Patriots to promote Lung Cancer and Stop Smoking Awareness Sunday - Patriots.com

As part of the New England Patriots Charitable Foundation's season-long 'Kick Cancer' initiative and in partnership with Brigham and Woman's Hospital, the Patriots will promote lung cancer awareness and stop smoking awareness at the October 31 game versus the Vikings. Fans will receive fun flags, information about lung cancer awareness and hear special messages from LB Rob Ninkovich about lung cancer prevention during the game.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (October 29, 2010) - As part of the New England Patriots Charitable Foundation's season-long "Kick Cancer" initiative, and in partnership with Brigham and Women's Hospital, the Patriots will promote lung cancer awareness at the October 31 game at Gillette Stadium versus the Minnesota Vikings.

"Through the New England Patriots Charitable Foundation, we have teamed up with our local hospitals to help raise awareness about the importance of cancer screening and prevention," said Patriots Chairman & CEO Robert Kraft. "While one of our primary goals is to draw attention to women's cancers that are difficult to detect and screen, our hope throughout the season is to raise awareness for all cancers and to stress the importance of regular screenings to all of our fans. For Sunday's game, we are focusing on a cancer that is almost entirely preventable, yet is a disease that kills more Americans than breast, colon and prostate cancer combined. We are proud to partner with Brigham and Women's Hospital this weekend to promote the lung cancer prevention."

New England Patriots Charitable Foundation "Kick Cancer" partner Brigham and Women's Hospital will be at Gillette Stadium Sunday distributing 40,000 fun flags promoting smoke-free living and featuring information about lung cancer. Brigham and Women's Hospital will also host locations throughout the stadium where Patriots fans can receive literature about lung cancer and stopping smoking.

During the game, Patriots linebacker Rob Ninkovich will appear in a public service announcement on the stadium's video screens encouraging Patriots fans to quit smoking. He joins fellow linebacker Gary Guyton, kicker Stephen Gostkowski and punter Zoltan Mesko as Patriots players who have filmed public service announcements asking Patriots fans to help "Kick Cancer."

Ninkovich was glad to be Sunday's "Kick Cancer" representative. "My grandmother had lung cancer and she never even smoked," he said. "She got it from second hand smoke and being around it her whole life. She got through it and she beat it, but it's something that is really hard to go through and it's hard to beat. I would say if you have a history of any type of cancer in your family, you should go get checked out."

The Patriots' "Kick Cancer" initiative will continue throughout the season as the Patriots aim to raise awareness about cancer through messages to fans and the distribution of educational material at home games in partnership with Brigham and Women's Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital - the founding hospitals of Partners HealthCare - and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

For more information about the "Kick Cancer" initiative, including resources and information about cancer prevention and screening, visit www.patriots.com/community.

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS CHARITABLE FOUNDATION "KICK CANCER" GAME SCHEDULE:
October 31 ........................... Minnesota Vikings......................... Lung Cancer and Stop Smoking Awareness
November 21 ....................... Indianapolis Colts ........................ Childhood Cancer Awareness
December 6 ......................... New York Jets.............................. Colon Cancer Awareness
December 19 ....................... Green Bay Packers....................... Prostate Cancer Awareness
January 2 ............................. Miami Dolphins............................. Kick Cancer Celebration with Survivors and Caregivers

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Nicotine linked to breast cancer risk, study finds - St. Louis Post-Dispatch

BY DR. PATRICIA LIMPERT | Posted: Wednesday, October 6, 2010 2:30 pm |

According to a recent Kaiser Family Foundation study, 22.8 percent of Missouri women and 17.5 percent of Illinois women are smokers, which is higher than the national average of 16.2 percent.

And while about 60 percent of those women have attempted to quit at one time or another, they have yet to kick the habit. There are many reasons to stop smoking, but a recent study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute may give women another reason not to light up.

Researchers have suspected for a long time that smoking increases the risk of breast cancer, but that risk is typically associated with other carcinogens in cigarettes, rather than nicotine. However, this study took a closer look at nicotine specifically, and it found a clear association with breast cancer risk.

The study examined human breast cancer tumors and found the cells had large numbers of receptors which nicotine was able to attach to when compared with normal cells. They also found that when normal cells were treated with nicotine, nicotine promoted the development of cancer characteristics.

Interestingly, the study also found that women who smoke and use hormone replacement therapy containing estrogen and progestins have twice the risk of developing breast cancer compared to nonsmoking women on hormone replacement therapy.

Even if women do not smoke, they still could be putting themselves and their babies at risk. Studies have found women who are exposed to cigarette smoke have nicotine traces in their breast milk. Avoidance of secondhand smoke becomes that much more important for expectant mothers who live or associate with someone who smokes.

These findings only add to other known risks for women who smoke. Those include increased risk of lung cancer, oral cancers, cervical and vulvar cancers, blood clots, high blood pressure, stroke, heart attack, osteoporosis and fractures of the hip and spine, infertility, abnormal menstruation, early onset of menopause and respiratory diseases including asthma and emphysema.

Those who quit smoking experience immediate and long-term benefits including improved circulation, lowered blood pressure and a lower risk of developing cancer as each year passes. For more information on the risks of smoking or to find resources on how to quit, visit smokefree.gov

Dr. Patricia Limpert is a breast surgeon at the Breast Care Center at St. Luke's Hospital. Call 314-205-6491 or visit stlukes-stl.com. XX Files, a women's health column, rotates each week with Aging Successfully, a column for seniors by Dr. John Morley of St. Louis University.

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