November 20th is Great American Smokeout

It is time to pack it in. The Healing Project knows it isn't easy to go cold turkey but newer drugs like Chantix have demonstrated amazing results in smokers with manageable side-effects. Check for Great American Smokeout programs in your local communites and give it a shot.

Great American Smokeout
American Cancer Society
250 Williams Street NW
Atlanta, GA 30303
(800) ACS-2345 (227-2345)
http://www.cancer.org/

Materials available
Contact: National Office

November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month

Lung Cancer research is terribly underfunded even though billions of dollars of taxes are taken every year from smokers. It is time that these funds are directed, as they were intended, to pay for healthcare. The Healing Project advocates a small portion of these funds be allocated to Lung Cancer research and diagnosis. This new funding would represent a leap in an order of magintude and bring this scourge to an end.

Lung Cancer Facts
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States.
Lung cancer causes 30% of all cancer deaths.
Lung cancer is the leading cancer killer among Caucasians, African-Americans, Asians and Hispanic males.
In 2007, an estimated 213,380 people were diagnosed with lung cancer and 160,390 died from it.

Lung cancer will kill more people this year than:
• breast cancer
• prostate cancer
• colon cancer
• liver cancer
• kidney cancer
• melanoma...combined

The 5-year survival rate for…
• Breast cancer has reached 88%
• Prostate cancer – 99%
• Colon cancer – 63%
• Lung Cancer – 15%!

Lung cancer will kill three times as many men as prostate cancer this year.
Lung cancer will kill nearly twice as many women as breast cancer this year.
Over 50% of new lung cancer cases will be diagnosed at a very late stage—Stage IIIb or IV— and only 5% of them will live for 5 years.
Current smokers represent 35-40% of new lung cancer cases.
Former smokers represent 50% of new lung cancer cases.
People who never smoked represent 10-15% of new lung cancer cases.
The rate of lung cancer among women has risen 60% since 1990.
Lung cancer surpassed breast cancer as the #1 cancer killer of women in 1987.
31,000 more women will die of lung cancer than breast cancer this year.
3 out of 5 patients diagnosed with lung cancer will die within 12 months.
Only 15% of lung cancer patients will be diagnosed early enough to survive for five years or more, compared with 5-year survival rates of 88% for breast cancer, 100% for prostate cancer, and 64% for colon cancer.
Despite lung cancer being the #1 cancer killer, roughly $1,800 is spent per lung cancer death compared to around $23,000 per breast cancer death for research!

Sources:
The Thomas G. Labrecque Foundation
Joan's Legacy
Lung Cancer Alliance

Lung Cancer Awareness Month
Lung Cancer Alliance
1747 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite 1150
Washington, DC 20006
(800) 298-2436 Lung Cancer Information Line
(202) 463-2080
info@lungcanceralliance.org
www.lungcanceralliance.org
Materials available
Contact: Kay Cofrancesco

October is Healthy Lung Month

Healthy Lung Month is sponsored by the American Lung Association and seeks to increase awareness of issues pertaining to the maintenance of healthy lungs.

Healthy Lung Month
American Lung Association
61 Broadway, 6th Floor
New York, NY 10006
(800) LUNG-USA (586-4872)
(212) 315-8700
info@lungusa.org
www.lungusa.org
Materials available
Contact: None designated

Cancer immunotherapy shows promise in Lung Cancer

Long-term clinical trial results were presented today at the 1st European Lung Cancer Conference demonstrate that MAGE-A3 ASCI (Antigen-Specific Cancer Immunotherapeutic), an immune-boosting treatment for lung cancer patients, reduces the risk of relapse after surgery -- to the same extent as chemotherapy.

Prof. Johan Vansteenkiste from University Hospital Gasthuisberg in Belgium described the results after 44-months follow-up from a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in 182 patients with non-small-cell lung cancer -- the most common form of the disease.

"The aim is to help the body immune system to recognize the MAGE-A3 antigen and therefore eliminate the cancer cells that express MAGE-A3," explains Prof. Vansteenkiste. "In other words, it is a kind of treatment method that makes the body immune system specifically attack the lung cancer cells."

