The cause of  lung cancer has been seen to be the abnormalities in cells. The body of human beings automatically regulates the production and growth of cells when the body needs them. If there is uncontrolled growth of cell in the tissues of the lungs, then final results may be developing of lung cancer.

Symptoms of  lung cancer very depending on the location and the spreading effect of the tumor but one cannot easily identify early warnings of lung cancer. The best thing one can do is consult a doctor in cases of a new persistent cough or the worsening of an existing chronic cough, if there is blood in his sputum, chest pains and difficulties in breathing and unexplained weight loss

Cancer of the lungs can be categorized into primary  lung cancer and Mesothelioma. The primary  lung cancer is cancer that starts in the lungs while the Mesothelioma or also referred to as secondary  lung cancer normally results when the origin of the cancer was from another part of the body spreading to the lungs. The causes of  lung cancer can be through smoking, radon gas, asbestos or viruses not forgetting the genetic risk.

Smoking: Smoking of cigarettes is the leading cause of lung cancer. In the developed world, cigarette smoking accounts  for more than 80% of  lung cancer related deaths. People who start smoking at a tender age are at a higher risk of developing lung cancer earlier in life due to the high exposure period. Non-smokers can also develop this type of cancer when they inhale smoke released by smokers found in their midst. All these modes are equally dangerous that is, the active pipe or cigar smoker and the passive smoker.

Radon Gas: This gas is natural in occurrence and is known to pass from the soil to building foundations. Exposure to these gases will very much vary as per the locality and the underlying soil and rocks in that area.

Asbestos: Individuals who have had prolonged contact with asbestos stand a higher chance of developing lung cancer
especially in the event they do smoke for the combination of asbestos and tobacco will tend to act as one thus increasing the risks. Heavy exposure to asbestos may result to far greater risks of developing lung cancer.

Viruses: In early times, viruses where thought to only cause lung cancer in animal. However, recent studies show that they can cause cancer I humans too. These viruses include JC virus, simian, papillomavirus and others.

To prevent lung cancer, people should stop smoking.

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The disease has left many dead and many more fighting for the failing health. The common symptoms related to the disease are breathlessness, dry cough and pain in the respiratory tracts followed by vomiting. The prime Cause of mesothelioma is the exposure to asbestos.

Asbestos is a natural fibrous material that was widely used in various industries and building materials because of its stability and heat resistant properties. However, asbestos is also a deadly contaminant and responsible for serious diseases such as asbestosis, mesothelioma cancers and lung cancer. Most of the diseases are caused by inhalation of asbestos fibers that could settle in the internal body organs and cause serious diseases. Mesothelioma and other asbestos related diseases can lie dormant in the body for decades before diagnosis. The worst part is that after diagnosis the patient has hardly any left for fighting these diseases.

Asbestos has extensively been mined in South Africa and exported to UK & US factories for reprocessing. For many years, the industrialists enjoyed the benefits of asbestos as a cheap substitute to wood in Building Material Industry and an integral part of Brake Lining material used extensively in vehicles during the World Wars. Asbestos was also widely used as an Insulation material in the buildings and industries in the US and Europe.

The victims of mesothelioma can file lawsuits for seeking compensation against the companies responsible for asbestos exposure. They can seek compensation for medical expenses, loss of income, lost earning capacity, pain and sufferings. The family members and relatives of the people who die because of mesothelioma cancers can also file lawsuits for compensation to recover the loss of consortium care. A dozen of companies who made an exit from the business decades ago are still fighting the huge compensation bills pending against them for causing a major biological disorder. The courts have ordered huge amounts as compensation in most of the mesothelioma lawsuits.
Kirsten Hawkins is a asbestos and mesothelioma specialist from Nashville, TN.

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Educating yourself about the general facts on lung cancer is essential to help prevent acquiring the disease. As the number one cause of death among men in America and one of the major causes of death cases throughout the world, health experts are furthering their efforts in trying to unearth general facts on lung cancer, and how this disease can be so deadly.

Among the various type of cancer deaths, lung cancer is responsible for 29 percent of that. In fact, there are more death cases for lung cancer as compared to the data of deaths for prostate, breast, and colon cancers combined. Hence, you can begin protecting yourself now by arming yourself with the general facts on lung cancer before it’s too late.

Causes Of Lung Cancer

When people think of lung cancer, they often associate it with cigarette smoking. Indeed, this is one of the leading causes of the disease. But it is not the only factor.

One of the major focus of research for health experts regarding lung cancer is the genetic factor. Most cancerous cells develop when there is an error in the mutation of DNA cells. That error in itself can be affected by other environmental factors as well, which has led health experts to go back to examining external factors that can contribute to the formation of cancerous cells.

