Cancer, Cancer Treatment

While examining patterns of DNA modification in lung cancer, a team of international researchers has discovered what they say is a surprising new mechanism.

They say that “silencing” of a single gene in lung cancer led to a general impairment in genome-wide changes in cells, contributing to cancer development and progression.

In the January 1, 2009, issue of Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, they also report finding a strong link between modification of the key gene, MTHFR, and tobacco use by lung cancer patients - even if the patient had smoked for a short period of time.

Patients with locally advanced lung cancer who receive chemotherapy and proton therapy, a specialized form a radiation therapy only available in a few centers in the United States, have fewer instances of a serious side effect called bone marrow toxicity than patients who receive chemotherapy and another type of radiation therapy called intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), according to a study presented at the 2008 Chicago Multidisciplinary Symposium in Thoracic Oncology, sponsored by ASTRO, ASCO, IASLC and the University of Chicago.

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FRIDAY, Nov. 14 — A majority of Americans, including many health-care workers, believe that people who have lung cancer are at least partly to blame for their disease, a new survey finds.

In the poll of nearly 1,500 American adults, researchers found 59 percent of respondents agreeing with the notion that lung cancer patients helped bring on their diagnosis.

It’s a bias that over time has led to fewer resources to investigate the number one cancer killer in the U.S, and added shame to the burden that lung cancer patients must carry, experts said.

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- Red wine may reduce the risk of lung cancer in men, especially smokers, a new study shows.

The study, published in Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention, used data from The California Men’s Health Study, which includes 84,170 men between 45 and 69 who are members of the Kaiser Permanente California health plan. Demographics and lifestyle characteristics were obtained through detailed surveys mailed to participants between 2000 and 2003. The participants were followed through the end of 2006, during which there were 210 cases of lung cancer.

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The drug Tarceva, made by OSI Pharmaceuticals has been found to cause an increase in survival rates in lung cancer patients when the drug is administered after chemotherapy treatments. The chief executive officer of the company, Colin Goddard, was pleased to announce the results. This drug may be the first in a wave of new treatments for cancer.

This drug works by stopping the growth of non small cell cancer cells, which then slows and even eliminates the cancer?s spread throughout the body. The study involved 889 patients who were given at least four cycles chemotherapy and were then treated with either once-daily Tarceva or a placebo if the disease did not progress during chemotherapy.

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ST. LOUIS, Oct. 22 — Some drugs not previously considered to have potential in lung cancer treatment may, in fact, be helpful in the condition, researchers here said.

Detailed genomic analysis of 188 lung adenocarcinoma specimens revealed mutations in pathways associated with such drugs as rapamycin (Rapamune), sunitinib (Sutent), and sorafenib (Nexavar), reported Li Ding, Ph.D., of Washington University, and colleagues in the Oct. 23 issue of Nature.

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- Red wine may reduce the risk of lung cancer in men, especially smokers, a new study shows.

The study, published in Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention, used data from The California Men’s Health Study, which includes 84,170 men between 45 and 69 who are members of the Kaiser Permanente California health plan. Demographics and lifestyle characteristics were obtained through detailed surveys mailed to participants between 2000 and 2003. The participants were followed through the end of 2006, during which there were 210 cases of lung cancer.

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By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Combining two chemotherapy drugs with two targeted therapies was safe and appeared to help patients with advanced lung cancer live longer, U.S. researchers reported on Thursday.

The combination of Roche and Co’s Avastin, ImClone’s Erbitux, carboplatin and paclitaxel appeared to add an average of two months to the lives of patients, from 12 months on average to 14 months, the team at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center said.

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By Julie Steenhuysen

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A broad analysis of genes has turned up 26 mutations linked with the most common form of lung cancer, several of which play a role in other cancers as well, researchers said on Wednesday.

The findings, published in the journal Nature, double the number of genes already linked with lung adenocarcinoma, a type of non-small cell lung cancer that accounts for 40 percent of the more than 1 million lung cancer deaths each year.

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WEDNESDAY, Oct. 22 — Researchers have identified 26 genes associated with the most common type of lung cancer, adenocarcinoma — more than doubling the number of genes known to play a role in the deadly disease.

The discovery could help in developing individualized ways of diagnosing and treating lung cancer, the top cancer killer, the researchers said.

“Although similar, smaller cancer gene sequencing projects have been reported, our study is the largest to date and provides the statistical power to detect significantly mutated genes,” study co-author Richard Wilson, director of Washington University’s Genome Sequencing Center in St. Louis, said during a Tuesday teleconference.

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