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Tuesday, 20 May 2014

PANCREATIC CANCER MAY BECOME THE SECOND DEADLIEST CANCER BY 2013. IS THERE A CHANCE TO CHANGE THIS AWFUL PREDICTION?


By 2030, the top cancer killers in the United States will be lung, pancreas and liver, according to a new report published in the American Association for Cancer Research's journal.
Lung cancer is already the top killer overall, but pancreatic and liver cancer will surpass the cancers currently considered the second and third leading causes of death. Right now, second most dangerous is breast cancer for women and prostate cancer for men; and third is colorectal cancer for both men and women.
Researchers looked at trends in cancer incidence and death rates between 2006 and 2010, and used that data -- combined with expected U.S. demographic changes -- to predict numbers for 2030.
The rate of pancreatic cancer has been slowly increasing for the past 15 years. Some of that rise can be attributed to the prevalence of obesity and diabetes.
Many Americans are not aware that the combination of obesity, high-caloric intake and lack of physical activity is the second-leading cause of cancer in the U.S., Indeed, It is linked to at least 12 types of cancer, including pancreatic cancer.  This is an American problem ... If we want to change bad projection of the death rate for pancreatic cancer, it is necessary to increase the investment in education of the population about the importance of changing eating habits and the physical activities to prevent cancer.

You can learn more about how you can prevent the cancer, read my Manual about “Cancer Prevention” 


Luis Mendoza, MD, PhD

Friday, 16 May 2014

THE COST OF NEW DRUGS FOR BREAST CANCER PATIENTS


The newest recommendation of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2014 for HER2+ metastatic breast cancer patients recommends the use of new drugs like pertuzumab and T-DM1 for first and second line, respectively.  The Perjecta costs is 6.000 USD a month and for trastuzumab is 4500 USD a month. Thus, the costs for first line (without including the costs for taxotere) will be over 10000 USD a month!. For the T-DM1 (recommended second line), the drug will cost 9800 USD a month! … it is clear that but the costs of such new medicines for uninsured patients or 99% of patients from countries in development will be impossible to afford! I strongly disagree with this!


© Luis Mendoza