Too much exposure to asbestos has been cited as one crucial environmental factor causing lung cancer. Asbestos is a kind of mineral that is made up of bundled up fibers and naturally occurs in the environment. These fibers, when inhaled by a person exposed to them, can be trapped in one’s lungs and accumulate until it causes an inflammation on the lungs.

Another crucial factor that could elicit the development of   lung cancer is inhaling secondhand smoke. Although cigarette smoking can increase your chances of acquiring lung cancer, those who inhale it are at a higher risk.

Secondhand smoke consists of two types of smoke: those that are produced by the burning of the tobacco product and those exhaled by the smoker.

Please pay very close attention to these general facts on lung cancer, so you can avoid the factors that could put you at risk in acquiring the disease.

Symptoms Of Lung Cancer

Since it affects your respiratory system, common symptoms associated with  lung cancer are related to such conditions affecting the respiratory illness.

It is a rare case for  lung cancer to be diagnosed early, which is why awareness of the general facts on  lung cancer
is of extreme importance for early diagnosis.

•    Prolonged cases of cough.
•    Uncharacteristic wheezing.
•    Pain on the back, chest, or shoulder.
•    Coughing blood or mucus.
•    Constant shortness of breath.
•    Swollen neck or face.
•    Pneumonia or other respiratory infections, etc

Treatment For Lung Cancer

Before a treatment option is to be determined for lung cancer patients, it is important to diagnose its type and stage first. Here are some of the more common types of treatment:

1) Surgery – This method of treatment is best only for patients who are diagnosed early due to the possibility of the cancer cells spreading to other parts of the body despite inability to detect it via scan.

2) Chemotherapy – This treatment is best used for individuals with small cell lung cancer. Oftentimes, this treatment is accompanied by radiotherapy. This treatment is known as chemoradiation.

3) Radiotherapy – This treatment is directed on the patient’s head, in order to prevent the cancer cells from spreading to the brain. It is recommended only for individuals with small cell lung cancer and those who had their tumor removed via surgery.

Equipping yourself with general facts on lung cancer is your best weapon against the disease.
If you want to uncover the truth about a new cancer cure claiming to be scientifically proven to cure cancer and ALL types of diseases (including AIDS, heart diseases, diabetes and many others), go to www.squidoo.com/newcancercure

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The early symptoms of lung cancer are one of the most important things that those who are at risk for the disease can do. Lung cancer is the most treatable when it is discovered early, and the only way to discover it early enough is to recognize and report the early symptoms of lung cancer. If you are noticing a combination of these lung cancer symptoms, be sure to talk to your doctor.
One of the early symptoms of lung cancer is a nagging cough that simply will not get better. Often the cough worsens with time and is accompanied by chronic chest pain. Coughing up blood is another of the many early symptoms of lung cancer. In fact, coughing up blood is one of the biggest symptoms that sends lung cancer patients to their doctors. Recurring bronchitis or pneumonia sometimes indicates that the disease is present. Fatigue and shortness of breath are more symptoms to watch out for if you suspect the disease.

Lung Cancer
Cancers form when certain cells in the body grow and multiply in an uncontrolled fashion. When such uncontrolled growth affects lung tissues, a lung cancer forms. Lung cancer is classified into two main types- small cell lung cancer
and non-small cell lung cancer. An estimated 80 percent of lung cancer patients have non-small cell lung cancer.
Smoking or inhaling second hand smoke, environmental exposures such as asbestos and radon gas, and a family history of lung cancer
increase the risk of an individual getting lung cancer. However, some lung cancers arise in the absence of these risk factors. Factors that may protect people from
document.write lung cancer are not smoking, avoiding second hand smoke, a diet rich in fresh vegetables and fruit, and limiting exposure to potential carcinogens in the environment such as radon.

Lung Cancer Stages
Cancers are staged depending on how far they have spread. Staging a cancer correctly is essential to select the most appropriate treatment option. A number of diagnostic tests, such as CT scans, MRIs, bronchoscopy, blood tests, bone scans, and biopsies are used to find out how far the cancer has spread.
Non-small cell lung cancers, which account for about 80 percent

of lung cancers, are staged using the Roman numerals 0 through IV. If a cancer is too small to be detected, it is called an occult or hidden cancer and not assigned any numeral. Stage 0 cancer, or carcinoma in situ, is limited to the lung and only involves a few layers of cells. Stage I cancer is still limited to the lung, with an area of normal tissue surrounding it. Stage I cancers are further divided into Stage IA and Stage IB, depending on the size of the tumor. In stage II cancer, the cancer may have spread to nearby lymph nodes, the chest wall, the diaphragm, or to the tissues lining the lung (pleura) and the heart (pericardium). In stage III cancer, lymph nodes in the central chest or on the other side of the body from the original tumor are involved.

