News on Cancer

These are from the American Cancer Society's "Hot Mission News" for October, 2006. "Hot Mission News" is published once a month for constituents, volunteers, partners and all interested in cancer news.

Tobacco Companies Test Marketing New Smokeless Products
Recent media reports have focused on the U.S. tobacco industry's test marketing of new smokeless tobacco products, including snus, a smokeless tobacco product popular in Sweden. The plan to market these products in the U.S. has prompted a discussion among the tobacco control community on how these products will affect tobacco use in the U.S.

Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, 1975-2003
The Report was released in early September and provides an update of cancer incidence rates (new cases), death rates, and trends in the United States.
This year's report shows that the long-term decline in overall cancer death rates continued through 2003 for all races and both sexes combined. The declines were greater among men (1.6 percent per year from 1993 through 2003) than women (0.8 percent per year from 1992 through 2003). The data reflect continuing progress in prevention, early detection, and treatment.

Benzene in Soft Drinks
A story making headlines in the US and overseas raises concerns about the cancer-causing chemical benzene in soft drinks. Earlier this year, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) initiated a survey of over 100 beverages after receiving private laboratory results reporting low levels of benzene in a small number of soft drinks.
The FDA says of its survey: "The vast majority of beverages sampled (including those containing both benzoate preservative and ascorbic acid) contain either no detectable benzene or levels below the 5 ppb limit for drinking water. FDA believes that the results of CFSAN's recent survey indicate that the benzene found in soft drinks does not pose a safety concern."

Cosmetic Makers to Remove Chemical from Nail Polish
Several cosmetics makers have announced plans to remove the chemical dibutyl phthalate from nail polish because some groups have expressed concern about the chemical's possible carcinogenic effect.