Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : The New Economy and its Winners -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Doren who wrote (47730)	1/17/2009 2:47:05 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 57684

Steve Jobs, Patrick Swayze raise awareness of deadly pancreatic cancer nydailynews.com BY ROSEMARY BLACK NEW YORK DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER Updated Friday, January 16th 2009, 5:38 PM It's a deadly disease with a dismally poor survival rate and so few initial symptoms that sufferers often don't know they have it until it's too late. But awareness of pancreatic cancer is on the rise as two of its high-profile victims - Steve Jobs and Patrick Swayze - made headlines this week. Swayze, diagnosed a year ago with the most common and grimmest form of the disease, was hospitalized with pneumonia last Friday. And Wednesday, a skeletal-looking Apple CEO Jobs, diagnosed with a less serious form of the illness in 2004, announced that he was taking a medical leave, prompting speculation that his cancer might have returned. Sadly, a recurrence of pancreatic cancer is the norm, doctors say. The five-year survival rate is just 5 to 10 percent, and that includes patients whose tumors were small enough that they could have surgery. Each year, there are about 35,000 new cases of pancreatic cancer in this country, and about the same number of Americans die annually from the disease. Current treatments have failed to increase the survival rates. Several new chemotherapy drugs are in use, but "there's certainly no breakthrough drug at this point," says Dr. Daniel Labow, surgical oncologist and assistant professor of surgery at Mt. Sinai Hospital. "Some of the drugs improve the quality of life but in general, they don't prolong it." Medical experts are looking at the genetics of pancreatic cancer, and why some forms of this killer are so resistant. At Johns Hopkins Medical Center, scientists have successfully mapped the entire genetic blueprint for pancreatic cancer. The blueprint can show which forms of the disease are caused by smoking, which are caused by genes inherited from a parent, and which came about due to simple bad luck. Such information could potentially be used to devise new therapies, says Dr. John Chabot, professor of clinical surgery at Columbia University. "Once you understand more about which genes and mutations are required for a tumor to grow, you can start to use drugs in a more logical way, and to give drugs that block the route of the cancer." Taking into account family history could potentially save lives, Chabot says. "If there is pancreatic cancer in a family, we can do scans on other family members," notes Dr. Chabot. "And in those people with premalignant changes to the pancreas, we can do surgery." While tumors that are caught early are operable, the cancer still tends to recur. And many times the disease has spread too far when it's discovered. "Often when you get symptoms, it may be too late," Labow explains. In terms of prevention, "There's not an awful lot you can do," says Dr. David Clain, acting chairman of digestive diseases at Beth Israel Medical Center. "There is a small increased risk of pancreatic cancer for smokers and people who eat a high fat diet, but that connection is small." Pancreatic cancer exhibits few early symptoms that people can watch for. Jaundice is a major red flag, so if you develop yellow skin or eyes and have very dark urine, call your doctor right away, Labow says. Chronic diarrhea and unexplained weight loss are also symptoms - but they can be symptoms of many other disorders, too. This type of cancer is associated with age, and the peak of diagnosis is people in their sixties. Men are slightly more prone than women to develop this cancer. In the cases of Swayze and Jobs, they've already more than beat the statistical odds. "The vast majority of people with pancreatic cancer die within six months," says Dr. Clain.