After 44 months, 69 of 182 patients had experienced a recurrence of their cancer, including 57 deaths. Those given the MAGE-A3 injections had longer on average before their cancer recurred, were less likely to have any recurrence, and were less likely to die.

"Surgical resection is the standard treatment for patients with early stage lung cancer, but after complete resection about 50% will relapse and die from their cancer," says Prof. Vansteenkiste. "Postoperative chemotherapy is able to improve cure rates, but is sometimes poorly tolerated by patients recovering from thoracic surgery. In addition, not all patients are fit to receive chemotherapy.

Most patients only experience mild reactions at the injection site and fever within 24 hours of the injection, he explained. "Therefore, it is suitable for long-term maintenance treatment and for most patients, including older patients or patients in weak physical condition after surgery, allowing them to live a normal life whilst on cancer treatment." A large Phase III trial of the therapy, named MAGRIT, is now underway.

Common Viruses May Play a Role in the Development of Lung Cancer

Papers presented at the 1st European Lung Cancer Conference demonstrate that common viruses may play a role in the development of lung cancer. While smoking is the leading risk factor in developing lung cancer, other factors do play a role including radon, mineral dust exposure and now exposure to certain viruses.

Dr. Arash Rezazadeh and colleagues from the University of Louisville, Kentucky, USA, presented an article that described the results of a study on 23 lung cancer samples from patients in Kentucky.

The researchers found six samples that tested positive for the presence of human papilloma virus (HPV), the virus that also causes many cases of cervical cancer. One was later shown to be a cervical cancer that had spread to the lungs. Of the remaining 5 virus-positive samples, two were HPV type 16, two were HPV type 11 and one was HPV type 22.

All subjects were smokers. However, evidence that 6 of 23 should evidence of HPV would warrant a larger sample and further investigation to determine the role HPV may have in the development of lung cancer. Further, samples should be taken from subjects who have never smoked or been subjected to other common risk factors.

A second paper by Israeli researchers suggests that measles virus may also be a factor in some lung cancers. Their study included 65 patients with non-small-cell lung cancer, of whom more than half had evidence of measles virus in tissue samples taken from their tumors. The lead author, Prof. Samuel Ariad from Soroka Medical Center in Beer Sheva, Israel suggests that measles is most likely acts in modifying the effect of other carcinogens and not as a causative factor by itself.

US Life Expectantcy Declining for a Significant Portion of the Population

For the first time since 1918, following the outbreak of Spanish Flu Pandemic, life expectancy for a significant number of Americans is in decline. Although life span has generally increased since 1961, the authors reported, it began to level off or even decline in the 1980s for 4 percent of men and 19 percent of women .In close to 1,000 counties, home to apprximately 12 percent of the nation's women, life expectancy is now shorter than it was in the early 1980s, according to a study published today.

The trend is attributable to a leveling in gains from cardiac disease and an increase in deaths from diabetes, lung cancer, hypertension, emphysema and kidney failure. The reduction in male life spans was influenced by the incidence of HIV and homicide.

Socio-economic factors certainly play a role. Behaviors commonly exhibited by less educated and less prosperous people including smoking, alcohol excess, poor diet, lack of exercise, and a generally lower regard for future health results in premature death.

The counties exhibiting significant declines in life expectancy were concentrated in Appalachia, the Southeast, Texas, the southern Midwest and along the Mississippi River. Life expectancy increases were concentrated primarily in counties in Northeast and on the Pacific Coast.

What can be done?
Education is first and foremost;
Intensify preventive medicine efforts in the worst-off counties;
Utilize evidence-based medicine;
Actively discourage smoking;
Actively reduce alcohol consumption and drug abuse;
Encourage better nutrition and exercise;
Increase the quality and availability of sex education; and
Intensify chronic disease management with an emphasis of obesity, hyper-tension and diabetes.

For the complete report, visit PLoS.

