms. Trials are under way to see if X-rays or helical CAT scans can find lung cancer earlier. (A major study published in today's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine proves that annual CT screenings can detect lung cancers as early as stage 1, when it is still curable, dramatically increasing survival rates.) Research Do misconceptions about lung cancer affect funding for research? Absolutely. Per death, the number (amount of funding) is very tiny for lung cancer research. We really need money for all health-care research. It's not just lung cancer research. If we could increase funding for health-related research, lung cancer would benefit. It may be a scientist studying a certain gene in a zebra fish leads to a certain breakthrough in the treatment of lung cancer. What are the newest breakthroughs in lung cancer treatment? Using characteristics of the cancer tumor, the molecular characteristics, to choose treatment. You don't want to subject people to any kind of treatment that isn't beneficial to them. There is the testing of mutated genes to find drugs that will counter the effects of the mutated gene so that treatment of the cancer can continue. Patients live longer and have a higher quality of life, but the sad thing is the disease is still deadly and people succumb to it. That's where we need a breakthrough. Prevention What can an individual do to avoid getting lung cancer? It's really all about smoking. If you never are exposed to cigarettes, you cut your risk down tremendously. Also, if you stop smoking, you cut your risk down. Unfortunately, it never goes back to zero. What about staying away from second-hand smoke? Is it important? This is pure opinion, but there is no safe amount of smoking. Therefore, knowing how people vary in their sensitivity to things, there must be some in whom second-hand smoke is enough to trigger lung cancer. It can't be good. Are there any Web sites you would recommend for people who want to increase their health literacy and understanding of lung cancer? I'm part of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, ASCO. We have a site, People Living With Cancer, www. plwc. org, which is geared toward patients with all types of cancer. Cancercare.org is another. It has information about coping, physical needs and survivorship. Both are good resources. I'm on the boards of both. Reporter Linda Stahl can be reached at (502) 582-4666.

PRESS RELEASE 10/21/06 Sandy West (47) drummer for the influential 70s band The Runaways, died today after a long battle with lung cancer. She left an indelible mark on rock music as a founding member of The Runaways, which featured fellow rockers Joan Jett, Lita Ford and Cherie Currie, and as a leading inspiration for a number of notable musicians, both male and female. Many young musicians can trace their inspiration directly to the first time they heard "Cherry Bomb." The Runaways toured the world several times, often headlining with opening acts like Tom Petty and Cheap Trick. Their discography includes over 60 albums, singles, bootlegs and compilations. Their music has been included in dozens of rock and punk collections, has appeared in several feature films including Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway and Detroit Rock City, and has been covered by numerous bands, from The Street Walkin' Cheetahs to Guns 'N' Roses. They were nominated for the Hollywood Rock Walk, and bootlegs of Runaways performances are still highly prized amongst rock and roll collectors around the world. After the band broke up, Ms. West continued to perform as a drummer, guitarist and vocalist with The Sandy West Band. As a solo artist she recorded a highly collectible EP CD and numerous videos, and continued to enjoy the adoration of a dedicated cult following. She will be remembered by more than one generation of fans as a strong part of their musical landscape, but her impact was felt far outside of the music industry as a loyal friend, loving confidante and strong defender of those she loved most. Her strength as a player, passion as a person, and dedication as a friend will be remembered always by friends, fans and fellow musicians alike. Runaways vocalist and life-long friend, Cherie Currie had this to say, “Sandy West was by far, the greatest female drummer in the history of rock and roll. No one could compete or even come close to her, but the most important was her heart. Sandy West loved her fans, her friends and family almost to a fault. She would do absolutely anything for the people she loved. It will never be the same for me again to step on a stage, because Sandy West was the best and I will miss her forever.” Commented Joan Jett: "I started THE RUNAWAYS with Sandy West. We shared the dream of girls playing rock and roll. Sandy was an exuberant and powerful drummer. So underrated, she was the caliber of John Bonham. I am overcome from the loss of my friend. I always told her we changed the world." written by CHRISTY LINDSAY www.TheRunaways.com

Don, I am so very sorry for your loss. May memories of Lucie comfort you and your family during this time of sorrow. Christine

Lori, I am so very sorry. Please accept my condolences. Christine

Hi Andrea, I understand your fears as well, because I live them myself. Thanks to DADSTIMEON I discovered a local hospital that was offering two-for-one CT lung screenings. My brother and I took advantage of this offer. Due to our family history (mother & grandmother) he was allowed to have the test performed even though he wasn't yet 40. If you haven’t done so, mention your family history if/when you try to schedule a screening appointment. It might make a difference. Christine