“Cigarette tax should be used to fight lung cancer - Juneau Empire” plus 4 more |
- Cigarette tax should be used to fight lung cancer - Juneau Empire
- Cancer charities reassure women over use of tamoxifen - The Guardian
- Estrogen blocker linked to breast cancer - Edmonton Sun
- Long-term tamoxifen use linked to rise in second type of breast cancer ... - 680 News
- Breast cancer deaths at all time low - Skynews.com
| Cigarette tax should be used to fight lung cancer - Juneau Empire Posted: 25 Aug 2009 12:19 PM PDT Two bills making their way through the Legislature have the support of many Californians as a legitimate way to help ease the state's budget crisis while also discouraging smoking. One would raise the tobacco tax by $1.50 a pack, and the other would increase it by $2.10. The justification for the tax increase is the negative effect smoking has on public health. I do not object to a tobacco tax. Yet little, if any, of the revenue generated under these bills would actually go toward lung cancer research for early detection and a cure. Under one bill, 85 percent of the revenue would go to the state's general fund to help with the current fiscal disaster. The remaining 15 percent would go to a "tobacco tax and health protection fund" that would be used to offset decreases in state funding for various health-care and school programs - such as the California Children and Families First Trust Fund, the Hospital Services Account and the Breast Cancer Fund. The other bill calls for revenue to go into a newly created account in the general fund, with money to be allocated for lung cancer research, among other needs, but without specifying how much. Lung cancer, the leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States, kills more people than breast, prostate, colon and pancreatic cancers combined and is considered one of the most significant effects of tobacco use on public health. Yet lung cancer remains the most under-funded and under-researched cancer, resulting in an overall 15 percent five-year survival rate that has remained virtually unchanged for 40 years, according to the Lung Cancer Alliance. This staggeringly small number becomes amplified when compared with the progress made with other cancers. The overall five-year survival rate for breast cancer, for example, is 88 percent, and for prostate cancer, it is 99 percent, according to the American Cancer Society. Because lung cancer still carries the stigma that somehow you brought the disease on yourself, tobacco taxes rather than direct funding remain the perennially popular government source of funding to make up for the shortfalls in general spending. The bottom line is that all cancer victims should be treated equally regardless of personal habits; all cancers are the direct result of genetics, environment and behavior. Do colon cancer patients deserve their disease because they did not get enough fiber in their diet? Should singer Natalie Cole have been denied her new kidney because her old one was damaged by her previous drug use? Of new lung cancer diagnoses, 60 percent are in nonsmokers, a combination of people who have never smoked and former smokers, many of whom quit decades ago. The former smokers did the right thing for themselves and for society - they quit. But they are still at risk for lung cancer, and just like lung cancer victims who have never smoked, they will be shocked to discover how few treatment options are available to them. Because of the stigma associated with lung cancer, and because there are relatively few survivors to fight for a cure, lung cancer is one of the least-funded cancers for research in the public and private sectors. In fact, in terms of federal research dollars, lung cancer receives only $1,553 per death. Compare that with $14,400 per breast cancer death, according to the National Cancer Institute. In fact, the NCI has reduced the amount of lung cancer research dollars by 71 percent since 2005 while increasing breast cancer research dollars by 4 percent during that same period. I am not suggesting that breast cancer should be denied those research dollars. The breast cancer community's success is a wonderful example of effective grass-roots advocacy. The Lung Cancer Foundation of America was founded for the purpose of increasing funding for lung cancer research. We support increasing tobacco taxes as long as a fair share of the money, commensurate with lung cancer's effect on public health, is used for lung cancer research. Current public and private funding mostly focuses on prevention, which is only one part of the equation. Early detection and treatment are just as critical, especially because it is estimated that in this year more than 214,000 people in this country will be diagnosed with lung cancer and more than 157,000 will die from it. There are currently no officially agreed-on early detection methods. Once lung cancer becomes symptomatic, it is usually in its late stages, making treatment nearly impossible. What makes lung cancer so insidious is its long incubation period. Even if we were to ban tobacco today but did not develop early detection methods or effective treatments, we would not see a corresponding reduction in lung cancer mortality for another 30 to 40 years. That is too long to wait for lung cancer to receive the attention it so desperately needs. • Kim Norris is the president of the Lung Cancer Foundation of America (lcfamerica.org).  