Stand Up To Cancer

Last week's big news, as you'll recall, was that cancer incidence and mortality are both on the decline in the US. This week's big news is a little more sobering. Global health experts now anticipate that cancer will surpass heart disease as the number one killer of people worldwide by 2010. "The global cancer burden doubled in the last 30 years of the 20th century, and it is estimated that this will double again between 2000 and 2020 and nearly triple by 2030," says a new WHO report. What's the primary culprit? You guessed it: smoking.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081209/ts_nm/us_cancer_world_5

Speaking of the worldwide cancer epidemic, there's big trouble in little China, where the provincial village of Liukuaizhuang, overrun by factories making rubber, chemical and paints, now has a cancer diagnosis rate of one in fifty. One spokesman for the county says the problem has been exaggerated and there is not yet an answer as to whether the heavy industrial presence is causing the epidemic, but environmentalists beg to differ. "Pollutants including heavy metals like mercury and lead have already got into the food chain and all these chemicals will affect the normal function of cells," said one.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081211/wl_nm/us_china_reforms_cancer_3

New research on the lifestyles of pediatric cancer survivors confirms what most already knew: that childhood cancer survivors experience more depression and anxiety in their adolescent years than other teenagers and may even experience problems with cognitive abilities thanks to radiation and chemotherapy.
http://www.newsday.com/news/health/ny-health-cancer1202,0,6194905.story

Meanwhile, a coalition of pediatric cancer physicians and researchers is calling for the implementation of a global evaluation system for neuroblastoma, one of the most common childhood cancers. Because research criteria haven't been standardized in the past, it is exceedingly difficult to compare clinical trial results and determine the best treatment strategies. Researchers hope their new classification system will change all that. "By working together, physicians will be able to ask questions about treatment approaches that would otherwise not be possible to ask in a single cooperative group or country because of the small numbers of patients," said task force co-chair Susan Cohn.
http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/547208/

Here's some disturbing news. New research suggests that Clomid, one of the most common fertility drugs used today, could cause uterine cancer. The study followed women who've had fertility treatment for 30 years, looking at their lifetime risk of developing various cancers, and found a much higher occurrence of uterine cancer. But previous studies have not found a similar link, so experts that more research be done.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/12/11/earlyshow/health/main4661991.shtml

Finally, I loved the story of these six women's cancer doctors who've formed a band called N.E.D.--"No Evidence of Disease." Songs with titles like "Rhythm Heals" and "False Pretenses" aim to both inspire and educate patients. Though the oncologists earned their medical degrees over the course of eleven years, on average, it only took a few months for them to land a record deal. You can look for their album in November of next year.
http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/health/2008/12/07/2008-12-07_all_hail_the_rock_docs.html

That's all I've got for you this week, but check in next Thursday for more!

--Cat