LungBlog

On Monday, Aug. 18, a state-of-the art surgery was performed at Community Medical Center (CMC) in Scranton.

Surgeons Dr. Russell Stahl and Dr. Brian Mott performed VATS - video-assisted thoracic surgery.

Their patient had a suspicious mass in his right lung. Drs. Stahl and Mott were to remove the mass for biopsy and - if cancer was found - to remove a lobe of the lung in hopes of a effecting a cure.

VATS for lobe removal is a new technique and Drs. Stahl and Mott are among the few surgeons in NEPA currently offering it. Dr. Mark R. Katlic also performs VATS lobectomies at Geisinger Wyoming Valley.

The biggest barrier to screening is patient fear and lack of understanding the value of screening, rather than cost,” says Samuel M. Lesko, M.D., MPH, director of research and medical director at the Northeast Regional Cancer Institute (NRCI), Scranton.”I don’t think cost is the primary barrier, at least for the insurance patient, the barrier is being afraid of the test itself, that it’s going to be uncomfortable - maybe even fear that they have a serious disease.Those seem to be more important barriers, as is - maybe for a few - the belief that screening doesn’t work. Perhaps people are not even aware of the option or the availability of screening tests.”

St. Joseph-St. Elizabeth School Principal Lois Widner began volunteering her students five years ago in memory of her parents.

Both of Widner’s parents died of lung cancer. So when she assumed the role of principal at St. Joseph-St. Elizabeth, Widner volunteered her students to help at Kroger Scott’s Cancer Day and continued that effort Wednesday.

To get convince the UK’s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence to pay for its lung cancer treatment, Roche had to cut the price by about $1,000 in order to bring the cost more in line with Taxotere, an older medication sold by Sanofi-Aventis, Dow Jones tells us.

Genentech Inc. and OSI Pharmaceuticals Inc. said Monday a combination of two cancer drugs missed its primary goal in a clinical trial, failing to improve survival for patients with lung cancer.

Improved survival following cancer treatments has heightened the need for developing better understanding of the issues surrounding cancer survivorship and quality of life. The majority of previous studies on suicide and depression have focused on terminally ill patients, with little work undertaken into broader cancer populations, including patients likely to be long term survivors.

Shares of Genentech Inc. and OSI Pharmaceuticals fell Monday after the companies reported disappointing results from a study that tested Genentech’s top-selling oncology drug Avastin with OSI’s Tarceva in the treatment of advanced lung cancer.

Patients suffering from “unfashionable” cancers are being neglected by scientists in spite of record spending on cancer research, according to a new report by the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI).

Some of the deadliest cancers, such as those affecting the lung and pancreas, get the least amount of public money, while five cancers with some of the best survival rates, including breast and leukaemia, receive nearly two-thirds of the money.

When Dawn Stevens read last Sunday’s Post-Tribune, she broke down in tears.The Schererville woman was drawn to a special Post-Tribune report, “State of Lung Cancer,” which ran on Sunday, Sept. 28, and Monday, Sept. 29.

The series explored reasons why Indiana has higher lung cancer rates compared with the national average — about 26 percent higher as of 2005. It also profiles four people from Northwest Indiana dealing with lung cancer.

It’s in the Air”, in our water, in our food, and almost everywhere, environmental factors that increase our risk for cancer, that is.The news isn’t all bad, there are ways that we can reduce our risk, and this week we’ll take a look at some of these ways. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, so let’s continue our discussion about preventing disease including cancer.