Lung Cancer

NEW YORK-More than 6,000 nuclear fuel workers in three gaseous diffusion plants will be screened for lung cancer using single-slice helical low-dose CT scans in a project funded by the US Department of Energy, said the program’s medical director, Albert Miller, MD, Center for Biology of Natural Systems, Queens College, City University of New York.

NASHVILLE, Tennessee-The failure of current chemotherapy to make much of an impact on lung cancer mortality makes the need for more effective chemotherapy obvious and data on active new agents was presented at the Vanderbilt University Symposium by Alan Sandler, MD.

CLEVELAND-Tinkering with NFkB has little effect on the activity of topoisomerase poisons in non-small cell-lung cancer (NSCLC), but proteasome inhibitors can increase the efficacy of drugs such as irinotecan and etoposide. Information on proteasome inhibitors was presented at the Vanderbilt University Symposium by Ram Ganapathi, MD, staff scientist at the Cleveland Clinic’s Taussig Cancer Center.

NEW YORK-Leaders of the Early Lung Cancer Action Project (ELCAP) outlined their goals and the screening protocol that has evolved over the past 2 years at the 4th International Conference on Screening for Lung Cancer.

I read with dismay statements made by and attributed to Winfield Boerckel, CSW, a Cancer Care, Inc. information support systems coordinator and a lung cancer support group facilitator, in the March 2001

NEW YORK-Median survival has pushed past 18 months in a trial of concurrent low-dose gemcitabine (Gemzar) and radiation therapy in highly selected patients with stage III non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to a report at the Chemotherapy Foundation Symposium XVIII.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida-The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) 2001 guideline for non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) now calls for a "multidisciplinary evaluation" of patients with NSCLC as the standard of care.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida-Modifications in the National Comprehensive Cancer Network’s (NCCN) 2001 guideline for small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) include changes in surgical management of SCLC and carcinoid tumors, as well as treatment modifications involving the timing and dose of chest radiotherapy, use of prophylactic cranial irradiation, and additional drugs available for relapsed patients.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide, with mortality rates in most developed countries ranging from 35 to 95 fatalities per 100,000 in men and 10 to 20 deaths per 100,000 in women.[1] Non-small-cell lung cancer is the most

A wealth of data indicates that certain genetic abnormalities can target specific cytotoxic drugs and intervene at an early step as a mechanism of resistance in the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer. Therefore prescribing

Current agents for the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer include gemcitabine (Gemzar), paclitaxel (Taxol), docetaxel (Taxotere), vinorelbine (Navelbine), and irinotecan (CPT-11, Camptosar). Experimental agents include

Gemcitabine (Gemzar), paclitaxel (Taxol), docetaxel (Taxotere), and vinorelbine (Navelbine) are among the most active agents for the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer and are generally more active than platinum

Platinum-based chemotherapy regimens have been the mainstay of treatment for non-small-cell lung cancer because they improve survival. Although there is no standard platinum-based regimen, combination regimens with

Combinations of gemcitabine (Gemzar) with cisplatin (Platinol) are among the most active new chemotherapy regimens developed for advanced non-small-cell lung cancer. Carboplatin (Paraplatin) is a platinum analog

One of the main reasons for the increased acceptance of chemotherapy for both early and advanced non-small-cell lung cancer is the clinical availability of several new cytotoxic drugs. These less toxic, yet highly effective, new

A number of randomized clinical trials now support the conclusion that the combined-modality regimen that includes gemcitabine (Gemzar) and cisplatin (Platinol) may improve survival in disseminated non-small-cell lung

Gemcitabine has demonstrated activity in a broad range of solid tumors with good tolerance. In combined modality therapy, gemcitabine has achieved response rates ranging between 30% and 60% in patients with non-small-cell

At a recent meeting of the National Cancer Institute, the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer, and the American Association for Cancer Research in Amsterdam, results from a phase I/II clinical trial were presented that

NEW YORK-Shortness of breath, pain, and fatigue are among the most common symptoms in patients with advanced lung cancer. An oncology nurse whose practice is exclusively patients with thoracic malignancies discussed the management of symptoms and side effects of lung cancer and the importance of assessment in this setting at a Cancer Care, Inc. teleconference for health care professionals.

Lung cancer is the number one cause of cancer death for both men and women in the United States. In the year 2001, it is

An estimated 157,000 patients died of lung cancer in the United States in the year 2000.[1] Although surgery can be curative, only about 20% of patients are amenable to complete surgical resection. Most of the other patients are treated with radiation

TOKYO, Japan-Amrubicin (SM-5887), a completely synthetic anthra-cycline, is "highly active" and well tolerated in small-cell lung cancer (SCLC), Shunichi Negoro, MD, of the Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Osaka City General Hospital, Japan, said at the 9th World Conference on Lung Cancer.

Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of lung and bronchus cancer. During 1988-1997, per capita cigarette smoking in California declined more than twice as rapidly as it did in the rest of the country. To characterize lung cancer incidence in

A new study presented at the Ninth World Congress on Lung Cancer demonstrated that topotecan (Hycamtin) in combination with carboplatin (Paraplatin) is active as a first-line treatment of advanced non-small-cell lung cancer. Topotecan

The administration of docetaxel (Taxotere) immediately after conventional chemotherapy with cisplatin (Platinol)/etoposide and radiotherapy results in prolonged survival in patients with stage IIIB non-small-cell lung cancer, reported researchers from

CHICAGO-Although concomitant platinum-based systemic chemotherapy and thoracic radiotherapy have yielded the best short-term survival rates for patients with limited-stage small-cell lung cancer (SCLC), this approach produces few long-term survivors because local failure and distant metastasis are common.

NEW YORK-Interim results from an ongoing study of limited resections for some stage IA lung cancers are encouraging, a Japanese surgeon reported at the 3rd International Conference on Screening for Lung Cancer.

The combination of docetaxel (Taxotere) and gemcitabine (Gemzar) is active as first-line therapy for advanced, metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer and appears to be generally well tolerated, according to the results of a phase II study published in

NEW YORK-A program to screen for lung cancer that was remarkably successful in recruiting participants has produced some surprises and taught the investigators some lessons about what to expect from large-scale lung cancer screening.

In an era of information "overload" for the practicing oncologist, keeping up with the latest therapies for the many distinct clinical scenarios that arise in daily practice can be quite a challenge. Thus, a concise synthesis of the current knowledge in a field, such as provided in Lung Cancer Therapy Annual 2000 by Drs. Heine Hansen and Paul Bunn, can be quite useful. These authors, whose clinical expertise and contributions to lung cancer therapy are internationally acknowledged, offer a complete review of the literature pertaining to lung cancer therapy from the year 1999, including a review of abstracts from major meetings. A brief summary is provided at the end, outlining standard, accepted strategies based on histologic and stage-by-stage criteria. This text serves as a reference that summarizes the major existing literature, evaluates the strength of the evidence, and makes reasonable recommendations on how to proceed with clinical care.