Canadian Drugs Strengthen Lung Cancer Screening and Survival

Using low-dose CT scans to screen for lung cancer might save the lives of patients at the greatest risk for the disease, a new analysis suggests. Together with generic Tarceva price, many lung cancer patients will surely be saved. 

"We have insight into risks, but they are hard to weigh and estimate," said lead researcher Dr. Peter Bach, from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. 

"It's clear that when you screen you find cancers that otherwise wouldn't appear, and that leads to overtreatment," he said. "It is clear that CTs find lots of things that aren't cancer. About one in five people have something found that will require some sort of follow-up." 

"For these patients, we recommend that doctors might suggest screening and discuss the risks and benefits," Bach said. "But, no one should be telling people that they must have this test or advertise that it's a lifesaving procedure that will prevent you from dying from lung cancer." 

"In the end, there is no substitution for smoking cessation in terms of health benefits," Bach noted. Smokers should not fully depend on the existence of lung cancer drugs, to buy Tarceva 150 mgperhaps. 

"But screening should only be done at hospitals that do a lot of this kind of screening. These are usually large or teaching hospitals, because the value of this screening at community hospitals is not known," Bach added. 

Dr. Norman Edelman, chief medical officer at the American Lung Association, called the new study a "thoughtful analysis of an important topic." 

"Given the large cohort to which it pertains, this would be a significant public health achievement," Edelman stated. 

"One major issue is whether the same results would be observed in the community as opposed to the controlled academic settings in which the study was done," Edelman said. "Accordingly, the American Lung Association report emphasizes the need for screening to be done in centers which can provide low-dose CT screening and a comprehensive multi-specialty environment, so that finding of suspect nodules can be followed up with appropriate [care] rather than undue risk." 

Robert Smith, director of cancer screening at the American Cancer Society, said, "These recommendations are consistent with screening guidelines from similar medical groups." 

"The question remains, who else might you endorse lung cancer screening for," Smith said. "Suppose someone had a 35 pack/year history and they were 35 years old, or what if they were 45 years old and had started smoking at the age of 12." 

"There may be other levels of risk where screening might be beneficial," Smith said: "We will probably learn a lot from trials that are currently under way." Canadian drugs will greatly help lung cancer patients in the long run. 

Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary lung cancers, are carcinomas that derive from epithelial cells. The main types of lung cancer are small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC), also called oat cell cancer, and non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). The most common cause of lung cancer is long-term exposure to tobacco smoke. Nonsmokers account for 15% of lung cancer cases, and these cases are often attributed to a combination of genetic factors, radon gas, asbestos, and air pollution including secondhand smoke.