Lung Cancer Treatment
The most commonly used treatments for lung cancer are surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. The exact treatment a lung cancer patient receives will depend on several factors. These include the type of cancer, the stage or extent to which it has spread at the time of diagnosis, and the overall health of the patient.

Non-small cell lung cancer, which accounts for about 80 percent of lung cancer cases, is treated depending on its stage at diagnosis. Lung surgery is the mainstay of treatment for the early stages of lung cancer. Cancerous tissue, along with a margin of healthy tissue, is removed. Patients who are unable to have surgery may be treated with radiotherapy. While cure rates for early lung cancer are good, it is rarely detected in its early stages. As non-small cell cancer spreads within the chest, it is treated with some combination of surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Once cancer has spread to other parts of the body, chemotherapy and radiotherapy replace surgery as the main treatment options. A number of drugs are available, and many more are being tested in clinical trials. Radiotherapy is palliative, and while it may ease symptoms such as pain and cough, it will not stop cancer growth. If the cancer obstructs a major airway, using a laser, freezing the tumor or keeping the airway open with a stent or tube may remove the obstruction.

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The lungs are amazing body parts. They gases that we need to live into the body and then remove waste gases created by the process. That being said, they are fairly delicate and more than a few of us have done serious damage to them. I should qualify this by saying that I was the proverbial chain smoker for seven years. I’m not one of those righteous former smokers, but there is little doubt the practice does a number on your lungs.

No cancer is a preferable health problem, but is really one you want to avoid. For millions of workers over the years, the possibility of their being diagnosed with went up dramatically for no fault of their own. The problem? Exposure to asbestos. The fibrous form of various minerals was used heavily in everything from construction to the rail road industry and even on the brakes of most cars. The material was incredibly strong and very fire resistant, which made it a wonder material of sorts until it was determined to cause among other health horrors.

The word asbestos is mostly reviled these days. People simply know to avoid it. The

problem, unfortunately, is the disease can take 40 years or more to manifest as lung cancer, Mesothelioma or some other problem. That being said, simply breathing in asbestos fibers does not mean you will get lung cancer. Current studies seem to suggest there is about a 1 in 7 chance, although the figures change dramatically depending on how much exposure you had.

Smoking is bad for the lungs all by itself. Smoking combined with asbestos exposure is pretty much a double whammy on the lungs. The smoking weakens and decays the lungs. This gives the asbestos fibers more of a chance to borrow into the lung tissue and work their way into the chest cavity. The chances of being diagnosed with is twice as great if you smoke and are exposed to as it is if you just are exposed.

The good news is stopping smoking can make a huge difference. Those who stop put aside the coffin nails have their chance of being diagnosed with drop a whopping 50 percent in only five years even when asbestos exposure occurs. If you have never been exposed to asbestos, the risk is reduced by 70 percent! In short, it is worth it if you want to live a long life.

Your longs are critical to your health. Don’t sabotage them by smoking after you’ve been exposed to asbestos. After all, you only have one set of lungs. When they are used up, so are you.

Thomas Ajava writes for TexasAsbestosLawsuit.com – where you can can learn more about asbestos lawsuits in Texas.

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Asbestos exposure often leads to cancer in the affected person, if the fibers of the mineral in questionbreathed into the lungs. Any form of cancer is simply bad news. That being said, there are different types each comes with its own problems, treatments and possible outcomes and. With asbestos exposure are the two most common forms of cancer, mesothelioma and lung cancer. There are different health problems. Let’s take a closer look.

Lung cancer, of course, affect the condition of the lungs. Lungs are the biomechanism we use in breathing. Perform oxygen in our bodiesto distribute and carbon dioxide and other gases such as nitrogen minor. Inhalation of air from the environment can be dangerous. In the case of asbestos can we breathe in tiny fibers of asbestos minerals in the forms. Once in our lungs, they have come out hard. Slowly, they can damage the structure of the lung material. Scarring may occur, also known as asbestosis, and tumors. The tumors can grow and be known as lung cancer. There are various forms of lung cancer, and thatdiscussion is beyond the scope of this article.

Mesothelioma is often talked about as though it is a form of lung cancer. It is not. To understand this form of cancer, one has to first understand what the mesothelium is. The mesothelium is with us from birth. It is a layer of cells that lines the internal organs and areas of the body. It lines the lungs. It lines the abdomen. It lines areas of the heart. The purpose of the mesothelium is much like oil in a car engine – it acts as a Lubricating surface that allows the organs in the body, moving without friction. Without the mesothelium, bending would be difficult and probably a very painful sentence.

Mesothelioma is a cancer that occurs in this lining. It is caused by asbestos can be inhaled into the lungs. From her, the asbestos fibers are absorbed into the body. How exactly they get in the mesothelium is not known, but they clearly through. Mesothelioma can spread through the whole bodyCore or remain in a particular area. If caught early, there are treatment options. If caught late, it is rarely survives.

