Cary

Rick, Sounds great, Katie told me to post this in the general forum, but I think you will do a much better job. If you can, make sure to provide a direct link to the message board in the email you are making. If one of the shows actually came to check out the message board and showed up at the main page they might miss the tiny message board icon. Maybe the message board icon can be made larger. Cary

Dave, I wasn't going to erase the thread, just my crazy links. Cary

OK I will

If we plan on doing a mass emailing we might need to post it in the general forum, this thread has only had 79 views so far and it is probably mostly from the 5 of us. maybe we can make up a sample email that people will be able to cut and paste, If we make it easier more people will email. Cary

email-dateline dateline@nbc.com email-link 20/20(you must go to this page to email) http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/2020 ... _form.html 48 hours E-MAIL: 48hours@cbsnews.com 60 minutes ADDRESS: 60 Minutes 524 West 57th St. New York, NY 10019 PHONE: (212) 975-3247

In my opinion the only thing that will get more money for lung cancer is if more of the life long non-smoking LC patients start to advocate. This is what scares people into helping, the thought they may develop the disease. I remember as a little kid "AIDS" always being associated with homosexuals and they had no funding. They have now managed to to disassociate AIDS with that lifestyle and make it "just another disease" that anyone can get. If AIDS can become mainstream there is no reason that Lung Cancer can't. We just need better media savvy and tactics. Cary

Hi, Actually your doctors can put you on Tami-flu antiviral preventively. I have looked into it for my dad. From what are doctor told us it should be taken for 7-10 days after a family member develops symptoms. http://www.muschealth.com/archive/00arc ... rchive.htm

I don't know of anyone personally on this type of diet, but at one point someone sent me an email on the subject. I have included it below. Cary http://www.life-enthusiast.com/company/books.htm "It is both simple, and complex: acidifying activities include stress-response, staying up late, smoking cigarettes, drinking coffee, eating certain foods, mostly meats. I have compiled a list of books, some of which directly address the issue. http://www.life-enthusiast.com/company/books.htm There is a fairly well known system of alkalizing that is just too simple and inexpensive. It was known as "natural hygiene" in the Henry Ford days. he was practising it, together with Thomas Edison, and others. It is not about specific foods, it is about how you combine them. You can eat anything, just not at the same time as some other things. The bottom line is that disting proteins requires acid environment, and digesting carbohydrates requires alkaline environment. If you mix the two, it is like mixing vinegar with baking soda - you get heat and lots of bubbles. So to answer it simply - it is a lifestyle issue, and it is not difficult to achieve."

It should be bigger news, but doctors don't usually like to stray from the norm. The only place we could find that offered timed chemo(chronotherapy) was the Block medical center in Illinois. Cary http://www.blockmd.com/unique/Chronotherapy.html http://www.blockmd.com/

Study Shows Timing is Key to Killing Lung Cancer Cells A Strong Memorial Hospital doctor who specializes in treating lung cancer discovered a new way of combining radiation and chemotherapy to kill tumor cells when they are most vulnerable. Her observations began in the laboratory, but quickly moved to clinical trials involving patients with advanced lung cancer. Of the 33 patients who completed the new regimen, 98 percent saw their large chest tumors shrink or disappear a result that is capturing the attention of oncologists nationwide. "I am very excited about this study because it truly illustrates how research can improve patient care," says Yuhchyau Chen, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of Radiation Oncology, at the James P. Wilmot Cancer Center of the University of Rochester. "And, because we were able to use lower doses of chemotherapy in a more strategic way to enhance the radiation effects, many patients felt good enough to go about their normal activities during treatment." Chen's study is published in the March 7, 2003 issue of Clinical Cancer Research. She also was invited to present her findings to a group of top oncologists at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas. Lung cancer remains the No. 1 killer of all types of cancer in men and women. The biology of lung cancer is lethal, and unfortunately by the time it is discovered the tumors are often quite large (grapefruit-sized or larger) or have begun to spread outside of the chest, Chen says. Historically, radiation was the best treatment for most inoperable lung cancer. But in the last decade, new standards arose using combinations of radiation and chemotherapy, given in different sequences at different doses. The drawback to combination therapy, however, is that many patients cannot withstand the toxicity. They develop low blood counts, pneumonia, infections, or other life-threatening side effects. In addition, no one has discovered the optimum dose schedule for all situations. Today, only 15 to 25 percent of patients with locally advanced lung cancer survive three to five years after diagnosis and aggressive chemo-radiation treatment. Chen's research focused on timing the treatments precisely to target cancer cells. She started with a laboratory analysis of lung cancer cells and the cycles they go through every 24 and 48 hours. Using that evidence, Chen designed a treatment regimen based on the precise hours, within the 48-hour period, that lung cancer cells would most likely die when hit with radiation. By pinpointing the timing, Chen was able to repeat low doses of paclitaxel, a widely prescribed chemotherapy drug with many toxic side effects, to work in tandem with radiation. Patients enrolled in Chen's clinical study received low doses of chemotherapy on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays before 11 a.m., followed by radiation five hours later, when the cells had progressed to the critical point in their life cycle. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, the patients also received radiation, timed again to the correct cell phase. "The degree of primary chest tumor shrinkage was impressive," Chen says. "This demonstrates that this drug may enhance the tumor's response to radiation if the timing of the chemotherapy and radiation is right." The survival rates in Chen's clinical trial were equal to or better than the survival rates reported in several of large, randomized clinical trials of patients with advanced lung cancer treated with a combination of chemotherapy/radiation, the study reports. In addition, Chen's study showed better primary tumor control than other studies, and her patients experienced fewer harmful side effects. The National Institutes of Health and Bristol-Myers Squibb, maker of paclitaxel, funded the research. Chen was supported by Kishan Pandya, M.D., professor, Hematology/Oncology at the Wilmot Cancer Center. She is continuing her research to find a combination therapy that will prevent the cancer from spreading outside of the chest. In addition, she is exploring whether other drugs might work with radiation in patients with heart disease, kidney problems, or other health conditions that render them too ill for aggressive chemo-radiation treatments. For more Media Inquiries, contact: Leslie Orr (585) 275-5774 leslie_orr@urmc.rochester.edu For Patient Information, contact: Nancy Scott (585) 275-5623 NancyA_ Scott@urmc.rochester.edu

