Cancer Prevention

WASHINGTON -- A vaccine shown to prevent most cases of cervical cancer won approval from federal drug regulators yesterday in a move that could save the lives of thousands of women in the United States every year. As expected, the Food and Drug Administration allowed Merck & Co. to start selling the vaccine, Gardasil, for females ages 9 to 26. Studies showed that the three-shot series was nearly 100 percent effective in protecting against the two dominant strains of the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus, HPV. That virus causes more than two-thirds of cervical cancer cases.

BOSTON -- By now I am certain that the most complicated piece of equipment I operate on a daily basis is not my computer. It's my body. As the sole certified owner, I am expected to download the latest information to my user's manual and then promptly update my lifestyle, my lunch and my medicine cabinet. But sometimes it's enough to make my hard drive crash. This ungrateful thought about modern medical science was surely fueled by the recent rash of revisionist research on calcium, low-fat diets and that old favorite, estrogen.

Is it an accident that near the Convention Center one can order a buttery filet mignon as easily as hailing a cab? Hardly. Conventions - vacations with expense accounts - are all about decadent entrees, bottomless drinks and saying "pass the eclairs." Unless, of course, the convention consists of 800 experts in cancer prevention, people who have dedicated their careers to sapping the fun from Alfredo sauce and french fries as they solemnly extol the virtues of cabbage, broccoli and other puritan edibles.

These events are scheduled at the Baltimore Convention Center, Howard and Pratt streets: Oct. 30-31: Association of Independent Maryland Schools -- meeting. Estimated attendance: 1,500+. Contact number: 410-761-3700. Oct. 30-Nov. 3: Frontiers in Cancer Prevention -- International conference. Estimated attendance: 500. Contact number: 267-765-1043. Nov. 1-2: Baltimore College Fair -- trade show. Estimated attendance: 6,000+. Contact number: 703-836-2222. Nov. 2-3: Under Armour -- meeting.

NEW YORK - Women who took aspirin and vitamin E in separate studies of cancer and heart disease prevention experienced no benefits, while a third analysis revealed that aspirin might lower the risk of prostate cancer in men, researchers will report today. In the scientific papers published in two journals, a key theme, on first blush, seems to be aspirin's stark differences between the genders. But scientists downplayed that difference yesterday and underscored that much remains to be learned about cancer prevention - and aspirin dosage.

ORLANDO, Fla. - A drug now used to treat breast cancer might be able to prevent prostate cancer in men with a pre-cancerous condition, doctors said here on yesterday. Another study suggested that the widely used cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins might stave off breast cancer. But experts cautioned that more studies were needed before the drugs were prescribed to prevent prostate and breast cancer. "We are not ready to recommend statins for those patients who do not have lipid abnormalities," said Dr. Vikas Khurana of Louisiana State University, an author of the statin study, referring to people with high cholesterol.

The discovery that the painkillers Vioxx and Celebrex may increase the risk of heart problems wasn't just a disappointment to people with chronic pain and the doctors who treat them. The news has threatened to cut off a promising arm of research in cancer prevention. For the last decade, scientists have been compiling evidence that those and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs seem to interfere with the early processes that can give rise to cancer, particularly cancers of the digestive tract.

Health Department offers free kits on nutrition, cancer The county Health Department is offering 13 health information kits on topics ranging from quitting smoking to information on colon cancer. The choices include: Healthy Eating Kit: Contains healthful recipes and menu ideas, as well as cancer-prevention ideas. Women's Health Kit: Features facts on breast and cervical cancer prevention, screenings, immunization information and tips for healthy skin and strong bones. Colorectal Cancer Kit: Provides brochures on the risk factors and prevention of the disease.

Police Department asks for public's help after suspicious death Anne Arundel County police are asking for the public's help in determining how a Baltimore teen-ager spent the week before he was found dead in the Patapsco River on Tuesday. The body of Fernando Miranda Garcia, 18, of the 400 block of S. Collington Ave. in Baltimore, was discovered by a fisherman along the shoreline near Hammonds Ferry Road in Linthicum. Autopsy results to determine how Garcia died are pending, but county police are investigating his death as suspicious, said Officer Charles Ravenell, a police spokesman.