Just as lung cancer and mesothelioma messed up when it comes to asbestos exposure? Well, mesothelioma often occurs in the mesothelium lining around the lungs. Although technically not lung cancer, can immediately see how the two would get confused. However, it is important to remember that everyone is unique and calls for different treatments.

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An eight-year study of 16,600 women found the disease was 71 per cent more likely to be fatal in women taking HRT compared with those taking a placebo pill, reports The Guardian.

Medical academic Apar Kishor Ganti claims the new results could be ‘nail in the coffin’ for HRT.

In the medical journal the Lancet, the expert argues that new research linking a form of HRT to higher mortality rates in lung cancer is the latest in a long line of evidence highlighting the serious risks of the therapy.

Previous studies have shown that HRT can also increase the risk of breast cancer, heart disease and strokes.

Kishor Ganti, from the University of Nebraska Medical Centre, writes: “These results, along with the findings showing no protection against coronary heart disease, seriously question whether HRT has any role in medicine today. It is difficult to presume that the benefits of routine use of such therapy for menopausal symptoms outweigh the risks of mortality, especially in the absence of improvement in the quality of life.”

The study states: “Our findings should be considered before the initiation or continuation of combined hormone therapy in post-menopausal women, especially those with a high risk of lung cancer, such as current or long-term past smokers.”

As for the reason behind the increased mortality: it could be oestrogen stimulating the growth of new blood vessels – which can cause the cancer to grow and spread. Another possible cause could be that HRT makes the cancer difficult to detect, leading to a delay in diagnosis, it suggests. (ANI)

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An eight-year study of 16,600 women found the disease was 71 per cent more likely to be fatal in women taking HRT compared with those taking a placebo pill, reports The Guardian.

Medical academic Apar Kishor Ganti claims the new results could be ‘nail in the coffin’ for HRT.

In the medical journal the Lancet, the expert argues that new research linking a form of HRT to higher mortality rates in lung cancer is the latest in a long line of evidence highlighting the serious risks of the therapy.

Previous studies have shown that HRT can also increase the risk of breast cancer, heart disease and strokes.

Kishor Ganti, from the University of Nebraska Medical Centre, writes: “These results, along with the findings showing no protection against coronary heart disease, seriously question whether HRT has any role in medicine today. It is difficult to presume that the benefits of routine use of such therapy for menopausal symptoms outweigh the risks of mortality, especially in the absence of improvement in the quality of life.”

The study states: “Our findings should be considered before the initiation or continuation of combined hormone therapy in post-menopausal women, especially those with a high risk of lung cancer, such as current or long-term past smokers.”

As for the reason behind the increased mortality: it could be oestrogen stimulating the growth of new blood vessels – which can cause the cancer to grow and spread. Another possible cause could be that HRT makes the cancer difficult to detect, leading to a delay in diagnosis, it suggests. (ANI)

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Just the mere mention of that six-letter word is enough to send a chill down the spine of even the most hardened individual. It’s the dreaded disease individuals feel will happen to someone else and are devastated upon learning it has invaded their own body like an unwelcome visitor whose stay is indefinite and often tragic.

Not only does cancer impact the individual with the disease, but also family members. Quality of life experiences a sudden shift when extensive care is required. In many cases it evolves into round the clock, or hospice, care when the health of the victim deteriorates.

The disease plays no favorites. It afflicts the rich and famous and those in middle- and low-income circumstances; white collar to blue color; young and old; and black and white. Some cancer victims live with their disease for years — others only a year or a matter of months.

What is Cancer?

Cancer is defined as “a class of diseases in which a group of cells displays uncontrolled growth, invasion and sometimes metastasis.”

While most cancers form a tumor, others, such as leukemia, don’t.

Even more frustrating is that cancer features many forms, with breast cancer the most prevalent in women and prostate cancer for men. While it often appears that more individuals are diagnosed with cancer than ever before, Dr. Jeffrey Giguere, of the Cancer Center of the Carolinas, said that could have more to do with the fact that physicians are now more proactive.

“We are finding things early on, such as skin cancer and prostate cancer,” Giguere said. “We’re hoping we will find it at an earlier stage.”

While cancer causes can range from family history, to poor diet, to exposure to chemicals and smoking, Giguere said various societies experience various malignancies.

“Where we live and what we’re exposed to, as well as what we eat, probably increases our risks,” he said. “There are more stomach cancers in eastern society and less here, but smoking has been a major factor here. But, in Europe, smoking exists there like it did here in the 1950s and cancer isn’t as prevalent.

“We also grow our food and cows have a lot of red meat. There is a challenge in recognizing how we raise our cattle and grow our food. In India, the rate of cancer isn’t as high, because they don’t put as much bad food in their bodies.”