Air Pollution May Up Lung Cancer Risk Long-Term Exposure and Serious Pollutants Lead to a Small Risk Increase By Jeanie Lerche Davis WebMD Medical News Dec. 3, 2003 -- City air can kill you: A new study shows decades of breathing air pollution may increase the risk of lung cancer. It's more evidence that carcinogens in urban air are toxic to our long-term health, writes researcher Per Nafstad, PhD, with the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. His paper appears in this month's issue of the journal Thorax. Nafstad and colleagues tracked more than 16,000 men living in Oslo, Norway. All were in their 40s when the study began in the early 1970s. Lung cancer has a long latency period before it is actually diagnosed, Nafstad explains. Researchers factored in the average levels of air pollution that each man would have been exposed to every year between 1974 and 1995. That included reports on sulfur dioxide from heating and nitrogen oxide from traffic. They also looked at national data on reported cancer-related deaths during that time period, from 1974 to 1998. The findings: 18% of the men had been registered in the Norwegian cancer register as having developed cancer; 418 (2.6%) men had developed lung cancer. Even after age, smoking habits, and occupation were factored in, the men's exposure to high levels of nitrogen oxide from air pollution was a contributing factor to their lung cancer, reports Nafstad. A similar association was not seen between lung cancer and sulfur dioxide levels. Exposure to either nitrous oxide or sulfur dioxide alone would not cause lung cancer, Nafstad explains. However, high levels of these compounds likely indicate a cocktail of unknown particles and carcinogens that could indeed cause the lung cancer. Finally, he ends his study by saying that although urban air pollution may increase the risks of developing lung cancer, when compared with smoking, this association was weak but expected

This seem quite interesting for anyone with BAC. The Iressa seems to be given at double the standard dose. The article is also interesting for anyone with NSCLC http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/2387ae.htm A promising new study (2) investigated the role of gefitinib(Iressa) 500mg per day as monotherapy in treating patients with BAC. The response rate of BAC to conventional chemotherapy is generally considered to be low and the increasing incidence of BAC highlights the need for alternative, effective treatment options. The preliminary results of the study revealed patients achieved both complete and partial responses and that gefitinib was generally well tolerated. Data from patients who received gefitinib as monotherapy on a compassionate use basis, also revealed positive antitumour activity and clinical benefits of gefitinib:

Even though I don't smoke this might be kind of extreme, they're adults. I don't consider health care workers role models, in addition are they going to be banned from eating unhealthy foods in the cafeteria since patients use the same facilities. There should be no smoking for anyone entering the property including patients. "It's counterintuitive to be a health-care professional and to understand all the objective facts about the dangers of smoking but still smoke," he said" Children's Hospital Bans Smoking by Staff Fri Dec 5, 4:32 AM COLUMBUS, Ohio - Employees going outside into the open air to smoke soon won't be good enough for Children's Hospital management. Starting May 1, Children's Hospital staff members won't be allowed to smoke on the premises. If employees still want to smoke, they'll have to walk a couple of blocks until they're off the sprawling hospital grounds. Three outdoor smoking huts will remain but only visitors will be allowed to use them. Patients should not have to contend with the lingering scent of cigarette smoke on staff members returning from breaks, said Keith Goodwin, the hospital's president and chief executive officer. "It's counterintuitive to be a health-care professional and to understand all the objective facts about the dangers of smoking but still smoke," he said. Hospital security guards will enforce the ban. Tracy Sabetta, director of Tobacco-Free Ohio, a nonprofit group aimed at eliminating secondhand smoke in public places, lauded Children's Hospital for the move. "At a facility that works to protect the health of children, setting an example (of not smoking) is something that's been a long time in coming," she said. Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

I think there have been others here that have used aloe vera, I know my father used it for his radiation he received to his Mediastinum. It's a antioxidant though, so I would check with your rad onc first, just to make sure it is safe to use. Cary Aloe vera as a powerful antioxidant Antioxidants are essential for a healthy metabolism and to protect against free radicals. These form when a molecule loses an electron as a result of the normal metabolism which occurs as food and oxygen are turned into energy. Large numbers of these highly-charged molecular fragments can weaken the immune system which fights infection and resists degenerative changes. Triggers include growing older, viral infections, high intakes of animal fat and or alcohol, stress, smoking, pollution and other toxins. Effects include ageing, wrinkled skin and an increased risk of arthritis, cancer and infections. Aloe vera contains powerful naturally occurring antioxidants in the form of vitamins B complex, C and E, plus beta-carotene which is converted by the body into vitamin A. Dietary nutrients in Aloe vera also include potassium, calcium, magnesium, zinc, manganese, chromium and sodium and all are essential for maintaining a healthy metabolism. ALOE VERA SCREENS OUT RADIATION Aloe Vera gel protects against skin damage from X rays, according to researchers at Hoshi University in Japan publishing in the journal Yakugaku Zasshi. They found that aloe was an extremely effective antioxidant, mopping up the free radicals caused by radiation, and that it protected two of the body's healing substances, superoxide dismutase (an antioxidant enzyme) and glutathione (an amino acid which stimulates the immune system)

