Category Archives: Lung Cancer

Experts condemn US tobacco firm’s sponsorship of doctor training as ‘grotesque’

Posted on by

Philip Morris International has supported non-smoking programmes around the world ‘to advance its own interests’, say health professionals

The tobacco company Philip Morris has sponsored courses for doctors in multiple countries, in what critics have called a “grotesque” strategy.

Medical education programmes on quitting smoking and harm reduction in South Africa, the Middle East and the US have been supported by Philip Morris International (PMI) or its regional subsidiaries, according to advertising material seen by the Guardian.

Continue reading...

UK has some of worst cancer survival rates in developed world, report says

Posted on by

Rates for lung, liver, brain, oesophageal, pancreatic and stomach cancers worse than in most comparable nations

The UK has some of the worst cancer survival rates in the developed world, according to new research.

Analysis of international data by the Less Survivable Cancers Taskforce found that five-year survival rates for lung, liver, brain, oesophageal, pancreatic and stomach cancers in the UK are worse than in most comparable countries. On average, just 16% of UK patients live for five years with these cancers.

Continue reading...

TV property presenter Jonnie Irwin reveals he has terminal cancer

Posted on by

A Place in the Sun and Escape to the Country host hopes he can inspire others to ‘make the most of every day’

The TV presenter Jonnie Irwin has revealed he has terminal cancer, saying he hopes sharing his diagnosis will inspire others to “make the most of every day”.

The 48-year-old, who presents Channel 4’s A Place in the Sun and the BBC’s Escape to the Country, said he had lung cancer that had spread to his brain, and that he did not know how much time he had left to live.

Continue reading...

UK breakthrough on lung cancer helps target patients at risk of relapse

Posted on by

Research programme buys doctors crucial time by spotting returning tumours before symptoms appear

Seven years ago, Kelly Harrop was working at a stables while also running regularly in half marathons and 10k races. Then she began to suffer digestive problems. Scans eventually revealed marks on her lungs. The subsequent diagnosis was direct. “I had lung cancer. It was a shock. I was fit, healthy and had never smoked,” she told the Observer.

Kelly had surgery to remove the tumour, followed by chemotherapy. But doctors knew there was a risk of the tumour reappearing, so they enrolled her in a new research programme, TRACERx. Funded by Cancer Research UK, the £14m project was set up 10 years ago to investigate how lung tumours arise and evolve. A total of 850 patients with early-stage lung cancer were studied and followed from diagnosis to treatment.

Continue reading...

CT scan catches 70% of lung cancers at early stage, NHS study finds

Posted on by

Exclusive: early detection hailed as ‘major breakthrough’ for treatment of Britain’s deadliest form of cancer

Thousands of lives could be saved if people at risk of developing Britain’s deadliest cancer were screened to diagnose it before it becomes incurable, a major NHS study has found.

Giving smokers and ex-smokers a CT scan uncovers cancerous lung tumours when they are at an early enough stage so they can still be removed, rather than continuing to grow unnoticed, it shows.

Continue reading...

Avoid using wood burning stoves if possible, warn health experts

Posted on by

Charity calls for people to use alternative, less polluting heating and cooking options if they can

Campaigners and health experts are calling on people who have alternative heating not to use their wood burning stoves this winter amid growing concern about their impact on public health.

The Guardian recently reported that wood burners triple the level of harmful particulates inside the home as well as creating dangerous levels of pollution in the surrounding neighbourhood.

Continue reading...

AI program could check blood for signs of lung cancer

Posted on by

Scientists hope that if software passes trials it could boost screening rates

Scientists have developed an artificial intelligence program that can screen people for lung cancer by analysing their blood for DNA mutations that drive the disease.

The software is experimental and needs to be verified in a clinical trial, but doctors are hopeful that if it proves its worth at scale, it will boost lung cancer screening rates by making the procedure as simple as a routine blood test.

Continue reading...

Polluting diesel trucks win last-minute reprieve from EPA

Posted on by
In the final hours of Scott Pruitt's tenure as administrator, the Environmental Protection Agency moved to effectively grant a loophole that will allow a major increase in the manufacturing of a diesel freight truck that produces as much as 55 times the air pollution as trucks that have modern emissions controls. The move by the EPA came after intense lobbying by a small set of manufacturers that sell glider trucks, which use old engines built before new technologies significantly reduced emissions of particulates and nitrogen oxide that are blamed for asthma, lung cancer and other ailments.

GOP Overhaul Would Keep Obamacare’s ‘Cadillac Tax,’ But Delay It Until 2025

Posted on by
Might Republicans make job-based health insurance taxable? And how can you fight an insurance denial for lung-cancer screening? Also, can pharmacists prescribe drugs? Here are answers to some recent questions from readers. Q: I've heard that Republicans plan to change the system so that I'd have to pay income taxes on my health insurance benefits.