Medical Library

10 Ways the Sun Sneakily Damages Your Skin

While getting a healthy- and sexy-looking tan may be a big temptation to many, it's actually a poor health choice, according to experts. That's because sun overexposure contributes to the majority of skin cancers in the United States. And the American Cancer Society (ACS) says skin cancers account for nearly 50 percent of all cancers in America. The ACS estimates that in 2006, the last year for which data were available, 59,940 cases of malignant melanoma and over 1 million cases of basal- and squamous-cell cancers were connected with exposure to ultraviolet rays.
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40% of Men Who Test Negative for Prostate Cancer May Have It

Forty percent of men with prostate cancer may be unaware that they have it, according to research conducted by the Prostate Cancer Foundation in Chicago. The study found that the standard office biopsy procedure is often inadequate for proper detection of the disease.
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5 Ways to have Fun in the Sun Without Getting Burned

It's that time of year again. Summers here, and most people can't wait to enjoy the beach, the pool, and backyard barbeques. Summer's great- but all that time outdoors means a lot more sun exposure. While it'ss nice and actually healthy to get some sun, harmful UVA and UVG rays can cause skin cancer so it's important to protect your skin. Covering up can also help you avoid wrinkles, sun spots, and other signs of aging. The Skin Cancer Foundation has some helpful tips:

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64 SLICE CT SCANNER

62-year old Howard Fuhr was taken by surprise when he went to see his heart specialist. "I had an abnormal 'um'stress test and um the next thing that my cardiologist suggested was having an angiogram and I wasn't sure if I was ready to go that step." says Howard. So, he looked for the most cutting-edge technology he could find… What's known as the "64-slice CT scanner. "I sought it out and I consulted with my cardiologist and we both agreed that this would be the way to go at this time." states Howard.

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70 Percent of Cancers May Be Tobacco-Related

As many as 70 percent of overall cancer deaths may be linked to smoking, far beyond the rate of lung cancer mortality attributable to tobacco, according to recent research.

“This study provides support for the growing understanding among researchers that smoking is a cause of many more cancer deaths besides lung cancer,” said lead author Bruce Leistikow, a University of California at Davis associate adjunct professor of public health sciences. “The full impacts of tobacco smoke, including secondhand smoke, have been overlooked in the rush to examine such potential cancer factors as diet and environmental contaminants. As it turns out, much of the answer was probably smoking all along.”

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A Cancer Therapy Nearing Breakthrough

An approach to treating cancer known as monoclonal antibody therapy, that has already effectively proven itself, is on the threshold of becoming yet more powerful, according to an overview of recent research.
   
“We believe that antibody therapy has the capacity to immunize people against cancer,” said Louis Weiner, director of the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University Medical Center. “Treatment modifications might be able to prolong, amplify and shape a continuous immune response to cancer cells.”

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Abraxane Breast Cancer Treatment

Four years ago Maryann Dillon was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. “You’re just numb, any time you receive a diagnosis like that, you’re just numb,” says Maryann. Maryann says she felt like she was given a death sentence. Because her cancer spread, surgery was not an option so she began intense rounds of chemo and drug therapy. “They said that I had a year, maybe a year and a half to live. And it was diagnosed as a terminal cancer,” says

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Acupuncture Outperforms Drugs on Hot Flashes

Acupuncture does as well and is longer-lasting than drug therapy in handling the hot flashes and sweating that afflicts 80 percent of women who are treated for breast cancer, according to recent research. In addition, the study showed, treatment with acupuncture engenders none of the nasty side effects associated with conventional drugs. In fact, it produces some very attractive benefits, including a greater sense of well-being, increased energy, and, occasionally, a higher sex drive.

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African American Women and Breast Cancer

“I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to see my children grow up and my grandchild grow, you get this really scary feeling inside,” says Rosamond Stallings. When 45 year old Rosamond Stallings was diagnosed with breast cancer 2 years ago, doctors urged her to immediately have a mastectomy. “They found like six malignant tumors,” says Rosamond. Recent studies have shown that 30 percent or more of breast cancer patients fail to receive complete treatment, and that African American women are as much as 10 percent less likely than white women to receive optimal therapy. But now, supported by a $10 million grant from the Department of Defense, a study, led by a team of doctors at Columbia University Medical Center, will look at possible reasons for the disparity.

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African American Women and Colon Cancer

“I am here to show you that there is life after colon cancer, and it is something that can be easily detected and treated,” says Verna Cox. 56 year old Verna Cox says it’s a testament to her competitive spirit, that she wasn’t going to let colon cancer win. Verna beat two bouts of cancer over the last seven years, and she is now making it her life’s mission to educate and empower other women about the disease. “I am miss colon cancer, I call all my friends and try and encourage them to have a colonoscopy. I really believe in it, if it is early detected you can treat it and be fine,” says Verna. And, as new research has shown, more African American women need to take Verna’s lead. According to a recent survey conducted by the national women’s health resource center and the black women’s health imperative, despite having the greatest risk of developing and dying from colorectal cancer of any gender, race or ethnicity, an astounding 96 percent of African American women do not consider themselves to be at high risk for the disease.

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Alcohol's Acetaldehyde May Be a Significant Cancer Risk

An organic chemical in alcoholic beverages that's the culprit behind hangovers also makes drinking the biggest risk factor for cancers that are linked to the chemical, a recent study suggested. The study, published in the journal Addiction, said the hangover chemical acetaldehyde represents a considerable risk to heavy drinkers in particular, especially combined with the many sources of the chemical in the environment.
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An Amazing Anti-Cancer Protein

A small but powerful protein, through its unique action of halting the division of pre-cancerous cells, generally prevents more than half of all human cancers. Researchers have respectfully dubbed it the “guardian angel,” “guardian of the genome,” or the “dictator of life and death.”
   
It’s known as p53, but this sterile name belies the magnificent work it engages in every day. The little protein works by somehow detecting lengths of DNA that have been injured by various dangerous forces, such as radiation, a virus or chemicals in cigarette smoke. DNA injuries are the key element in turning a cell cancerous. But p53 sets off a cascade of reactions that prevents the cell from naturally dividing until either the DNA is repaired or the cell dies.

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BRCA Breast Cancer Genes

Women who have BRCA breast cancer genetic mutations are just as likely to survive as other women who get breast cancer, according to a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Women with BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are more likely to get breast cancer. It was also widely believed that those with hereditary breast cancer from BRCA1 mutations had worse outcomes. This new study, tracked two groups of women with breast cancer in Israel, one with the inherited BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations, and the other without. The researchers found no significant difference in death rates between the two groups. Between 5 and 10 percent of all breast cancers are hereditary and are more likely to occur with women from certain ethnic backgrounds like people of Ashkenazi (central or eastern European) Jewish heritage [one reason why the study was done in Israel].

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Baldness and Prostate Cancer Risk

In this day and age, bald is beautiful. But is it also a health risk? New research presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research shows men who started to bald in the back of their heads before age 30 are at a higher risk of developing prostate cancer. More than 14 percent of those with prostate cancer reported having what's called vertex baldness by age 30 compared to just over 5 percent of those who did not have cancer.

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Blacks' Higher Cancer Incidence Causes Higher Mortality

Blacks’ higher mortality from cancer is due, for most types of the disease, to developing malignancies more frequently than whites – not mainly to discovery of the illness at a later, deadlier stage or having poorer survival rates after diagnosis (both of which are also the case), a recent study showed.
   