Law & Order detective fights off-screen for another kind of special victim S. Epatha Merkerson’s Lt. Van Buren solves crime onscreen. Off-camera, the actor fights to increase lung cancer education and smoking awareness. By Tammy Dotts Staff Writer December 2003 After watching her sister beat lung cancer and losing two good friends to the disease, actress S. Epatha Merkerson decided she needed to share what she had learned. “Lung cancer became very close to me for a number of reasons,” said Merkerson, who plays Lt. Anita Van Buren on NBC’s Law & Order. “And when you learn something, you don’t keep it, you pass it on. “Look what happened to two beautiful women who should still be vibrant and living. Look what happened to my sister who is still here and getting strong,” she said. A former smoker herself, Merkerson was eager to take on a new role as an advocate and spokesperson. “It’s a good bandwagon to be on,” she told Hem/Onc Today from her dressing room on the set. “I really do this in honor of my friends who did not make it but also in honor of my sister who is still with me.” “If you don’t share knowledge, then you’re just one really smart person doing nothing.” — S. Epatha Merkerson Speaking out That her sister beat lung cancer was a factor in Merkerson’s decision to improve awareness of the disease. “Most people don’t survive lung cancer because they find out too late that they have the disease,” she said. “My sister was lucky, and people need to know that lung cancer [if discovered early enough] does not have to be a death sentence.” As part of Lung Cancer Awareness Week, which ran Nov. 18-22, Merkerson encouraged people to learn the signs of lung cancer and follow up with their doctors when something seems off. Merkerson said her sister felt something was wrong and went to the doctor early enough that the disease could be treated. “Four years after surgery, she’s walking around. She’s got half a lung, but she’s breathing, and she’s gaining weight, and she’s got her color back,” she said. She said family members and friends of patients with lung cancer have an important job. When her sister was diagnosed, Merkerson said the two of them would spend hours looking at paperwork and at information online to learn about the disease and what to expect from treatment. “Knowledge is power,” she said. “That’s a true thing. It’s old, and it’s tried, and it’s true. As long as you’re knowledgeable, you can aid your sibling or parent or friend in finding information that they need for health care.” ‘Don’t sit stupid’ Passing on knowledge is second-nature to Merkerson. The youngest of five children, Merkerson grew up during the civil rights movement. Her mother stressed the importance of education. “She knew the importance of what it would do for us in the future to be educated people in the world,” Merkerson said. “My mother taught me that knowledge does no good if you’re not sharing it with other people. “She used to always say ‘don’t sit stupid in your house.’ If you don’t share knowledge, then you’re just one really smart person doing nothing. But if you’re sharing it, then it becomes the next person’s responsibility to pass it on. Get out, get the information, and pass it along. Bring somebody with you,” she said. She encouraged people to get out in their communities. “Getting involved with the Lung Cancer Awareness Week campaign is a wonderful way to do community service,” she said. “You can help get information about the disease out in front of someone’s face. If you can see the information, it just makes it very different, and it allows you to function in a very different and informed way.” Role model Merkerson said one good thing about celebrity that requires very little effort is that it allows her to speak out on issues of importance and people will listen. She said she didn’t set out to be a role model and doesn’t always consider herself as one, adding, however, that “there are worse things to be.” She saw lung cancer as something in which she could be involved in two ways, as a former smoker and as a black woman. “Black women have a high risk of lung cancer,” she said. “The statistics are higher among black women. “Some little young black girl may watch a movie and see someone smoking and think it’s cool,” she said. “But if two days ago she read an article that said the woman from Law & Order said this, she has a choice and information to make that choice.” Merkerson made a choice to never smoke on camera, although the Tony-nominated actress has smoked on stage. “Before I quit smoking, I had done quite a few things on television and a couple on film. For some reason, I never wanted to see myself smoking,” she said. “I always knew I was going to quit. I didn’t want to turn on the TV, channel surf and hit my picture with a cigarette hanging out of my mouth.” Dealing with addiction Merkerson smoked for 23 years. This February, she will have 10 years as a non-smoker. “I’ve turned into that person I used to hate. And good for me,” she said. “A lot of people, especially smokers, they hate ex-smokers that talk to them. I remember.” Lung cancer is set apart from other cancers because it’s easy for people to say it could be prevented if only the patient had stopped smoking. “You know what,” Merkerson said, “let me see you drop an addiction. Let me see you quit it overnight.” Merkerson eventually quit cold turkey, but only after 10 years of hypnosis, group therapy and trying everything from the ridiculous to the sublime, she said. “I’ve spent money on computers that would beep when I could have a cigarette, and they never beeped quick enough,” she laughed. Cigarette smoking is an addiction. “We need to learn to look at it that way and accept it as an illness in our families,” she said. Although not all cases of lung cancer are smoking related, those that are can be prevented, but people have to know how, she said. Lung Cancer Awareness Week and www.lungcancer.org, both sponsored by the “It’s Time to Focus on Lung Cancer” campaign, provide good information about disease prevention and provide support for patients and their loved ones and those at risk. Getting support “It’s important to have people support you,” Merkerson said. When she started on Law & Order in 1993, she was still a smoker. Fellow cast member Jerry Orbach was a former smoker and helped Merkerson overcome her addiction. “I’d look at him and tell him I wanted a cigarette,” Merkerson recalled. “He would always say ‘You’re doing good, kid’ and get me a glass of water instead of a cigarette. He’d make an announcement on the set ‘Epatha’s doing great.’ “He was always there for me,” she said. Merkerson quit smoking in February 1994 and passed on the support to her sister. “With my sister, I just stuck my foot in. A year after her surgery, she was still smoking,” she said. When her sister came to visit, Merkerson staged an intervention. No smoking in the house or yard. She took some of her sister’s clothes and kept them in a cedar closet during the visit. “When she left, she could smell herself because the clothes that came out of the cedar closet had been cleansed of that nicotine smell,” Merkerson said. “I think that was another reason she managed to quit smoking — she’s so vain. She didn’t realize she was walking around funky.” For more information: Find information about Lung Cancer Awareness Week at www.lungcancer.org

