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• Early diagnosis of lung cancer: evaluation of a community-based social marketing intervention [FREE FULL TEXT] 

Methods

A public awareness campaign in conjunction with brief intervention training in general practices was piloted in six localities with a high lung cancer incidence. End points were self-reported awareness of lung cancer symptoms; intention to seek healthcare; chest x-ray referral rates in primary care; secular trends in the incidence of lung cancer and stage at diagnosis, compared before and after the intervention.

Results

21% (128/600) (95% CI 18% to 25%) of the targeted population recalled something about the campaign. Compared with a responder in the control area, the odds of a responder in the intervention area saying that they would visit their general practitioner and request a chest x-ray for a cough was 1.97 times (95% CI 1.18 to 3.31, p=0.01). Primary care chest x-ray referral rates increased by 20% in the targeted practices in the year following the intervention compared with a 2% fall in the control practices. The difference was highly significant, with an incidence rate ratio of 1.22 (95% CI 1.12 to 1.33, p=0.001). There was a 27% increase in lung cancer diagnoses in the intervention area compared with a fall in the control area. The incidence rate ratio was 1.42 (95% CI 0.83 to 2.44 p=0.199).

Conclusion

This is encouraging early evidence that an awareness and early recognition initiative may facilitate lung cancer diagnosis.

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Knowledge of lung cancer symptoms and risk factors in the UK: development of a measure and results from a population-based survey  

• People fail to list persistent cough as a lung cancer warning 

An astounding lack of public awareness about lung cancer has been revealed in a Cancer Research UK study, published today.

When almost 1500 people were asked to list possible warning signs of the disease that is the most common cause of cancer death - only 77 people (five per cent) mentioned a cough that doesn’t go away. Just two people mentioned a painful cough and only three listed a change in an existing cough as a possible symptom of lung cancer.

Less than 10 per cent of those asked mentioned a persistent chest infection, tiredness or unexplained weight loss. And under 15 per cent mentioned persistent chest pain.

Almost 80 per cent failed to mention coughing up blood and 63 per cent did not list shortness of breath.

Sara Hiom, Cancer Research UK’s director of information and an author of the study published in the journal Thorax, said: “It’s very worrying to see from our survey results that when asked to think of lung cancer symptoms many common ones simply don’t come to mind for most people. A diagnosis of lung cancer is devastating, but if the disease is caught in its earliest stages treatment can improve survival.

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Association Between Genetic Variants on Chromosome 15q25 Locus and Objective Measures of Tobacco Exposure 

• Genetic variants, tobacco exposure and lung cancer risk 

There is an association between the rs1051730-rs16969968 genotype and objective measures of tobacco exposure, which indicates that lung cancer risk is largely, if not entirely, mediated by level of tobacco exposure, according to a study published April 25 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

The rs1051730-rs16969968 genotype is known to be associated with heaviness of smoking, lung cancer risk, and other smoking-related outcomes. Prior studies have generally depended on self-reported smoking behavior, which may have underestimated associations and masked the contribution of heaviness of smoking to the associations of these polymorphisms with lung cancer and other health outcomes.

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Study Finds Lung Cancer Risk Mediated by Level of Tobacco Exposure  

Researchers from the University of Bristol have found an association between the rs1051730-rs16969968 genotype and objective measures of tobacco exposure, which indicates that lung cancer risk is largely, if not entirely, mediated by level of tobacco exposure. The findings appear in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

The rs1051730-rs16969968 genotype is known to be associated with heaviness of smoking, lung cancer risk, and other smoking-related outcomes. Prior studies have generally depended on self-reported smoking behavior, which may have underestimated associations and masked the contribution of heaviness of smoking to the associations of these polymorphisms with lung cancer and other health outcomes.

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The influence of Hispanic ethnicity on nonsmall cell lung cancer histology and patient survival  

Matrix Metalloproteinase-10 Is Required for Lung Cancer Stem Cell Maintenance, Tumor Initiation and Metastatic Potential 

• Mayo Clinic Identifies Gene Critical to Development and Spread of Lung Cancer 

A single gene that promotes initial development of the most common form of lung cancer and its lethal metastases has been identified by researchers at Mayo Clinic in Florida. Their study suggests other forms of cancer may also be driven by this gene, matrix metalloproteinase-10 (MMP-10).