The study on the racial gap in cancer in the United States, by researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles, was published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

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Brain Diptheria Treatment

There is an exciting new treatment that holds promise for patients stricken with life threatening brain tumors. The experimental therapy uses a toxin that comes from a dangerous bacteria. Think about it for a moment: botox, which we use to get rid of wrinkles and migraines, comes from the toxin that causes botulism. This new treatment also comes from deadly bacterial toxin--the diptheria toxin--which can also paralyze muscles. But now it’s being used to destroy brain cancer cells.

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Breast Cancer Drug Study

Medical experts are saying that research just released from the medical journal the lancet will have a profound impact on many women battling breast cancer. It shows that one of the most popular and established drugs should be replaced by newer medicines.

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Breast Cancer Gene Testing

With all the information on breast cancer now, many women are being more vigilant about being screened and followed for breast cancer. But now, a new government panel says doing high tech genetic testing should be reserved for only a small handful of women. It’s the most aggressive form of breast cancer testing: a screen for the two genes identified with most cases of inherited breast cancer. But the tests are only helpful if you are at the highest risk, and then, only if you intend to do something about the results if they are indeed positive, as in Diane green’s case. She knew in her twenties and thirties there was something brewing in her family

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Breast Cancer Gene Testing

There is a bit of frustrating news for women facing a battle with breast cancer. The tests thought to be highly reliable in detecting genes which are linked to breast and ovarian cancers have been shown now to miss many cases. “I’ve actually had breast cancer twice; I’m on my second go round so to speak.” it sounds as if Jody Rosen knower is someone with perhaps a genetic risk for breast cancer. She was first diagnosed at the age of 34! “They found an invasive tumor, it was missed by everything.”

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Breast Cancer Prevention Study

While the number of deaths from breast cancer each year have been declining, they are still staggering: more than 40-thousand women will die this year alone. More than 260,000 women will be told they have the disease.

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Breast Cancer Recurrence Marker

Researchers have discovered how to identify women with breast cancer who are at risk for having the cancer spread. This is quite a significant step, because currently, there's no reliable way to see what cancers will spread and what won't, and that means it's hard to say which patients should be treated more aggressively and which can be treated less aggressively

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Breast Cancer Surgery Stressing Cosmetics Over Cures?

Recent innovations in breast cancer surgery that allow doctors to minimize postsurgical breast deformities may be stressing cosmetic outcomes to the detriment of actual rates of cure, a senior physician warned recently.
   
“We must ensure that surgical approaches designed to improve cosmetic outcomes do not increase local failure and the risk of subsequent death from breast cancer,” said Monica Morrow, chief of the Breast Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. Her editorial was published on the British Medical Journal website.

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Breast Cancer and Ovarian Cancer Risk

There’s an important piece of medical research released tonight which every woman with breast cancer or a family history of breast cancer needs to hear about. The study looks at whether they need to worry about their risk of ovarian cancer, and what they should do about it. Up to half of families with multiple cases of breast cancer do not end up having mutations in the major breast cancer genes, the BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 genes. Still, it’s clear there’s a genetic link somewhere…to another gene or genes which have not yet been identified. What risk do these genes play in terms of ovarian cancer, if any? And do women need to do something about it?

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Breast MRI Study

There is important new research out tonight which addresses the question: how should women at high risk for breast cancer be screened? Should they get mammograms, or ultrasound, or the newest technology, the breast MRI?

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Breast MRI-Mammography Study

There's good news tonight for women at high risk for breast cancer. Researchers say using breast MRI along with mammography is highly accurate in detecting tumors. Not only does this mean cancers can be picked up more reliably, but also, women who might choose to get a preventative mastectomy or get their ovaries removed now have the option to watch and wait with confidence.

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Breast Ultrasound

37 year old Michelle Michaels is taking every precaution to protect herself against breast cancer. "My mother had inflammatory breast cancer three years ago, and my grandmother had breast cancer at 38, so I'm considered high, high risk." says Michelle.

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Can Ginseng Fight Cancer?

In a new research effort, a University of Chicago team will investigate to what extent ginseng can kill cancer cells and will identify the herb's active biochemicals that may be responsible. In another project, the researchers will undertake to learn how ginseng extracts may alter tumor cells' gene expression. And in a third study, they will focus on how ginseng affects the intracellular signals that determine cell growth and death.

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Cancer Cure Hope

Researchers have discovered a chemical already used to treat rare metabolism conditions in children might help kill off cancer cells. The drug is cheap, it’s already shown to be safe, and that has scientists cautiously optimistic. But it has patients wanting the drug…now!

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Cell Phone Use and Tumors

New research has revealed that use of a cell phone over 10 years might increase the risk of their users developing a rare benign tumor. For millions of Americans, cell phones have become remote lifelines for both business and leisure…for some it’s an addiction. 

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Cell Phones and Brain Cancer

They're used by practically everyone these days, and health-wise, they get a bad rap. Cell phones are purported to be linked to brain tumors. Now, a new Danish study tests the theory. The researchers questioned people with and without brain tumors about their cell phone use to see if there is indeed a link.

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Cellular "Danger Receptor" Alerts Immune System to Cancer

    A chemical “danger receptor” on certain specialized cells senses the cell death characteristic of bodily injury or malignant tissue and then mobilizes the body’s immune system to repair the flaw, a recent study has revealed.

    The results, which were reported in the journal Nature, may explain the mechanism behind some cancer-fighting drugs that partly work by stimulating an immune response. The scientists, based at Cancer Research UK’s London Research Institute, in Britain, speculated that knowledge of the receptor could assist in developing strategies to use the immune system to shrink tumors.

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Cellular Pathway Controls Whether Tumors Shrink With Food Intake

A genetically governed cellular pathway controls whether malignant tumors respond to reduced eating by, as is usual, shrinking in size, according to recent research.
The study, published in the journal Nature, was done by scientists at the Whitehead Institute in Cambridge, Mass., using human cancer cell lines in mice.

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Cervical Cancer Bio-Probe

Natalie is grateful that she listened to her body. It helped doctors in her cervical cancer detection and treatment. "I had one missed period and for me that wasn't normal, so I went to the doctor." says Natalie. A pap smear revealed that at only 27 years old, Natalie had cervical cancer. "I had a hysterectomy and I had radiation." she says. Her situation could have been worse if her cervical cancer detection had been delayed any further.

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Cervical Cancer Screening Study

There is a disturbing report out of the centers for disease control tonight. It says the most common reason women say they do not get regular pap tests to screen for cervical cancer is because their doctors never recommend the test. When you talk about public health efforts, it's a great disappointment when you do have an effective screening strategy, and people don't take advantage of it. It's even worse when it's because doctors aren't using the strategy.

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Cervical Cancer Vaccine

There is a medical breakthrough tonight in the prevention of cervical cancer. A major drug company has announced its experimental cervical cancer vaccine is highly effective. This cervical cancer vaccine, which is not the only one in development, was shown to be 100 percent effective! Merck & Co. said on Thursday that the first large study of an experimental cervical cancer vaccine was completely effective in the short term, at blocking the most common forms of cervical cancer. Gardasil is a genetically engineered cervical cancer vaccine that blocks infection by the two viruses that together cause about 70 percent of cervical cancers.

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Children Cancer Survivors School Re-entry program

At first sight Brian Goff looks like your typical pre-teen, member of the football team, a video game fanatic. But, a year ago, Brian and his family received news that turned their world upside down. Brian was diagnosed with osteogenic sarcoma, a type of cancer affecting his left thigh. “When they looked at the x-rays they knew it was a tumor and from then on it was basically a nightmare,” says Brian. Brian had surgery to replace his femur, then chemotherapy and other forms of radiation therapy. After a nine month absence from school, Brian faced the anxiety of re-entering and re-assimilating into his life before cancer, that included rekindling friendships with his classmates.