THE TRUTH ABOUT CANCER PREMIERES ON PBS APRIL 16, 2008

The Healing Project (THP) wishes to alert its community to the upcoming presentation of THE TRUTH ABOUT CANCER on PBS. The Healing Project was founded by a breast cancer survivor, Debra Lachance. Our Board of Directors includes scientist H. Michael Shepard, PhD who led the Herceptin discovery team at Genentech. Dr. Shepard continues to develop novel medications for treating a range of diseases including Breast Cancer as president and CSO of Receptor BioLogix. Stephanie F. Bernik, MD, FACS is a member of our Scientific Advisory Board. Dr. Bernik is Chief of Breast Surgery for the comprehensive breast program at St. Vincent's Comprehensive Cancer Center in New York City. THP is painfully aware of how far we need to go in developing treatments and cures for a range of cancers, especially metastatic cancers. Take some time and watch this film as it presents the realities of what many patients and families are confronting.

Watch a Clip.

About the Film
What is the truth about cancer? Is it the same deadly killer it was 30 years ago - or are we making progress? Find out through the poignant stories of patients battling the disease. Written, produced, and directed by award-winning filmmaker Linda Garmon, The Truth About Cancer (Web Site) premieres nationally on PBS Wednesday, April 16, at 9:00pm ET (check local listings). Comprised of a 90-minute documentary followed by a 30-minute panel discussion, the two-hour broadcast event takes a deep look inside the cancer field gauging how far we have come in this decades-old war and asking, "Why does anyone still die of cancer?"

Part science, part personal catharsis, part character-driven storytelling, The Truth About Cancer is narrated by Garmon, who tells the moving story of her husband's battle with cancer. Over the course of the film, Garmon returns to the same Boston-area hospitals at which her husband was treated, and exposes startling truths about survival rates of metastisized cancers, and the limited success of drugs and clinical trials. Interwoven throughout are the stories of three additional cancer patients, and their families and doctors, as they navigate the deeply personal decisions surrounding the disease. The documentary also follows several medical professionals working to promote screening, research the latest developments in cancer treatment, and help patients and their families live with a cancer diagnosis.

"This film makes it clear that it's very much a part of American culture to believe that if you fight hard enough, you can beat cancer. But when it comes to having metastatic cancer, your survival depends on the biology of your cancer cells, and whether they are susceptible to state-of-the-art treatment," says Garmon. "In sharing my husband's story and the stories of other patients, I hope to shed light on this important truth." The Truth About Cancer is the third installment of PBS's Take One Step—a campaign offering primetime programming and outreach tools to help people take the first step towards better health. Following the 90-minute documentary is a 30-minute panel discussion entitled Take One Step: A Conversation About Cancer with Linda Ellerbee. News journalist and breast cancer survivor Linda Ellerbee moderates the dialogue featuring a panel of doctors, all of whom are cancer survivors themselves. Having sat on both sides of a cancer diagnosis, the panel shares their unique perspectives, offering both personal and professional observations on how to handle a cancer diagnosis, what to say to loved ones, how to advocate for yourself, and how to best live your life, with cancer. Panelists include U.S. News and World Report health editor Dr. Bernadine Healy; breast cancer surgeon and Breast Cancer Research stamp mastermind Dr. Ernie Bodai; neurologist and leading palliative care expert Dr. Richard Payne; and counseling psychologist Dr. Paul Brenner.

Resources for Cancer Patients and Caregivers:

The Healing Project Resource Center

Resources for Living with and Through Cancer

The Healing Project is Pleased to Announce the Offering of Two New Free Publications

The Healing Project is pleased to release two new free publications available for downloading. The first publication, Breast Cancer: What Every Woman Should Know, is authored by Stephanie F. Bernik, MD, FACS, and the second, A Look to the Future of Alcoholism Treatment, is authored by Ron L. Alterman, MD. These publications join our initial free offering, Lung Cancer: What the Patient and Family Need to Know, written by Reed Phillips, M.D.

These free guides and publications represent an ongoing effort to better educate our community about treatment options, working with the medical system and the latest advances in medicine. We look forward to making available additional publications throughout the year.

About the Authors:

Stephanie F. Bernik, MD, FACS


Stephanie F. Bernik, MD, FACS, is Chief of Breast Surgery for the comprehensive breast program at St. Vincent's Comprehensive Cancer Center in New York City. A board certified surgeon specializing in breast diseases, Dr. Bernik has developed a specialty in treating women under 40 diagnosed with the disease.

