ASH, 102 Clifton Street, LONDON, EC2A 4HW.
Tel 020 7739 5902 Fax 020 7613 0531

ASH Daily News

27 October 2006

[View html version: http://www.globalink.org/nbuk]

HEADLINES

CT scans could improve lung cancer survival rates

Critically ill patients and NRT use

BAT is having a good year but a slow last quarter

As the smoking ban draws near pubs are spending more on new furniture

Traders of an indoor market welcome a smoking ban

FULL TEXT

CT scans could improve lung cancer survival rates

New research has shown that early screening with CT scans could improve
the survival rates from lung cancer.

Lung cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer worldwide and in the
UK 40,000 people die from the disease every year. Tobacco is the main
cause of lung cancer and 90% of cases are caused by smoking.

Of those with lung cancer, six out of every 10 people will die within 1
year of being diagnosed and between 7 and 8 will die within 2 years.

Generally by the time symptoms appear the disease has progressed to the
stage where it is too advanced to treat, hence the poor survival rates.

A study by researchers in the U.S. used CT screening for lung cancer.
They examined 31,657 people who were at risk for lung cancer but did not
have any symptoms.

Researchers discovered 484 lung tumours, 412 of which were Stage I,
meaning they were small and had not spread. Of this group eight
declined treatment and all died within five years, while 302 with early
lung cancer sought immediate surgical treatment.

Dr. Claudia Henschke, who led the study, estimates that 92% of
participants who were in the earliest stage of lung cancer and who had
surgery within one month of diagnosis will survive for 10 years.

Henschke and a team of researchers found in 1999 that a type of X-ray
called spiral CT scanning could detect 85% of small lung tumours while
they could still be surgically removed.

The researchers say that early screening with CT scans helped diagnose
people with the disease, which would not have been detected until much
later.

However, the study has invoked debate and criticism. Some believe that
the study does not prove that finding the cancers early saves lives and
as the study did not compare participants who got scans to those who did
not, it cannot conclusively show whether screening saves more lives than
doing nothing.

Critics also argue that regular CT scans are costly and often create
more false alarms than cancer diagnoses. A suspicious lesion on an
x-ray must be biopsied, or cut into, to assess whether it is actually
cancer, and with lungs this carries the risk of a collapsed lung or
other complications.

Three larger trials, with a total of 100,000 patients, are underway in
the U.S. and Europe which will hopefully provide a clearer picture, but
the results are not expected for at least five years.

Source: News Medical Net 26 Oct 2006
Link to article: http://www.news-medical.net/?id=20775



Critically ill patients and NRT use

Smokers admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) appear to be at higher
risk of cardiovascular events and death if they are given nicotine
replacement therapy to avert acute nicotine withdrawal. The findings
have been presented at CHEST 2006, the annual meeting of the American
College of Chest Physicians in the US.

The researchers noted that effects of nicotine withdrawal, including
increased blood pressure, heart rate and coronary artery constriction,
can theoretically complicate the management of a critically ill patient.
However, previous studies have shown that nicotine replacement therapy
is safe for the general medical patient.

Nicotine replacement is not standard practice for ICU patients, but some
units have "nurse-driven protocols" for doing so.

Drs. Amy Lee and Bekela Afessa of the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in
Minneapolis, Minnesota, conducted a retrospective study of 224 heavy
smokers admitted to the ICU, half of whom received nicotine replacement
therapy and the other half who did not.

Severity of illness was similar in the two groups. There were 18 deaths
(16.1%) in the NRT group compared with 3 deaths (2.7%) in the control
group.

"Our study showed that nicotine replacement therapy may not be safe in
critically ill patients, but this does not include general medical
patients in the hospital or outpatients," Dr. Afessa emphasized.
"However, even for the critically ill patient, we cannot confidently say
it does harm because our study was retrospective with several
limitations."

Editorial note: It is important to note that this is a theoretical
association and a retrospective study. As the authors note NRT is safe
for most people.

Source: Reuters 27 October 2006
Link to article:
http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2006/10/26/professional/links/20061
026clin007.html



BAT is having a good year but a slow last quarter

British American Tobacco Plc (BAT) has reported a 13% rise in nine-month
earnings and the company is on track for making record profits in 2006.

During the last nine months, volumes of its four top global cigarette
brands rose 16% and operating profits have grown 6%.

However, the last quarter has seen profits slow as smoking bans and
higher taxes in Europe burned into its sales.

BAT said that sales in Europe in the quarter were 1.8% down on the
previous year.

Source: The Times 27 Oct. 06 & Reuters 26 Oct 06
Link to article: http://tinyurl.com/yfp896 & http://tinyurl.com/yhhky8



As the smoking ban draws near pubs are spending more on new furniture

Pub furniture suppliers say the smoking ban could start a mini boom
fuelled by licensees wanting to smarten up their pubs' interiors, either
in advance of the ban or shortly afterwards.

Many pub operators that have delayed replacing or re-upholstering their
furniture for fear of burn marks, smoke damage or nicotine stains, are
now free from those concerns and are spending more on new furniture.

Sally Huband, director of furniture restorer Pub Stuff, which operates
out of two customer warehouses in Banbury, Oxfordshire, and Salford,
Lancashire, explains: "We expect to see a huge upswing in business when
the smoking ban comes in. The feedback we get is that a lot of people
will use the opportunity to revamp or completely refurbish their pubs."

Beverley Greaves, director of Smart Interiors said that "Many of the pub
chains are currently carrying out refurbishments which, together with
the smoking ban, could be one of the reasons we are so busy."

However The Publican reports that more than half of licensees have
failed to take any action on the smoking ban so far, according to poll
done by the magazine.

Results of the poll show that 56% of respondents said they had not done
anything to prepare for the impending ban.

The Publican believes that the results indicate that many licensees are
still waiting for the government to decide on a definite start-date and
the final details of the ban before deciding how best to adapt their
businesses.

Source: Morning Advertiser 26 Oct 2006 & The Publican
Link to article: http://tinyurl.com/yhqnuv & http://tinyurl.com/ym7kb3



Traders of an indoor market welcome a smoking ban

Pontypool Indoor Market, in Wales, is going to introduce a smoking ban,
which has been welcomed by the majority of traders.

Of the 20 business polled by the Free Press newspaper, 12 said they
supported the ban. The smoking ban is just one of the many changes
proposed by Torfaen council to improve the market for the benefit of
shoppers and traders.

Adrian Harvey, of Cal Inks, a smoker himself, is in favour of the ban.
"Personally, I think it will cut down the number of cigarettes I smoke."
Though he does believe it might stop people coming into the market but
remarked "you can't smoke in Tesco so what is the difference?"

Source: Free Press Pontypool 26 Oct 2006
Link to article: http://tinyurl.com/ydcrhq

----------------------------------
Unsubscribe:

Public subscribers: http://www.ash.org.uk/html/about/subscribe.php
Globalink members: http://member.globalink.org
----------------------------------

Sarah Ward
Information Manager
Action on Smoking & Health (ASH)
102 Clifton Street
London
EC2A 4HW

Tel: 020 7739 5902
Fax: 020 7613 0531
e-mail: sarah.ward@ash.org.uk
web: http://www.ash.org.uk
map: http://uk2.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?pc=EC2A4HW