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Cinco De Mayo and Heartburn

Ole! Manana is Cinco de Mayo! Lots of folks will be heading to bars and restaurants around town to enjoy this Mexican holiday. But will a healthy dose of fun come with a hefty dose of heartburn? A one time episode of heartburn on Cinco de Mayo may not be much to worry about. And there are plenty of Mexican foods you can enjoy and not worry about worsening your symptoms. But if you get heartburn frequently, that is a cause for concern. Christy Searl chooses to enjoy a glass of wine at a Mexican restaurant rather than margaritas. “These margaritas at this place are lethal,” she exclaims.

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Colon Cancer: Causes and Treatments

What is the Colon cancer?

Colon cancer is the third most diagnosed cancer in America. The colon is a muscular thin tube about 5 feet long. In mammals, the colon consists of four sections: the ascending colon, the transverse colon, the descending colon, and the sigmoid colon. These parts of the colon are located either in the abdominal cavity or behind it in theretroperitoneum.

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Curcumin May Prevent Nicotine-Related Head and Neck Cancers

Curcumin, the organic compound that gives curry it's yellow color, may inhibit the adverse effects of tobacco use in patients with head and neck cancer who continue to smoke. The study was presented at the 2009 American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery Foundation Annual Meeting in San Diego.

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Depression Can Affect Cancer Patients' Survival Chances

Depression can increase a cancer patient's risk of dying, according to an analysis published in journal Cancer. The results highlight the need to systematically screen patients for psychological distress and offer subsequent treatments. A number of studies have already shown that a person's mental attitude can impact their physical health.

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Diabetes and Cancer Risk

There is new research out tonight that affects the 17 million Americans suffering from diabetes. The study says diabetics with high blood sugars are at a significantly higher risk for developing cancer. The study looked at more than a million people. It found that being a diabetic with poor sugar control increases the risk of gastrointestinal cancers, especially among men.

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Drinking Raises Cancer Risk

Moderate drinking of just three or more alcoholic beverages a week measurably raises women’s risk of developing cancer, a recent study revealed.
   
The research, which appeared in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, was performed at Oxford University using data from more than 1.3 million women in Britain, with an average of 55, who were part of the so-called Million Women Study. Scientists determined that drinking alcohol seems to cause 13 percent of all breast, liver, rectal and upper digestive tract cancers in the women in the study, all of whom filled out questionnaires upon visiting British breast-cancer screening clinics from 1996 to 2001.

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Electromagnetic Radiation And Kids

Are your children at greater cancer risk because of the electrical appliances you use everyday? There are many who believe electromagnetic radiation does in fact increase cancer risk, and that’s the why the International Agency for Research on Cancer considers extremely low electromagnetic fields a possible human carcinogen. Can exposure to low electromagnetic radiation cause leukemia, and interfere with nervous system development? Nobody knows for sure, but the concern is great enough that experts are calling for reduced exposure to devices deemed perhaps most dangerous: cell phones.

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Estrogen Okay for Some

There’s good news tonight for some women who want to use estrogen during and after the menopause. In those women have had their uterus’ removed, but only in these women, it appears----even after seven years of treatment with estrogen—using this hormone replacement treatment will not raise one’s risk of breast cancer, a commonly held concern. So, if an apple a day keeps the doctor away, hormone replacement threapy was, perhaps, one treatment that turned out to be a bad apple. Until July of 2002, hormone replacement therapy--estrogen or estrogen and progesterone together--was the standard treatment for treating problems associated with the menopause. These include symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats, difficulty sleeping and mood changes, and forgetfulness, to preventing other diseases including osteoporosis and related fractures.

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Exercising After 50 Reduces Breast Cancer Risk

Walking as little as 30 minutes a day, especially after age 50 – even in the course of doing household-related chores – can significantly reduce a woman’s risk of contracting breast cancer, a recent study found.

“It doesn’t always have to be sports,” said Associate Professor Karen Steindorf of the German Cancer Research Center, a leader of the research. “In our calculations, we have also taken account of activities such as gardening, cycling or walking to the shops. Our advice to all women is therefore to stay, or become, physically active also in the second half of your life. You will not only reduce your risk of breast cancer, but it has been proven that your bones, heart and brain also benefit from it.”

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Extra-Virgin Olive Oil a Breast Cancer Medicine?

Biologically active compounds in extra-virgin olive oil have the ability to shrink certain malignant breast tumors, recent research indicates.

The study, performed at the Catalan Institute of Oncology in Girona, Spain, and reported in the open-access journal BMC Cancer, focused on tumor tissue in laboratory culture that the researchers exposed to different fractions of extra-virgin olive oil containing various natural phytochemicals.
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FDA Approves New Contraceptive Pill Lybrel

The FDA approves an oral contraceptive that also eliminates menstruation. Wyeth's oral contraceptive Lybrel is now approved by the FDA to eliminate monthly menstrual periods. The drug has a lower level of synthetic hormones than other oral contraceptives and must be taken 365 days a year. According to a study by Wyeth, 59 percent of women had no periods after six months but 18% dropped out due to menstrual spotting.

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Fruit Chemical Shrinks Tumors

A compound found naturally in fruits like mangoes, grapes and strawberries has been discovered to dramatically fight malignancies. Research recently done at Hong Kong University shows that the chemical lupeol sharply decreases tumor size and suppresses metastasis, the blood-borne spread of cancer from one part of the body to another. Lupeol has these effects, the study showed, while having no unhealthy impact on surrounding tissue or other organs in the body - something that's often not the case with conventional chemotherapy.

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Gene Makes Drinkers More Prone to Colon Cancer

Some one in five Americans have a gene variant that makes them about two to three times more likely to develop colon cancer if they are relatively heavy drinkers, a recent study has found.

'If people drink alcohol chronically and have a certain genetic background, then they have an increased risk for large intestinal cancer - colorectal cancer - if they drink over a certain amount of alcohol every day," said study co-author Helmut K. Seitz, a professor of medicine at Heidelberg University in Heidelberg, Germany.
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Ginger Appears to Relieve Chemotherapy-Related Nausea

Simple ginger root seems to dramatically ease the nausea caused by cancer chemotherapy, a recent study demonstrated. The research, which was revealed at a news conference sponsored by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), validates what has been standard practice in homes around the world, namely, that taking ginger ale or ginger tea relieves an upset stomach. The study - the largest to date showed that taking a quarter - to a half-teaspoon of ginger a day reduced nausea symptoms by at least 40 percent.

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Health Wrap - June 2

A new UCLA/Veteran's Affairs study showed that more than 40 percent of patients who initially had received a positive result on a fecal occult blood test –a stool guiaic card which is an initial screening tool for colon cancer -- did not receive appropriate follow-up tests like a colonoscopy or a barium enema. Only 59 percent of this group received follow-up diagnostic tests such as a colonoscopy or a barium enema. Forty-one percent received no follow-up at all in the six months following the positive stool study. The authors say any healthcare system that provides cancer-screening programs needs to track each step in the screening process to help ensure that patients don't slip through cracks in the system.

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Health Wrap - Week of June 5th

The cervical cancer vaccine that was approved Thursday called Gardisil also appears to protect women against vulvar and vaginal cancers. HPV, or human papillomavirus, is present in 80 percent of the 6,000 cases of vaginal and vulvar cancers diagnosed in the United States each year. The Gardasil vaccine was 100 percent effective against vulvar and vaginal pre-cancerous lesions caused by HPV types 16 and 18, and 81 percent effective against all hpv types. --- The power of persuasion might be found in a cup of coffee. New research shows caffeine makes us more likely to say yes. Australian scientists found it was easier to change the opinions of volunteers who drank orange juice laced with caffeine compared to those who drank straight orange juice without caffeine. Positive mood is associated with more agreeability. This might be particularly useful if you’re trying to get someone to like you…so a cup of coffee might be a great first date.

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Health Wrap | Cardiology, Cancer, Asthma, Trans-fat

There is a new warning for people with pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators: Magnets may pose a serious health risk! While common magnets for home and office use with low magnetic strength posed little risk, stronger magnets made from neodymium-iron-boron may cause interference with cardiac devices and pose potential hazards to patients. These magnets are increasingly being used in homes and office products, toys, jewelry and even clothing. The authors say physicians should caution patients about the risks associated with these magnets and they also recommend that the product packaging include information on the potential risks that may be associated with these types of magnets.

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Healthwrap - Dementia, SIDS, Breast Cancer

According to new research in the medical journal the lancet, the number of people that have dementia--the common form is Alzheimer’s disease--is going to double every twenty years. Given that 24 million worldwide have dementia today, that number will go up to 42 million by 2020, and 81 million by 2040. Now, 61 percent of these patients live in developed countries, like the U.S. But that number is going to go up to 71 percent by 2040

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High-Red-Meat Diet Raises Mortality Risk

Americans who consume large amounts of red and processed meats face a greater likelihood of death by cancer or heart disease, a recent study found.
   
The research was published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, and is the largest study of its kind, with over a half-million subjects.

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How Cancer is Detected - Know the Symptoms

How Cancer is Detected?

It is very important that a cancer diagnosis is made quickly and accurately so that a specific and appropriate treatment is planed. Generally speaking, cancer is first detected or suspected based on signs and symptoms of the patient's exhibits.

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Humanistic Cancer Care

A focus on emotional health and overall well being is changing how cancer is treated. For many who are diagnosed with Cancer, the initial reaction is shock mixed with fear. While coping with the news, having support during a time of uncertainty and stress makes a world of difference. Several cancer treatment centers, such as the Eastchester Center for Cancer Care, are acknowledging the importance of going beyond treating the physical challenge of cancer. Cancer centers now focus on providing emotional support through both a warm environment and a compassionate staff.

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Hypnosis Helps Control Hot Flashes

Hot flashes can make life hell for women going through menopause. And they'e especially torturous for those who are being treated for, or who have just finished treatment for, breast cancer. So the federal government funded a five-week study at Baylor University in which 51 survivors of breast cancer were divided into two groups - one of 26 women who were given about an hour of hypnosis five times a week, and another of 25 women who served as a control group. All of the women had no further sign of cancer and were experiencing up to 14 daily hot flashes - in which a woman's heart rate skyrockets, she goes into a sweat, and then is racked by the chills.

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Important Research for Woman Diagnosed with Breast Cancer

There is important research that will directly affect one out of every four women diagnosed with breast cancer. Herceptin, a treatment used to boost the benefits of chemotherapy and surgery has been shown to be highly effective, and experts are saying it's a must-use. Now, two new studies say herceptin can reduce the risk of cancer recurrence and the overall risk of death. Three years ago, when Wendy Funk she was only 35, she thought her life was over. Diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 32, her cancer had later spread. "When I had the breast cancer metastasis, they had given me six months to live," says Wendy.

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In-vitro Baby Born from Immature Frozen Egg

On June second, the first baby conceived from an egg that was matured in the lab before undergoing in-vitro fertilization was born in Canada and is progressing normally. The mother, as well as three other women, became pregnant through a clinical trial at the McGill Reproductive Center in Montreal. The twenty women involved in the study had polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which can cause female interfertlity.

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Infinitesimal Bundles Obliterate Cancer Cells

How to poison cancer cells without poisoning the rest of the body?

That was the key question in a recent study, which appeared in the American Cancer Society's Nano Letters, in which scientists developed bundles of cancer-cell poison wrapped in a harmless sheath that were so minute they were only one-five-thousandth the width of a human hair. The poison, known as ceramide, is deadly not only to cancer tissue but to the body's normal cells - and is insoluble in the bloodstream.
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Knowledge of Fat-Making Complex Could Fight Obesity

In an advance that has implications for new anti-obesity and anti-cancer drugs, a “movie” has been made of how a molecular complex in the human cell performs a “dance” in which it dramatically changes shape to promote all of the stages of fat synthesis.
   
The various enzymes that make fat are actually integrated into a rapidly metamorphosing unit called fatty acid synthase.

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Laparoscopic Colon Cancer Surgery

As a Broadway press agent, Michael Hartmans life is jam-packed with deadlines, meetings and mountains of stress. But 3 years ago, his world was turned upside down. Michael began passing blood, and was diagnosed with colon cancer.

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Laser Device Zaps Single Cancer Cells

A prototype laser system and microscope creates tiny bursts of light that sear individual cancer cells into oblivion, perhaps opening the way for more thorough surgeries for cancer, epilepsy and other conditions.

"You can remove a cell with high precision in 3-D without damaging the cells above and below it," said mechanical engineering Assistant Professor Adela Ben-Yakar at the University of Texas at Austin. "And you can see, with the same precision, what you are doing to guide your microsurgery."
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Lung Cancer Screening

Lung cancer has been the focus of medical news reports this week, with the death of Peter Jennings and the Dana Reeve’s announcement that she too has lung cancer. What effect will these celebrity cases have on the rest of us who perhaps light up? And what can smokers do to protect themselves?

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Lung Cancer Screening Test

If you smoke, or are a former smoker, there is an extremely important new study out which shows how you can protect yourself from developing advanced lung cancer. More Americans die each year from lung cancer, than from breast, prostate, and colorectal cancers combined. Screening for lung cancer is a problem that physicians have been grappling with for many years. For breast cancer, we have mammography, and now breast CAT scans and MRIs to screen for breast cancer. For colon cancer, we have flexible sigmoidoscopy and colonoscopy.

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Lung Cancer Seed Treatment

There is new hope for patients diagnosed with lung cancer but with too much lung disease to go through surgery to get their cancer removed. Radioactive seeds deliver concentrated doses of radiation treatment to the specific areas affected by cancer.

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Lung Cancer Studies

There are several important advances in lung cancer research being reported out of ASCO, the major cancer conference in New Orleans. The studies find that not only are lung cancer survival rates improving, but that there are now several new, and better, treatments being developed.

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Lung Cancer Treatment, Stroke Retraining, Whole Body CAT Scan

People suffering from paralysis due to stroke or traumatic brain injury may be able to reprogram their brains to improve motor skills and to control artificial limbs. With a stroke, when nerve cells are damaged, other nerve cells take over for them. But until now, scientists weren't sure which neurons compensated for damaged neurons, or how the brain cells learned their new jobs. The latest study shows how MRI images can show the active areas of the brain.

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Lung Cancer: Causes and Treatments

What is Lung Cancer?

Lung Cancer is the uncontrollable growth of cells within the tissue of the lungs. It can be identified by a chest x-ray or a ct-scan. The diagnosis is confirmed with a biopsy. 

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Lymph Node Mapping

Incredibly, at just 12 years of age, Ryan Harper is no stranger to skin cancer. "They took off all the moles on my head, and they tested them for skin cancer." says Ryan who will undergo lymph node mapping to determine the extent of spread of his skin cancer.