A 1993 graduate of Yale University School of Medicine, she completed her internship and residency at St. Vincent's Hospital and Medical Center in New York City. She was awarded fellowships at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in breast surgery and St. Vincent's Hospital and Medical Center in surgical oncology. Dr. Bernik also received two research fellowships from Yale University School of Medicine in 1990 and 1992. She received her undergraduate degree magna cum laude from Columbia University in 1989.

In 2005 she was honored with the 2005 Top Doctor Award by the research firm Castle Connelly. In 2004, she received Columbia University's John Jay Award for Professional Achievement and in 2001, Columbia University's Alumna Achievement Award. Dr. Bernik is the author of numerous medical journal articles published in, among others, The Breast Journal, Journal of Nuclear Medicine, Annals of Surgical Oncology and The American Surgeon. She is a principal investigator for breast disease research at St. Vincent's Hospital and has presented her research at symposia across the country, most recently at the American Society of Breast Surgeons 2006 annual meeting and the American Society of Breast Disease 2006 annual symposium.

Dr. Ron L. Alterman


Dr. Ron L. Alterman is the Director of Functional and Restorative Neurosurgery at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. He has held academic positions at New York University School of Medicine (1995-1997), University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (1997-1998), and Albert Einstein College of Medicine (1998-2004) where he was Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery and a director of stereotactic and functional neurosurgery at Beth Israel Medical Center. Board certified in neurological surgery, Dr. Alterman is well known for his work on deep brain stimulation for Parkinson’s disease, torsion dystonia, and tremor. His clinical interests include image-guided surgery for brain tumors and benign spine disease.



Dr. Reed Phillips

Dr. Reed Phillips is board certified in internal medicine, oncology and hospice and palliative care medicine. He is affiliated with the North Shore University Hospital in New York and he is an instructor in pain management and hospice and palliative care at Winthrop University Hospital and the State University of New York School of Medicine at Stony Brook, New York.

January is National Radon Action Month

Radon is naturally occurring but can have profound health effects with long-term exposure.

Studies Find Direct Evidence Linking Radon in Homes to Lung Cancer - Two studies show definitive evidence of an association between residential radon exposure and lung cancer. Two studies, a North American study and a European study, both combined data from several previous residential studies. These two studies go a step beyond earlier findings. They confirm the radon health risks predicted by occupational studies of underground miner’s who breathed radon for a period of years. Early in the debate about radon-related risks, some researchers questioned whether occupational studies could be used to calculate risks from exposure to radon in the home environment. “These findings effectively end any doubts about the risks to Americans of having radon in their homes,” said Tom Kelly, Director of EPA’s Indoor Environments Division. “We know that radon is a carcinogen. This research confirms that breathing low levels of radon can lead to lung cancer.”

Source EPA Website:

Affirmative steps can be taken to mitigate exposure to Radon.

For More Information:
National Radon Action MonthU.S. Environmental Protection AgencyOffice of Radiation and Indoor Air1310 L Street, NW, 4th Floor

Indoor Environments Division

Washington, DC 20005(202) 343-9370

(202) 343-2394 Fax
www.epa.gov/radon/rnactionmonth.html
Materials availableContact: None designated

November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month

The Healing Project wants to reach out to the lung cancer community during Lung Cancer Awareness Month. One of our first publication’s, was Voices of Lung Cancer, an anthology of stories of patients, caregivers and family members. It may be purchased at Amazon. This is a community that must come into the light as it is one of the three leading causes of death in America.

The Healing Project also offers a free publication, Lung Cancer: What the Patient and Family Need to Know by Reed Phillips, MD. This patient guide includes information about talking with your doctor, choosing the right doctor, choosing the right surgeon and getting a second opinion.

Lung Cancer Awareness Month Public Service Announcement

Lung Cancer Awareness Month (LCAM) is a national campaign dedicated to increasing attention to lung cancer issues. By organizing rallies, distributing educational material, holding fund-raising events, contacting Congress, and speaking to the media, those involved in LCAM bring much-needed support and attention to a disease that each year kills more people than breast, prostate, colon and pancreas cancers combined.

