The Chief Executive Officer of Philip Morris International, one of the leading makers of cigarettes, told a nurse working with cancer patients on Wednesday that although cigarette smoking is addictive, it is not that hard to quit.

CEO Louis Camilleri said that in response to questions and comments at the company’s annual shareholder meeting in New York. Executives from the company and other overseas brands producing and selling cigarettes spent most of their time in the meeting sparring with anti-tobacco advocates.

Elisabeth Gundersen, the nurse CEO Camilleri responded to, cited statistics that cigarette smoking kills at least 400,000 Americans and a total of 5 million people all over the world each year. Gundersen is one of The Nightingale Nurses, an activist organization that aims to draw public attention to tobacco consumption.

Moreover, Gundersen reiterated a patient’s story wherein the patient mentioned that of all the vices he has beaten – cocaine included – he had most trouble with cigarette smoking.

In response to Gundersen’s statement, Camillari said that they are taking their responsibilities as a tobacco company very seriously. He even said that he does not think their efforts in pointing out that cigarette smoking is addictive and dangerous are appreciated. Furthermore, Camillari said that contrary to what Gundersen mentioned, cigarette smoking is not that hard to beat as there are more previous than current smokers in America today.

Philip Morris International is the largest non-government seller of cigarettes in the world.

A new report indicated that cancer rates in the US are continually dropping by at almost one percent per year. Moreover, the same study found out that cancer-related deaths are also going down by 1.6 per cent annually. This trend was observed between 2003 and 2007.

The researchers also noted that this is the first time they observed a decrease in the death rate of women with lung cancer. Lynn Ries, co-author of the report, said that the decline we are seeing right now is caused by women quitting smoking.

The report was conducted by several researchers from different groups; one of which is the American Cancer Society. The report was published online on the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Thursday.

Unfortunately, even though there is a notable decrease in cancer rates among adults, the same is not true among children. In fact, there are increasing numbers of diagnosed cancer patients in children. Ries, however, pointed out that death rates among children decreased. She also said that the reason for the rise in the occurrence of cancer among children is still unclear.

If there are changes in variables among women and children with cancer, the numbers remained the same among men. The report said that there could have been a decrease in cancer diagnosis among men, only that the statistics of prostate cancer has raised.

Ries said that this report was particularly difficult to organize because cancer is not just one disease. There are different kinds of cancer and some of them increase in number, while others decrease. She also said that men and women follow different kinds of trends in terms of cancer diagnosis.

A study conducted by the US National Cancer Institute confirms that the likelihood of developing a second cancer after radiation therapy is very low. The long-term study of about 600,000 cancer survivors showed that only 8 per cent of that population developed secondary cancer due to radiation therapy.

The researchers said that among many others, lifestyle and genetic risks are the ones that would likely pre-empt a second cancer.

Amy Berrington de Gonzales, lead researcher, said that the result of the study is a very powerful tool physicians may use to device a treatment plan for their patients. She further said that patients can now be assured that the benefits of undergoing radiation therapy outweigh its risks.

This is the first ever study that was able to quantify the risks that radiation treatment may cause.  It was published 30^th of March online on The Lancet Oncology.

The research was conducted for 30 years on many different kinds of cancer. Among them are prostate, breast, brain, cervical, and lung cancer. Researchers noticed that development of lung cancer also vary from one cancer type to another. For example, they noticed that it is more predominant among breast and cervical cancer patients.

Elizabeth Ward acknowledges the fact that radiation therapy post risks towards cancer patients. However, she is firm on saying that the benefits outweigh the risks. She also said that thanks to recent technology, we are now more successful on preserving healthy cells during radiation therapy.

Mutiple Myeloma took its toll on the health of Geraldine Anne Ferraro, Saturday. She is a Democratic politician who was a lawyer, a member of the House of Representatives representing New York’s 9^th district, and also an Ambassador to the United Nations. She also ran to the Senate and as a candidate for Vice President, but was unsuccessful on both.

Ferraro first found out about her condition November of 1998, however, it was kept in the dark until 2001. All she felt back then was unusual fatigue during her senatorial campaign.

Kahler’s Disease or more commonly known as Multiple Myeloma is a type of Cancer that is usually characterized by fatigue and bone pain. This disease attacks the plasma cells leading to the depletion of white blood cells. This causes the body to become susceptible to other diseases and infection.

Multiple Myeloma is a rare form of Cancer affecting only one percent of the total population of Cancer patients, however, it is very deadly. This is more common among dark-skinned people and the usual life-span given to someone who is diagnosed is three to four years; although recent advances in technology have significantly increased patients’ prognosis.

The most common symptoms of Multiple Myeloma are fatigue, bone pain which usually centers at the spine and ribs and exacerbated by activity, infections due to decreased white blood cell, anemia, renal failure, retinopathy, and radicular pain. Radicular pain is the kind of pain that radiates from the nerves of your spinal column to the peripheral part of your body.