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Massage & Breast Cancer

Anita Jacobs juggles a hectic schedule. She travels all over the country as a corporate training lecturer, plus she's an author and a mom. But just over a year ago, her world was turned upside down. She was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had a lumpectomy and several rounds of grueling radiation. During the course of her treatment she discovered the beneficial effects of massage therapy on breast cancer.

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Melanoma Screening

Finally! It's the first unofficial weekend of the summer! But if you're heading out into the sun, here's a question for you: have you had your skin screened? Everyone should! Melanomas cause 80 percent of deaths from skin cancer. But here's the good news: most serious cases of melanoma and most melanoma deaths can be prevented if people would simply do two things: use sunscreen, and get their skin screened!

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Melanoma: Causes and Treatments

What is Melanoma?

Melanoma is a malignancy of the skin. It's the fastest growing cancer in America today. It is caused by excessive sun exposure combined with a genetic disposition towards this type of cancer.

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Men and Skin Protection

With the waning weeks of summer, this is the time that we’re hitting the pools and beaches strong, trying to catch the last vestiges of the sun. But men, listen up: you don’t worry enough about your skin, according to the latest research. It’s almost like you have to whack it into the brains of men--that they are susceptible, just like everyone else, to skin cancer. Take Todd Bernstein for example. “The first marking actually started with my regular Dr. he saw a mark and said this should be removed, of course I didn’t do anything about it until two years later,” says Todd. Todd’s back at the doctor’s office today, to get his stitches removed following the excision of five highly suspicious--in fact, near borderline-- malignant moles. And he still hasn’t learned! “I do put on the sunscreen, my skin, my body, but I’m always in a rush uh especially when I’m outdoors playing golf so I do the basics, but you know it is nice to be in the sun; it feels good,” states Todd, an avid golfer. Rates of melanomas have increased almost 15-fold over the last 50 years. And that increase has been observed disproportionally in men over 50. The problem: men don’t get screened.

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Mikey's Way

If you had one wish--one wish that didn’t include magic, but something like a trip or the best seats at a sporting event, how would you use it? Then, ask yourself, how many of us would give that wish away? Make a wish foundation delivers wishes to sick children—they can ask for a trip to Disneyworld or maybe a day on the field with the New York Yankees. But cancer patient Michael Friedman did something most of us would never even consider: he passed his wish on to others.

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Minorities and Breast Cancer

There is a disturbing report out tonight that says minority women, who are at the highest risk for having aggressive breast cancer, are simply not getting their mammograms. Now, we keep hearing study after study showing how there are ethnic disparities in healthcare. But, mammograms are available for most women regardless of socioeconomic status. So, why minority women are still needlessly facing aggressive, advanced breast cancers?

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Minorities and Melanoma

It's the time of year the pool and the beach beckons us, But African Americans and Hispanics have reason to pause before heading out into the sun. New research shows that it's not just fair skinned individuals, but dark skinned minorities are also at risk for skin cancer resulting from exposure to the harmful rays of the sun.

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Multiple Melanoma

There is strong evidence showing that the deadliest form of skin cancer, melanoma, is a growing threat. Now, new research shows that cases of multiple melanomas are on the rise. People who get melanoma don’t just get one; they’re at risk for two or even more. We don’t completely know why we see more than one of the same type of cancer in an individual person. It’s likely that genetic susceptibility plays a role. Or, it might be simply due to heavy exposure to the toxic agent causing the cancer, like smoking in the case of lung cancer, and sun exposure in the case of skin cancer. This study shows a large portion of people with melanoma aren’t done with the problem even after their first cancer is successfully removed, but might have to contend with multiple melanomas.

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Nanoparticle Technique Delivers More Medicine to Tumors

Extremely tiny particles, or nanoparticles, can now be loaded with 20 times more cancer drugs than ever before, and the load delivered direct to malignant tissue, avoiding many of the awful side effects of cancer chemotherapy, recent research demonstrated. The study, published online in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, employed a safe, biodegradable polymer, or chain molecule, that had been chemically crafted to disrupt the so-called MARK signaling pathway that's involved in most human cancers.
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Nanoparticles Carrying Deadly Genes Destroy Cancer Cells

For the first time, infinitesimal particles, loaded with anti-tumor genes, have been created that can bypass healthy cells and ferry the genes exclusively into cancer cells, stimulating them to manufacture deadly proteins that cause cell suicide, a recent study showed.
   
This means that the therapy could potentially be used to treat previously hopeless cancer that has spread, or metastasized, to various parts of the body.

(Read more)

 

New Bladder Cancer Test

There is a new non-invasive bladder cancer test which detects cancer proteins in the urine. It could be a big breakthrough in detecting this common malignancy. Right now, 13,000 Americans die of bladder cancer each year. So, like many other malignancies, early detection is so important. In fact, if diagnosed early in the course, when the cancer is confined to the lining of the bladder wall, the five year survival rate is around 95%!

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New CT Scan Lung Cancer Screening

If you or someone you love has ever smoked, this is a very important story you must pay attention to. A landmark study has just been released which shows you can detect lung cancer early enough to cure it. Here’s the bottom line: We tell you to go get a colonoscopy to screen for colon cancer, to get a mammogram to screen for breast cancer, to get a pap smear, to get a psa test for prostate cancer. But there’s nothing for lung cancer--the number one cancer killer in america. That is, until now.

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New Lung Cancer Drug

Tarceva, a new lung cancer drug that is still under tests, is proving to be effective at combating the growth of cancer cells. John and Daythel Torian have been married for nearly 50 years. They've shared the joys of being parents and grandparents. But, just a year ago, John received tragic news that changed their life forever. "When people say cancer, we're all fearful." said Daythel Torian, John's wife.

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New Ovarian Cancer Detection

Nearly 4 years ago, Janice Paulshock's world came crashing down when she learnt that she had ovarian cancer. "I was completely shocked. At that time my husband was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and I thought, this can't happen to us, we have three young children." says Janice.

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New Ovarian Cancer Treatment

There’s new hope for ovarian cancer patients. Doctors are saying that giving chemo through the abdomen rather than through the vein should now be the way many ovarian cancer patients are treated. This is actually an old method to deliver chemo; it dates back fifty years. It delivers the chemo into what’s called the intra-peritoneal area of the abdomen. The goal is to get the remaining cancer cells after the tumor is surgically removed, in patients like Eleanor Lewis. Eleanor is looking for a way to lessen the significance of time.

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New Research on Male Breast Cancer

New research just released shows the rate of male breast cancer is on the rise and the disease in men is usually detected when the tumors are more advanced, compared to cases of breast cancer in women. Breast cancer in men is much rarer than in women. But this new study shows not only are men more likely to have deadlier forms of breast cancer, but that many are simply unaware they can get breast cancer.

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Nicotine-Replacement Aids Help in Quitting Smoking

President Obama’s love-hate affair with cigarettes is emblematic of that of thousands of other smokers in America who would like to quit but who are repeatedly pulled back into tobacco’s orbit by stress and addictive urges.

But with all the aids available to smokers today in terms of counseling and nicotine-replacement therapy, "It’s a great time to quit," according to Michael Fiore, director of the Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention at the University of Wisconsin.

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Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma

“My wife and I, we’ve always tried to keep things in perspective, but getting cancer just fine tunes it even more and I can actually say that I appreciate my life more,” says Michael Picarella. 45 year old Michael Picarella is a competitive athlete but he’s also a husband and father to 4 beautiful children. Two years ago when Michael was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, he knew he was about to face the fight of his life. Determined to beat his cancer, Michael received aggressive treatment including chemotherapy. “Fatigue, I had mouth sores, went bald, lost all my hair,” says Michael.

