Cancer Decisions - Free Newsletter -May 13, 2007

HERE AT THE MOSS REPORTS

People newly diagnosed with cancer are faced with having to make crucial treatment decisions quickly, often with an incomplete grasp of the complexities of their situation. Making informed choices under such intense pressure can be extremely difficult.

The widely praised Moss Reports are an invaluable source of information on currently available treatments for more than 200 different types of cancer. Each Moss Report discusses both the standard treatment options that are likely to be offered for a particular cancer diagnosis, and the most promising alternative and complementary approaches. For cancer patients and their families, a Moss Report offers a truly comprehensive reference work. These reports can be ordered and downloaded directly from our Web site, www.cancerdecisions.com.

For people who have already purchased a Moss Report on their specific cancer diagnosis, I offer phone consultations. A phone consultation can be enormously helpful in narrowing down the most promising options and arriving at a coherent treatment strategy. A recent phone consultee wrote:

"I've used the Moss Report on Breast Cancer to direct my successful ten-year battle with the disease, and I've appreciated the thorough research and unbiased opinions that Dr. Moss provides. Since I am once again in a position that I must seek further treatment, I chose to have a phone consultation with Dr. Moss. I had been considering a treatment option that Dr. Moss felt very strongly would not be of benefit to me. Through our conversation I not only gained information that will keep me from wasting $20,000 on a treatment with no merit, but Dr. Moss also gave me some ideas that cause me to remain very hopeful." - JM

If you are a Moss Report client and would like to schedule a consultation, please call 1-800-980-1234 (814-238-3367 from outside the US) or send an email to: Jacquie@cancerdecisions.com.

We look forward to helping you.

CURRENT TOPICS

We continue to add new reports to our Current Topics series on important aspects of cancer treatment and prevention. These reports, priced at $9.95 each, can be downloaded directly from our Web site, www.cancerdecisions.com.

Currently available are:

Avastin: Your Money Or Your Life. (A clear-eyed look at the targeted drug Avastin)
On Guard - Gardasil (A critical evaluation of the new cervical cancer vaccine)
Do Antioxidants and Chemotherapy Conflict?
Mammography, Biopsy and the Diagnosis of Breast Cancer
Herceptin or Deceptin? (An evaluation of the use of the targeted drug Herceptin in breast cancer)
The Politics of Hope: Andrew von Eschenbach and the Decline of the National Cancer Institute
The Mexican Cancer Clinics in the Era of Evidence-Based Medicine

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CANCER ON THE RISE WORLDWIDE

While the US recently celebrated the fact that there were approximately 3,000 fewer cancer deaths in 2004 than there were the previous year, the world as a whole is facing a staggering 50 percent increase in cancer incidence and deaths by the year 2020. The World Cancer Report, published by a branch of the World Health Organization, predicts this increase and points out that this massive spike in cancer incidence and deaths will be fueled in large part by preventable factors, such as cigarette smoking, faulty diet and sedentary lifestyles.

In the year 2000, cancer was responsible for 12 per cent of the nearly 56 million deaths worldwide from all causes: 5.3 million men and 4.7 million women developed cancer, and a total of 6.2 million people died from the disease. But, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), huge as this total already is, global cancer rates are set to increase even further.

Tobacco remains the single most important avoidable cancer risk. In the 20th century, tobacco killed approximately 100 million people. It is sobering to realize that this is far more than the 60 million soldiers and civilians who died in World War II plus the 20 million who died in World War I. Tobacco is the single greatest health scourge of humanity.

The IARC emphasizes that a healthy lifestyle and diet can help reduce the cancer burden. In particular, increased exercise and the frequent consumption of fruit and vegetables can make a significant difference. Early detection through screening, particularly for cancer among women, helps improve the outcome of treatment. But the predicted sharp increase in new cases - from 10 million to 15 million by 2020 - will be due not only to the steadily aging populations in both developed and developing countries, but also reflects current trends in smoking and the growing adoption of unhealthy sedentary lifestyles.

The IARC believes there is a strong justification for focusing cancer prevention on two main cancer-causing factors - tobacco and diet, as well as certain infections that cause many cancers in the developing world. These factors were responsible for 43 per cent of all cancer deaths in 2000 (i.e., 2.7 million fatalities), and 40 per cent of all new diagnoses, (i.e., 4 million new cancer cases).

IARC is also preparing a Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health. This strategy will contain recommendations for governments on nutrition and physical activity goals and population-based interventions to reduce the prevalence of chronic diseases including cancer.

However, the report underestimates the difficulty of reducing global tobacco consumption in the face of the aggressive tactics used by transnational corporations to foster tobacco use, especially in the developing world.

Tobacco is the most avoidable cancer risk. Fifty percent of smokers are killed by their habit. Twenty five percent of smokers will die prematurely during middle age (35 to 69 years). The lung cancer risk for regular smokers is between 20- and 30-fold greater than that for non-smokers. Roughly 80 per cent of lung cancers in both men and women are attributable to cigarette smoking. More than 50 percent of cancers of the bladder and renal pelvis are caused by smoking, and smokers are also at elevated risk for many other malignancies, including pancreatic and colon cancer.

The prevalence of the deadly smoking habit in the developing world and in Central and Eastern Europe is particularly worrying. I remember visiting Hungary in 1991, soon after the fall of the Communist regime. The downtown area looked like a giant billboard for American brand cigarettes. Hungary (like the rest of Europe) has since tried to crack down on this travesty.

Pictured above:
A cigarette advertisement from Hungary

If you cannot see the photo above, please click or go to:
http://www.cancerdecisions.com/images/kentad.gif

According to a recent report by Tibor Szelagyi of the Health 21 Hungarian Foundation, "The tobacco companies not only invaded the Hungarian market by early participation in the privatization of the former state tobacco monopoly, but also imported their sophisticated marketing experiences. Evasion and violation of rules in force, creation of new partnerships, establishment and use of front groups, finding effective ways for influencing decision makers were all parts of a well orchestrated industry effort to avoid a strict marketing regulation for tobacco products." A similar situation occurred in other Eastern European countries.

Once considered a Western disease, more than 50 per cent of the world's cancer burden now occurs in developing countries, matching its effect in industrialized nations. While smoking is undoubtedly the most familiar "culturally exported" plague, it is not the only one. The highly caloric Western diet, rich in fat, refined carbohydrates and animal protein, coupled with an increasingly sedentary lifestyle, results in an overall energy imbalance. This energy imbalance rapidly leads to obesity, which is in turn associated with a number of serious and often deadly diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension and various cancers, including cancers of the colon, breast, uterus, kidney, esophagus and gall bladder.

Obesity is spreading as an epidemic throughout the world, fueled in part by the spread of fast-food restaurants. If we are serious about reducing cancer deaths then tackling smoking and obesity would be the obvious place to start.

--Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D.

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IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER

The news and other items in this newsletter are intended for informational purposes only. Nothing in this newsletter is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice.