LungBlog

An experimental process that snags lung cancer cells from a blood sample could give doctors real-time feedback on the most effective therapy, researchers reported on Wednesday.Dr. Daniel Haber of the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center and Harvard Medical School and colleagues were able to extract blood-borne cancer cells from 27 volunteers with non-small-cell lung cancer that had spread.

A new blood test can detect changes in cancer cells, which will help doctors determine if a patient’s treatment is working.

Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston have found that placing just a teaspoon of blood on a device called a CTC-chip, is enough for scientists to view tumour cells circulating in the bloodstream. The cells can be counted to determine if a patient’s drug therapy is working, and can be observed for mutations.

New technique makes it possible to identify genetic fingerprint of lung cancer cells. Circulating tumor cells (CTC) will help doctors to identify cancer cell mutations, choose targeted therapies for each patient individually, track cancer cell changes during treatment and change it if necessary.

A new large-scale study has provided more strong evidence linking the consumption of red and processed meats to an increased risk of cancer.

Peregrine Pharmaceuticals has initiated patient screening and dosing in a Phase II trial designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of bavituximab in combination with chemotherapy in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

Cancer clinicians should understand and consider the economic impact of new interventions, which often have substantial costs, according to a new report. The report says health care budget constraints have made it necessary for clinicians to be aware of the relative costs and benefits of new interventions used in cancer screening, diagnosis, treatment, and support services for patients.

Even without being able to get the newest cancer drugs, Macbeth says he can still give hope to his patients. Cancer can be unpredictable, and patients can unexpectedly do well. Macbeth says he’s got other drugs to give, and a physician’s role is larger than providing drugs.

“I think there’s a huge role that we have which is beyond just giving treatment,” he says. “It’s about managing their pain, managing their symptoms, managing them psychologically, and managing their family as well.”

Smokeless tobacco products (STPs), which include products such as snuff and chew tobacco, do increase the user’s risk of cancer — just not as much as smoking does.

Scientists say cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins may protect against the development of lung cancer.  In a study appearing this month in the journal Chest, researchers report that statin use of six or more months was associated with a 55 percent reduction in risk for lung cancer. Risk dropped for all age groups—regardless of race, smoking status or body-mass index. The study is significant because it involved a very large group. Researchers from Louisana State University and the Overton Brooks V.A. Medical Center in Shreveport, La., studied more than 480,000 patients enrolled in the Veterans Administration Health Care System over a six-year period. Lung cancer is the most lethal form of the disease in the United States.

In an article published in The Lancet today, the researchers also said that although a reduction in lung cancer as a result of such policies is plausible, evidence to support such a health benefit will only become apparent in the future.