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Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer Study

While skin cancer has always been associated with melanoma, cases of non-melanoma skin cancer are becoming increasingly common. Each year, about a million people in the United States learn that they have skin cancer. Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer in the U.S. 40 to 50% of Americans who live to age 65 will have skin cancer at least once. Now a new study shows the rates of two types of skin cancer--basal cell and squamous cell cancer--are on the rise, turning up much more frequently in very young people. Dr. Ann Dacko, a dermatologic surgeon at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital, says, “Most people develop skin cancer around the age of 50 or later, both men and women. Recently however I’ve had many more patients, patients in their twenties, and thirties have developed non-melanoma skin cancer. It’s not lethal but it still is a cancer.”

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Obesity and Cancer Risk

The American Cancer Society has released the latest edition of it’s Guidelines on Nutrition and Physical Activity for Cancer Prevention. The publish it every five years, and the emphasis now is on--you guessed it--obesity. Yes, being overweight or obese is a significant cancer risk. This contributes to as much as 20 percent of all cancer related mortality. The list of the cancers to which it’s clearly linked is long: breast, colon, uterine, esophagus, and kidney. It is highly suggestive it is linked to these as well: pancreatic, gallbladder, thyroid, ovarian, cervical, prostate cancer, Hodgkin’s disease, and multiple myeloma. Overall, one third of the more than 500.000 cancer deaths in the U.S. each year can be attributed to diet and excess weight.

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Obesity and Mammogram Errors

For some time now, obesity has been associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. It's well established that obese, postmenopausal women have an increased risk of breast cancer compared with postmenopausal women of normal weight. Part of the problem is that obese women are diagnosed at a later stage, perhaps because those with larger breasts may be less able to feel small lumps.

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Obesity, Smoking and Aging

Most of us wish we could be young forever, and stop the aging clock. Of course that's impossible, but there's some new, important insight into why we age and what we might be able to do about it. The new research says that aging could be speeded up by heavy smoking and a lifestyle that encourages obesity.

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Omega 3 Fatty Acid Shrinks Tumors, Improves Chemotherapy

A common omega-3 fatty acid found in fish oil causes cancerous tissue to shrivel while augmenting the benefits of the anti-cancer drug cisplatin and reducing its harmful side effects, a recent study revealed.
   
The study, carried out by a research team led by A.M. El-Mowafy, of Mansoura University, in Egypt, was published in BioMed Central’s open-access journal Cell Division. The experiments, which were performed on solid tumors in rats, lend one more element of support to evidence showing the health benefits of omega-3 fatty acids.

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Outdoor Secondhand Smoke

Studies reveal the hidden dangers behind outdoor secondhand smoke exposure. A 2006 U.S. Surgeon General's Report claims secondhand smoke kills tens of thousands of people each year, and it has long been claimed that second hand smoke can be dangerous through indoor exposure. However little is known about the risks of outdoor inhalation. Recent research from Stanford University examines how smoking can affect the quality of air at park benches, sidewalk cafes and other public places. Researchers concluded that sitting a few feet downwind of a smoker can leave someone exposed to contaminated fumes that are much more concentrated than normal air pollution levels.

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Ovarian Cancer Risk

Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death among women with gynecologic cancer in North America, according to the American Cancer society. And new research finds yet another reason why women should make their annual appointments for the gynecologist, and make it to that appointment every year.

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Ovarian Cancer Screening Test

There is an exciting breakthrough reported tonight by Yale University researchers that could mean finally, an accurate way to carry out early screening tests for ovarian cancer. If you think about it, we have colonoscopy to screen for colon cancer, we have pap smears to look for cervical cancer, mammograms for breast cancer, and now we're even using CAT scans to screen for lung cancer. But we don't have anything for ovarian cancer that's been shown to be effective, accurate, and one which can pick up the cancer before it spreads. That is, perhaps, until now.

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Ovarian and Dementia Risk

Many women have to face a very difficult decision to electively remove their ovaries because of an inherited ovarian cancer risk. But now the findings of new research are making that decision a bit more difficult. Mayo Clinic researchers have found that surgically removing a woman’s ovaries raises her risk of developing dementia or cognitive impairment later on. Women who had removal of one or both ovaries were compared with women who had no surgery.

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PSA Test Inadequacy

It's the best screening test we have for prostate cancer, but the latest research shows it falls far short in acceptability. The PSA test has been used for over two decades now to guide treatment for prostate cancer, but how to use it remains blurry at best. Doctors are not putting the PSA test out to pasture yet, but the latest data reaffirms what we've been seeing lately, that it's not clear what an abnormal PSA value might be and it's even fuzzier concerning how to address it.

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PSA Velocity

It was ten years ago now that Bill Littlefield had a routine screening blood test called PSA-prostate specific antigen. The PSA test is used to detect prostate cancer. A PSA of four or higher indicates the need for a workup for this disease.

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Potential Ovarian Cancer Treatment Seeks Out Tumor Cells

Women suffering from metastatic ovarian cancer could eventually be treated with a radioactive compound capable of seeking out and destroying tumor cells, according to an initial study by the Sahlgrenska Academy. The purpose of this patient study, published in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine, was to study the substance's distribution throughout the body and the presence of side effects in nine women with ovarian cancer.
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Prostate Cancer Biomaker

69 year old Eugene Brown didn't understand why he just couldn't shake some lingering flu symptoms. "My illness hung on for 2 months maybe even three months." says Eugene.

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Prostate Cancer Calculator

There is a new online tool for prostate cancer patients just unveiled that is said to be the most accurate way to predict one’s chances of long term survival.

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Prostate Cancer Consortium

If you know anyone diagnosed with prostate cancer, you know about the confusion surrounding which treatment course to take, and even which doctor to see. Medical specialists from several fields are getting together for the first time at a major conference to better coordinate the knowledge, treatment, and approach to prostate cancer, something that has been lacking for this very common and important cancer in men.

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Prostate Cancer Detection

There is a brand new tool for detecting prostate cancer that could make a huge difference in reducing the chances a cancer will be missed. The bottom line here is not only will cancers be detected more accurately and be less likely to be missed, but it could make it easier to avoid a complete prostate removal, a big, aggressive surgery. Instead, doctors could use targeted therapies that will just destroy the cancer spots, leaving the rest of the prostate intact. Jan winston had been followed by his doctor for a suspicious psa test, the blood test that is a marker for prostate cancer. That number kept rising. “He had done a previous biopsy that was negative. And then he talked about using this machine, and he found it with the biopsy using this mapping capability,” says Jan. Target scan helps minimize the problem of missed diagnosis on biopsy, particularly as a result of inadequate, inaccurate sampling of prostate tissue. Dr. Samir Taneja, Director of Urologic Oncology at NYU Cancer Center, says, “We’re probably missing about a third of cancers on the first biopsy go round so we believe this machine reduces that miss rate and that is something we would like to test in our upcoming clinical trial.”

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Prostate Cancer Study

"The initial shock hit me like a ton of bricks." Joseph Califano was diagnosed with prostate cancer in spite of the fact his PSA was by current guideline standards, completely normal. PSA is the blood test that detects prostate cancer when elevated. "My PSA was still low, I think the highest it's ever been was a 1.7." recalls Joseph.

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Prostate Cancer Treatment

A new study out of the American Urological Association meeting shows not only do patients have a high likelihood of long term survival if prostate cancer is caught early, but also that they can have a high quality of life with no lasting ill effects.