Regrettably, the view that lung cancer is a self-afflicted condition, and therefore should receive minimal funding is unenlightened. One could extend this same argument to numerous other conditions including but not limited to cervical cancer, HIV/AIDS, spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injury and Type II Diabetes. If we only accounted for people who never smoked, 20,000 to 25,000 people who be diagnosed with lung cancer and would still represent one of the 10 largest causes of death in US. It is time to be enlightened and find a cure.

A Couple of Facts from Lungevity (LUNGevity is the premier grant-making nonprofit organization funding lung cancer research and providing support to the lung cancer community):
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States.

Approximately 50% of the people diagnosed with lung cancer have never smoked or are former smokers.

Lung cancer accounts for approximately 29% of all cancer deaths.

Lung cancer kills more Americans each year than breast, prostate, colorectal, and pancreatic cancers combined.

Lung cancer kills more than three times as many men each year than prostate cancer.

Lung cancer kills more women each year than breast, ovarian, uterine, and cervical cancers combined.

In 2007, an estimated 213,380 people will be newly diagnosed with lung cancer, and an estimated 160,390 people will die of lung cancer. An estimated 89,510 of these deaths will be men and an estimated 70,880 will be women.

Lung cancer kills 84% of newly diagnosed patients within five years. The survival rate is 49% for cases detected when the disease is localized to the lung, but only 16% of lung cancers are diagnosed that early.

More than 7% of American men and women will be diagnosed with lung cancer in the course of their lifetime.

The 5-year survival rate for…
Breast cancer has reached 88%
Prostate cancer – 99%
Colon cancer – 63%
Lung Cancer – 15%!

In 2007, approximately $1,633 will be spent on research per lung cancer death, compared with:
$13,471 per breast cancer death
$11,298 per prostate cancer death
$4,774 per colorectal cancer death
Lung Cancer has the lowest survival rate of any other cancer but continues to receive the least amount of funding per death!

In fact, Joan’s Legacy, one of our sister 501 (c)’s The Joan Scarangello Foundation to Conquer Lung Cancer is committed to fight lung cancer by funding innovative research and increasing awareness of the world’s leading cancer killer, with a special focus on non-smoking-related lung cancer.

Can Research Make a Difference?

Certainly, one only has to remember the enormous progress made in Breast Cancer in the last two decades to realize that a deadly killer can evolve into a chronic condition.

We ask all those afflicted to visit clintrials.gov and participate in both diagnostic and therapeutic trials. It is the only way to find a cure.

For more information about Lung Cancer Awareness Month contact:
Lung Cancer Alliance
888 16th Street NW, Suite 800
Washington, DC 20006
(800) 298-2436 Lung Cancer Hotline
(202) 463-2080
(202) 355-1396 Fax
info@lungcanceralliance.org
http://www.blogger.com/www.lungcanceralliance.org
Materials available
Contact: Kay Cofrancesco

Women and Lung Cancer - Free Seminar

Woman and Lung Cancer

The Gender Specific Facts

Lung Cancer is Not Just for Smokers
It is the #1 cancer killer of women

November 13th, 2007
7: OO P.M. – 9:15 P.M.

Hyatt Hotel, 2 Albany Street, New Brunswick, NJ

Speakers:

Jill M. Siegfried, PhD
Co-Director Cancer Program, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute








Mika Sovak, MD
Cancer Institute of New Jersey







FREE and Open to the Public
Parking on Premises ~ Door Prizes~ Refreshments

REGISTRATION REQUIRED
By phone 732-363-4426 or e-mail info@lungcancercircleofhope.org
Please provide your full name, email address and telephone nos.

Lung Cancer: What the Patient and Family Need to Know

Lung Cancer: What the Patient and Family Need to Know, written by Reed Phillips, M.D. This patient guide includes information about talking with your doctor, choosing the right doctor, choosing the right surgeon and getting a second opinion.

This is a free publication of The Healing Project and is available at http://www.thehealingproject.org

About the Author: Reed Phillips, M.D.
Dr. Reed Phillips is board certified in internal medicine, oncology and hospice and palliative care medicine. He is affiliated with the North Shore University Hospital in New York and he is an instructor in pain management and hospice and palliative care at Winthrop University Hospital and the State University of New York School of Medicine at Stony Brook, New York.