Kidney problems are the second serious condition linked to the cancer drug. Last year it was found that some patients on Avastin were at elevated risk of intestinal perforations.

A widely prescribed cancer drug noted for its ability to choke off blood vessels that help tumors grow can cause significant kidney damage in some patients, a team of Long Island scientists has found.

Kidney problems are the second serious condition linked to Avastin and pinpointed in research conducted by Dr. Shenghong Wu and colleagues at Stony Brook University Medical Center. Last year Wu and his team found some patients on the drug were at elevated risk of intestinal perforations.

Patients newly diagnosed with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who received gefitinib (Iressa) had significantly higher response rates and longer progression-free survival compared with patients who received carboplatin plus paclitaxel (73.7 percent versus 30.7 percent and 10.8 months versus 5.4 months, respectively), according to results of a phase III trial conducted in Japan. The results were published in the June 24 New England Journal of Medicine.

All patients enrolled in the study had epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations that were sensitive to the tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) gefitinib. The patients did not have the resistant EGFR mutation T790M, and they had not been previously treated with chemotherapy.

The researchers, led by Dr. Makoto Maemondo of the Miyagi Cancer Center in Miyagi, Japan, believe that this study establishes the clinical benefit of an EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor as first-line therapy in patients with NSCLC and sensitive EGFR mutations.“If gefitinib is administered as second-line or third-line treatment,” he and his colleagues wrote, “patients may miss the opportunity to receive treatment because of rapidly progressive disease during or after first-line treatment.”

Smoking is such a well-known cause of lung cancer that many don’t realize thousands who never smoked get the diagnosis. The great majority are women. Recent research shows it’s really a different disease than smoking-related lung cancer. But those with the diagnosis say they suffer the same stigma.

RENEE MONTAGNE, host:

And here’s something else to consider: sometimes breathing problems signal some very serious and unexpected health problems. That’s certainly the case with lung cancer in people who have never smoked.

NPR’s Richard Knox has this story.

RICHARD KNOX: Jo Costello(ph) is 21. She’s a senior at UC Berkeley. She’s a member of the crew team. She never touched a cigarette, but she just got diagnosed with lung cancer.

Ms. JILL COSTELLO (Senior, UC Berkeley): I got back from national championships on June 1st, and then went to the trainer later that week with, like, abdominal bloating and just discomfort.

Some retail news and notes out of southern Mecklenburg, northern York and Union counties:

Lung cancer survivor Anne Lynn and Cold Stone Creamery are teaming up again for another “Anne’s Booty Creation” flavor to support Lynn’s team at the 24 Hours of Booty charity cycling event. The flavor kickoff celebration is Thursday, 7 p.m., at the store’s Blakeney location, 9820 Rea Road. All proceeds from the sale of “Anne’s Booty Creation,” which includes chocolate ice cream mixed with Butterfingers, whipped cream, and topped with hot fudge – will be donated to the cycling event on behalf of Lynn’s team, Anne’s Pool Crew.

Jill Costello, the coxswain for the Cal women’s crew, died at UCSF Medical Center on Thursday after a yearlong battle with lung cancer during which she helped take the Bears close to a national championship. She was 22.

Ms. Costello, who attended St. Ignatius Prep in San Francisco, was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer, the most advanced form of the disease, shortly after the 2009 season ended. Despite 20 rounds of chemotherapy and 14 radiation treatments, she continued to compete on Cal’s top boat – its varsity 8 – which placed fourth in the NCAA Championships on May 30 at Lake Natoma near Sacramento.

Jill Costello, a coxswain on the Golden Bear women’s crew team, passed away Thursday, ending her year-long battle against stage IV lung cancer. Last month, Costello was named Pac-10 Women’s Rowing Athlete of the Year and graduated with a degree in political science after making the Pac-10 All-Academic second team.

A San Francisco, Calif., native, Costello was diagnosed with the illness on June 6, 2009. Despite battling the disease throughout the 2010 season, she continued to train and compete with the Bears. Costello coxed the varsity eight crew for the first time in her career at the Pac-10 Championships, leading the team to a close victory over Stanford and clinching the Pac-10 title for the Bears.

Costello was not only an inspiration for her teammates, but to other athletes at Cal and across the Conference. The Golden Bear men’s crew team wore ribbons in honor of Costello as they competed at the IRA Championships earlier this month. At the Big Row against rival Stanford, the Bears competed as “Team Jill,” and along with the Cardinal crew team, wore uniforms and used oars adorned in Costello’s favorite colors of navy and aquamarine green.

Jill Costello, a star on the Cal women’s crew squad and recent graduate, died Thursday morning, ending her year-long battle with lung cancer. She was 22.

Costello, the crew’s coxswain, was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer last June – which spread to her liver, breast and bones – though she remained part of the team throughout this past season. She had been admitted into the emergency room at the UCSF Medical Center Sunday night after her condition worsened.

Jill Costello ’06, a recent Cal graduate and a decorated athlete, died June 24 after a yearlong battle against stage IV lung cancer. She was 22.

Up until the end, she worked to raise money and awareness to combat the disease. Her courage, passion and love for others inspired not only her family but also thousands of friends at SI and Cal and even acquaintances at rival universities.

They also found an unexpectedly high number of these jumping genes, known as transposons, in lung tumors and said they may hold clues to the highly deadly cancer.

“We found that if you have a child, the child could have one or more new copies of these transposons that you don’t have,” Scott Devine of the University of Maryland School of Medicine said in a statement.

“From these findings, we predict that there is going to be more variation in human genomes than scientists first believed,” added Devine, who led the research while at Emory University in Atlanta.

Jill Costello, a California coxswain on the Golden Bear women’s crew, passed away on Thursday, ending her year-long battle against lung cancer. Last month, Costello was named the Pac-10 Athlete of the Year and she graduated with a degree in political economy after making the Pac-10 All-Academic second team.

“Jill was a wonderful person in every way, and we were blessed to have had her in our lives,” head coach Dave O’Neill said. “Back when Jill was diagnosed, she wrote, ‘Life is all about how we handle the challenges we are given.’ Jill faced this challenge with absolute courage, grace and dignity, and was an inspiration for so many people, especially our team. As much as everyone tried to lend a hand, Jill was the one inspiring all of us. The core of `Team Jill’ was her parents, Mary and Jim, and aunt, Kathy. Our hearts go out to them.”