Smoking Increases Risk of Stroke in China

A multinational study of the effects of smoking cigarettes on the people of China has led to the alarming conclusion that smokers face serious risk of stroke, with the risk increasing the longer and heavier a person smokes. Read more

Vitamin E Supplements Linked to Lung Cancer

According to a study published in the March issue of the American Thoracic Society’s American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, vitamin E can increase the risk of developing lung cancer. The study used data on 77,126 men and women between the ages 50 and 76 from the Washington State Vitamins and Lifestyle study, examining their rate of lung cancer over four years. Read more

Insurance Status Related to Cancer Survival

A study released this week by the American Cancer Society outlined disturbing differences in survival rates among insured versus uninsured patients. The study, which appears in the March issue of The Lancet Oncology, is the first to use national data to investigate insurance status and stage of diagnosis for a large number of cancer sites. Read more

Blood Test May Help Diagnose Lung Cancer

Med Headlines - Recent study done by Duke University Medical Center suggests that a blood test may may be useful in detecting lung cancer. The test measures the levels of four markers in the blood, CEA, RBP, SCC and AAT.

The study compared the levels of the four markers in the blood of 100 patients diagnosed with cancer and 100 controls. While all four proteins have been associated with lung cancer, none of them is of diagnostic value if measured separately. However, if analyzed in combination, they are 80% accurate, according to the study.

More studies need to be done to fully evaluate the potential test. However, if it proves to be accurate, it may one day replace more invasive follow-up tests currently available.

“CT scans have a very high false positive rate when trying to discover lung cancer,” said Edward Patz, Jr., M.D., a radiologist at Duke and lead investigator on the study. “What that leads to is several follow-up imaging studies or invasive procedures like biopsy, which have risks of their own. This study is the first step in developing a test that would allow us to sample a patient’s blood and determine whether more invasive testing and treatment are necessary.”

The study was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

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