Filed under: Leukemia , Colon and Rectal Cancer , Prevention , Liver Cancer , Stomach Cancer , Research , Daily news

Filed under: Breast Cancer , Sunday Seven Breast cancer is widespread -- so widespread that most of us have direct personal contact with someone living with this disease. Information about breast cancer is also widespread -- so widespread that it's easy to get lost in the maze of details that define this illness that two million women in the United States are living with at this very moment. Breast cancer has its own set of definitions and facts and statistics -- and myths too. And here are seven myths that are not worth spreading. Most lumps in the breast are cancer. Actually, most lumps in the breast are not cancer. But every lump should still be examined and diagnosed. Breast cancer does not occur in young women. While most breast cancer cases occur in women over the age of 50, breast cancer can and does occur in women of all ages. I was diagnosed at age 34. Women with large breasts have a greater risk of breast cancer. Size does not affect risk. But it can be more difficult to examine large breasts and therefore detect a suspicious lump due to a larger amount of tissue. A woman has little or no risk of breast cancer if she has has no family history of the disease. Most women with breast cancer -- about 75 percent -- have no family history of breast cancer. Simply being female puts all women at risk. I have no family history of breast cancer -- but I still was diagnosed with this disease and have been treating it for almost two years. If mammography shows nothing to worry about, then there is nothing to worry about. Mammography can miss 10 to 15 percent of all breast cancers. So any suspicious mass should be investigated with further tests -- such as ultrasound and MRI. When my lump was examined during a mammogram, my doctor was not worried. But an ultrasound that followed revealed a solid mass -- and this was something to worry about. A biopsy came next. And then came my breast cancer diagnosis. Once a woman is treated for breast cancer, she should avoid becoming pregnant. Many breast cancer survivors go on to have successful pregnancies and healthy children. Women should consult their doctors, however, about current and previous treatments and should discuss any possible concerns about pregnancy after breast cancer. Removal of the entire breast is safer than segmental mastectomy. Survival is similar for women who have breast-conserving surgery -- like a lumpectomy -- and for those who have either a total or modified mastectomy. It's not surprising that inaccurate information is floating around about breast cancer -- because there is so much information on the topic and much of it is not completely understood by those who study the disease every day. But we all can take an active part in our own education by researching each tidbit of news that comes our way. We can confirm it, deny it, and understand it better if we take matters into our own hands. And if we don't spread anything we just are not sure about. We owe it to ourselves -- and women everywhere -- to spread only the most accurate information about this disease we all need to better comprehend. Permalink     Email this     Linking Blogs     Comments

Filed under: Breast Cancer , Pink products , Fundraisers , Products Preggers n' Proud , a hip sexy fashion company started by a mommy-to-be who wanted to celebrate her pregnant belly with trendy maternity slogan tees, has designed the Loving My Buddha Belly pink tank top to benefit the Susan G. Komen Foundation for breast cancer research. Part of the profits from the sale of each tee will go to the foundation. According to the company, the Loving My Buddha Belly soft pink tank top reminds pregnant women to embrace their blossoming belly, and will stand as a reminder going forward to empower each other to have regular mammograms, as well as perform self exams. A socially conscious company, Preggers n' Proud takes advantage of the celebrity gift giving of merchandise to garner a type of advertising most companies could not afford to pay in dollars -- but for every celebrity that receives one of their tees, they donate five to a pregnancy care facility located in Santa Barbara, California area called Life Network. Very cool. I look at it this way. You are going to spend your money somewhere, why not do it with a company that gives back. Preggers n' Proud tees have appeared on VH1's Hot Mama show, The Today Show and TLC's Baby Story. Check them out, it's for a good cause. Read     Permalink     Email this     Linking Blogs     Comments

