Stand Up To Cancer

I'll open this week with an article on that perennial question in the medical world: does cancer screening do more harm than good? The piece looks at both breast cancer and prostate cancer screening, profiling patients who wound up undergoing unnecessary treatment because of the ambiguous results of screening exams. The article points out that screening tests often catch small, harmless cancers, but can miss fast-growing, deadly versions of the disease. But no one's arguing that screening isn't necessary, so it's just one more thing to worry about, I guess.
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/29642490/

Did you know March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month? Unfortunately, it seems like the folks on Capitol Hill didn't get the memo, as Medicare dealt a big blow to colorectal cancer screening in denying payment for virtual colonography. Virtual colonography is less invasive than optical colonoscopy and, according to many high-profile studies, more accurate. But it's also more expensive, utilizing pricy CT scans, and therein lies the problem.
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/CancerPreventionAndTreatment/story?id=7050417&page=1

In cheery news, big pharma heavyweight Pfizer has halted a trial for a new cancer drug called Sutent after it showed "significant benefit" in patients with advanced pancreatic tumors. Pfizer halted the trial because with results like these, there's no need to evaluate further - Sutent's a winner. There's rarely any good news on pancreatic cancer, but maybe the tide is finally beginning to turn!
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/pfizer-halts-trial-cancer-drug/story.aspx?guid={A4E38323-30CD-488D-9429-21C5B5A4883A}&dist=msr_5

A new study in the New England Journal of Medicine indicates that a decrease in the popularity of hormone replacement therapy has led to a drop in breast cancer rates. "This is very strong evidence that estrogen plus progestin causes breast cancer," said one of the researchers. "You start women on hormones and within five years their risk of breast cancer is clearly elevated. You stop the hormones and within one year their risk is essentially back to normal. It's reasonably convincing cause-and-effect data." I guess this means we ladies will have to suffer through menopause without estrogen and progesterone. Maybe with a strong martini?
http://www.naturalnews.com/025832.html

Meanwhile, there's a new treatment on the block for prostate cancer - the "male lumpectomy." The new technique involves freezing part of the prostate, destroying only the part of the gland that is cancerous and resulting in fewer side effects than surgery or radiation therapy. Good news for guys, since the side effects of prostate cancer treatment, including incontinence and impotence, can be pretty demoralizing.
http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/healthday/2009/03/10/male-lumpectomy-may-help-some-with-prostate-cancer.html

Finally, I loved this article out of Arizona, where the classmates of nine-year-old cancer patient either shaved their heads or dyed their hair crazy colors in a show of support for their friend. "I wanted to support him and raise money for him,'' said the patient's best friend. "He's funny, and we always play soccer together. He can still play soccer in his wheelchair."
http://ktar.com/?nid=6&sid=1101205

That's all I've got for this week, but I'll be back next Thursday with more!

--Cat