Lung Cancer

Donna Summer's family says the singer died of lung cancer even though she wasn't a smoker. TMZ says the diva believed she contracted the disease by breathing in toxic air after the Sept. 11 attacks in New York. Summer, who died Thursday at 63 in Naples, Fla., lived near ground zero. Summer's family rep, Brian Edwards, also said on Friday that the singer's funeral would be private and declined to disclose a time or place for the event. J-Lo: I'm undecided Jennifer Lopez denies she's already quit American Idol.

A Philadelphia biologist yesterday reported the discovery of a gene that may be a key player in lung cancer, the nation's leading cancer killer. If the discovery is borne out by further studies, it could lead to treatments and diagnostic tests for a disease that is expected to kill 143,000 Americans this year, said Carlo M. Croce, a molecular geneticist at Temple University and a member of the scientific team that made the discovery. Croce is internationally recognized in the rapidly expanding field of molecular genetics, which in the years ahead appears likely to solve a host of medicine's long-standing mysteries.

Blasting lung cancer with radiation and chemotherapy at the same time is more effective than using one after the other - the current standard treatment, according to a new study. Researchers with the Radiation Therapy Oncology group, a federally funded cancer clinical-trials group based in Philadelphia, found that while side effects from treatment were more severe with "concurrent" therapy, patients with non-small-cell lung cancer, which is generally caused by smoking, lived an average of 2.5 months longer - 17.1 months versus 14.6 months.

Rosalind Brannigan recently resigned as vice president of Drug Strategies, a nonprofit research institute Dana Reeve's announcement and Peter Jennings' death are casting a spotlight on a dirty secret about lung cancer: You don't have to be a smoker to get it. This year, deaths from lung cancer will exceed the number of deaths from almost every other cancer combined, and even people who gave up smoking decades ago, and people who have never...

CANCER-TREATMENT VAGARIES. If you've got lung cancer, you're more likely to undergo surgery, radiation treatment or chemotherapy if you're married and have private medical insurance. But if you're over 75, you're less likely. So says a report in today's New England Journal of Medicine, which concludes that social and economic considerations can play as big a role as medical factors in lung-cancer treatment. Said the report: "The greater frequency of surgery in patients with lung cancer who were married suggests . . . doctors treated married patients more aggressively, perhaps attempting to cure when they would otherwise (ease the pain)

Over the last 60 years, the American Cancer Society has enrolled millions of volunteers in long-term studies that helped identify smoking, obesity, and air pollution as contributors to various cancers. Now, the organization is conducting its most ambitious cancer-prevention study ever. But finding enough participants hasn't been easy. "To a certain extent, we're seeing a generational shift," said Alpa Patel, director of the latest study. "People are busier, and their lifestyles have changed.

The child sex-abuse scandal that devastated the Pennsylvania State University football program and its fans added a new dimension Friday: Joe Paterno has cancer. The former coach, 84, was diagnosed last weekend with a "treatable form of lung cancer" during an examination for a bronchial illness, his son Scott said in a statement. Paterno "is currently undergoing treatment, and his doctors are optimistic that he will make a full recovery," Scott Paterno said. Details about the illness emerged as scrutiny continued of Paterno, other university officials, and Jerry Sandusky, the longtime assistant coach accused of molesting eight boys during and after his career at Penn State.

Periodically, rumors circulate in Miami and Washington about the health of Cuban President Fidel Castro - mostly that he is dying, is dead or has been assassinated. In all cases, the rumors are quickly denied and laid to rest. Yesterday was one of those days. A small item in this week's edition of Time magazine quoting Soviet officials as saying Castro has lung cancer prompted Miami's Spanish-language radio stations to broadcast the report and U.S. officials in Washington to scramble for the latest data on the Cuban leader's health.

I call you a dirty, low-down, good-for-nothing son of a gun. You sue me. Your lawyers furnish solid evidence that you shower daily. I publicly retract "dirty" while standing behind "low-down, good-for-nothing son of a gun. " I pay your legal fees and we call it quits. At that point, are you going to crow to the world about your great victory? The answer is yes, if you manufacture a product that is addictive, a chief cause of lung cancer and emphysema and a contributing cause of heart disease and which most users become habituated to while they are children or teenagers.

Tammy Faye Messner has been the butt of jokes most of her professional life, especially when she served as wife of disgraced televangelist Jim Bakker. But now the author of the self-help tome I Will Survive . . . And You Will, Too!, has some very serious news to share. Messner, 62, told CNN's Larry King on Thursday that she has inoperable lung cancer. "God knows I'm scared," she said. "But it's not wrong to be scared. " But she also struck an upbeat note, telling one caller that she "believes in miracles" and another that she is considering holistic medicine in addition to chemotherapy to treat her illness.

