ProfNet Wire: Health & Medicine: Prevention/Treatment of Ovarian Cancer

ROUND-UP: PREVENTION/TREATMENT OF OVARIAN CANCER (continued)

We've added the following to items posted previously at http://profnet.prnewswire.com/organik/orbital/thewire/lst_leads.jsp?iLRTopicI D=4054

**1. DR. MARC KAHN, medical director of EBT-HEART & BODY IMAGING: "The transvaginal ultrasound is a test that the public is demanding, but insurance companies don’t pay for. Early detection of ovarian cancer is the key to prevention. The test is safe and takes only a few minutes to perform. Although less common than other cancers, ovarian cancer is especially difficult to detect and has the highest mortality rate of all gynecologic cancers in both Canada and the U.S. However, when detected early, the five- year survival rate is 95 percent in the U.S. and about 90 percent in Canada, according to the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care. There is no approved screening method yet for ovarian cancer, but transvaginal ultrasound gives physicians a clearer picture of the ovaries, and it’s believed that this screening method will help decrease the number of late-stage cancers."

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LEADS

**1. CANCER: THE IMPORTANCE OF EARLY DETECTION. DR. JAMES EHRLICH, medical director and founder of COLORADO HEART & BODY IMAGING (CHBI) and president of the SOCIETY OF RESPONSIBLE PREVENTIVE IMAGING (SRPI): "The passing of journalist Peter Jennings should remind all physicians about the critical importance of early detection of our nation’s leading cancer killer: lung cancer. It’s time for physicians to encourage lung cancer screening, and for managed care to provide coverage for such vital 'early detection' imaging tests. The conventional diagnosis, waiting for symptoms or an incidental finding of a mass on a chest x-ray, is too late and carries with it a dismal prognosis. High-resolution, low-dose electron beam CT imaging (EBCT) has been proven to routinely find lung cancer in stage one (with favorable five-year survival rates) and should be encouraged broadly for those at higher risk, including current and former smokers."

**2. CANCER: NEW TECHNOLOGY FOR LUNG CANCER DETECTION. SAM FINKELSTEIN, president of RIVERAIN MEDICAL: "According to the American Cancer Society, lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the U.S., taking more lives annually than breast, colon and prostate cancer combined. Statistics tell us only 15 percent of people with lung cancer are diagnosed in the earliest stage, when survival rates are highest. Chest X-rays supplemented by computer-aided detection can assist radiologists in discovering hard-to- detect, suspicious pulmonary nodules that could be early-stage lung cancer -- the key to long-term survivability. Currently, there only is one FDA-approved chest X-ray computer-aided detection system for early-stage lung cancer. This technology uses existing X-ray images, meaning no additional radiation exposure for the patient."

**3. CANCER: NEW LUNG CANCER THERAPIES ARE IN DEVELOPMENT. D. NEIL WATKINS, MBBS, Ph.D., FRACP, assistant professor of oncology at JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY, can address new therapies directed against specific cellular pathways in lung cancer that are being developed with the hope of controlling the disease: "These treatments are unlike conventional chemotherapy and do not usually damage normal cells. They include tyrosine kinase inhibitors, like Iressa and angiogenesis inhibitors, as well as other novel therapies." Watkins received a 2005 Kimmel Grant for his work in the area of aberrant Hedgehog signaling in cancer.

**4. CANCER: THE PUBLIC HEALTH EFFECTS OF LUNG CANCER. DR. PETER SHIELDS, director of the cancer genetics and epidemiology program at Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Program at GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER: "Lung cancer is an awful disease, which starts when kids think they can smoke and quit, and ends when it is found too late to be successfully treated. We victimize smokers who are addicted, and forget that many former smokers still get lung cancer."

**5. HEART DISEASE: HCMA IS THE MOST COMMON FORM OF GENETIC HEART DISEASE. LISA SALBERG, president of the HYPERTROPHIC CARDIOMYOPATHY ASSOCIATION (HCMA), is a hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) patient and co-author of "HCM: For Patients, Their Families and Interested Physicians." She can provide simple tips, exercise guidelines, resources and recommended procedures that could potentially save lives: "The tragic news of young gifted athletes from around the U.S. who suffer sudden death from undetected hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a reminder about the need to provide national screening for this heart disease. HCM, which results in a thickening of the heart muscle, is the most common genetic heart disease in the U.S. and the leading cause of sudden death in children and young adults. HCM can be detected and treated, allowing patients to live long lives. Simply improving pre-participation screening forms and conducting ECGs on properly selected school-age children and young adults will reduce tragic events."

**6. SPORTS MEDICINE: KEEPING YOUNG ATHLETES WITH ARTHRITIS IN THE GAME. KEVIN PLANCHER, M.D., MS, FACS, FAAOS, N.Y.-area orthopaedist, sports medicine expert and official orthopaedic surgeon of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard teams, is available to discuss treatment and management techniques to keep athletes active: "While the term 'osteoarthritis' usually conjures images of the elderly and inactive, a surprising number of young, athletic adults are suffering the joint pain and stiffness associated with this degenerative disease. In fact, according to recent statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 8.5 million people between the ages of 18 and 44 report that they have been diagnosed by a doctor with arthritis. Osteoarthritis is a real hurdle for young, athletic adults who simply aren't ready to give up the sports they love to play. Fortunately, the sports medicine community has made good strides recently in helping active young adults with arthritis to stay in the game."