The study, published in the journal PLoS ONE on April 24, shows that MMP-10 is a growth factor secreted and then used by cancer stem-like cells to keep themselves vital. These cells then drive lung cancer and its spread, and are notoriously immune to conventional treatment.

The findings raise hope for a possible treatment for non-small cell lung cancer, the leading cause of U.S. cancer deaths. Researchers discovered that by shutting down MMP-10, lung cancer stem cells lose their ability to develop tumors. When the gene is given back to the cells, they can form tumors again.

The power of this gene is extraordinary, says senior investigator Alan Fields, Ph.D., the Monica Flynn Jacoby Professor of Cancer Research within the Department of Cancer Biology at Mayo Clinic in Florida.

"Our data provides evidence that MMP-10 plays a dual role in cancer. It stimulates the growth of cancer stem cells and stimulates their metastatic potential," he says. "This helps explain an observation that has been seen in cancer stem cells from many tumor types, namely that cancer stem cells appear to be not only the cells that initiate tumors, but also the cells that give rise to metastases."

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Lung Cancer Though You Don't Smoke? Yes! Decrease Your Risk: Aspirin Study  

Study: Early smokers face higher risk of some cancers  

A study by the Penn State College of Medicine found that people who smoke as soon as they wake up face higher risks of cancer than those who wait awhile.

People who smoke right after getting out of bed may face a greater risk of cancer than those who wait at least an hour before lighting up.

A study conducted by the Penn State College of Medicine, concluded having a cigarette first thing in the morning may increase the risk of lung, head and neck cancers.

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• Guidance on CT Lung Cancer Screening 

Based on the NLST findings, the American Lung Association recommends lung cancer screening with low-dose CT scans for people who meet certain criteria, which include the following: current or former smokers (aged 55 to 74 years), with a smoking history of at least 30 pack-years (that is, an average of a pack a day for 30 years) and with no history of lung cancer.

The Lung Association emphasizes that only CT scans are recommended and that chest X-rays should not be used for lung cancer screening.

The Lung Association recognizes that while low dose CT scans may save lives, screening for lung cancer should not be recommended for everyone as many known and unknown risks may be associated with both the screening and subsequent medical evaluation.

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• Hispanics Seem to Have Better Odds of Lung Cancer Survival 

Hispanic people with lung cancer tend to live longer than white or black people with the disease, according to a new study.

Researchers say Hispanics' increased likelihood of survival may be due to genetic factors or environmental advantages, such as lower rates of tobacco use.

In the study, the researchers examined diagnosis and survival data on cancer patients from a national database that pooled information from U.S. cancer registries.

They identified 172,000 adults diagnosed with any stage of the most common form of lung cancer, known as non-small cell lung cancer, between 1988 and 2007. Of these patients, Hispanics had a 15 percent lower risk of death during the study than whites. This was true for both U.S.- and foreign-born Hispanics.

The study, published online in the journal Cancer, pointed out that Hispanics tend to have better odds of survival despite facing more obstacles to health care and higher rates of poverty than other groups.

"This is important because it shows that our findings are indicative of the Hispanic population in general and not specific to specific groups of Hispanics," lead study author Ali Saeed, an M.D./Ph.D. candidate at University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, said in a journal news release.

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Lung cancer? Yep, but smokers, globally, are less aware of CVD risks 

An international study is confirming what many cardiologists have known for a while—many smokers around the globe know that smoking can cause lung cancer, but far fewer are aware that their habit has adverse effects on the heart. Even more striking, smokers were largely unaware that secondhand smoke increases the risk of heart disease and stroke among nonsmokers.

The new numbers, unveiled by Dr Geoffrey T Fong (University of Waterloo, ON) at the World Congress of Cardiology (WCC) 2012, come from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Policy Evaluation and the Global Tobacco Surveillance System (GTSS). Both, Fong noted to heartwire, provide strikingly similar snapshots of smokers' perceptions of their own disease risk.

"We know the science—that smoking or tobacco use and secondhand smoke are significant causes of CVD, as well as lung cancer and other forms of cancer—and then the question becomes, do people know the facts about the relationship between tobacco use, secondhand smoke, and CVD, and to what extent does this differ across different countries?" Fong told heartwire. "This is important because well-informed people are more capable of making a decision about tobacco use: for those who don't use it, will they start? or for those who are using tobacco, would it give them reason to quit?"

Smokers, Fong points out, are much more likely to die of heart disease than they are from lung cancer.

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Mutation May Affect PFS in Lung Cancer