Donna Summer's family says the singer died of lung cancer even though she wasn't a smoker. TMZ says the diva believed she contracted the disease by breathing in toxic air after the Sept. 11 attacks in New York. Summer, who died Thursday at 63 in Naples, Fla., lived near ground zero. Summer's family rep, Brian Edwards, also said on Friday that the singer's funeral would be private and declined to disclose a time or place for the event. J-Lo: I'm undecided Jennifer Lopez denies she's already quit American Idol.

Over the last 60 years, the American Cancer Society has enrolled millions of volunteers in long-term studies that helped identify smoking, obesity, and air pollution as contributors to various cancers. Now, the organization is conducting its most ambitious cancer-prevention study ever. But finding enough participants hasn't been easy. "To a certain extent, we're seeing a generational shift," said Alpa Patel, director of the latest study. "People are busier, and their lifestyles have changed.

Peter Douglas, 69, the longtime head of the California Coastal Commission who spent decades fighting to preserve 1,100 miles of the state's coastline, died Sunday at his sister's home in the desert resort town of La Quinta, said commission spokeswoman Sarah Christie. Mr. Douglas, who had been battling lung cancer, retired in November from the agency he founded. "He was a remarkable person and a wonderful spirit," Christie said. "His name is synonymous with the coast. " In the 1970s, Mr. Douglas cowrote a ballot initiative that created the coastal commission, and he later helped draft legislation that would become the nation's most stringent coastal protections.

BOXING'S ALREADY exclusive club of unforgettable characters became a bit more so on Sunday with the death of Bert Randolph Sugar, 75, the raconteur/historian known as much for his one-liners and ever-present fedora and cigar as for the 80 books he authored. Coming a little more than 7 weeks after another true original, Angelo Dundee, passed away at 90, the loss of "The Hat" is enough to sadden anyone who has been around long enough to understand that outsized personalities such as theirs are as close to irreplaceable as it ever gets in the fight game.

MOUNT KISCO, N.Y. - Bert Sugar, an iconic boxing writer and sports historian who was known for his trademark fedora and ever-present cigar, died Sunday of cardiac arrest. He was 75. Jennifer Frawley, Sugar's daughter, said his wife, Suzanne, was by his side when he died at Northern Westchester Hospital. Sugar also had been battling lung cancer. "Just his intelligence and his wit and his sense of humor," Frawley said when asked what she will remember about her father.

They came together to help a coworker in need, but Saturday was all about bright faces, sunshine, and upbeat music at Wilson Farm Park in Chesterbrook. One of the smiling faces making her way through the crowd of about 700 was Lizanne Dathe, a wife, mother, and employee at IFM Efector, a control-systems company in Exton. Dathe, 45, is also battling cancer. IFM Efector, where Dathe is a corporate editor and production manager, sponsored Saturday's event - the first Big Orange Run. IFM is one of the world's largest electronic-sensor manufacturers, with branches across the country and its parent company in Germany.

They came together to help a co-worker in need, but Saturday was all about bright faces, sunshine and upbeat music at Wilson Farm Park in Chesterbrook. One of the smiling faces making her way through the crowd of about 700 people was Lizanne Dathe, a wife, mother and employee at IFM Efector, a control systems company in Exton. Lizanne, 45, is also battling cancer. IFM Efector, where Lizanne works as corporate editor and production manager, sponsored Saturday's event - the First Annual Big Orange Run. IFM is one of the world's largest electronic sensor manufacturers, with branches across the country and a parent company in Germany.

Is food packaging compromising the effectiveness of your child's vaccines? A recent Harvard School of Public Health study suggesting that it might be has rocked parents and pediatricians nationwide. The study looked at PFCs - perfluorinated compounds - a group of chemicals that are used in many kinds of food packaging. They're useful because they resist heat, oil, stains, grease, and water. They keep the microwave popcorn inside the bag and the pizza cheese inside the box instead of leaking out and staining your car seat.

Penn State's athletic department will pay much of the cost for the memorial services and public viewings for Joe Paterno, a school spokesman confirmed, with the university paying the remainder. An initial estimate is expected to be available Friday after tabulations are made by departments across the campus, such as the police and physical plant. The Paterno family will pay for the cost of the funeral, said Jeff Nelson, the assistant director for athletic communications.

STATE COLLEGE - It's almost as if Joe Paterno were speaking from beyond the grave, even if the 85-year-old former Penn State coaching icon, who died Sunday of complications from lung cancer, has yet to be interred. The private burial won't take place until this afternoon in this college town he so came to love. But for those not among the select few family members and close friends who can gain entry to the cemetery, there were public viewings yesterday and this morning at the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center on campus.