LungBlog

Warsaw (dpa) - Poland’s Minister of Health Zbigniew Religa underwent emergency surgery Thursday after it was discovered he was suffering from lung cancer.

When close friend Adam Reid was diagnosed with both lung and throat cancer, Richard Ralph was shocked.

How could Reid, just 26 years of age, physically active and a non-smoker, contract not just one serious type of cancer but two?

Ralph, who’s 27, began to think about what he could do. What he decided after considering his options was to rollerblade across Canada, telling his story and gathering contributions.

Near the top of Pfizer’s experimental oncology pipeline is axitinib, which is being studied in cancers of the breast, thyroid and lung. Data from mid-stage trials of axitinib in these tumor types will be presented at ASCO, and Pfizer expects to begin late-stage studies later this year. A mid-stage study of axitinib in thyroid cancer will be presented Saturday.

THOUSANDS of people in Coventry could get early lung cancer detection, thanks to a pioneering move by the city’s superhospital.

Coventry will be one of only four centres in the world where tests for symptoms of the killer disease will be available.

At the moment there are no screening programmes for lung cancer in the UK.

After Linda Linker of Carol Stream was diagnosed with a life threatening disease, her 10-year-old nephew was destined to help find a cure for one of the nation’s biggest killers. 

Howard Switalla, along with his two cousins, are entering the 2007 Lake Tour Bike Trek as a team called “Linda’s Pedal Pushers” to honor their aunt, who is currently battling lung cancer despite the fact that she never smoked a day in her life.

Abraxis BioScience, Inc, an integrated, global biopharmaceutical company, today announced that multiple studies of ABRAXANE(R) for Injectable Suspension (paclitaxel protein-bound particles for injectable suspension) (albumin bound) will be presented at the 43rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Chicago, June 1-5, 2007. Data will be presented from studies which highlight the potential utility of ABRAXANE (ABI-007) as a single-agent and in combination for the treatment of breast, lung and ovarian cancers.

The number of women dying of lung cancer has gone up five-fold since 1970 and they are likely to die at a younger age than men, the national statistics office CBS said on Wednesday. Last year, some 9,400 people died of lung cancer in the Netherlands, accounting for some 7% of total deaths.

A WOMAN whose husband is battling cancer is to attend a hearing on a drug which could prolong his life.
Jimmy and Deanne Jenkyns Jimmy Jenkyns, 54, of South Shields, was diagnosed with lung cancer last year and his oncologist recommended Tarceva.

HIV-positive individuals have a significantly increased risk of dying of lung cancer, and this increased risk of death is independent of smoking, according to US research published in the July 1^st edition of Clinical Infectious Diseases. The investigators point to evidence that pre-existing lung diseases, including non-infectious ones, such as asthma, may be a possible explanation of their finding.

Decision Resources, one of the world’s leading research and advisory firms focusing on pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, forecasts that the non-small-cell lung cancer drug market in China will reach $640 million in 2011. According to the new Emerging Markets report entitled Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer in China, the emergence of novel monoclonal antibodies - most notably Genentech/Roche’s Avastin and ImClone/Merck KGaA’s Erbitux - will drive growth. Avastin will be the market leader in China by 2011. Deeper market penetration of recently available small-molecule epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitors (AstraZeneca’s Iressa and Genentech/Roche’s Tarceva) will also add to the growth.