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Jeffery Baker's "Make a Wish" exploits included even more than the wildest dreams of an 8-year-old could have anticipated. Like a leather Super Bowl XL jacket, compliments of Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck. This odd couple crossed paths Monday during the pregame ceremonies of the Mariners' 2006 season opener at Safeco Field -- a 5-4 loss to the Los Angeles Angels. Baker, who is from Bellevue and has been battling Hodgkin's lymphoma, circled the bases in a now-traditional event for the Mariners.

Squamous cell carcinoma of the base of tongue could be treated with radiotherapy (RT). Researchers in the United States conducted a study "to evaluate definitive RT for treatment of base of tongue cancer. There were 333 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the base of tongue treated with definitive RT and had follow-up from .2 to 26.2 years. Follow-up on living patients ranged from 1.2 to 26.2 years (median, 6.6 years)." "Local control rates at 5 years were: T1, 98%; T2, 92%; T3, 82%; and T4, 53%.

Scientists investigated the effect of antioxidant vitamins upon reducing the risk of lung cancer. According to a recent article published in the journal Current Pharmaceutical Design, "Tobacco use is the leading risk factor for lung cancer, yet in addition to smoking habit, diet may also play a role in the disease's appearance.

Reports from the United States and Germany highlight recent research on cancer gene therapy. Study 1: According to recent research from the United States, absent in melanoma 2 (AIM2) suppresses human breast cancer cell proliferation in vitro and mammary tumor growth in a mouse model. "IFN-inducible proteins are known to mediate IFN-directed antitumor effects. The human IFN-inducible protein AIM2 gene encodes a 39-kDa protein, which contains a 200-amino-acid repeat as a signature of HIN-200 family (hematopoietic IFN-inducible nuclear proteins)," wrote I.F. Chen and colleagues, M.D.

Ovarian cancer treatment by treosulfan and carboplatin was compared. According to recent research from Scotland, "The management of older and unfit women with advanced ovarian cancer requires postoperative chemotherapy but many of these patients are not suitable for high-dose cisplatin-based regimes. Carboplatin has been an easier alternative and can be given in the ambulatory setting." "Historical data suggests that oral alkylating agents to be just effective with similar efficacy.

Cancer risk among patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) was assessed. According to recent research published in the International Journal of Cancer, "Cancer occurrence in patients with MS has been little studied, but associations with brain tumors, breast cancer, Hodgkin lymphoma and nasopharyngeal carcinoma have been suggested.

Cervical cancer screening via liquid-based vs. conventional cytology was compared in a recent study.

Functionalized nanoparticles (NP) may be a useful drug carrier for tumor targeting. According to recent research published in the journal Bioconjugate Chemistry, "In this study, selective cancer cell targeting of biodegradable poly(lactic acid) (PLA) NPs has been investigated in vitro.

The cytology of ileal conduit urine bladder cancer was examined. Investigators in India conducted research "to study the cytomorphology of urine obtained from the ileal conduit and to determine its utility and identify the pitfalls. Urine specimens from 469 cases of suspected or proven bladder cancer received over a period of 5 years were analyzed in the cytology laboratory." "In 35 cases, total bladder resection was followed by ileal conduit reconstruction. The follow-up cytologic analysis of these 35 ileal conduit cases formed the basis of this study.

Dana Reeve coughed for a year before she knew why. She never once thought of lung cancer. She had never smoked. The cancer threat never entered her mind, so she tragically did not take the cough too seriously, she said in one of her last public interviews. Older men with voices turned gravelly by decades of heavy smoking get lung cancer, most of us assume. Certainly not young women who have always shunned cigarettes. How wrong we are. Dana Reeve died Monday, six months after she learned her cough was caused by the worst of all cancer killers, lung cancer.