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Hospira, Inc. is further informing the general public about a previously released user level recall of a total of 19 lots of carboplatin, cytarabine, paclitaxel, and methotrexate in the United States. The recall is due to visible particles embedded in the glass at the neck of the vial.

Following treatment with hormone-suppressing drugs, women who are obese continue to have higher levels of estrogen than women of normal weight. Thus, a team from The Institute of Cancer Research in London and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust examined the possibility that women who are obese might benefit from changes to their treatment.

The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, found that hormone-suppressing drugs noticeably reduced estrogen levels in obese women, yet levels of estrogen remained more than double those in women of normal weight.

A report published in Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition suggests raising the RDA of vitamin C from the current levels of 75 mg for women and 90 mg for men to an overall 200 mg per day for adults.

Beyond preventing the vitamin C deficiency disease of scurvy, researchers say it’s appropriate to seek optimum vitamin C levels that will saturate cells and tissues, pose no risk, and may have significant effects on public health. All of these benefits come at almost no expense (approximately a penny a day), if taken as a dietary supplement, researchers add.

In 2002, the highly publicized Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) established that risks outweighed benefits with regard to hormone therapy for the prevention of chronic disease. Thus began 10 years of debate regarding hormone therapy use. Now 15 top medical organizations have joined together to issue a statement of agreement pertaining to the benefits of hormone therapy for symptomatic menopausal women. Read More ›

Patients investigate their illnesses online to become better informed and prepared to play an active role in their care, a new study by researchers at University of California (UC), Davis suggests.

Patient access to oncology drugs is faster in the United States compared with Europe, according to a new study reported in the July/August Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development (CSDD) Impact Report.

The study also found new oncology drug approvals between 2000 and 2011 were greater by 33% in the United States compared with Europe.

A recent study found that after only 1 or 2 consultations, 77% of cancer patients who first present to their family doctors (GPs) with suspicious symptoms are referred to a specialist. The research, published in the journal The Lancet Oncology, also showed a large disparity in the number of times cancer patients visit their GP prior to a specialist referral. Most pre-referral consultations occurred when the patient was either female, young, or an older person from an ethnic minority, or when the cancer was one of the more rare types.

When cancer treatments are no longer an option, the focus of a patient’s care often shifts from prolonging life to promoting the quality of life (QOL) at the end of life (EOL).

In a recent report, better QOL at the EOL for patients with advanced cancer were associated with avoiding hospitalizations and the intensive care unit, being visited by a pastor in a hospital or clinic, having a therapeutic alliance with their physician, worrying less, and praying or meditating. The report was published online in Archives of Internal Medicine.

The number of patients diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), a very common early-stage and noninvasive form of breast cancer, has risen dramatically since the early 1980s. Now, a recent study shows that accelerated whole breast irradiation after lumpectomy is an effective treatment for DCIS, which means that many more breast cancer patients could experience a great reduction in length of treatment.

During a recent study, patients reported significant improvement in side effects of cancer treatment following just 1 session of Jin Shin Jyutsu, an ancient form of touch therapy that is similar to acupuncture in philosophy.