Death rate for lung cancer among women declines

Decline is small -- under 1 percent -- but anticipation for continuing drop is great. For the first time, women's death rates from lung cancer are dropping, possibly a turning point in the smoking-fueled epidemic.

It's a small decline, says the nation's annual report on cancer — just under 1 percent a year. And lung cancer remains the nation's, and the world's, leading cancer killer. But the long-anticipated drop — coming more than a decade after a similar decline began in U.S. men — is a hopeful sign.
"It looks like we've turned the corner," said Elizabeth Ward of the American Cancer Society, who co-authored Thursday's report. "We think this downward trend is real, and we think it will continue."

Overall, death rates from cancer have been inching down for years, thanks mostly to gains against some leading types — colorectal, breast, prostate and, in men, lung cancer. Preventing cancer is better than treating it, and the country has documented smaller but real declines in new cases as well.
The report shows death rates falling an average of 1.6 percent a year between 2003 and 2007, the latest data available. Rates of new diagnoses declined nearly 1 percent a year, researchers reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

But progress is mixed, with diagnoses and deaths still on the rise for other cancer types including melanoma, liver, kidney and pancreatic cancer.
Moreover, cancer is primarily a disease of older adults and the population is graying rapidly, a challenge in maintaining the gains.Lung cancer is expected to kill more than 159,000 Americans this year, nearly 70,500 of them women. So even a small improvement in survival is welcome, and can add up over time, said Ward.

Smoking became rampant among men long before women, and thus men's lung cancer deaths soared first. But in the early 1990s, death rates began dropping among men as older smokers died and fewer younger men took up the habit. Those rates were dropping 3 percent a year between 2005 and 2007, the new report said.

Researchers had long anticipated the same pattern would appear among women, and had been tracking signs that women's death rates had begun inching down for a few years. But only now with a solid five-year trend are they confident that the decline is real, said National Cancer Institute statistician Brenda Edwards, a report co-author.

But Edwards noted that the cigarette industry targeted advertising toward women in late 1960s and '70s, what she calls "the Virginia Slims effect" that boosted smoking among young women at the time. It's possible that those women will temporarily bump up the death count again as they age, she said.

What about new lung cancer diagnoses? There are indications that that rate is dropping, too, but Edwards notes that the smoking rate varies widely geographically.
Perhaps more troubling is that progress at getting men and women to kick the habit has stalled in the past decade.
The news is "encouraging, but we have to be cautious," said Dr. V. Craig Jordan of Georgetown University's Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center.

As Congress considers how much money to budget for medical research this year and next, Jordan worried that cutting investments in cancer research and tobacco control could reverse hard-won gains.
"Like all battles, you just let up a little bit and it's all over," he said.
Among the report's other findings:
—Survival of childhood cancer is continuing a decades-long climb, but new diagnoses are continuing to inch upward, too.

—New cases of breast cancer had abruptly dropped in 2002 and 2003, as many women abandoned postmenopausal hormone therapy. That decline has leveled off.—Prostate cancer marked a small uptick in diagnoses between 2005 and 2007 but not enough to be statistically significant.
—Cancer death rates remain highest among black patients, but those patients also have experienced the largest drop in deaths over the past decade.
—Among men, incidence of melanoma, liver, kidney and pancreatic cancers continues to rise. Women show increases in melanoma, leukemia, kidney, thyroid and pancreatic cancer.
—Deaths continue to rise for melanoma in men, uterine cancer in women and liver and pancreatic cancer in both.

In addition, the report provides the first in-depth look at brain tumors since the nation formally began counting non-cancerous types in 2004. That's important, since even non-malignant brain tumors can require debilitating treatment and can kill.
Brain tumors are far more rare in children than in adults — but the tumors are more likely to be cancerous in children and non-cancerous in adults. The researchers couldn't explain why.
Nearly two-thirds of childhood brain tumors were malignant, compared to a third among adults.

Survival has improved for adults with any type of brain tumor and for children who experience non-cancerous kinds. But the past decade has brought no improvement in death rates for children with brain cancer.

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In land of YouTube dislikes, Justin Bieber rules

Happy Friday, everyone. If you'll allow me, I'd like to take a moment to talk about something serious.

In a move I believe is best for everyone (but mostly me), I am switching gears to only cover facets of pop culture and toilet humor. I will also be switching focus to online education. It's come to my attention that this is a lucrative area, and leveraging my authority on information and data graphics, I believe I can become a rich man and retire by age thirty, quite possibly making four figures even sooner.

Yes, there are other types of data in the world, perhaps more serious, interesting, and worth knowing, but the Web is not for serious or sad things. The Web is a place of free-flowing ideas (therefore this site's name) that revolve around things that matter to today's youth such as Justin Bieber and his new haircut. Case in point: the nearing shut down of Data.gov.

