When a public relations staffer pitches an idea for a story about this group or that product, the pitch often seems framed by the belief that whatever they're telling you about certainly is groundbreaking.
At first blush, I take that notion with a grain of salt. But on Friday, I completely bought into an exclamatory phrase used to characterize a local lung cancer research project: "Holy cow! This is groundbreaking!"
That phrase wasn't printed in a press release, but it's what Jon Bates, president of the Community Foundation of Northern Illinois, told me when I called him. I wanted to know why the foundation has funded the project time and time again: $50,000 this month and the same amounts in 2016 and 2015.
"They have discovered things nobody else in the world has discovered," Bates said of work being done by a team headed by Neelu Puri. She is an associate professor in the department of biomedical sciences at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Rockford who has been researching lung cancer there since 2008.
Puri's team is studying biomarkers that control tumor growth and could be targeted for therapy. "We have identified a specific protein called mTOR as a potential biomarker of lung cancer cases within our community," Puri said in a College of Medicine news release.
The team also is attempting to develop a blood test to detect lung cancer in its early stages. Puri said in an email interview that there is no targeted date for the blood test to become available for use. "This work involves very complicated molecular genetics research and (involves) extremely difficult wet lab procedures that can take time to analyze and report on."
Puri said developing a blood test for early lung cancer detection would be helpful not only in the U.S. Several Eastern European countries and Russia are among the top cigarette consumers, she said.
Smoking is, by far, the leading cause of lung cancer deaths. In 2017, about 190,500 of the estimated 600,900 — or about 3 in 10 — cancer deaths in the U.S. were expected to be caused by cigarette smoking, according to the American Cancer Society. Lung cancer death rates declined 45 percent from 1990 to 2015 among men and 19 percent from 2002 to 2015 among women, mostly because of steady reductions in smoking, and advances in early detection and treatment, the group said.
In Winnebago County, 203 deaths from lung cancer were reported in 2014; 245 lung cancer cases also were reported, Puri's research shows. She said those figures are higher than state and national averages.
Puri's team also has been studying the effect of a physician and public education program in Winnebago County for use of the low-dose computed tomography screening for early detection of lung cancer, especially in high-risk smokers. She hosted seminars and lectures that reached more than 150 physicians and spoke at churches and community organizations.
The team's work from June 2015 to October 2017 led to 1,100 such screenings at Rockford's three hospitals that detected 11 early stage lung cancer cases that might not have been otherwise detected, she said.
How is the low-dose CT screening done? The patient passes through an X-ray machine that rotates around the patient and images are reconstructed into a three-dimensional model of the lungs. Puri said the screening costs from $150 to $250, and that the cost would be minimal if the patient is covered by insurance.
Early detection of lung cancer shows that 75 percent of patients have a five-year survival rate, compared with a rate of 2 percent to 5 percent of late-stage cases, Puri said. That's because in late stages, the lung cancer has spread to other organs.
Symptoms of lung cancer can include persistent cough, breathing changes, pain in the chest area, wheezing, raspy voice, unexplained weight loss, bone pain and headache, she said.
Recently, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control proposed new guidelines for early screening of lung cancer in those ages 55 to 80 years with a smoking history of 20 cigarettes a day for 30 years.
"If you fall in that category, ask your doctor at your next appointment about getting this screening done," Puri said.
Georgette Braun: 815-987-1331; gbraun@rrstar.com; @GeorgetteBraun
To quit smoking
The best way to kick the tobacco habit for good is to use more than one approach to quit, according to the American Cancer Society. Approaches that can help:
• Behavioral therapy/counseling
• Nicotine replacement therapy (gum, skin patches, inhaler, spray, or lozenges)
• Non-nicotine prescription medicine, such as bupropion or varenicline
• Peer support
• Advice from a health care provider
For more information
Illinois Tobacco Quitline: 866-784-8937