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Lung Cancer

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WINNIPEG, Canada-Clinical trials have shown that the level of symptom distress at the time of lung cancer diagnosis can predict survival, and now a study performed in an ambulatory setting has confirmed this finding. Patients with higher symptom distress scores are likely to die more quickly than those with lower scores, report University of Manitoba researchers Lesley F. Degner, RN, PhD, and Jeffrey A. Sloan, PhD.

MONTREAL-Patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who receive chemotherapy report better symptom control and quality of life than those who opt for supportive care alone, William K. Evans, MD, chief executive officer, Ottawa Regional Cancer Centre, On-tario, said at a symposium on lung cancer organized by the 19th International Congress of Chemotherapy.

COLLEGEVILLE, Pa--Rhône-Poulenc Rorer Inc.'s Taxotere (docetaxel) has received approval from the Canadian Health Protection Branch for use as second-line treatment of advanced breast and non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The new drug submission was based on clinical trials involving more than 800 patients worldwide.

BALTIMORE--A number of factors can suggest whether a focal pulmonary lesion is malignant or benign, but no single test affords a quick answer, and biopsy is usually necessary to make the diagnosis, said Peter White, Jr., MD, assistant professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University.

ASCO LOS ANGELES--Five studies presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting raise questions as to whether platinum/taxane combinations are better in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) than standard platinum/etoposide (VePesid) regimens, and if so, which platinum and which taxane used in combination are best with respect to efficacy, toxicity, and cost?

PARIS, France--Comparison of two sequential Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) trials has shown that the addition of cisplatin (Platinol) and etoposide (VePesid) to hyperfractionated radiation therapy significantly boosts survival in patients with inoperable non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), Ritsuko Komaki, MD, reported at the American Radium Society meeting.

Race does not play a stastically significant role in lung cancer patients'survival, a recent analysis shows. Instead, cigarette use, stage of disease, and other factors appear to be reasons more African-Americans die of lung cancer than their Caucasian

PARIS, France--Overexpression of growth factor receptors correlates with a poor prognosis in many malignancies, including breast, bladder, and lung cancer, and new evidence suggests that growth factor receptors may be an important target for anticancer therapy, John Mendelsohn, MD, said at the Fifth International Congress on Anti-Cancer Chemotherapy.

COLLEGEVILLE, Penn--A patient with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer has become the first to receive an injection of a p53/retrovirus gene therapy into existing tumor cells, Introgen Therapeutics, Inc. and RPR Gencell, a division of Rhône-Poulenc Rorer, have announced.

The lack of effective treatments for advanced cancer has been one of the motivating forces in the field of cancer prevention. Nowhere is this approach more justified than in primary pulmonary neoplasms. In this article, Benner and his M.D. Anderson colleagues review trials investigating the prevention of lung cancer utilizing retinoids and carotenoids.

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC--Navelbine (vinorelbine tartrate), a semisynthetic vinca alkaloid, has become the first new treatment to receive FDA approval for inoperable advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in 20 years, Burroughs Wellcome Co., manufacturer of Navelbine, announced at a telephone news conference.

Survival and local control rates for limited stage small-cell lung cancer patients treated with either once-daily or twice-daily thoracic radiation plus cisplatin (Platinol) and etoposide (VePesid) are substantially better than with previously reported