Giguere said some types of cancer, including pancreatic and brain cancer, “are still bad to get.” Although he said that some inroads have been made with how brain cancer in particular can be treated, the survival rate is typically no more than three years.

Hope

There is good news in the cancer fight. Giguere said surgical procedures have become less invasive.

Dr. Jerry Gibson, state epidemiologist with the state Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC), said that while cancer remains a dreaded word, there is hope in many cases that once did not exist.

“I was trained as a doctor in the late 1960s and early-70s and, back then, there were a number of cancers that were just a death sentence,” Gibson said. “Breast cancer was a terrible thing for women but, today, the survival rate for people who are cured and the percentage of people who live longer is remarkable because there’s been improvement in treatment.”

While Gibson said advances in cancer treatment have improved through the years, prevention is still preferred — the new papilloma vaccine for combating cervical cancer; colonoscopies and low fat diets that reduce the likelihood of colon cancer; and smoking cessation to reduce lung cancer.

“Treatments are expensive and make you sicker,” Gibson said. “If dieting, not smoking, getting the vaccination and exercising regularly were implemented by folks, that would make a big difference.”

According to DHEC’s South Carolina Registry, state residents are apparently listening. Deaths due to cancer decreased by 18.2 percent from 1996 through 2005 for all races and genders combined. The total incidence for all cancers decreased by 3.2 percent over the 10-year period.

The five leading types of cancer in the Palmetto State are prostate, lung, breast, colorectal and bladder, while the five leading causes of cancer deaths are lung, colorectal, breast, prostate and pancreatic. A little over half of cancer patients survive for five years. The median survival time is 5.5 years. Survival was highest for white females, 55.8 percent; followed by white males, 50.3; black females, 47.1; and black males, 44.6 percent.

Cancer links

According to Gibson, data shows that South Carolina is very similar to other Southeastern states when it comes to cancer occurrence and that, though there may be different types more prevalent from state to state, the causes are basically the same.

“We know that sunlight is very much related to melanoma, or skin cancer, and we’ve realized that within the last 10 years that a deep, dark tan is not a good thing,” Gibson said. “We suspect that air pollution is related to lung cancer, though not as powerful as cigarettes or tobacco. A lot more research is needed on the environmental aspect.”

Gibson said his office constantly receives calls from communities that run a higher risk of cancer due to manufacturing and chemical plants.

“We have a team that goes out wherever there is an unusual amount of cancer reported,” he said. “They calculate the rate of a particular cancer, based on what we know of the population. Sometimes, when you dig in and get the facts better, it’s usually hard to find a cause. There are environmental causes, such as arsenic, which is found in well water in some countries, and benzene, which can cause leukemia, but an awful lot more needs to be known about it.”

Gibson also notes that gases that are radioactive and leak up from houses, also known as radon, can cause lung cancer, and that there is also uranium in the ground and in groundwater in certain areas.

“There are certain areas of the state where it may be worth having a dwelling tested for radon,” Gibson said.

Giguere said while leukemia and other liquid malignancies have increased among those who work in nuclear power plants, he credits Duke Energy for their screening efforts.

“They have a program by which they have their employees come by yearly to be evaluated for multiple myeloma and plasma type cancers,” he said.

While children in general experience very little lung, colon or breast cancer since they have either not been exposed or their tissue hasn’t developed, Gibson said the cancers that do impact them are extremely bad.

“We see cancers of the nervous system, leukemia and less of an understanding of what causes them,” he said. Other cancers seen in children include Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and brain tumors.

Source: Upstate Today

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More than 1 million people worldwide die every year from lung cancer, and more than 87% of these cases are non-small-cell lung cancer. About 40% of patients have advanced disease at presentation. Historically, standard first-line platinum-based chemotherapy has provided modest improvements in overall survival. However, less than 40% of patients show significant tumour reduction. Therefore, opportunities clearly exist to improve the clinical benefit of first-line treatment for patients before disease progression. In this study, the authors assessed pemetrexed as maintenance therapy as part of first-line treatment—in patients who had received four cycles of platinum-based chemotherapy and not had disease progression.

This randomised phase III study took place in 83 centres in 20 countries. 663 patients with advanced NSCLC who had not progressed on four cycles of platinum-based chemotherapy were randomly assigned (2:1 ratio) to receive pemetrexed (500 mg/m², day 1) plus best supportive care (441 patients) or placebo plus best supportive care (222) in 21-day cycles until disease progression. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival and the secondary endpoint overall survival.

