Up in smoke

Anniversary of surgeon general's report highlights anti-tobacco efforts

In 1964, the U.S. Surgeon General’s Report on Smoking and Health identified cigarettes as a major public health hazard, causally linking smoking to lung cancer. Charles LeMaistre, M.D., who became MD Anderson’s second full-time president in 1978 and served as American Cancer Society president in 1986, served on the advisory panel that issued the landmark report. It changed public attitudes and led to mandatory health warnings on tobacco products and the 1969 ban of smoking ads on TV and radio.

Over the past 50 years, MD Anderson has led efforts against lung cancer, including:

2000: Established ASPIRE (A Smoking Prevention Interactive Experience), an evidence-based, multimedia tobacco prevention and cessation program for middle and high school students, with funds from the National Cancer Institute and the George and Barbara Bush Endowment for Innovative Cancer Research
2008: Established the Duncan Family Institute for Cancer Prevention and Risk to study how to predict and reduce cancer risk
2011: Launched the Lung Cancer Screening Program to screen heavy smokers for lung cancer
2012: Launched the Moon Shots Program, initially focusing on dramatically reducing deaths from eight cancers, including lung cancer

Ongoing research at MD Anderson continues to help uncover information toward successful smoking and tobacco-cessation efforts, focusing on:

Investigating neurological links to determine what brain mechanisms trigger smoking
Examining genetic predispositions that make people more susceptible to smoking
Strengthening behavioral counseling methods
Increasing health care provider involvement in antismoking efforts
Targeting groups more susceptible to smoking

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Angel "Angie" Jimenez, 82, is the founder and former owner of Mclean Cargo Specialists, an international freight forwarding and export packer. An active community volunteer, he served as the Rotary Club of Houston's president in 2012-2013, the organization's centennial year. Jimenez came to MD Anderson as a prostate cancer patient seven years ago and later was treated for bladder cancer. He's proud that, with the help of "MD Anderson's great Urology team," he's a two-time survivor.

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Donald Lowd is a retired Air Force veteran whose civilian career landed him at a retina practice in Houston. Diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2009, he refused to accept the dismal odds he was initially given. He turned instead to MD Anderson and Christopher Logothetis, M.D., chair of Genitourinary Medical Oncology, to help him win "the Super Bowl of life."