News from the cancer side, May 8

 Weekend cancer updates coming up!

News from the cancer survivors

10 Celebrity Cancer Survivors Who Have Inspired Others
What do Lance Armstrong, Kylie Minogue, Nelson Mandela and Steve Jobs have in common aside from being celebrities? They are all cancer survivors and they are all strong advocates in the fight against cancer. Other survivors on the list are Gene Wilder, Fran Drescher, Kathy Bates, Suzanne Somers, Christina Applegate and Olivia Newton John.

News on the swine flu

Cancer groups and research institutes have issued recommendations for cancer patients as to how to avoid and deal with the current novel H1N1 influenza (swine flu) epidemic. Check them out:

• American Cancer Society (ACS): Swine Flu: What Cancer Patients Need to Know
• Dana-Farber Institute: H1N1 Influenza (Swine Flu) Information for Dana-Farber patients and families
• American Lung Association H1N1 (Swine Flu) Resource

News on pollution

How Healthy Is the Air You Breathe?
The air we breathe can be a major source of carcinogens. The American Lung Association has just released its 10^th annual State of the Air Report. The report includes rankings of local air quality plus a list of the top dirtiest cities. More about the report in another post.

News from the regulators

President’s FY 2010 Budget for FDA Invests Substantially in Food and Medical Product Safety
The US FDA has requested $3.2 billion for its 2010 budget. This is an increase of 19% over this year’s budget. The FDA budget proposes two major initiatives for FY 2010: Protecting America’s Food Supply and Safer Medical Products. It also includes increases for current law user fees and for infrastructure to support critical agency operations. The FDA is also proposing four new user fees to facilitate review of generic drugs, register and inspect food manufacturing and processing facilities, reinspect facilities that fail to meet Good Manufacturing Practices and other safety requirements, and issue export certifications for food and feed.

News from the clinical trials

Gene therapy researcher warns stem-cell scientists not to repeat his field’s mistakes
James Wilson, gene therapy researcher at the University of Pennsylvania speaks up in a Q & A with Nature News about the unfortunate gene therapy trial that might have caused the death of 18-year-old Jesse Gelsinger back in 1999. He warns about the “hype” over gene therapy and tells his colleagues in the field of stem cell research not to make the same mistakes.

Cancer events for May

• National Cancer Research Month – Cancer saves lives – you can help!
• Melanoma/Skin Cancer Detection and Prevention Month
• April 22 to June 1, 2009 Ford Advantage Test Drive Program for the benefit of Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

Photo credit: stock. xchng