The researchers found that pemetrexed significantly improved progression-free survival (4·3 months vs 2·6 months); and overall survival (13·4 months vs 10·6 months) compared with placebo. Put another way, pemetrexed treatment resulted in a 50% reduction in the risk of disease progression or death; and a 21% reduction in the risk of death only. Treatment discontinuations due to drug-related toxic effects were higher in the pemetrexed group than in the placebo group (21 [5%] vs three [1%]). Drug-related grade three or higher toxic effects were higher with pemetrexed than with placebo (70 [16%] vs nine [4%]; p<0·0001), specifically fatigue (22 [5%] vs one [1%]) and neutropenia (13 [3%] vs 0). No pemetrexed-related deaths occurred. A smaller proportion patients in the pemetrexed group than in the placebo group received systemic post-discontinuation therapy (227 [51%] vs 149 [67%]. Post-discontinuation therapy is treatment at second-line or progression and beyond.

The authors conclude: “Pemetrexed maintenance therapy is well tolerated and offers significantly improved progression-free and overall survival compared with placebo, making it a new treatment option for patients with advanced non-squamous non-small-cell lung cancer who do not progress after initial induction therapy.”

In an accompanying Comment, Dr Thomas Stinchcombe, Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA, and Dr Howard West, Swedish Cancer Institute, Seattle, WA, USA, say that the strategy of using pemetrexed as maintenance therapy ‘merits being considered as a strong option, reflected by the recent approval of pemetrexed in this setting by both the European Medicines Agency and The US Food and Drug Administration.’

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The excavation project is being conducted on the older portion of the golf course and the newer nine holes of the course have remained open to the public.

Cabinet View Country Club Board Chairman Gene Chappell said, “This project is going a lot better than we really thought, because there’s just a whole bunch of stuff when you start tearing a golf course apart, but planning ahead of time, and having the right things in place, it’s really went well and I can’t thank those guys enough, because they’ve really done good.”

Asbestos-related illnesses have been responsible for approximately 400 deaths in Libby thus far. One illness in particular is mesothelioma, a rare cancer that typically develops in the lining of the lungs and causes shortness of breath.

The development of mesothelioma symptoms can take as long as 20 to 50 years after the initial exposure to asbestos occurred. As a result, most mesothelioma patients do not recognize the development of the cancer and are diagnosed during the advanced stages. Residents still living in Libby are encouraged to receive routine medical checkups for early signs of the cancer.

According to Victor Ketellapper, EPA’s Team Leader for the Libby Asbestos Superfund Site, the crews are removing asbestos from underneath the greens and tee boxes. Once the project is complete, the EPA will provide funds to help restore the course to its original condition.

The EPA plans to finish their work this fall and the country club will then begin to modernize the older side of the course. Dann Rohrer, a board member and high school golf coach, said, “We’ll go back starting next week rebuilding the tees and the greens, and the exciting part is that we’ll be able to re-build it to PGA spec type greens, a little newer style greens.”

The $1.8 million excavation project is expected to be completed by spring 2010.

Additional information about mesothelioma may be found through the Mesothelioma Center.

Article source: Asbestos.com

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It may be a small group in a small town, but their plans are big and could potentially save millions of lives.

They are researching, developing and conducting tests that detect cancer in its earliest stages.

“It’s such a motivating cause to work for. In fact, it’s sometimes hard not to work,” said Laura Peek, principal scientist and quality assurance manager.

She works for Oncimmune, a biotechnology company that was founded by Dr. John Robertson at the University of Nottingham in England.

The company opened its U.S. headquarters in 2006 in a temporary location in Lenexa and then moved to De Soto in 2008.

This summer, the company began offering a blood test called EarlyCDT-Lung to help detect lung cancer in asymptomatic patients.

The test is offered at 20 sites, and involves about 100 physicians, in the Midwest and Southeast. Five of the sites are in Kansas — three are in the Kansas City area, one is in Hutchinson and one is in Clay Center.

“The nice thing about this test is that you can detect lung cancer three to five years quicker than finding symptoms from a patient,” said Dr. Chris Ottinger, of Encompass Medical Group in Lenexa, who has been offering the test to his patients. “If you detect it early, you can have it removed surgically and possibly have a cure. You increase your cure rate greatly if you can find it early.”

Here’s how the test works:

• A tumor produces proteins known as antigens.

• Tumor antigens are distinct from antigens produced by normal cells.

• The body’s immune system reacts to selected antigens created by tumors by producing an abundance of antibodies, known as autoantibodies, that freely circulate in the bloodstream.

• EarlyCDT-Lung measures a panel of these autoantibodies from a blood sample. These autoantibodies are the markers that potentially indicate the presence of tumor protein or antigens.

• The presence of one or more of these autoantibodies in the blood sample can provide an earlier indication that a tumor exists.

If a test comes back positive, further testing generally is the next step.

Personal approach

Oncimmune’s U.S. medical director is Dr. William Jewell, who was the first director of the cancer center at Kansas University and has more than 45 years of experience in the cancer field. He calls every doctor who has a patient who gets a positive result using the EarlyCDT-Lung test and works with them on that next step.