Most of you are probably not even reading this since there are several pictures of the teen dream above. Plus there are quite a few words here. Lengthy.

The above graphic is my first step towards my goal. With data courtesy of ReadWriteWeb, you can see the top ten videos with the most dislikes on YouTube. Some videos, like Friday from Rebecca Black, are hated by many, while other videos simply have a ton of views, and there's no way to please everyone.

This brings up another point. I know that many of you will be displeased with my choice like when I quit data altogether, but again, I do believe this is for the best. When you have a dream, you have to go for it, or you'll end up wondering "what if...?" and that is no way to live, my friend.

And so one chapter ends and a new one begins in the book of Nathan. Today, April 1, will forever be known (to me) as the day I changed my life. I hope you'll join me in this journey, but if not, please still tell your friends to visit FlowingData for all their online education needs. Thanks.

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Secrets of style Sharon Stone: as in 53 years old look at 30

The other day Sharon Stone celebrated its 53 anniversary and once again proved that she is able as ever to surprise and shock the public. To celebrate his birthday with friends the actress went to Hollywood nightclub «Voyuer». And involuntarily pleased with his appearance, not only the paparazzi, but for all fans of his undying beauty.

For a birthday, Sharon chose more than provocative attire: tight leather pants, black girdle and a top of a transparent purple fabric. Under the highly translucent blouse Sharon - either intentionally or because of coquetry - not wearing underwear. Free from the shackles of beauty actress clearly viewed through the transparent fabric, clearly proving: Sharon is still in great shape!

Sharon went to a nightclub in provocative attire: black leather pants, girdle, and a transparent purple top. Under a transparent blouse actress - whether intentionally, or unintentionally - not wearing underwear. Pleased with the paparazzi immediately clicked cameras. A mischievous child, Sharon did not think to be embarrassed, smiling radiantly photographers and signing autographs for everyone. Paparazzi and the party guests could see for themselves: in their 1953 actress in great form.

The main principle of the actress: Do not think about age and wear what suits you! At six decades, Sharon has steadfastly refused to grow old and looks much younger than his years. The main principle of the actress - forget about the age and wear what you-to-face. In the locker room, Sharon is no (or almost no) dark and dull dresses, which are usually transferred women of elegant age. "hooligan" Stone still does not deny myself the pleasure to walk down the street in mini-dresses or tight leggings, often buying for themselves frankly youth thing.

Of course, not every woman her age can boast a stunning figure, you can wear his short skirts and shorts. Nevertheless, some ideas from the wardrobe of Sharon is to adopt.

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Half a million die from smoking yearly in U.S.

Smoking causes half a million deaths each year in the U.S., killing slightly more men than women, new statistics show. The rates of smoking-related deaths in men were comparable to what's been found in other recent analyses. The numbers for the women, however, were higher than expected.

The study, published in the journal Epidemiology, is "an important reminder that this huge epidemic...needs ongoing measurement," said Dr. Prabhat Jha, who studies smoking mortality and heads the Center for Global Health Research at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto.
"We just can't assume that we know enough about where this epidemic is going," Jha, who was not involved in the current study, told Reuters Health.
For the new report, Dr. Brian Rostron, then of the University of California, Berkeley, used data from a national health survey that asked nearly 250,000 people if and how much they smoked currently and in the past.
Participants were tracked for 2 to 9 years after filling out the survey. By the time the study ended, in 2006, about 17,000 of them had died.
Rostron, who now works at the Food and Drug Administration, calculated the odds of dying for smokers and non-smokers of different ages and genders.

Then he applied the extra risks due to smoking to the total U.S. population. According to his calculations, there were an average of about 290,000 smoking-related deaths in men each year between 2002 and 2006 and 230,000 in women - a total of over half a million deaths.
In all, about 2.5 million people in the U.S. die every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Among all current and former smokers, the greatest increase in risk of a tobacco-related death was seen between the ages of 65 and 74. Once other factors such as weight and alcohol consumption were taken into account, people in that age group were three times as likely to die from any cause if they currently smoked between one and two packs of cigarettes a day, compared to if they had never smoked.


As evidence of the risks of smoking has accumulated and spread, the number of current smokers in the U.S. has dropped over the past few decades.
A new study in The Journal of the American Medical Association confirms that trend: about 7 percent of adults in the U.S. were heavy smokers in 2007, compared to 23 percent in 1965. The researchers on that study, led by Dr. John Pierce of the University of California, San Diego, defined "heavy smoking" as 20 or more cigarettes a day.

