Dr. Len's Cancer Blog

In my posting this past Sunday I commented that this coming Thursday is the 30^th annual Great American Smokeout.

This day recognizes the commitment of folks who have stopped smoking and those who want to stop smoking.  We cannot and should not underestimate the importance of this day in keeping the issue of smoking cessation on the minds of many people in this country.

It is also a reminder that we could do better and that we still have a long road to travel.

Yesterday I wrote about the resolution pending in the House of Delegates for the AMA asking that future meetings of the AMA, to the degree possible, be held in smoke free environments.

As I sit here, the House has just passed a resolution that directs the AMA to hold future meetings “in a town, city, county or state that has enacted comprehensive legislation requiring smoke-free worksites and public places (including restaurants and bars), unless intended or existing contracts or special circumstances justify an exception to this policy.”

I also commented yesterday about the situation here in the hotel in Las Vegas, which is not smoke-free. 

On Thursday, November 16^th we will celebrate the 30^th anniversary of the Great American Smokeout.  

As we applaud the success of the Great American Smokeout in bringing attention to the country the importance of smoking cessation, it is also a time to acknowledge we have a long way to go.

Take, for example, the meeting location I am sitting in right now as I write this blog.

I am attending the interim meeting of the American Medical Association House of Delegates. 

We are holding this meeting in Las Vegas, which is a venue associated with many vices and virtues.  Deliberation of national medical policy is not necessarily one of them.

But Las Vegas is associated with smoking, and when you walk into the hotel to your room, or go from meeting room to meeting room there is no ignoring the smell of smoke in the air.

Yesterday I saw a column in the Wall Street Journal with the headline, “Beginning Prostate-Cancer Screening At Age 40 Holds Benefits, New Data Show.”

The article, written by a reporter whose columns I read regularly and whom I respect for her knowledge and insights, states, “But now there’s new evidence that starting (prostate cancer screening) at 40 could not only catch the worst cancers but could also spare men from unnecessary treatments later in life.”

The reporter notes, “A single PSA score isn’t all that useful, and that what really matters is the rate at which PSA scores change over time.”  She goes on to write, “And using ‘PSA velocity’ can help identify men who have slow-growing cancers that don’t need any treatment.”

So now we have further confusion in the already confusing messaging surrounding prostate cancer screening.