“We are very, very personal in how we approach this,” said Greg Stanley, vice president of commercial operations.

So far, the company has done a “few hundred tests” and about 40 tests have been positive.

“We are still working on the outcomes to see the results of those 40 initial positives,” Stanley said.

Ottinger said two of his patients had positive results and they were thankful to know that they needed to take a closer look.

For patients who get a negative result, the test can provide a sense of relief or even an incentive to quit smoking. Early clinical tests indicate that 99 percent of patients with a negative result do not have lung cancer at the time of testing.

The test costs $200 and insurance providers don’t cover it; company leaders are working to change that. The test is covered under some companies’ health-care spending or flex spending accounts.

Ottinger said many patients have been interested in getting the test, but have opted out because of the cost.

“The problem is the economy,” he said. “To be honest, it’s just the cost of paying for anything right now. We would love to have insurance cover it.”

That’s because he thinks it has the potential to save many lives.

Big market

According to the American Cancer Society, about 161,000 people die of lung cancer each year and about 215,000 new cases are diagnosed.

When lung cancer is diagnosed early, survival rate increases about 50 percent, but currently only 16 percent of lung cancer cases are diagnosed early.

The test is recommended for individuals who are smokers, former smokers or have been exposed to secondhand smoke for extended periods of time.

According to ACS, smokers account for nearly 80 percent of lung cancer deaths.

The test also is recommended for people who have been subjected to environmental factors such as asbestos, radon or radioactive substances.

The company has a risk calculator on its Web site — oncimmune.com — that was developed from risk tables created by clinicians at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

During the next six months, Oncimmune will be adding another 75 to 100 sites, and then the hope is to go nationwide.

“We wanted to make sure we took manageable bites as we kicked off the test and we kicked off the company on a commercial basis,” Stanley said.

Such an approach is what hooked Ottinger, and last week he became a medical consultant for the company.

“The more I learned about them, the more I was impressed by the high quality and careful steps that they are taking to produce a high-quality test,” he said. “It’s not a fly-by-night.com-type company. They really are taking an intelligent approach to launching a fantastic idea.”

Lots of work

During the past 15 years, $25 million has been invested into the lung cancer detection test. Samples from more than 80,000 individuals, both with and without cancer, were used in the development and research phase.

“You wait and you wait and you wait and you start seeing the light at the end of tunnel, and finally the light is there,” said Peek, the principal scientist. “It’s just a huge sense of accomplishment.”

The company doesn’t plan to stop at lung cancer. It aims to develop early detection tests for other cancers.

“We are funded by a variety of private institutional and family investors, I would call them angel investors and most of them are out of the U.K.,” Stanley said. “Their drive is they have all been touched by cancer in their life, so there’s a real sense of mission.”

Source: BonnerSprings

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Led by city law firm Bond Pearce, the campaign aims to raise awareness of the deadly asbestos-related lung cancer mesothelioma.

It will push for improvements in research and treatment of the “silent epidemic” as well as changes in the law, which denies patients and families compensation.

Plymouth has been highlighted as a hotspot for the disease, which often affects former dockyard workers as well as other tradesmen.

Local MPs, consultants, nurses, patients and their families met to consider how to tackle problems and inequalities.

Bond Pearce’s campaign is the latest to highlight the issues surrounding asbestos-related diseases.

Others include those launched by local mesothelioma sufferer Debbie Brewer, Plymouth woman Jackie Lowe, whose father died of the disease, trade unions, law firms and media organisations.

Andrew Stinchcombe, head of industrial disease for Bond Pearce, said: “We want to highlight the menace of mesothelioma and the scandalous treatment of many victims of this lethal disease.

“We have represented so many sufferers. Many were denied compensation even though they were faultless.

“We are campaigning for changes in the law to deal with the injustices that the victims of this silent epidemic suffer in the South West and across the country.”

He said the USA put Britian to shame over its treatment of mesothelioma sufferers.

The firm has links with American trust funds which pay compensation to British victims who worked at Devonport dockyard on US Navy warships.

The campaign will also call for a change in a law which denies servicemen compensation, where civilians can claim.

This includes the Crown Proceedings Act 1987 which bars from suing the MoD for compensation before that year.

Bond Pearce say further inequalities lie in a legal ruling which means if exposure was prior to 1965, people are unable to claim for physical injury from domestic exposure to asbestos dust because the industry was said to be unaware of the risks.

Mr Stinchcombe added: “Many other clients with mesothelioma have died without any compensation because former employers responsible for exposing them to asbestos have gone out of business and left no insurance cover. The insurance industry has been urged to help but more still needs to be done.

“The Government could change the law.”

The campaign also focuses on the need for further research in asbestos-related conditions, including mesothelioma.

Justice Secretary Jack Straw this year said he wants to set up a national research centre to study asbestos-related illnesses.

