pill for dry mouth may help against lung cancer

[Alisa]

I just got this message from another lung list I'm on. I haven't had time to do a google search on it yet, but thought I'd pass it on anyway. Has anyone heard of this?

pill for dry mouth may help against lung cancer

Thursday, April 11, 2002 3:04 PM

> A pill long used around the world to treat dry mouth may help

> protect against lung cancer in lifelong smokers, a study found.

> The drug appears especially promising for former smokers, who

> still face a higher-than-usual risk of lung cancer years after they

> quit.

> The preliminary study, released Tuesday, found that the medicine

> reduced the risk of new or worsening precancerous growths in the lungs

> of long-time smokers by about 22 percent during six months of use.

> The drug, made by the French company Solvay Pharma, is not

> available in the United States. It is sold in Canada, Europe, China and

> other countries as Sialor or Sulfarlem and has been on the market for 30

> years.

> The study was sponsored by the National Cancer Institute and

> conducted on 101 volunteers who had smoked a pack a day for at least 30

> years. One-third had quit smoking, and the results were best for them.

>

>