SAN FRANCISCO -- Circulating tumor epithelial cells may open a window on the response of breast cancer to adjuvant therapy and, possibly, the risk of relapse as well, researchers said.

GARCHE, France -- Tadalafil (Cialis) may help some men with spinal cord injuries have erections sufficient for satisfactory sex, reported European investigators.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Joint or muscle pain or both prompted 13% of breast cancer patients enrolled in a trial comparing exemestane (Aromasin) with letrozole (Femara) to discontinue treatment, researchers reported here.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Anastrozole (Arimidex), an aromatase inhibitor, appears to reverse gene methylation, a marker of malignancy risk, in breast cancer.

ATLANTA -- Having more than a high school education is associated with a lower risk of dying from cancer, researchers here said.

ATLANTA -- Income status appears to play a greater role than race in explaining why some men are less likely to undergo surgery for prostate cancer and may explain why mortality is higher among minorities.

SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- In the days before Medicare Part D, many older patients simply stopped taking medications for chronic diseases when they reached a health plan's annual drug-benefit cap-similar to the government's "doughnut hole."

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 11 -- A retrospective study has cast doubt on the role of "boost" radiation therapy for ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), although the practice is likely to continue, researchers said.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Faithful adherence to adjuvant tamoxifen may be a life-saver for breast cancer patients, researchers said here.

SEOUL, South Korea -- The predominance of adenocarcinoma histology in lung cancer resulted from changes in cigarette design that allowed cancer-causing chemicals to penetrate deeper into airways, a long-time critic of the tobacco industry asserted here.

NEW YORK -- The so-called Mediterranean diet appears to lower mortality among Alzheimer's patients, with a possible dose-response effect, researchers reported.

LYON, France --Vitamin D, widely touted for its ability to improve bone health, may also reduce all cause mortality by a small but statistically significant degree.

HUNTINGDON VALLEY, Pa. -- Reports of drug-related injury, disability, and death sent to the FDA nearly tripled during an eight-year period beginning in 1998, according to an analysis of agency data.

SEOUL, South Korea -- Adding an antisense agent to chemotherapy failed to improve survival in patients with previously treated non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to a study reported here.

TORONTO -- An antidepressant may be just as effective as an antipsychotic for calming agitation and treating psychotic symptoms in older patients with dementia, investigators here reported.

ATLANTA -- With barbers and surgeons long linked in the history of medicine, the role of urologist's assistant is a new twist. Now the barbershop is becoming a clearinghouse for minority prostate cancer screening.

SEOUL, South Korea -- More than 90% of cases of centrally located lung tumors saw complete response to photodynamic therapy and there were few recurrences, according to results of a small study.

VIENNA -- Stent thrombosis after acute myocardial infarction accounts for about 4% of emergency percutaneous coronary interventions, reported investigators here.

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