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In Brief
Laryngeal Cancer Linked to Asbestos ExposureAsbestos exposure can cause cancer of the respiratory tract, a study says.
A meta-analysis of over 300 studies of asbestos exposure and throat cancer concluded that exposure to asbestos can cause cancer of the larynx, a part of the respiratory tract that contains a person's vocal cords. A committee at the National Academies' Institute of Medicine did not find evidence that asbestos causes stomach, esophageal, or colorectal cancer.
The study was published by the National Academies Press.
Multiple Gene Variations Can Make People Susceptible to Lung Cancer
A new study has identified 64 gene variations that may make some people more susceptible to lung cancer than others.
Richard Houlston, M.D., Ph.D., of the Institute of Cancer Research in the U.K., and colleagues examined the DNA from 1,529 lung cancer patients and 2,707 control subjects. They identified 64 gene variations associated with developing lung cancer. Scientists consider the variations "low-penetrance," meaning they don't always cause lung cancer.
"Our research suggests that it is highly unlikely that only one or two genes are primarily responsible for the genetic basis of lung cancer," Houlston said.
The study was published in the June 1 issue of Genome Research.
A Skin Rash Could Mean Liver Cancer Patients Will Live Longer After Chemo
Liver cancer patients who develop a skin rash in response to a new chemotherapy may live longer, scientists report.
Chandra Belani, M.D., of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, and colleagues gave 57 patients with advanced liver, gallbladder, and bile duct cancers the chemotherapy drug lapatinib. The patients were selected because they could not receive surgery for their cancers.
The authors noticed that one side effect of lapatinib is a skin rash. The 20 patients who developed the rash lived an average of 10 months, compared with 5 months for patients who did not.
The study was presented June 4 at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
Pre-menopausal African-American Women Have Higher Risk of Aggressive Breast Cancer
Pre-menopausal African-American women have higher rates of some deadly breast cancers, which could explain why they have higher death rates, a study reports.
Lisa A. Carey, M.D., of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, and colleagues examined environmental and molecular factors that could lead to breast cancer in 496 cases in the Carolina Breast Cancer Study. They wanted to find the links between tumor types and race, menopausal status, or survival.
One aggressive cancer, called basal-like breast cancer, was found most often in pre-menopausal African American women (39% compared to 16% in other races). Women with this type of cancer can receive chemotherapy, but their survival time is shorter than those with less aggressive tumor types.
The study was published in the June 7 issue of JAMA.
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