Sandy Hutchens Cancer Prevention

Researchers from the University of Michigan have reported that women at high-risk of breast cancer understand the risks and benefits of tamoxifen [Nolvadex®] prevention, but only 6% choose to take it. The details of this study were published in an early online publication in Breast Cancer Research on November 12, 2009.

Several large clinical trials have shown that tamoxifen can decrease the risk of breast cancer in high-risk women. There are, however, two issues that have prevented widespread use of tamoxifen for breast cancer prevention:

* Who is at risk? The definition of who is high risk is problematic and differs from trial to trial. Generally, high risk includes women with a family history of breast cancer, early menarche, later or no childbirth, or previous breast biopsy, even if negative.

* What are the side effects? In one study, it was found that less than one in five women at high risk would take tamoxifen due to their fears of side effects and the fact that they assumed they were at relatively low risk for developing breast cancer.

Two reports in the February 21, 2007 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute document that tamoxifen can prevent hormone-positive breast cancer in women at high risk.

Researchers affiliated with the Royal Marsden Randomized, Double-Blinded Tamoxifen Breast Cancer Prevention Trial reported 20-year follow-up data. This trial randomly allocated 2,494 women at high risk of developing breast cancer to receive tamoxifen or placebo for eight years. A total of 82 women in the tamoxifen group and 104 in the placebo group developed invasive breast cancer. Researchers affiliated with the first International Breast Cancer Intervention Study (IBIS-I) reported that the breast cancer preventative effects of tamoxifen persist for at least 10 years after a five-year treatment period. This trial randomly allocated 7,145 women at increased risk for developing breast cancer to receive five years of tamoxifen or placebo. With a 96-month follow-up, there were 142 breast cancers in the tamoxifen group and 195 in the placebo group. They observed a preventive effect during the entire period of observation. The main side effects were an increased risk of deep-vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism during but not after tamoxifen treatment. The estimated risk for developing estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer was 34% lower in the tamoxifen group.

The authors of the present trial sought to determine why few women with increased risk of breast cancer use tamoxifen for chemoprevention. They evaluated 632 women with an average 2.56% risk of developing breast cancer within five years. These women were presented with a tailored decision aid concerning the effectiveness of chemoprevention with tamoxifen and the known side effects. After reviewing the decision aid, 29% of women said they would seek more information from their own physician, and 6% said they would agree to take tamoxifen. These researchers thought that these women had adequate knowledge to make a decision. The stated: “Participants were concerned about the risks of tamoxifen, and many believed that the benefits of tamoxifen did not outweigh the risks.”

Discovering Key to Tamoxifen’s Effectiveness in Treating Breast Cancer may Mean New Treatments

Less cash is spent on lung cancer research every year than on other cancers.Three years ago, the National Cancer Institute figured that it spent only it spent only $1,500 per lung cancer death compared to $14,000 for each breast cancer death, $11,000 for each prostate cancer death, and $5,000 for each colon or rectal cancer. Lung cancer may not be as high profile in terms of funding, but it is extremely dangerous, and should be treated as such.

Signs and Symptoms: An individual experiencing lung cancer, will experience shortness of breath, chronic coughing up blood, wheezing similar to asthma or bronchitis, pain in the chest, severe tiredness, losing weight, hoarse throat, or swallowing impediments.

Causes: The main causes of lung cancer are carcinogens, radiation, and viruses.

Smoking – Cigarettes contain at least fifty carcinogens,released whenever an individual inhales. Obviously not everyone who smokes will get lung cancer. However the risk becomes much higher. The scariest discovery is that people can acquire lung cancer from overexposure to cigarettes. Currently, over 10% of people with lung cancer haven’t even smoked a cigarette.

Radon Gas – The US Environmental Protection Agency, estimates that one in 15 homes have radon levels above the recommended levels. This invisible gas cannot be smelled and is created through the breakdown of radioactive radium or uranium.

Asbestos – This is a carcinogen that can cause many types of cancers. Only 3% of deaths from lung cancer are caused by asbestos, yet it is a very dangerous material.

Treatments: Patients having lung cancer have many treatment options. If the cancer is found earlier, surgery can be tried to remove the tumor. However, if the cancer has metastasized, the patient can get chemotherapy. With these two types of treatment, scientists and doctors have developed adjuvant chemotherapy, radiotherapy, interventional radiology, and targeted therapy.

2009 Uniting Against Lung Cancer Video

Racial and ethnic differences in cancer survival are greatest for cancers that can be more easily detected and treated. including breast and prostate cancer, according to a study by researchers at Columbia University. These differences are small with cancers that are harder to detect and treat such as pancreatic and lung cancer.

The findings, published in the October 2009 issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers, and Prevention, highlight the need to develop specific health policies and interventions to address social disparities.

Although prior studies have focused on factors that contribute to disparities in specific cancers, the Mailman School researchers’ goal in this study was to understand why racial/ethnic disparities emerge in some cancers but not others. The study used data from more than 580,000 cancer cases in the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) registries to compare racial/ethnic differences in survival across a spectrum of cancers, classified according to their five-year relative survival rates as a measure of how amenable each cancer is to medical interventions. The authors hypothesized that racial/ethnic disparities increase as medical interventions improve overall survival because individuals with more socioeconomic resources are in a better position to exploit medical advances to protect their health.

The results found that, as compared with whites, substantial survival disparities existed in more treatable cancers in African-Americans, American Indians/Alaska Natives, Hispanics, and several subgroups of the Asian/Pacific Islander population.