Stand Up To Cancer

A new study out of Milan indicates that men who work in certain occupations experience an increased risk of lung cancer. Chemicals and other job hazards "play a remarkable role" in risk, although smoking remains by far the biggest cause of the disease. High-risk occupations included mining, metalworking and certain types of construction work; men with these professions were found to be 74% more likely to have been diagnosed with lung cancer.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE61E53920100215

The FDA has established a risk plan for certain anemia drugs, which will require health providers treating patients with these medications to be trained in their use and document that they have informed patients of their risks. The erythropoiesis-stimulating agents, or ESAs, boost the production of red blood cells, but have been shown to have a higher risk of death and cardiovascular complications for aggressively treated patients.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1622012020100216

Over at the NYT's very excellent Well Blog, Tara Parker-Pope checks in on the "myth of bras and breast cancer," namely that the undergarments could contribute to the development of the disease. She notes that the claim has no basis in fact and originates in a flawed study that never made it into a peer-reviewed medical journal, and links to a great Q&A with more information. "Because the idea of bras' causing breast cancer is so scientifically implausible, it seems unlikely that researchers will ever spend their time and resources to test it in a real epidemiological study," notes Dr. Tim Gansler, director of medical content for the ACS.
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/16/the-myth-of-bras-and-breast-cancer/

Researchers at the University of Missouri are developing an at-home cancer detection kit that could one day be able to test body fluids for breast and prostate cancer. The sensor at the heart of the concept, which is smaller than a human hair, would produce instant results, and researchers say it could one day be sold in drugstores. "By using highly sensitive, low-signal-loss acoustic resonant sensors in a liquid, these substances can be effectively and quickly detected -- a brand-new concept that will result in a noninvasive approach for breast cancer detection," said Jae Kwon, who last year won a $400,000 NSF grant to pursue the project.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,586582,00.html

Finally, a new report from the Nurses' Health Study indicates that taking a single aspirin tablet every other day can cut the risk of breast cancer recurrence. In a 30-year study of 4,164 breast cancer survivors, those who took aspirin regularly were 71% less likely to have a deadly recurrence of their breast cancer compared with those who took little or no aspirin. Dr. Bernadine Healy opines in her column on the topic, "Were these aspirin tablets a hot new biotech drug, we would be popping champagne right now."
http://www.usnews.com/health/articles/2010/02/18/aspirin-a-blockbuster-therapy-for-breast-cancer-survivors.html

That's all for this week, but check back next Thursday for more!

--Cat