Pancreatic Cancer

ATLANTA -- Taking vitamin D cuts the risk of pancreatic cancer nearly in half, according to a new study that is being called the first to show such a benefit. Vitamin D protects against colorectal and breast cancer, earlier studies have found. And lab and animal studies show it stifles abnormal cell growth and curbs formation of blood vessels that feed tumors. "I've been converted from a skeptic about a role of vitamin D in preventing cancer to a believer that there's something there," said Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, deputy chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society.

Union Pacific's first-quarter profit soared 35 percent as the railroad increased prices and collected more fuel surcharge fees. The Omaha-based company said Thursday that its revenue grew 14 percent to $5.11 billion from last year's $4.5 billion even though the number of carloads it hauled grew only 1 percent. That revenue growth helped the nation's largest railroad generate $863 million in net income, or $1.79 per share, in the quarter that ended March 31. That's up from $639 million, or $1.29 per share, a year earlier.

Pancreatic cancer is notoriously lethal — there are almost as many deaths from it each year as there are new cases. The deaths this week of Apple founder Steve Jobs and Nobelist Ralph Steinman bring unusual attention to this less-well-known type of cancer that has actually been declining despite no big advances in treatment or finding it early. A decline in smoking, one of the top risk factors for the disease, may be behind the drop in cases. Jobs lived more than seven years after being diagnosed with a neuroendocrine tumor — a less common, slower-growing and more treatable...

Every Sunday, Boston Globe photographer Stan Grossfeld asks the subject of one of his photos to explain what's happening in the shot. Who's up today: Amateur boxer Nick Capobianco (right), an automotive technician, was sent to a neutral corner by referee Dan Conway after knocking down Joel Del Tufo, a truck driver, during the third and final round of their "Battle at the Bay" fight, part of an event that raised $50,000 for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, at Marina Bay Sportsplex, Quincy, March 23, 2012.

NEW YORK - Eiko Ishioka, an Oscar-winning designer recently recognized for creating the costumes for Broadway's "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark," has died. She was 73. The designer died Saturday in Tokyo, her studio manager, Tracy Roberts, said yesterday. The cause was pancreatic cancer. Ms. Ishioka, who also worked in advertising and other graphic arts, won the 1992 Academy Award for Best Costume Design for the film "Bram Stoker's ‘Dracula.' " She won a Grammy Award in 1986 for her cover design of Miles Davis's album "Tutu.

SAN DIEGO - Richard Alf, one of the cofounders of San Diego's Comic-Con, has died from pancreatic cancer at age 59. Mr. Alf joined up with a band of volunteers in 1970 to start the now-annual convention celebrating comic books. Friend and Comic-Con cofounder Mike Towry said Mr. Alf fronted a few thousand dollars to pay for the convention for the first three years and gave other cofounders rides in his car. In 1970, the first Comic-Con was relatively modest compared with the convention that now draws more than 125,000 people to San Diego every summer.

Richard Alf, one of the co-founders of San Diego's Comic-Con, has died from pancreatic cancer at age 59. U-T San Diego ( http://bit.ly/A5XU8p) reports that Alf joined up with a band of volunteers in 1970 to start the now-annual convention celebrating comic books. Friend and fellow Comic-Con co-founder Mike Towry says Alf fronted a few thousand dollars to pay for the convention for the first three years and gave other co-founders rides in his car. In 1970, the first Comic-Con was relatively modest compared to the convention that now draws more than 125,000 people to San Diego...

The two federally designated cancer centers in the Boston area are embarking on an unusual alliance that will combine the research strengths of both organizations to yield new treatments and insights into two highly lethal cancers. Researchers at the David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT and the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center have collaborated in the past, but the so-called bridge project being unveiled Tuesday is intended to spark increased cross-Charles teamwork.

NEW YORK -- Seymour Britchky, a restaurant critic who chronicled the city's eateries in a monthly newsletter and penned a compilation of reviews that was published annually for 16 years, has died. He was 73. Mr. Britchky died of pancreatic cancer, according to his wife, the photographer Nancy Crampton. Mr. Britchky, a former marketing executive, turned to restaurant criticism at age 41, launching a newsletter called "The Restaurant Reporter" in 1971. "He used to say his main qualification as a restaurant critic was eating three meals a day, Crampton told The...

ALBANY, N.Y. — Jay Gallagher, who covered New York State government for Gannett newspapers for 25 years, died Monday night of pancreatic cancer. He was 63. According to a blog started by Mr. Gallagher last year and written by his family the past few days, Mr. Gallagher was surrounded by his family when he died at St. Peter’s Hospital in Albany. Mr. Gallagher was known for asking the basic but hardest questions that New Yorkers needed answered. Several governors at press conferences called to announce expensive new pet projects braced themselves when Mr....