Despite that good news, Jha said the new estimates show the need for more information on how smoking affects women. "It might well be that in women the effects are greater and more severe, but we need more evidence," he said.
Jha added that while rates of smoking and deaths from smoking have been falling over the long term in the U.S., they've been rising in low-income countries. Because of that, "overall the number of smoking-related deaths worldwide is bound to increase," Jha said.

Currently, there are about 5 to 6 million smoking-related deaths each year worldwide, he said.

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Cell research shows promise in hard-to-treat breast cancer

A form of fast-spreading breast cancer has remained hard to treat despite overall advances in the field. Now a new study reveals some of the underpinnings of this disease, called basal subtype breast cancer, and may point the way to future avenues of treatments.

Women with mutations in their BRCA1 genes are more likely than others to develop basal subtype breast cancer, and the study showed that even non-cancerous cells with these mutations express, or turn on, different genes, look different under a microscope and behave differently when they divide than cells without these mutations.

That means women with BRCA1 mutations have "a reservoir of cells primed to form cancer, if the right combination of other signals comes along," said study researcher Charlotte Kuperwasser, an associate professor of Cell, Molecular & Developmental Biology at Tufts University in Boston.Normally, the BRCA1 gene suppresses tumor growth; women with mutations in this gene, however, have a much higher risk of developing breast cancer. Until now, scientists have not fully understood why.

In normal breast tissue, some cells are "milk makers" and others are "milk squeezers," and these types are easily distinguished from each other, Kuperwasser said.

But in their study, the team found that for women with BRCA1 mutations these breast cells develop abnormally, even when there are no signs of cancer. More specifically, these cell types get stuck in an immature state, Kuperwasser said.

"If you look at breast tissues under a microscope — in every way that we can do that — you cannot tell the difference between these cells," as you can in cells without the mutation, she said. And certain proteins that normally show up on the surfaces of cells of each type don't appear as they should.

In other ways, the tissue functions normally. These women have normal breast biology and normal lactation — somehow life has otherwise overcome the effects of the mutation, she said.This lack of normal maturation represents a new way of understanding the role of the BRCA1 gene, she said.

"Our understanding of tumor suppressor genes has been that they put the brakes on cell growth," Kuperwasser said. "This shows they also play an important role in normal maturation and differentiation of cells." (Differentiation is a process by which cells mature.)

"Now we can think of cancers as two different puzzles — there's the DNA damage that we know can cause cancer, but there's also the normal process of differentiation, and the regulation of that differentiation process," she said.

Future treatments

Women with BRCA1 mutations face an 80-percent chance of developing breast cancer in their lives, and many of them develop the basal subtype. Often, basal subtype cancers are particularly devastating, because they are impervious to treatments with hormone therapies.

"There's a very limited arsenal for treating basal subtype cancers," Kuperwasser said. The finding suggests scientists may want to consider therapies for basal breast cancer that target the genes involved in the differentiation of these cells.

"Even if we could convert basal cancers to luminal, hormone-responsive breast cancer, we could treat it," she said.

Further, the study shows that researchers should consider treating women with BRCA1 mutations before they develop breast cancer, she said. Therapies could be designed to coax their cells to differentiate — to get them out of their immature state — before cancer arises, she said.

"If we could normalize their breast tissue, could we lower their incidence [of breast cancer]?" she said.

Researchers may also want to study the 20 percent of women with BRCA1 mutations who don't develop breast cancer.

"What's going on in those cases, what specific mutations might be different and other factors that are involved, we don't really know,"

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Tourbillon Black Hole - luxury watch as a mysterious object

Inside a black hole matter, space and time are virtually absent in our understanding of them. And therefore quite surprising desire designer Fischer Thierry do watch Tourbillon Black Hole is in the form of this mysterious object.

The space theme seems to be one of the most popular design in order to watch. We have already talked about the gorgeous moon watch from the company Sarpaneva. Now here we want to provide watch Tourbillon Black Hole from designer Thierry Fischer, visual beat some of the most unusual objects in the universe, namely, the black hole.

There is no more beautiful form than the form at the starry sky. But residents of the cities in order to admire the infinity of space, we have to go outside the settlement - urban lighting almost interrupts the light from the stars.

But watch Tourbillon Black Hole will help urban residents admire the stars, even in the daytime. Because they are made in the form of the sky - with spinning spheres and a black hole in the center of the dial.

Minute and hour the arrows on the described watch, of course, no. Instead they came up with Thierry Fischer rolling elements which interface with movable stars. On the hour written digits from 1 to 12, and on a minute shows the star.
Well, all this is not spinning around the Earth, not around Solntstsa and around the black hole. And is this cosmic beauty is not above the human head and on his wrist.

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