Health Highlights: June 25, 2008

• Cuban Scientists Develop Lung Cancer Vaccine
• Breast Cancer Gene Linked to Deadly Prostate Cancer
• Unsafe Sexual Behavior a Problem in NYC
• U.S. House Votes to Stop Medicare Cut for Physicians
• Some Premature Babies Don't Show Obvious Pain Response
• Poor Children More Likely to Develop Diabetes as Adults

Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:

Cuban Scientists Develop Lung Cancer Vaccine

A vaccine to fight lung cancer was unveiled Tuesday by Cuban scientists, who said the vaccine extends the lives of patients by up to five months, improves their breathing and decreases their pain.

The vaccine, the first of its kind in the world, is based on two proteins and triggers an immune response against lung cancer, Agence France Presse reported.

Advanced tests of the vaccine are currently under way at 18 Cuban hospitals and other tests were conducted in Canada and Great Britain. Further tests are scheduled or under way in a number of countries, including China, India, Malaysia, Peru and Singapore.

The vaccine is available in Cuba and will be commercialized in Latin America, AFP reported.

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Breast Cancer Gene Linked to Deadly Prostate Cancer

A gene that greatly increases a woman's risk of breast cancer also causes a particularly deadly form of prostate cancer, say Canadian researchers who studied 301 prostate cancer patients. On average, those with the defective BRCA2 gene lived an average of four years after diagnosis. The average survival time for prostate cancer patients is 12 years.

The University of Toronto study, published in the British Journal of Cancer, appears to confirm previous findings that BRCA2 is associated with highly dangerous prostate cancer, BBC News reported. An Icelandic study found that prostate cancer patients with the gene lived an average of 2.1 years.

The defective BRCA2 gene is found in about one in 500 men, and men with the gene can be five times more likely to develop prostate cancer than men in the general population.

"Although only a very small percentage of men with prostate cancer will carry a faulty BRCA2 gene, they're much more likely to die from the disease," Dr. Lesley Walker, of the charity Cancer Research UK, told BBC News. "It is important that more research is done in this area to ensure that this group is targeted effectively so cancer is picked up at an early stage and, more importantly, that they are given the most appropriate treatment."

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Unsafe Sexual Behavior a Problem in NYC

Unsafe sexual behavior continues to be a problem in New York City, says a health department report that found 11 percent of residents (about 610,000 adults) reported having more than one sex partner in the past year.

Men were much more likely than women to report multiple partners (17 percent vs. 6 percent), and young adults were four times more likely than older adults to report multiple partners, United Press International reported.

People with same-sex partners were three times more likely than those with opposite-sex partners to report more than one partner in the past year. Overall, 60 percent of those with multiple partners said they used a condom the last time they had sex. But that figure was only 43 percent among those in committed relationships who had sex with other partners in the past year.

In 2006, more than half of all pregnancies in New York City were unplanned and more than 60,000 new sexually transmitted infections were reported, including 3,745 people newly-diagnosed with HIV, UPI reported.

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U.S. House Votes to Stop Medicare Cut for Physicians

With less than a week to go before a 10.6 percent cut takes effect in the amount Medicare reimburses participating doctors, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill Tuesday to reverse the cut, the Associated Press reported.

Despite a threatened veto from President Bush, the bill passed 355-59. While the measure has the support of doctors, hospitals, and pharmacists, insurers oppose it. Under the legislation, the funding shortfall would be made up by cutting payments to private health insurers, the wire service said.