Alcohol linked to less common breast cancer

A new study shows alcohol increases risk of hormone-positive

lobular cancer.
Illustration courtesy of the National Cancer Institute.

SEATTLE – Cancer Digest – Women who drink alcohol more than once a day have twice the risk of a less common form of breast cancer called lobular carcinoma, a new study shows.

Led by Dr. Christopher Li, researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center analyzed a subset of women who took part in the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) and answered a questionnaire that included questions about alcohol consumption. Their study was published today online in The Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Lung cancer patients live longer with hospice care than aggressive treatment

A new study shows advanced lung cancer patients lived nearly
a year compared to less than 9 months for those given aggres-
sive therapy. (Photo courtesy of UNAIDS)

BOSTON – Cancer Digest – Patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer who received palliative care lived, on average, almost two months longer than those who received standard care, researchers say.

Led by Dr. Jennifer S. Temel, of the Massachusetts General Hospital, the researchers also found that the patients receiving palliative care reported a higher quality of life through the final course of their illness.

Changing thinking about preventing cancer with drugs will take time

Finasteride has been shown to reduce the risk of
prostate cancer, but few doctors prescribe it for
that purpose.

PHILADELPHIA – (Cancer Digest) A new survey shows that doctors have not increased their use of finasteride for prostate cancer prevention despite the 25 percent reduction in prostate cancer among those taking the drug shown in the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial (PCPT) seven years ago.

Led by Dr. Ian Thompson, chairman of the department of urology at the University of Texas Health Science Center, this new study shows that physicians have not changed their practice patterns, with 64 percent of urologists and 80 percent of primary care physicians never prescribing finasteride for chemoprevention. Finasteride is approved and commonly prescribed for the treatment of enlarged prostate, or benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH).

Surgery increases survival for high-risk prostate cancer

A new study by researchers at the University of California
San Francisco show that men with high-risk prostate cancer
survive longer with prostate surgery.

SAN FRANCISCO – Cancer Digest – Men treated with surgery for localized prostate cancer with a high risk of recurrence or spread had significantly higher survival rate than men treated with either external-beam radiation or hormonal therapies, a new study shows.

Led by Dr. Matthew Cooperberg, lead investigator of the study and a prostate cancer specialist in the UCSF Department of Urology, the researchers found that the differences among therapies were greater at higher levels of cancer risk, and suggest, the researchers say, that in many cases surgery should play a greater role in treatment strategies for patients with prostate cancer that is likely to recur or spread.