Lung Cancer

The world's most prestigious cancer research group on Tuesday classified diesel engine exhaust as carcinogenic to humans and concluded that exposure is associated with increased risk of lung cancer. The International Agency for Research on Cancer - part of the World Health Organization - made the announcement at a meeting in France, finding, in part, “that diesel exhaust is a cause of lung cancer, and also noted a positive association with an increased risk of bladder cancer.

Black cigarette smokers with a parent or sibling who developed lung cancer at an early age are more likely to get the disease than white smokers with the same family history, researchers have found. The reason for the disparity is not clear, but it could be that blacks are more susceptible to lung cancer or there may be some other risk factor, said the report from Detroit's Wayne State University.

Screening smokers and ex-smokers with spiral CT scans can reduce lung cancer deaths by 20% without triggering too many dangerous or unnecessary tests that sometimes result from cancer screening programs, researchers reported Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. After conducting a more thorough analysis of data from a trial involving more than 53,000 patients, the researchers found that even though the scans produced many false-positive results — affecting 39% of those who were screened three times — there were few serious complications resulting from them.

An estimated 160,300 people in the United States will die of lung cancer in 1998. That's more than from breast, colorectal and prostate cancer combined. Here are the estimated number of deaths resulting from lung cancer by state. Alabama: 2,800 Alaska: 200 Arizona: 2,600 Arkansas: 2,200 California: 13,700 Colorado: 1,500 Connecticut: 1,900 Delaware: 600 Dist.

Using an annual chest X-ray to screen for a deadly disease such as lung cancer might seem to make some sense. But the tactic simply does not save lives. The findings allow researchers to move to the next big question regarding early lung-cancer detection: whether annual CT screening (computed tomography) can lower death rates. In a new study, researchers led by the University of Minnesota examined data from more than 154,000 people. Half of the participants, ages 55 to 74, were assigned to have annual chest X-rays while the other participants received their usual care.

People who have lung cancer are more likely to have antibodies to a high-risk form of human papilloma virus, according to research presented Monday. Certain strains of human papilloma virus -- or HPV -- can cause cervical cancer. Researchers from France ran tests on 1,633 lung cancer patients and 2,729 healthy people and found a low rate of antibodies to high-risk HPV strains in the people without lung cancer -- less than 5% of participants. But the incidence was significantly higher in people with lung cancer, and those rates did not differ based on whether they were current smokers, former smokers or had never smoked.

An experimental drug called crizotinib sharply increases survival in lung cancer patients with a specific genetic mutation, researchers said Sunday. Although only about 4% of lung cancer patients carry the mutation, that still amounts to about 50,000 people worldwide, experts said. Researchers hope that other new drugs targeted at different mutations will be also developed and that combinations of such targeted drugs will prove even more effective in lung cancer. Lung cancer is the second-most-common form of cancer in the United States and the biggest cancer killer among both men and women, with 371,000 cases diagnosed each year and 159,000 deaths.

The Cox-2 inhibitor celecoxib, better known under the brand name Celebrex, might be able to prevent lung cancer in former smokers, researchers said Wednesday. Studies in a small group of people suggest that the drug, which is normally used to treat arthritis and some other inflammatory diseases, prevents a proliferation of cells that is normally a precursor of lung cancer, the researchers reported in the journal Cancer Prevention Research. But a great deal more research will be necessary to show that the drug actually prevents the initiation of cancer and then that it prevents deaths, experts said.

Former Marine Corps ground troops in Vietnam have died of lung cancer and certain lymph cancers at a significantly higher rate than their colleagues who did not serve in the war, the government said Thursday. A study made public by the Veterans Administration was not designed to determine a cause of the higher death rates but "exposure to Agent Orange may be suspected," the report said. The higher cancer rates noted among Marine veterans who served in Vietnam were not found among their U.S.

An experimental cancer drug called crizotinib is effective in reversing the course of certain types of lung cancer in early-stage trials, researchers reported Wednesday. Crizotinib blocks the action of a gene called anaplastic lymphoma kinase or ALK, that is present in an estimated 3% to 5% of lung cancer tumors, primarily those that occur among patients who do not smoke. Although that seems like a small percentage, lung cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States, striking an estimated 222,000 Americans each year.