Sunday, November 23, 2003 A Thanksgiving he didn't expect Bloomington man with lung cancer 'one in a thousand' from IU clinical trial By Laura Lane Hoosier Times Sunday, November 23, 2003 Lindsay Towell injects angiostatin into her husband's arm. Dave Towell receives two shots twice a day of the cancer drug, which doctors say has almost completely eliminated the tumors in his lung and are amazed at his success with the experimental treatment. Staff photo by David Snodgress The arthritis is his right knee has slowed Dave Towell down more than the Stage IV lung cancer that most everyone expected to take his life. "Last year about this time, I thought we might well have been coming up on our last holidays together," said his wife, Lindsay Towell. Despite being a non-smoker and longtime distance runner, Towell found himself on the receiving end of a grim diagnosis in September 2002. Just a year before, a chest X-ray prompted by a nagging cough that lingered for months showed nothing. Towell, then a just-retired Indiana University geology professor, figured all the time he was spending outside that fall had triggered old allergies. At the end of 2001, he went to a pulmonologist who thought he spotted something on the chest X-ray: suspicious dots on the lower left lobe of Towell's left lung. "I remember him saying, 'The radiologist will think I'm crazy, but I'm ordering a CT scan and a bronchoscopy. I certainly don't think it's cancer.' The test showed everything was OK," Towell said. "They said we would monitor it." In July 2002, a CT scan showed that the dots on his left lung were bigger. A more thorough CT scan and a needle biopsy weeks later brought bad news: Towell had non-small cell adenocarcinoma, a slow- growing cancer that is the most common form of lung cancer among non- smokers. It was the beginning of September 2002. Instead of heading out in their new recreation vehicle, the Towells went looking for a surgeon. Exploratory surgery showed that the cancer had spread to the pleura, the lung's thin lining. It was the worst of news. The cancer was essentially inoperable. "It was beyond surgery, beyond radiation, beyond a whole lot of hope," Lindsay Towell said. She and her husband decided to fight the disease aggressively. They had planned well for their retirement and had dreams to travel the country. Cancer was not going to stop them. Towell's daughter-in-law hit the Internet. Cheri Towell, a nurse, knew the value of researching the latest clinical drug trials focused on advanced lung cancer. She called medical centers around the country — Boston, Houston, Nashville — to find out more. "People were wonderful everywhere," Lindsay Towell said. "They would talk with Cheri for 45 minutes to an hour. They gave us a lot of hope. Dave was feeling fine, we had this nice new RV and we decided we would travel anywhere for the best treatment." In the end, the best clinical trial for advanced lung cancer was an hour away, at the Indiana University Medical Center in Indianapolis, where Dr. Nasser Hanna was conducting research on the use of angiostatin, a protein that cuts off blood flow to tumors. The clinical study, kicked off in July 2002, involved combining daily doses of angiostatin with standard chemotherapy. "The doctors made it clear all along it was our decision as to what to do," Lindsay Towell said. "There was no need to sit around and say 'it's over.' He had Stage IV lung cancer. What did we have to lose? In clinical trials, you are helping learn about a treatment. You are a step toward the cure." The biopharmaceutical firm EntreMed provides the angiostatin, which is stored frozen until it is injected into the patient. It has not yet received approval for use beyond medical trials such as the one Towell is participating in. All along, Towell never felt sick. He endured four rounds of chemotherapy well, so Hanna approved two additional chemotherapy treatments. Through it all, he received two injections of angiostatin every morning and two at night. After the first two rounds of chemotherapy/angiostatin treatment, Towell had another CT scan. There had been substantial reduction in the size of the tumors in his lung. "Some were clearly gone, some had shrunken, so we continued on," Towell said. In December of last year, after four chemo rounds, there was more significant reduction. Towell said that when Hanna suggested two additional chemotherapy treatments, "we didn't hesitate." He and his wife use the word "we" a lot when talking about Towell's cancer. "Hey, if he's got it, I've got it," Lindsay Towell said. "We're in this together." Admittedly squeamish when it comes to needles, she has become expert at giving the upper arm shots. "I'm pushing 2,000 injections," Dave Towell said, rolling up the sleeve on his striped shirt this past Thursday so Lindsay could give him his morning shots — one in each arm. He receives 60 milligrams of angiostatin every day via tiny 30-gauge needles stuck about a half inch into his upper arm, abdomen or thigh. He said dry scratchy skin at the injection sites in the only side effect he has experienced. Because the drug must be stored frozen at 80 degrees below zero, Towell can only get a small amount at a time. So every Tuesday and every Friday, he drives to the IU Medical Center pharmacy in Indianapolis to pick up a supply that will last three or four days. Before giving her husband his morning injections Thursday, Lindsay Towell held the syringes in her closed fists to defrost the clear, life-saving liquid inside. "This is the quick-thaw method," she said. The chemotherapy was over in January. A February CT scan showed what Lindsay Towell called "phenomenal" results. "That word was used by Dr. Hanna, a conservative doctor who never promised us anything," she said. "The cancer is 95 percent reduced." Looking at her husband's lung scans, neither could detect any difference between the right and left lobes. Towell goes in for CT scans every two months, the last one on Halloween. They have been clear so far. If the cancer returns, Towell will be taken out of the clinical trial, but would be eligible for other treatment options. "The sad part is, once the cancer comes back, you are our of the trial," Towell said. "But since I've been in one clinical trial, I'm likely to be accepted in others." Towell's survival and success make him "one in a thousand," he said. Overall, 28 percent of cancer deaths are from lung cancer. More people die from lung cancer than from colon, breast and prostate cancers combined, Hanna said. A big scare came this summer after a routine eye exam at the IU Optometry School. A retinal specialist saw what appeared to be a tumor behind one of Towell's eyes. But a brain MRI showed no tumors, and another specialist determined that there might have been a tumor there, but that it had been destroyed by the chemo and angiostatin treatment. "That was the scariest thing of all, when they found that behind his eye," Lindsay Towell said. "It was a whole new avenue we didn't want to go down." Towell had to stop taking angiostatin for a week or so while the issue was resolved. A hospital internal review panel convened to discuss how to proceed, and agreed Towell would continue in the angiostatin drug trial. The Towells put their faith in the angiostatin, but realize that it's not a cure. It's possible, even likely, that the cancer will return. Until them, they continue traveling. But it presents obstacles, since the drug can only be had in small amounts and must be kept frozen. But with help from friends like Jon Eller, an IUPUI English professor, Towell gets his angiostatin, no matter where he is. He has had it delivered on dry ice via Federal Express, with friends doing the pickup and packaging, to destinations ranging from Florida to Montana. They are traveling to Sedona, Ariz., the Monday after Thanksgiving, and the frozen syringes of angiostatin will find their way there, thanks to friends. Dave Towell, a healthful-eating, active man, never expected to be battling cancer. But he's taken it on, and has the upper hand. "I enjoy everything I do, every menial task — raking the leaves," he said. In September, he hiked eight miles at 10,000 feet in Montana and camped overnight. "I said to myself, 'How could you have Stage IV lung cancer?' But I guess you don't know what's going to get you. I always figured the most dangerous thing in my life was crossing 10th Street to go the HPER building.""