The two federally designated cancer centers in the Boston area are embarking on an unusual alliance that will combine the research strengths of both organizations to yield new treatments and insights into two highly lethal cancers. Researchers at the David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT and the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center have collaborated in the past, but the so-called bridge project being unveiled Tuesday is intended to spark increased cross-Charles teamwork.

PASADENA, Calif. - Roy J. Britten, a pioneering molecular biologist who discovered the crucial fact that humans and animals have multiple copies of some DNA segments, died at 92. The California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, where Dr. Britten performed research for decades, said Wednesday that he died of pancreatic cancer on Jan. 21 at his Costa Mesa home. Dr. Britten discovered the repetitive DNA sequences in 1968. The sequences are critical for animal development.

DETROIT - Best-selling author Jeffrey Zaslow was killed yesterday morning when he lost control of his car on a snowy road after promoting his latest book in northern Michigan. He was 53. Mr. Zaslow, coauthor of the million-selling book "The Last Lecture," was a former columnist for The Wall Street Journal and former advice columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times. Mr. Zaslow, who had an affinity for stories of heroism and resilience, worked on memoirs of US Representative Gabrielle Giffords and airline pilot Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger.

NEW YORK - Ben Gazzara, an intense actor whose long career included playing Brick in the original "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" on Broadway, roles in influential films by John Cassavetes, and work with several generations of top Hollywood directors, died yesterday in Manhattan. He was 81. He died of pancreatic cancer at Bellevue Hospital Center. Mr. Gazzara lived in Manhattan. He studied with Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio in Manhattan. His visceral presence earned him regular work across half a century, not only onstage - his last Broadway appearance was...

NEW YORK - Eiko Ishioka, an Oscar-winning designer recently recognized for creating the costumes for Broadway's "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark," has died. She was 73. The designer died Saturday in Tokyo, her studio manager, Tracy Roberts, said yesterday. The cause was pancreatic cancer. Ms. Ishioka, who also worked in advertising and other graphic arts, won the 1992 Academy Award for Best Costume Design for the film "Bram Stoker's ‘Dracula.' " She won a Grammy Award in 1986 for her cover design of Miles Davis's album "Tutu.

NEW YORK - Louise J. Kaplan, a psychoanalyst and author who used a psychological lens, literary allusion, and a feminist sensibility to soberly define and explain seemingly titillating topics like sexual perversity and fetishes, died Jan. 9 in Manhattan. She was 82. The cause was pancreatic cancer, said her daughter, Ann E. Kaplan. Dr. Kaplan's 1991 book, "Female Perversions: The Temptations of Emma Bovary," drew wide attention with its thesis that women's perversions are more subtle than men's.

Local educators last week dedicated the new library media center at Reading Memorial High School in honor of the late Patrick A. Schettini Jr., who as the district's superintendent had guided the high school construction project that included the library's upgrade. Schettini, who died in December 2009 of pancreatic cancer, envisioned what is now the Schettini Library Media Center as a key component of the new school, one that would promote state-of-the-art technology, media and information literacy, and student collaboration.

PASADENA, Calif. - Roy J. Britten, a pioneering molecular biologist who discovered the crucial fact that humans and animals have multiple copies of some DNA segments, died at 92. The California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, where Dr. Britten performed research for decades, said Wednesday that he died of pancreatic cancer on Jan. 21 at his Costa Mesa home. Dr. Britten discovered the repetitive DNA sequences in 1968. The sequences are critical for animal development.

SAN DIEGO - Richard Alf, one of the cofounders of San Diego's Comic-Con, has died from pancreatic cancer at age 59. Mr. Alf joined up with a band of volunteers in 1970 to start the now-annual convention celebrating comic books. Friend and Comic-Con cofounder Mike Towry said Mr. Alf fronted a few thousand dollars to pay for the convention for the first three years and gave other cofounders rides in his car. In 1970, the first Comic-Con was relatively modest compared with the convention that now draws more than 125,000 people to San Diego every summer.

Richard Alf, one of the co-founders of San Diego's Comic-Con, has died from pancreatic cancer at age 59. U-T San Diego ( http://bit.ly/A5XU8p) reports that Alf joined up with a band of volunteers in 1970 to start the now-annual convention celebrating comic books. Friend and fellow Comic-Con co-founder Mike Towry says Alf fronted a few thousand dollars to pay for the convention for the first three years and gave other co-founders rides in his car. In 1970, the first Comic-Con was relatively modest compared to the convention that now draws more than 125,000 people to San Diego...