| Esophageal cancer: it
STOCKTON SPRINGS — When Connie Corrigan tapped out an e-mail message to Gov. John Baldacci last July, the Stockton Springs woman was still so infuriated about her husband's death four months earlier, she said, “that I wrote it and just hit ‘send.' I didn't even spell-check it." .
Astra Zeneca to cut 3,000 jobs; reports 17% profit growth in Q4 2006
LONDON: Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca PLC said it would have to cut about 3,000 jobs in order to achieve cost savings over the next three years. It warned of growing competition in the generics market which could slow sales growth this year. The company also announced a 17 percent growth in fourth quarter earnings as more doctors prescribed AstraZeneca products. It made a net profit of $1.4 billion for the quarter ending December 31. Revenue for the same period rose 14 percent at $7.2 billion. Full year sales for 2006 were 11 percent up year-over-year to $26.48 billion while FY pre-tax profit surged 28 percent to come in at $8.54 billion. Though the FY results were in line with analysts' forecasts, the company warned of a slowdown in sales growth in 2007. .
Esophagectomy Safe for Obese Patients
A special type of surgery to remove the esophagus in patients with esophageal cancer is safe for people who are obese, say U.S. scientists. Since the obesity epidemic of the last 20 years has increased the incidence of reflux disease, which has produced a 350-percent increase in the incidence of esophageal adenocarcinoma, the researchers think this information is good news for thoracic surgeons and oncologists. John Alexander and his colleagues at the University of Michigan Health system studied 133 profoundly obese patients with a body mass index of 35 or more who underwent transhiatal esophagectomy (THE) at the University of Michigan Health System between 1977 and 2006. .
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