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Cancer charities reassure women over use of tamoxifen - The Guardian Posted: 25 Aug 2009 11:36 AM PDT Medical charities have reassured women over the benefits of taking tamoxifen after research suggested the breast cancer drug could, in certain circumstances, increase the risk of secondary tumours. Tamoxifen, which prevents tumours being fuelled by oestrogen, is one of the most common treatments given to improve patients' chances of surviving breast cancer. In women with hormone-sensitive cancers, who make up the majority of breast cancer patients, it can stop tumours returning after surgery. The new US research, however, shows that using tamoxifen for more than five years may raise the risk of developing more aggressive tumours not dependent on oestrogen. The study found that such extended use quadrupled the chances of an aggressive, non-hormone sensitive tumour appearing opposite the initial site of the disease. Dr Christopher Li, who led the research team at the Fred Hutchinson cancer research centre in Seattle, said: "This is of concern, given the poorer prognosis of ER negative [oestrogen receptor negative] tumours, which are also more difficult to treat." The study assessed the history of tamoxifen use among more than 1,000 women from the Seattle region who were diagnosed with hormone-sensitive breast cancer between the ages of 40 and 79. Comparing patients who received tamoxifen and those who did not showed that the drug reduced the chances of oestrogen-positive breast cancer returning by 60%. However it also appeared to increase the risk of an oestrogen-negative second tumour developing by 440%. The association was not seen for women who took tamoxifen for less than five years. The scientists, whose findings are reported in the journal Cancer Research, said it was important to weigh up the risks and benefits of tamoxifen. They said the research did not suggest that women being treated with the drug should stop taking it. "It is clear that oestrogen-blocking drugs like tamoxifen have important clinical benefits and have led to major improvements in breast cancer survival rates," said Li. "However, these therapies have risks, and an increased risk of ER negative second cancer may be one of them." Each year around 45,500 women in the UK are diagnosed with breast cancer and 12,000 die from the disease. Around two-thirds of breast cancers are sensitive to the hormone oestrogen. Professor Jack Cuzick, head of Cancer Research UK's centre for epidemiology, said: "There is overwhelming evidence that tamoxifen, and newer more effective hormone blocking treatments, prevent far more recurrences, new breast cancers and cancer-related deaths than they might stimulate. "Work on understanding how tumours eventually escape from hormone treatment will be very valuable. However, the use of hormone blocking drugs to treat oestrogen receptor positive breast cancer will continue to be the main form of treatment." Dr Alison Ross, the charity's senior science information officer, said: "Women should be reassured that, based on extensive scientific evidence, the benefits of taking hormone-blocking drugs such as tamoxifen after their first diagnosis of breast cancer far outweigh any potential risks." Dr Sarah Cant, the policy manager at Breakthrough Breast Cancer, said: "This research confirms the benefits of taking tamoxifen, which has played a major part in improving survival rates for breast cancer. Although it suggests women who take tamoxifen for five years or more may be at a slightly increased risk of a specific type of breast cancer in the other breast, the overall risk of this happening is still low. "Women with breast cancer should be aware of the risks of taking any course of treatment. Breakthrough advises that anyone who is concerned should not stop their medication and should speak to their doctor."  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Estrogen blocker linked to breast cancer - Edmonton Sun Posted: 25 Aug 2009 11:08 AM PDT A new study suggests long-term use of tamoxifen is linked to an increased risk of a second type of breast cancer. U.S. researchers looked at more than 700 women who had been diagnosed with breast cancer and compared them to nearly 400 diagnosed with both a first and second breast cancer. Tamoxifen is an estrogen-blocking drug researchers say has been shown to reduce the risk of dying of breast cancer. Researchers found women who received tamoxifen for five or more years lowered their risk of developing the more common type of breast cancer that responds to estrogen-blocking therapy. But the study found the risk of another rare subtype of the disease increased by more than 400%. Lead author Dr. Christopher Li says it's important to remember any treatment has both risks and benefits, and that tamoxifen has been shown to lower the risk of recurrent breast cancer in women. The study was published online Tuesday in the journal Cancer Research.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Long-term tamoxifen use linked to rise in second type of breast cancer ... - 680 News Posted: 25 Aug 2009 11:15 AM PDT U.S. researchers looked at more than 700 women who had been diagnosed with breast cancer and compared them to nearly 400 diagnosed with both a first and second breast cancer. Tamoxifen is an estrogen-blocking drug researchers say has been shown to reduce the risk of dying of breast cancer. Researchers found women who received tamoxifen for five or more years lowered their risk of developing the more common type of breast cancer that responds to estrogen-blocking therapy. But the study found the risk of another rare subtype of the disease increased by more than 400 per cent. Lead author Dr. Christopher Li said it's important to remember any treatment has both risks and benefits, and that tamoxifen has been shown to lower the risk of recurrent breast cancer in women.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Breast cancer deaths at all time low - Skynews.com Posted: 25 Aug 2009 11:22 AM PDT Updated: 04:55, Wednesday August 26, 2009The proportion of Australian women dying from breast cancer is at an all-time low despite a steady rise in new cases over the last two decades. New figures show that national breast screening introduced in 1991 has helped reduce the proportion of women dying from the disease. BreastScreen Australia targets women aged 50 to 69 as those most at risk. In 1991, 230 women of 100-thousand in that age group developed breast cancer and 67 died. By 2005 there were 279 new cases for every 100-000 women but the mortality rate had dropped to 47.5, the lowest level since the program began. Breast cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death in Australia. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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