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Showing posts from July, 2011

Alternative Pain Therapy for Breast, Prostate and Lung Cancer

Alternative Pain Therapy for Breast, Prostate and Lung Cancer MIAMI--(Healthcare Sales & Marketing Network)-- Bio-Nucleonics? lead product Strontium Chloride Sr-89 Injection USP (Strontium-89), which is the generic version of Metastron?, is an option to consider for metastatic cancer bone pain therapy, typically caused by advanced stage breast, prostate or lung cancer. Strontium Chloride Sr-89 Injection USP (Strontium-89) is a radioactive pharmaceutical injection to relieve bone pain in patients with painful skeletal metastases. In the body, Strontium acts similar to calcium and is preferentially taken up in osteoblastic tissue while the unabsorbed isotope is excreted in the urine the first 2 to 3 days following injection, clearing rapidly from the blood and selectively localizing in bone mineral. Uptake of strontium by bone occurs preferentially in sites of active osteogenesis; thus primary bone tumors and areas of metastatic involvement (blastic lesions) can accumulate significa

Low-dose CT screening reduced lung cancer mortality 20%

Results from the National Lung Screening Trial of more than 50,000 people at high risk for lung cancer showed that patients who undergo screening with helical low-dose CT scanning are less likely to die from lung cancer. NLST compared low-dose CT screening against screening with chest radiography. From August 2002 through September 2007, researchers assigned 26,722 people to CT screening and another 26,732 to radiography. Participants underwent three screenings at 1-year intervals (T0, T1 and T2). Eligible participants were between 55 and 74 years of age at the time of randomization, had a history of cigarette smoking of at least 30 pack-years and, if they were former smokers, had quit within the previous 15 years. Anyone who had been previously diagnosed with lung cancer, undergone chest CT within 18 months before enrollment, had hemoptysis, or had an unexplained weight loss of more than 15 lb in the preceding year were excluded. The disease-specific death rate was 247 per 100,000 pe

CT scans catch lung cancer earlier

CHICAGO, July 2 (UPI) -- A U.S. study provides evidence that computed tomography significantly reduces the death rate due to lung cancer, compared with a chest X-ray, researchers say. The National Lung Screening Trial shows 20 percent fewer lung cancer deaths among trial participants who had the CT scan compared with those who had the chest X-ray. Dr. Eric M. Hart, a radiologist and the NLST Site principal investigator at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, says until now, no screening test for lung cancer has proven effective in detecting tumors at an early, more treatable stage. During the study period, more than 400 individuals were enrolled in the trial in Chicago. "We are extremely grateful to the participants in both the chest X-ray and the CT scan arms who volunteered for this lengthy and challenging trial," Hart says in a statement. "Their continued involvement is the basis for this ray of hope for other heavy smokers." The trial was conducted at 33 sites throu

Who should get a CT scan to screen for lung cancer?

By Jenifer Goodwin HealthDay Reporter THURSDAY, June 30 (HealthDay News) -- Annual low-dose CT scans cut the death rate from lung cancer by 20% in heavy smokers and formerly heavy smokers, compared to those who get annual chest X-rays, according to the results of a major National Cancer Institute study released on Wednesday. Experts are calling the findings a major advance in efforts to combat lung cancer deaths. By catching the cancer early, the tumors can be removed surgically -- hopefully before they've spread and become very difficult to cure. "This is a momentous time in the history of public health research," said Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society. "The NLST [National Lung Screening Trial] is the best-designed and best-performed lung cancer screening study in history." Yet the findings raise as many questions as they answer, said Dr. Harold Sox, a professor emeritus of medicine at Dartmouth Medical School who wrote an

CT Screening for Lung Cancer

For the first time, people at high risk for lung cancer will have access to screening that uses computed tomography (CT) scans. Preliminary results from the National Lung Screening Trial, released in November 2010, showed that among people at high risk for lung cancer, those who were screened with low-dose spiral CT scans showed a 20 percent reduction in lung-cancer-related mortality compared to those who were screened with standard chest x-rays. The trial, which Duke did not participate in, included 53,000 participants ages 55 to 74 who were current and former heavy smokers. “Once those results are published, it will be the first U.S. trial to show in a randomized fashion a benefit from screening people at high risk for lung cancer with low-dose CT scans,” says thoracic surgeon Thomas D’Amico, MD. “Before, CT screening was not thought to be effective. This is an important advance.” Published results will likely result in third-party payers such as insurance companies and Medicare cov

Analysis: Life saving lung cancer test to set off cost debate

By Bill Berkrot NEW YORK | Wed Jun 29, 2011 6:07pm EDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - A landmark study showing that routine lung screening of heavy smokers and former smokers using low dose CT scans could save thousands of lives is sure to set off a fierce debate about the cost of such testing on an overburdened healthcare system. The U.S. National Cancer Institute studied more than 53,000 people between the ages of 55 and 74 deemed at high risk of developing lung cancer. It found that screening with the three-dimensional X-rays cut deaths by 20 percent. Details of the study and a discussion of its implications were published on Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, lending additional weight to initial findings that were released in November. The discussion noted that radiologists using more advanced CT equipment than was available for the study could lead to an even larger reduction in lung cancer deaths. At the same time, the potential for many more false positive results could ri

MD Anderson rolls out lung CT screening

Following Wednesday’s release of comprehensive data from the National Lung Screening Trial, which demonstrated a 20 percent reduction in lung cancer mortality resulting from CT screening, MD Anderson Cancer Center publicized its aims to begin implementing lung screening for heavy smokers—without reimbursement from payors. Part of the University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston becomes one of the first major providers to adopt CT screening for lung cancer, after having contributed 780 patients to the National Cancer Institute’s National Lung Screening Trial (NLST). This week, investigators from half-a-dozen NLST participating sites published an updated and more extensive analysis of the NLST’s November findings in the New England Journal of Medicine . The trial revealed that low-dose lung CT dramatically lowered lung cancer mortality compared with standard x-rays, with the results dramatic enough to spur the National Cancer Institute to cut short its multi-institution st