Mr Stinchcombe called for details of how it will operate and who will benefit from the research. In particular he stressed the importance of Plymouth being involved in any national research being performed.

Dr Phil Hughes, Derriford Hospital consultant respiratory physician, also spoke at the campaign meeting.

He explained mesothelioma is an aggressive incurable cancer of the lining of the lung or sometimes abdomen. Sufferers experience progressive pain, breathlessness, weight loss and lethargy.

He said: “The sad news is in the next 10 years we will see a peak, certainly in mesothelioma cases.

“There’s some suggestion the peak will be some time in the next five to 10 years, with 2,400 to 2,500 deaths per year.”

Alison Seabeck, Labour MP for Plymouth Devonport, and Gary Streeter, Tory MP for South West Devon, told the campaign meeting they are willing to discuss how to raise compensation issues in Parliament.

Mr Streeter told Mr Stinchcombe: “We are able and willing but you will have to give us the ammunition.”

Plymouth Sutton MP Linda Gilroy, who sits on an a cross-party group on asbestos-related conditions, told The Herald that the issue was of “great concern” to many of her constituents.

She said: “I welcome a campaign which seeks to put further strength behind it [changes to compensation inequalities]. I’m happy to engage with it again.”

She is currently pushing to overturn a law which denies victims of pleural plaques – asbestos-related scarring of the lungs – compensation.

An MoD spokesperson said: “All claims for compensation are considered thoroughly by the MoD. Where there is a proven legal liability compensation is paid.”

Source: thisisplymouth

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Lung cancer accounts for almost a third of cancer-related deaths, with approximately 1.3 million people dying of the condition worldwide every year. Conventional diagnostic methods for lung cancer are expensive, however, and can sometimes miss tumours.

In recent years, researchers have discovered that one’s breath can harbour all kinds of markers and signals indicative of health status. Most recently, gas chromatography and mass spectrometry have been used to reveal volatile organic compounds in the breath of patients with lung cancer that are at much lower concentrations in healthy breath.

Now, Gang Peng, Ulrike Tisch, Orna Adams, Meggie Hakim, Nisrean Shehada, Yoav Broza, Salem Billan, Roxolyana Abdah-Bortnyak, Abraham Kuten, and Hossam Haick of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, in Haifa, Israel, and colleagues are developing a device that could be relatively inexpensive, portable and amenable to widespread use in hospitals. Haick’s system requires no pre-treatment of dehumidification of the breath prior to analysis.

The team have built a nine-sensor array consisting of gold nanoparticles that have been functionalized with different organic groups to respond to various volatile organic compounds present in the breath of lung cancer patients. The system can detect compounds that normally appear at levels of 1 to 20 parts per billion in healthy individuals but are elevated to levels between 10 and 100 ppb in lung cancer patients.

Initially, the team used solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry to identify 42 volatile organic compounds that represent lung cancer biomarkers. They selected four of these to train and optimize the sensor array and demonstrated good agreement between patient and simulated breath samples using principal component analysis (PCA).

The team simulated healthy and cancerous breath made from artificial mixtures of volatile organics and tested them using their sensor array. The two breath types were clearly distinguishable using pattern recognition technology, and the results correspond well with those gathered in experiments using actual human breath. The team collected breath samples from 56 healthy volunteers and 40 lung cancer patients prior to chemotherapy, aged 28 to 60 years to validate their sensor.

The compounds detected are mostly straight chain and methylated alkanes containing between 4 and 11 carbon atoms, such as 4-methyl-octane and 2,3-dimethylhexane, as well as certain derivatives of benzene, including butylated hydroxytoluene. “The compounds that were observed in both healthy breath and lung cancer breath were presented not only at different concentrations but also in distinctively different mixture compositions,” the team points out, “The higher concentration and lower concentration in lung cancer breath compared with healthy breath can be understood, respectively, in terms of the release of certain VOCs and the consumption of other VOCs by the lung cancer cells,” they explain.

The team also points out that they observed 33 lung cancer biomarker VOCs compared with the 22 cited in earlier reports using GC-MS, which they explain may be due to the pre-concentration method used. However, further stepwise discriminant analysis also revealed nine uncommon VOCs that were present in the breath of at least 83% of the patients but not among most healthy subjects.

The researchers also emphasise that the PCA of the healthy control group showed that the results from the gold nanoparticle sensors were not affected by subject gender, age or smoking habits, which is important if such a diagnostic system is to be able to discriminate between healthy and cancerous breath quickly and easily. They add that experiments with a wider population of volunteers is underway that will take into account diet, alcohol consumption, metabolic state and genetics.

“Our results show that sensors based on gold nanoparticles could form the basis of an inexpensive and non-invasive diagnostic tool for lung cancer,” the researchers conclude.

Article by: David Bradley

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