Overstating the evidence for lung cancer screening: the International Early Lung Cancer Action Program (I-ELCAP) study.

Last year, the New England Journal of Medicine ran a lead article reporting that patients with lung cancer had a 10-year survival approaching 90% if detected by screening spiral computed tomography. The publication garnered considerable media attention, and some felt that its findings provided a persuasive case for the immediate initiation of lung cancer screening. We strongly disagree.

Rosuvastatin: an independent analysis of risks and benefits.

Background: Although the effectiveness of statins is well established, analyses of spontaneous adverse event reports have recently questioned the safety of rosuvastatin.

Methods And Results: We evaluated the risks and benefits of rosuvastatin and compared it with other statins presently on the market. Information was obtained from a search of medical and scientific literature that produced 3001 entries, of which 591 publications containing particularly relevant data were identified, and from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Adverse Events Reporting System (AERS) and Spontaneous Reporting System through June 30, 2004.

Assessment of a national health interview survey-based method of measuring community socioeconomic status.

Purpose: Increasingly researchers are interested in assessing the role of community socioeconomic status (SES) in poor health outcomes, above and beyond the influence of low individual SES. However, the feasibility of conducting these multi-level studies is often limited by restrictions on release of confidential identifiers for linkage to census data, resources for the linkage, and the availability of data sources with individual SES measures. This study assessed a new method of measuring community socioeconomic status (SES) that can be used with the publicly available National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) and preserves confidentiality and can be used with individual SES measures from the NHIS.

Does stage at diagnosis influence the observed relationship between socioeconomic status and breast cancer incidence, case-fatality, and mortality?

Historically, lower socioeconomic status (SES) has been reported to be associated with decreased breast cancer incidence and mortality and increased case-fatality, although recent trends in breast cancer screening and treatment may alter these relationships. This study assessed the associations between SES and breast cancer incidence, case-fatality, and mortality by stage of disease at diagnosis using recent data in the United States. Breast cancer incidence and survival data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) tumor registry for black and white women aged 55 and above were linked to county level SES and population data based on place of residence.