Lung Cancer
U.S. study finds no marijuana link to lung cancer
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Marijuana smoking does not increase a person’s risk of developing lung cancer, according to the findings of a new study at the University of California Los Angeles that surprised even the researchers.
They had expected to find that a history of heavy marijuana use, like cigarette smoking, would increase the risk of cancer.
Instead, the study, which compared the lifestyles of 611 Los Angeles County lung cancer patients and 601 patients with head and neck cancers with those of 1,040 people without cancer, found no elevated cancer risk for even the heaviest pot smokers.
Lung cancer deaths not higher in female nonsmokers
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Contrary to conventional wisdom, female non-smokers are no more likely to die of lung cancer than their male counterparts, according to a large study.
However, researchers found, that non-smoking African-American women may be at greater risk than white women, for reasons that are as yet uncertain.
Smoking is by far the top cause of lung cancer, and by comparison, few non-smokers develop the disease. But there are other factors that raise the odds of lung cancer, including chronic exposure to secondhand smoke, asbestos or radon—a radioactive chemical found in the soil and at high levels in some homes.
CRP may help predict lung cancer risk in smokers
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Measuring blood levels of C-reactive protein (CRP)—a marker of inflammation—may help identifying smokers with abnormal lesions in their airways that are likely to progress, new research suggests.
CRP levels are commonly used to gauge inflammation, which is thought to play a role in the development of abnormal airway lesions and lung cancer. Still, it was unclear if CRP testing could predict when such lesions are likely to progress to more advanced stages.
Study Shows Minimally Invasive Lung Surgery Has Low Risk
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In the largest published study of its kind, with 1,100 patient cases reviewed, a minimally invasive surgical procedure for lung cancer has been shown to be as effective as open surgery with a low risk of complications and high survival rates when performed by experienced thoracic surgeons.
But even though the benefits of the technique have been documented over the past decade - shorter recovery times and hospitalizations, reduced pain, and improved quality of life, for example - it is currently used in only about five percent of the 40,000 lobectomies performed each year in the United States.
Radiation therapy cures lung cancer
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According to the Global Lung Cancer Coalition, each year ten million people are diagnosed with lung cancer, and half of all patients die within a year of diagnosis.
Lung cancer is globally by far the biggest cancer killer. The majority of cases are linked in some way to smoking.
Lung cancer reality may help kin quit smoking
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A Duke physician is hoping that coping with a loved one’s lung cancer will offer a “teachable moment” that helps smokers quit for good.
“This could be a time when they really would think about quitting smoking because they see the consequences in real life,” Dr. Lori Bastian, an internist at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, told Reuters Health.
But while patients’ relatives have told Bastian and her colleagues that they’re thinking about quitting, they also say it’s the worst possible time to try, given the stress and anxiety of caring for a sick relative.
Job exposure to pesticide may raise cancer risk
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Daily on-the-job exposure to the pesticide diazinon appears to increase the risk of lung cancer and possibly other cancers, according to new findings from the US government-sponsored Agricultural Health Study, a project begun in 1993 to investigate the health effects of pesticides on farm families in Iowa and North Carolina.
By December 2002, 301 of 4,961 men with occupational exposure to diazinon had developed lung cancer compared with 968 of 18,145 with no occupational exposure to diazinon.
Newly identified protein may help improve treatment for lung cancer
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Researchers hope that a newly identified protein can one day help improve treatment for lung cancer. The findings are reported by researchers from Wake Forest University School of Medicine and colleagues in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
“Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death for both men and women in the United States and more effective treatment strategies are desperately needed,” said William J. Petty, M.D., from Wake Forest. “We believe we’ve uncovered why lung cancer is currently resistant to treatment with natural and synthetic derivatives of vitamin A, drugs that are highly effective for preventing and treating other types of cancer.”
More blacks refuse lung cancer surgery than whites
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African-Americans are three times as likely as whites to refuse surgical treatment for lung cancer, a new study shows.
Surgery is the only effective treatment for certain types of early stage lung cancer, and can often cure the disease, Dr. Bruno DiGiovine of the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit and colleagues note in their report in the journal CHEST.
Race may play a role in whether a patient accepts surgical treatment for lung cancer
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A study in the November issue of CHEST, the peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), found that blacks with lung cancer declined surgery at a higher rate than whites, leading researchers to believe that blacks may be misinformed about the effects of lung cancer surgery.
“Surgery for early stage non-small cell lung cancer is standard treatment and is likely curative. Yet, fewer blacks than whites undergo surgery for the disease, leading to a higher mortality rate among blacks with lung cancer,” said Bruno DiGiovine MD, FCCP, Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, MI. “Identifying and addressing the underlying reason for this discrepancy in surgical rates may, ultimately, lead to greater rates of surgical acceptance and decreased mortality rates among blacks with lung cancer.”
Hope over cheek lung cancer test
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A simple check of cells taken from inside the cheek can help give an early warning of lung cancer, a study says.
The test by Canadian cancer research firm Perceptronix accurately predicted early stage-one lung cancer in two-thirds of cases.
Cruciferous Vegetables May Protect Some Against Lung Cancer
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Eating cruciferous vegetables such as cabbage and broccoli might help protect against lung cancer—if the right genes go with them—researches here reported today.
In persons with inactive alleles of the genes for glutathione-S-transferase enzymes, those who ate cruciferous vegetables on a weekly basis decreased their risk of lung cancer by 72% compared with those who rarely ate cruciferous vegetables.
Blood test may detect asbestos-related lung cancer
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Researchers have identified a protein that could help in the early detection of a rare but deadly chest cancer caused by asbestos exposure, a study said on Wednesday.
The finding, reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, could lead to a test for the disease, which is usually detected at a stage when treatments are ineffective and patients only live for another 8 to 18 months.
Eczema patients have lowered risk of lung cancer
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People who’ve had eczema at some time in their lives appear to be less likely than others to develop lung cancer, according to European researchers.
As senior investigator Dr. Paolo Boffetta commented to Reuters Health, a “self-reported history of eczema appears to reduce the risk of lung cancer. These findings might shed light on mechanisms of lung carcinogenesis in humans.”
Link weak between alcohol and lung cancer
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Pooled data from seven studies on diet and cancer provide weak evidence of a link between alcohol consumption and lung cancer risk—mainly confined to men who never smoked.
Although smoking is the main cause of lung cancer, not much is known about risk factors for nonsmokers, and modifying factors for smokers, Dr. Jo L. Freudenheim from the State University of New York at Buffalo and colleagues explain in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
