image: Olympus Most lung cancers spread to the lymph nodes in the chest first. Unless distant spread to other organs (metastasis) is obvious, biopsy of any suspicious intrathoracic lymph nodes is necessary to stage and prognose lung cancer. The presence or absence of cancerous lymph nodes, and their location in relation to the lung cancer, determine [... read more]

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“Set a quit date to stop smoking,” goes the old bit of doctor’s advice. Experts argue people need to psyche themselves up, get serious, commit to quitting before the last butt goes in the ashtray. A new study in JAMA suggests that advice may be outdated. Smokers unready to quit who took the cessation drug varenicline (Chantix) for several months, [... read more]

The post Chantix works even if you’re just thinking of quitting smoking appeared first on PulmCCM.

Longtime readers of PulmCCM will remember, there once was an app for iPhone and Android phones. Then, one day, there wasn't. Technical difficulties, etc. Then, just when everyone had almost forgotten about it, the app was back! Most people had moved on with their lives, but a few were touched by this digital comeback story. Then -- [... read more]

The post The PulmCCM App Re-Re-Launches, Again appeared first on PulmCCM.

The U.S. FDA continued its flurry of new antibiotic approvals to close out 2014, giving the nod to ceftolozane with tazobactam. The drug will be marketed as Zerbaxa by the pharmaceutical company Cubist. Ceftolozane is a novel cephalosporin, combined with the existing β-lactamase inhibitor tazobactam in the new product. Zerbaxa has broad activity against gram-negative [... read more]

The post FDA approves ceftolozane/tazobactam (Zerbaxa); 4th new antibiotic in 2014 appeared first on PulmCCM.

Medicare will pay for annual low-dose chest CT for lung cancer screening, for former and current heavy smokers between the ages of 55 and 77. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the decision last week. CMS had previously signaled they would set the upper age limit at 74, the same as in the National Lung Screening Trial [... read more]

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Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) work via a heating element that the user activates while inhaling. Nicotine, along with a liquid solvent (usually propylene glycol), flavorings and whatever else is in the solution are vaporized (aerosolized, really) at the high temperature and inhaled by the user. E-cigarette sales are now a $1.5 billion/year business, growing by an [... read more]

The post E-cigarettes fuss over formaldehyde: don’t believe the hype (yet) appeared first on PulmCCM.