This is a few years down the road, but very interesting. Catalysts which cause cancer cells to ''commit suicide'' have been developed in the laboratory by West Country scientists. The research groups of Dr Claus Jacob, of Exeter University and Dr Nicholas Gutowski at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, with support from the Peninsula Medical School, are investigating the anti-cancer effects of biocatalysts that mimic the activity of the human selenium enzyme, glutathione peroxidase. Their work opens up a very promising new direction for anti-cancer research, but both stress that any potential treatment for sufferers is still many years away. Dr Jacob, of the University''s School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, explained: ''The catalysts work by initiating reactions inside the cancer cell that cause it to destroy itself. In effect, the cancer commits suicide. One of the benefits of this approach is that the drugs target only the diseased cells. The research opens up the possibility in the future of an entirely new way of treating cancer that has two advantages over conventional treatments: 1. The catalysts use the particular makeup of cancer cells for their activity and thus do not work in healthy cells. This means they are far more targeted than conventional drugs and could potentially avoid many of the unpleasant side effects associated with chemotherapy and radiotherapy. 2. Catalysts are not consumed during their activity but are recycled over and over again. This means that only minute quantities of biocatalyst are needed to kill cancer cells making them highly efficient. Dr Jacob said: ''Cancer therapy has long been based on highly toxic substances that randomly kill healthy and sick cells alike. This new approach might allow us to single out sick cells and kill them with a catalytic efficiency far superior to conventional radiation or chemotherapy. The experimental results obtained so far have been truly impressive but further evaluation and clinical trials are required to develop this.'' The compounds have been developed and synthesised at the University''s School of Biological and Chemical Sciences and tested in cancer cells at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital. The work has been partially funded by the Leverhulme Trust. An Exeter based company has already shown an interest in the compounds and the new method. The most active compound tested so far is a multifunctional catalyst that integrates a quinone with a chalcogen redox system in one chemically simple molecule.

Microbeams may destroy cancer cells Futuristic beams could kill diseased tumors, study says LONDON, Dec. 2 — Scientists testing the effects of microbeams have discovered that targeting just a few cells with the futuristic beams can cause massive destruction to other diseased cells. SCIENTISTS AT Britain’s Cancer Research UK charity have dubbed it the “bystander effect” because the cancer cells zapped by the microbeams not only die but send out suicide signals to other abnormal cells, telling them to self destruct. “We used to assume that the only way to kill cancer cells with radiotherapy was to hit every one of the cells in the tumor with a fatal dose of radiation,” said Dr. Kevin Prise, of the charity’s Gray Cancer Institute in southern England, on Tuesday. “Now we’re finding that it’s possible to hit just a handful of cells with much lower doses and let the cells’ natural suicide machinery do the rest,” he added in a statement. The findings could have important implications for improving the effectiveness of radiotherapy for cancer sufferers because hitting just one cell with the microbeam, which launches streams of helium ions a thousandth of a millimeter wide, has an effect on so many other cells. Prise and his colleagues, who reported their findings in the journal Cancer Research, tested microbeams in the laboratory on brain cancer cells that were highly resistant to conventional radiotherapy. Although they targeted the beam at a single cell, it had an impact and triggered a significant proportion of other cells to commit suicide in a process known as apoptosis. Cancer develops when abnormal cells do not self destruct but continue dividing and form tumors. “If we could enhance the bystander effect within tumors, we could develop much more effective systems of radiotherapy, perhaps using lower doses to reduce side effects,” Prise added. “But of course it also means that even very low doses of radiation may be doing more damage to normal cells than we’d thought, so we’ll have to look for ways of protecting healthy tissue more effectively.” An estimated 50 percent of patients diagnosed with cancer would benefit from radiotherapy, which kills cancerous cells with tight beams or radiation aimed at specific areas of the body. The scientists said the bystander effect is linked to a molecule called nitric oxide which plays a role in cell suicide. Nitric oxide seems to be important in sending out suicide signals in cells when they are hit by radiation. “Making sure that there are high amounts of the molecule produced within tumors may be essential to optimise the bystander effect and improve treatments,” Prise said. “We also think the mechanisms involved in the bystander effect might be different in healthy and cancerous tissue, so it might be possible to develop drugs that protect normal tissue from radiotherapy while leaving cancer cells more vulnerable,” he added. © 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.