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Prostate Cancer and Osteoporosis

Two new studies highlight the risk men with prostate cancer face concerning osteoporosis risk. Both show that hormone treatment for cancer can up the chances of developing the bone brittling disease. One study in Wednesday's New England Journal of Medicine confirms that hormonal therapy for prostate cancer increases the risk of fracture. The other, in Friday's issue of cancer, shows that the problem of osteoporosis is often overlooked as a risk for men with prostate cancer and being treated with hormones.

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Prostate Cancer: Causes and Treatments

What is Prostate Cancer?

Prostate cancer is second only to skin cancer as the most common types of cancer among men. The prostate is a male sex organ. It's the size of a walnut and produces the thick fluid in semen. 

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Prostate Greenlight Laser Treatment

“It was a living hell, a living nightmare.” Larry Schwartz is describing the excruciating pain he experienced as a result of an enlarged prostate. Larry who works as an events planner said at times the pain was paralyzing. “I could not pass my urine and I had a blockage,” says Larry.

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Prostate Tests Found to Overdiagnose Cancer

Up to 42 percent of prostate cancers detected by a common blood test might never otherwise have come to light in a man’s lifetime, according to a recent study. And this overdiagnosis of the condition has led to countless unnecessary biopsies, surgeries and radiation treatments, not to mention all of the needless anxiety and stress involved.
   
The study “reinforces the message that we are overdiagnosing prostate cancer,” said the American Cancer Society’s Len Lichtenfeld, who was not part of the recent investigation.

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Rehnquist Surgery

Chief justice William Rehnquist’s diagnosis of thyroid cancer is a concerning one. His age, and the fact he needed to have a breathing pipe put in has experts worried about his overall prognosis.

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Robotic Technology Allows Fast-Rebound Hysterectomies

A new robotic technique for performing hysterectomies - the full removal of a woman's ovaries and uterus - produces only a few tiny scars on a woman's abdomen and allows her to leave the hospital in only one or two days. The robosurgery also involves less pain, faster recovery (one to two weeks), quicker return to normal activities, less risk of wound infection and less blood loss. A conventional hysterectomy, on the other hand, is heavily invasive, requiring a 6- to 12-inch incision and four to six weeks of recovery. The hysterectomy is the second-most common surgical procedure in America, with some 600,000 being performed annually.
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Saving Bone Cancer Patients' Limbs

Bone cancer is rare, but up till recently if it was diagnosed in a limb, it almost certainly meant an amputation. But that has changed with the advent of internal prosthetics that can replace the diseased bone. Surgeons can now reconstruct a bone with prosthetics if a malignancy is not wrapped around blood vessels. Dr. James Wittig of New York City's Mt. Sinai Medical Center says that, these days, 95 percent of patients with bone sarcomas, which comprise less than 1 percent of all cancers, can have their limbs saved. But some bone cancer sufferers may still be having amputations due to ignorance of the technology.

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Smoking Cut Back

If you smoke or know someone who smokes, which is just about all of us, you know how difficult it is to quit smoking. But what about cutting back, reducing the number of cigarettes one smokes each day as a first step towards quitting smoking? Does that lower your risk of getting lung cancer and other illnesses? To use a sports analogy, there are those who would argue—and there’s a new study to back this up-- that trying to cut back instead of quitting smoking, is similar to hoping you only lose by one touchdown rather than 3. However some researchers maintain that the only real way to win over cigarettes would be to completely kick the habit.

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Some Colon Cancers May Be Caused by Diarrheal Bacteria

Bacteria that cause diarrhea may also be the cause of some colon cancers, according to research from John Hopkins University. The investigators believe that strains of the common Bacteroides fragilis (ETBF) trick immune systems cells into allowing runaway colon tissue inflammation - a precursor to malignant tumor growth.
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State of Tobacco Report

Have you noticed the cost of cigarettes is continuing to go up? That’s good news, and worthy of a good grade, according to the American Lung Association. Today, it released its annual state of tobacco report. It grades states and the federal government on a variety of tobacco control policies with one major goal: getting people to stop using tobacco….period. Damon Mccoll is a college-age smoker in New York. “They are way to expensive, I can’t afford this I am just a college student, I can’t afford cigarettes at this price.”

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Stinky Ball

So what’s in a name, especially when the name is “Stinky Ball?” It’s the name a 4-year-old boy gave to his dad’s tumor. And now, it has even greater meaning--in fact, a positive one. There are many cancers that get all the press, and all the money toward research: lung cancer, colon cancer, breast cancer especially; but then you have the orphan diseases—including cancers that rarely occur and so rarely get attention.

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Summer Sun Safety Tips

Protect your skin from the sun's harmful rays. It's summer again, and for most of us, a lot more sun exposure. Protecting your skin from harmful UVA and UVG rays is essential to preventing skin cancer, and it's not a bad idea if you want to avoid wrinkles, sun spots or other signs of aging. Here are some tips from the Skin Cancer Foundation: See a dermatologist once a year - Just before bathing suit season, is a good time to go. You can get prevention tips; find out your risk factors for skin cancer, and determine whether you need to do monthly self-exams.

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Sun Pill

It’s here: a product that claims to help protect you from sunburn…in pill form. The makers call this the “sun defense breakthrough of the decade.” So is it all that? Does it do what its makers claims it does? Some of the experts with whom we spoke aren'’t so sure. A company called pure pharmaceuticals has started marketing this: it’s called Sunpill. Dr. Perry Robins is a dermatologist who has been featured on the Sunpill website and promotional videos. He says Sunpill increases the amount of time you can stay in the sun without burning. “If it is fifteen minutes or thirty minutes depending on the day and your skin type this will increase it fifty percent so you will be able to go out forty five minutes before you get burned,” Dr. Robins states. The proof of the claim?

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Sun and Prostate Cancer

No doubt, you've heard about the dangers of sun exposure and the risk of skin cancer. But new research suggests that getting sunshine can help prevent another of the most common cancers- prostate cancer.

(Read more)

 

Surrounding Normal Cells Can Influence Tumor Growth

It was once believed that the two cells found within a cancerous breast tumor - rapidly growing malignant cells and the normal cells that surround them - existed independently, without interaction. However, evidence emerged indicating that normal-looking cells encouraged cells within the tumor to become malignant, but how they were influencing each other was not known.

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Symptoms Identified For Ovarian Cancer

The notion that ovarian cancer is a "silent killer" without early warning signs has changed. The Gynecologic Cancer Foundation has announced a national consensus on symptoms for ovarian cancer. Symptoms that women should consider as warning signs include: bloating, pelvic or abdominal pain, difficulty eating or feeling full quickly, and frequent or urgent urination. If women have these symptoms daily over the course of several weeks they should consult with a gynecologist about them, particularly if the symptoms are new or unusual.

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Teens and Melanoma

We're smack dab in the middle of summer, and another weekend is here when a lot of us, especially our kids, are going to be outside in the sun. But at a time when skin cancers are on the rise, even in teens, there's evidence that adolescents just choose to ignore the dangers. It's really a very simple concept: to get people to use sunscreen and wear protective clothing when in the sun, thus prevent melanomas. But for teenagers, it's tricky issue; they know the dangers, they just choose to ignore them.

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Testicular Cancer - New Research Shows Good News

They are two news broadcasters with a common bond: Sean Kimmerling, the WB 11 sportscaster in New York; and Dan Abrams of NBC. Dan says, “No one expects to hear the words "You have cancer." I think it's even more unexpected for people who are young and healthy." Both developed testicular cancer. But they differ in one very significant way. "Sean Kimmerling was a month younger than me, in the same business as me and was in the same hospital as me with the same disease as me. He died and I didn't," says Dan.

