Obesity May Soon be the Leading Preventable Cause of Cancer and more…

Obesity may soon replace tobacco use as the leading preventable cause of cancer. MSK’s Dr. Clifford Hudis, chief of breast cancer medicine, predicts that this will happen in a couple of years. Obesity appears to be related to more aggressive breast cancer in postmenopausal women and prostate cancer in men.
MSK opened a new 114,000 square foot, $143 million outpatient facility in West Harrison, NY on Oct 6^th. The new campus will benefit MSK patients who live in Westchester County, the lower Hudson valley and western Connecticut. They will be able to get the same care that is offered at MSK’s Manhattan location.
An MSK study showed that patients under 40 years old may benefit from PET/CT breast imaging. Up until now, this technique has been used only for patients with stage III disease. The study focused on young women with initial diagnoses of stage I to IIIc. The findings indicated that some patients needed to be upstaged to stage III or IV due to unsuspected spread of disease which led to more appropriate treatment. The results need to be confirmed in a clinical trial.

MSK’s Retinoblastoma Program Celebrates 100th Anniversary and more…

MSK’s Retinoblastoma Program is 100 years old this year. Retinoblastoma is a rare eye cancer found in the pediatric population. An effective treatment for this once fatal disease was developed at MSK in 2006. The treatment is safe, can be performed in the outpatient setting and causes no side effects in most patients.
The groundbreaking for a new MSK facility in Middletown, NJ took place on Thursday, September 18, 2014. Outpatient cancer treatment will be offered including surgery. Clinical trials will also be carried on. Cancer patients from Monmouth, Middlesex and Ocean counties will benefit from receiving care close to their homes.
An MSK study has shown that cancer patients who use e-cigarettes along with regular cigarettes to try to stop smoking, are not more likely to quit than non-users. Dr. Jamie Ostroff who leads MSK’s smoking cessation program, said there are questions about the long-term safety and effectiveness of e-cigarettes.

MSK has unveiled its new Program for Family Care in Cancer, an expansion of its prestigious accomplishments in psycho-oncology. It will offer counseling interventions for bereaved parents whose child died of cancer, advanced cancer patients, and cancer survivors.
A clinical trial has shown that screening for lung cancer may reduce deaths from the disease by 20%. But the cost-effectiveness of screening Americans age 65 or older has been questioned, with one drawback being that it results in many false positives. MSK’s Dr. Peter Bach, a lung cancer risk specialist, strongly endorses screening, saying it should not be restricted to patients who can pay out of pocket.
Results of a study conducted by MSK’s Dr. Thomas J. Kaley demonstrated the potential of sunitinib for patients with recurrent and progressive meningioma. The primary endpoint of the study was achieved – the 6 month progression free survival rate was 42%.
A study carried out by MSK has shown that women with breast cancer who consume a soy protein supplement may develop high levels of genistein, a soy phytoestrogen, in their blood. This can result in increased activity in genes that advance breast tumor growth and spread. While the implications are uncertain, breast cancer patients should probably not take soy supplements.