Hi Kimmy, To answer you question my father currently has No evidence of disease, This is by an MRI and pet scan. Listen to your doctor, I believe he is correct in saying that it "is working well in lung cancer patients". All the research on lung cancer growth factors points in this direction. It is also a good chemo preventive, and there is another article I posted under "new research and treatment options" indicating additional uses in lung fibrosis from radiation. I forgot to mention that we are currently using this protocol in conjunction with Iressa and Celebrex. Cary

http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opin ... ancer.html http://www.boston.com/yourlife/health/d ... __for_some

I am so sorry for your loss. http://www.al.com/search/index.ssf?/bas ... ter?nfobit Bayou net maker dies 11/26/03 By RUSS HENDERSON Staff Reporter For decades, her fingers sewed her children's clothes and cut her children's hair when they weren't knotting shrimp trawl nets and balancing the books at Sprinkle's Net Shop in Bayou La Batre. But Lillian "Eleanor" Sprinkle Rodriguez, who ran Sprinkle's Net Shop along with her husband, Joseph Cleveland Rodriguez Sr., died of lung cancer Tuesday at the age of 69, and her hands worked no more. "My mom was the epitome of a faithful, loving, good mother," said Joseph "Joey" Cleveland Rodriguez Jr., her son and half-owner of Rodriguez Boat Builders in Bayou La Batre. "She was strong. She was working there at the net shop up until she checked into the hospital two weeks ago." His mother had been diagnosed with lung cancer two years ago and had been in and out of the hospital ever since, he said. "Everyone knows Eleanor, and everyone knows Eleanor was tough as nails," said Mayor Stan Wright, who said Eleanor was his great aunt. "She was a loving and caring mother and grandmother, and she was a serious businesswoman." Sprinkle's Net Shop, a fixture in the bayou, was started by Clarence Sprinkle in the early 1950s and has been making nets for Gulf shrimpers ever since, Joey Rodriguez said. "Papa (Clarence Sprinkle) was a lay minister in town, and he built boats and he made nets. Next thing you know, he was doing it for everyone and he opened up a net business," he said. Eleanor, one of Clarence's daughters, met Joseph Cleveland Rodriguez Sr., on an oystering trip to Louisiana, Joey Rodriguez said. The two got married and lived in Violet, La., for a few years before moving to Bayou La Batre, he said. Eleanor went to work keeping the books for the net shop while Joseph Cleveland Rodriguez Sr. worked in the oil and gas industry, he said. Joseph Cleveland Rodriguez Sr. left Chevron Oil Co. in the 1970s and went into business with Sonny Sprinkle, Eleanor's brother, building boats. The men later closed the business, called S&R Boat Builders, as the two men helped Joey Rodriguez and his brother Charles open a new business: Rodriguez Boat Builders, Inc. "My mom taught me a lot about business," Joey Rodriguez said. She was a thrifty woman, and could pinch a penny till it bled, he said. "She cut my hair till I was 12 years old," he said. "I got tired of being the only kid at school with hair that had been buzzed off like that. I finally talked her into letting me go to the barber and pay him a quarter to cut it." When Eleanor died Tuesday morning, Joey Rodriguez said, "my sisters started bathing her. The nurses came in and told them they would do that, but my sister, Lillie, told them that their mom had given them their first baths and that they were going to give her her last." Survivors include her husband of 54 years, Joseph Cleveland Rodriguez Sr.; four children, Lillie Davis, Joey Rodriguez, Charles Rodriguez and Audrea Burns; 11 grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren. The funeral will be today at 10 a.m. at Mobile Christian Center, 4791 Schillinger Road S. Burial will be in Oddfellows Cemetery in Bayou La Batre with Serenity Funeral Home on Old Pascagoula Road directing. Memorials may be made to the church of your choice.

