Study finds newer breast cancer drugs save lives
Women with breast cancer who switch from tamoxifen to a newer class of drugs called aromatase inhibitors live longer, Italian researchers reported on Monday.
Their study, published in the journal Cancer, adds to a growing body of evidence that the new drugs are far safer, preventing cancer with fewer side effects than tamoxifen.
Siestas may lower heart attack-related death rates
Healthy working men who take time out for an afternoon nap are one third less likely to die of heart-related causes than their peers who skip a siesta, Greek researchers report.
These findings must be confirmed before naps can be recommended for all, Dr. Dimitrios Trichopoulos of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, the study’s lead author, told Reuters Health.
Secondhand smoke raises risk of heart disease
Exposure to secondhand smoke greatly increases the risk of heart attack and stroke, UK investigators report in the journal Circulation.
Dr. Andrea Venn and Dr. John Britton, both from the University of Nottingham, analyzed data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, conducted between 1988 and 1994. Exposure to smoke was estimated based on blood levels of cotinine, a biological marker for nicotine. The researchers used blood levels of a clotting protein called fibrinogen and homocysteine, an amino acid, as a rough indicator of the risk of heart attack and stroke.
Simple 2-gene test sorts out similar gastrointestinal cancers
A powerful two-gene test distinguishes between a pair of nearly identical gastrointestinal cancers that require radically different courses of treatment, researchers report this week in the online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“This simple and accurate test has the potential to be relatively quickly implemented in the clinic to benefit patients by guiding appropriate treatment,” says senior author Wei Zhang, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Pathology at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.
Intensive smoking cessation helps heart patients
Even smokers who’ve already suffered serious heart problems can improve their outlook by quitting, researchers reported Monday.
In a study of more than 200 smokers hospitalized for heart problems, investigators found that intensive smoking-cessation therapy not only helped patients kick the habit, but also lowered their risk of dying over the next 2 years.