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Treatment of Cancer with Radiation Oncology

By Dr. Chitti Moorthy In recent years, Radiation Oncology has made great strides in cancer treatment. Alone or in combination with other treatments, radiation therapy is dramatically raising cancer cure rates. Leading medical centers provide state-of-the-art radiation therapy in a comfortable and caring environment.

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Tumors Soften Up Other Organs to Receive Cancer Cells

In preparing to invade other organs in the body, malignant tumors secrete a chemical that selectively accumulates in distant target tissues, a recent study has shown. This chemical then attracts certain bone-marrow-derived cells that attack connective tissue in the organs, preparing the way for the migrating cancer cells.

"Metastasis is not a passive process," said cancer biologist Amato Giaccia, a professor of radiation oncology at Stanford University and senior author of the research, which was published in the journal Cancer Cell. "Cells don't just break off the primary tumor and lodge someplace else. Instead, the cells actually secrete substances to precondition target tissue and make it more amenable to subsequent invasion."
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Two Markers Found for Prostate-Cancer Deadliness

Investigators have found that men who are or have been overweight or who have high insulin levels are more likely to die from prostate cancer. The discovery of these two predictors is important, because doctors now have two crucial clues as to which patients will develop the most life-threatening tumors and therefore which to treat most aggressively.

(Read more)

 

Tylenol and Ovarian Cancer

Could a common over the counter pain reliever be a key to the prevention of ovarian cancer? Last week we heard about the dangers of Tylenol, that it could, even in appropriately prescribed doses, affect the liver. Well, here’s a piece of good news: even very low doses of Tylenol might help prevent ovarian cancer. Ovarian cancer patient Irene Elizabeth Janda says any good news is great. “Just plain and simple this is a disease that is still so very silent. Within a matter of days found I was in advanced stage of ovarian cancer.”

(Read more)

 

Understanding Cancer Vaccines

How do Cancer Vaccines Work?

Vaccines that protect against cancer have been proposed since before the 1910s. A growing sophistication of how cells age and die may hold the key to a cancer vaccine.The nucleus of every cell has 23 pairs of chromosomes. And they contain DNA or the genetic material of the cell. A prime cause of aging is that every cell's chromosomes are capped with a protein button called a telomere. As individuals age these telomeres wear out and fray. Normally cells divide about 75 times over a lifetime and afterwards the cell dies. Why then can cancer cells divide indefinitely, quickly forming lethal tumors? Instead, cancer cells produce a special enzyme called telomerase, allowing a fountain of youth for the never-ending reproduction of cancer cells. This enzyme allows cells to divide uncontrollably. If part of this telomerase enzyme can be identified as an antigen by the body, then antibodies would be produced signaling an immune response that would destroy all cells bearing this enzyme, as in all cancer cells. Studies on humans have just begun as current opinion is that this would be at best a universal, but mild vaccine best combined with other developing anti-cancer vaccines.

Find out more about Cancer Vaccines by visiting the American Cancer Society's Website for Cancer Vaccinations.

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VIitamin E Overuse

There is an important health warning tonight for you and your family. Vitamin E, which had at one point been thought to help promote health and well-being, has been shown to be harmful in several ways. Yet, many are still taking it in doses deemed potentially dangerous. Patricia Jordan had high blood pressure and thought taking Vitamin E would be helpful in preventing heart disease. “When I took the Vitamin E I believe it was 600 IUs,” says Patricia.

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Viruses Being Used to Fight Cancer

It’s common knowledge that viruses make us sick. But a new, counterintuitive logic is coming into play in the war on cancer, namely, that viruses can also make us well.
   
So far, the results of various genetically engineered virus studies are tentative and are just beginning to progress into dozens of clinical trials. Results in some cases are quite encouraging for these oncolytic, or cancer-destroying, viruses. And some therapies could be ready for physicians’ use in the next two or three years, said Frank McCormick, a cancer researcher at the University of California at San Francisco.

(Read more)

 

Vitamin D Improves Bowel and Skin Cancer Survival

Higher levels of vitamin D may help improve survival for both skin and bowel cancer patients, according to research published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. The first study followed over 1000 bowel cancer patients for around nine years. Using information gained about sunlight exposure, skin type, body-mass index, and vitamin D intake from food and supplements, researchers estimated the amount of vitamin D in patients' blood at the time of diagnosis.

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Vitamin D and Calcium Associated With Reduced Breast Cancer Risk

Calcium & Vitamin D intake may lower Breast Cancer risk You already knew that calcium and Vitamin D are important for health. But a new study by a team of researchers at Harvard Medical Center suggests that pre-menopausal women who get those nutrients either from foods or supplements are less likely to develop breast cancer. It has also long been thought that vitamin D and Calcium may protect against colon cancer.

(Read more)

 

Weekly Health Wrap

Researchers have identified two genes which play a key role in determining whether a person is at risk for breast cancer. Identified as Brca1 and Brca2, individuals with both the ‘breast cancer genes’ are found to be at a greater risk of inheriting breast cancer. But new research shows there are two other genes, called Notch1 and Jagged1, which are linked to the more aggressive lung cancers. It’s believed patients are less likely to survive the disease when these two genes are found.

(Read more)

 

Weekly Health Wrap

New research out of a major radiology meeting shows that virtual colonoscopy along with computer-aided detection is highly effective for finding colon polyps, which can become cancerous. Virtual colonoscopy is desirable because there is no risk of bleeding or colon perforation and intravenous sedation is unnecessary. The procedure is less costly than conventional colonoscopy and it’s more convenient, taking 15 minutes or less.

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Weight Gain in Postmenopausal Woman and the Risk of Breast Cancer

Well, if you need a reason to lose weight and get into shape, here is a new motivation in the form of a health warning for women: being overweight increases one’s risk of developing breast cancer. The latest study, in the journal of the American medical association, shows that women who gain weight, especially after the menopause, are at a higher risk of breast cancer. Women who gained about 55 pounds or more since age 18 were at a 45 percent increased risk of breast cancer, compared with those who maintained their weight. Women who gained about 22 pounds or more since menopause were at an 18 percent increased risk of breast cancer. But weight loss after menopause lowers circulating estrogen hormones in women, and because estrogen is directly related to breast cancer, weight loss is thought to decrease risk of the disease.

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What is Cancer and How it is Caused

What is Cancer?

Cancer is a term used to describe a group of illnesses all having certain common characteristics. There are over 200 different types of cancer and all have a specific name, treatment and a chance of being cured. The human body is made of organs, such as the brain, liver and heart. And each of these organs is made up tissues, such as fat, blood vessels and muscles.

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What is Cancer? Searching for the Cause

By Dr. Chitti Moorthy -Director, Departments of Radiation Medicine and Radiology, New York Medical College, Valhalla , NY The cause of cancer lies deep within the building blocks of a person's cells (genes and DNA). If these blocks become disorganized, cancer may develop.

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What is the Polypill?

Dr. Valentin Fuster discusses the Polypill. The Polypill is being developed in response to an important reality surrounding cardiovascular disease. There are three important drugs that can help prevent heart disease (statins, ACE inhibitors, and aspirin). These drugs are not taken for two major reasons. First, the drugs are simply too expensive for much of the world, including countries as developed as Russia. And secondly, in developed nations where the drugs are affordable patients too often fail to comply - after three years 70% of patients do not take the medications as prescribed.

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Your First Visit

By Tauseef Ahmed, MD, FACP Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Division of Oncology / Hematology at New York Medical College Your tests have come back. The news is not good and your doctor refers you to a specialist. Oncologist, Orthopedist, Neurologist, each one trusted by your doctor, each one trained to help you, whatever your problem might be. Each one can and should be helped by you. Here are a few tips to help your caregiver help you:

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