The chemo assay is done by Dr. Nagourney, link below. I know a lot people who have used his service and have heard nothing but praise. Cary http://www.rational-t.com

This study seems a bit flawed, I love the last paragraph, It kind of contradicts the whole "hoopla". Basically they spent 128 million to get the same results as states without the program. Cary Federal Anti-Smoking Program Gets Praise Nov 18 2003 By PAUL RECER, AP Science Writer WASHINGTON - In 17 states where the federal government spent $128 million to discourage tobacco use, smoking dropped by about 3 percentage points over eight years, just over half a point more than in states without the program. The program was responsible for reducing the number of smokers in the target states by about 104,000, estimated Frances A. Stillman, a researcher at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Translating the results to the entire nation, the program, called the American Stop Smoking Intervention Study, or ASSIST, would have cut the number of smokers by about 278,700, said Stillman, first author of a study appearing Wednesday in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The program was funded by the institute. Studies by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest that cigarette smoking is responsible for more that 440,000 deaths a year in the United States. Smoking has been linked to heart disease, emphysema and other respiratory system diseases, stroke and a number of different types of cancer. The anti-smoking program trained local advocacy groups to lobby for passage of higher cigarette excise taxes and to promote regulations for smoke-free environments. The program also mounted a public relations effort to counter an estimated $47 billion spent by industry to market tobacco products during the study period and included efforts to limit underage access to tobacco. States included in the study were Colorado, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. At $128 million, the program spent about $1,200 for each smoker who kicked the habit. Elizabeth A. Gilpin, a University of California, San Diego, researcher and a co-author of the study, called that cost "a real bargain." "Most smoking cessation programs will spend that (for each smoker)," said Gilpin. "That's just for a few hours of a counselor's time. When you think about what you save in health care costs, $1,200 is a real bargain." In the study, researchers used industry cigarette sales figures and tobacco use surveys to determine the impact of the ASSIST effort. The study found that smoking decreased nationally by about 2.41 percentage points. In the 17 states where the ASSIST program was in action, smoking declined by 3.02 percentage points, a difference of .61 point. During the eight years of the ASSIST program, smoking among all the U.S. population dropped from 24.67 percent to 22.26 percent, and from 25.19 percent to 22.17 percent in the targeted states. Stillman said the 17 states included some that already had strong anti-smoking programs and some that didn't. She said the results showed that "states can reduce smoking prevalence and the enormous health and economic burden of smoking if they put in place proven programs and policies." The impact of the program may have been blunted somewhat by the tobacco industry. Stillman said the Federal Trade Commission estimates that the industry spent about $47 billion promoting tobacco products nationally during the period of the ASSIST program. Jennifer Golisch, a spokeswoman for Philip Morris USA, Inc., the nation's largest tobacco company, would not comment on the study, but she said her firm now spends $100 million a year to discourage underage smoking. She said starting in 1999, the company reduced its cigarette ads in magazines by 50 percent. Golisch said Philip Morris also supports regulation of smoking in public places and favors regulation of the tobacco industry by the Food and Drug Administration. Golisch said Philip Morris has found that increased excise taxes on cigarettes, a major element of the ASSIST program, has unintended consequences. She said when taxes go up on cigarettes in one locale, smokers tend to seek cigarettes from areas with lower tobacco taxes, such as nearby states, Indian reservations or foreign countries. ___ On the Net:

Paweł Krawczyk, Izabela Golebiowska, Janusz Milanowski Co-incidence of psoriasis and lung cancer. Cases report There have been several reports related to an elevated incidence of lung cancer in patients with psoriasis. This study reports three cases of psoriasis and lung cancer coexistence. Three male patients were admitted to our Department in 2001-2003. 38-years-old patient had a few years psoriais history. He did not develope lung cancer at this time. Although his genealogy reveale several cases of lung and laryngis cancer in young first degree relatives. The second 60-years-old patient has suffered from psoriasis five years before adenocarcinoma diagnosis.The third one, 51-years-old patient, suffered from small cell lung cancer. The patient had previous history of psoriasis as well. His family history revealed three cases of cancer: lung, cerebri and larynx in first degree relatives In these cases it has been observed a relation beetween existence of hereditary lung cancer and psoriasis. It is not excluded that both disases have similar inheritary background, which may influence on immunological disturbances and epithelial or epidermal cells proliferation. Proceedings (poster or lecture-abstract) of the 34th Annual Meeting of the German Society of Immunology, Berlin, September 24-27, 2003 (http://www.dgfi.org/) http://www.wissenschaft-online.de/dgfi/ ... el_id=1036

Hi, I believe there are different forms of flu vaccines "active" and "inactive". The pneumonia shot is "inactive". from my reading the inactive forms are safe enough to give to HIV and Aids patients as well as people receiving chemotherapy. Cary