Stand Up To Cancer

The National Cancer Institute's annual report is out, and there's some good news just in time for the holiday season. Rates of new cancer diagnoses and deaths for both men and women in the US have fallen - for the first time since reporting began in 1998. The most common cancers in both genders have seen drops in both incidence and mortality, including colorectal, prostate and breast. But lung cancer incidence and mortality is still on the rise in 18 states - mostly those that have yet to pass anti-smoking laws.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/11/25/cancer.deaths.decline/index.html

This NY Times editorial the NCI report helps break down the data, highlighting both the encouraging decline in death rates and a few disturbing countertrends. "If the decline means that fewer people are contracting cancer, then that is great news," says the piece. "But if it simply means that fewer cases are being diagnosed because fewer people are getting screened for breast and prostate cancer or can afford to visit a doctor, then that is bad news."
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/03/opinion/03wed3.html

Elsewhere, the Grey Lady reports on new research showing that some cancers may just go away on their own. This phenomenon has been observed rarely in melanomas, kidney cancers and neuroblastoma, but a new Norwegian study indicates that even invasive cancers can disappear on their own. However, the ACS warns that this information should be taken with a grain of salt. "Their simplification of a complicated issue is both overreaching and alarming," said the ACS' director of breast cancer screening.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/25/health/25breast.html?_r=2&em&oref=slogin

SU2C friend Patrick Swayze is speaking out against some reports that his pancreatic cancer has spread. Hard at work on a new series called "The Beast," Swayze says he's still winning the fight against the often fatal disease: "Pancreatic cancer is an aggressive disease and from the moment I was diagnosed, I knew I was in for the fight of my life. It's a battle, and so far, I've been winning. I'm one of the lucky few that responds well to treatment."
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,460527,00.html

A fresh round of research indicates that the cervical cancer vaccine is indeed safe and well-tolerated by the vast majority of young women. A new Australian study looked at data resulting from over 380,000 doses of Gardasil and found that only 35 of the girls experienced "hypersensitivity" reactions and seventeen of those tolerated further doses very well.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/04/AR2008120402156.html

Here's a great Washington Post piece on breast cancer "previvors," women like Christina Applegate who undergo prophylactic mastectomies in order to better their odds of beating the disease. "The previvor is the patient that takes action against this and tries to counter this by having the operation before the cells start acting," says Dr. Ricardo Meade, a reconstructive surgeon. "She is potentially avoiding chemotherapy and radiation therapy, and those are two of the hardest things that a human has to go through."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/03/AR2008120300958.html

Finally, this week brings the news that Olympian Eric Shanteau is back in the pool after undergoing surgery to remove testicular cancer. "I don't condone putting off surgery," he said in reference to his decision to swim in the Olympics before being treated. "It's an aggressive disease. I'm the poster child for early detection."
http://www.ajc.com/services/content/printedition/2008/12/04/shanteau.html

That's all for this week. Check back next Thursday for more!

--Cat