Filed under: Chemotherapy , Liver Cancer , Eye Cancer , Pregnancy and cancer , Products The Northwest Arkansas Morning News is featuring a story about Nicole Young, and her new non-profit Message In A Bottle project, that is providing inspiration to cancer patients and their families with hand-written messages delivered in a bottle. Young, who is now 33, was first diagnosed with ocular melanoma, a rare eye cancer, three years ago while she was seven months pregnant. The diagnosis of cancer was made after she experienced blindness. Last fall, the doctors found tumors in her liver. She is currently undergoing chemotherapy. Young says she knows all about the emotional and physical pain that cancer patients and their families go through, and she came up with the idea of writing messages of inspiration and delivering them to patients and their families facing cancer as a way to bring happiness and hope. To date, Young has been delivering her messages in a bottle to local cancer patients but she hopes to be able to do this on a worldwide basis. To read more about Young, who at the age of 8, wrote, published and delivered the Lakeside News to neighbors featuring interviews, gossip and a comedy column, read Cancer Patient Bottles Inspiration . She needs help to make her messages in a bottle dream a worldwide reality. Read     Permalink     Email this     Linking Blogs     Comments

Filed under: Childhood Cancers , Daily news When Denise Ashford was 14 weeks pregnant, a fetal ultrasound scan revealed signs of a tumor in her unborn child. Her child had cancer. The young mother, only 19 years old at the time, was counseled on having an abortion. The cancer her baby had was neuroblastoma, a cancer that forms in nerve tissue of the adrenal gland, neck, chest, or spinal cord. Ashford, and the father Peter Thomas, refused to consider aborting the baby -- they said they would hang on for a miracle. Each week, tests were done to watch how the unborn baby's tumor was growing. Within weeks, the tumor had begun to shrink. "The doctors told us that sometimes in very small children this type of tumor can shrink over time. But then over the next four weeks, we were given some even more unbelievable news -- the tumor had disappeared altogether," stated Ashford. Kiah Thomas came into this world at 6 pounds 1 ounce, and celebrates her fifth birthday as a happy healthy child. At the time of her birth, doctors said it was very rare for cancer to be detected in a baby before birth and then for it to disappear. But it happens. Called spontaneous remission, regression or miracles, stories of cancer patients defying the greatest of odds or having cancer suddenly disappear have always been told, as anecdotal evidence of mysteries we do not fully understand or have yet to seriously study. For more information about spontaneous remission, the Institute of Noetic Sciences has compiled the largest database of medically reported cases of spontaneous remission in the world by reviewing over 3,500 references, from more than 800 journals in 20 languages, as a step towards expanding our knowledge and understanding of a real phenomenon that occurs, and yet, no one can explain. Read     Permalink     Email this     Linking Blogs     Comments

Filed under: Breast Cancer , All Cancers A diagnosis of cancer is traumatic but when women who are pregnant are diagnosed with cancer and especially breast cancer, they face even tougher decisions and emotional distress. The number one concern is will they have to lose their baby? There is no evidence that cancer itself will harm the baby. It is recommended not to breast feed if you are taking chemotherapy because harmful chemicals from the treatments can travel into the breast milk to the child.

Filed under: Breast Cancer In November 2004, my husband I and decided to try to have a third child. But instead of getting pregnant, I got breast cancer. And with the aggressive treatment I would receive -- surgery, dose-dense chemotherapy, radiation, and Herceptin therapy -- becoming pregnant was not an option. Birth control became my only option -- an option that has many limits for premenopausal women surviving breast cancer. Many forms of birth control contain hormones -- the pill, the patch, the vaginal ring, injectables, implants, and one type of IUD that releases progesterone. That leaves condoms, spermicides, diaphragms, cervical caps, one type of IUD that does not release progesterone, and sterilization as the methods that do not release hormones. For me, condoms and spermicides are not dependable enough, the cervical cap and diaphragm are made from latex -- an allergy of mine -- and I do not wish to sterilize my husband or me at this time. So that leaves one option for me for preventing pregnancy -- the IUD that releases copper instead of a hormone. The ParaGard Copper T 380 A can stay in place for 10 years, has a less than 1 percent failure rate, is ready for use immediately after inserted by a doctor, and is considered the only long-lasting, reversible, hormone-free birth control method on the market. Some breast cancer tumors are fueled by the hormones estrogen and progesterone -- the same hormones that are released by some forms of birth control. While studies have not proved a definite strong link between breast cancer and the use of hormone-releasing birth control, my doctors recommend avoiding any hormonal treatment. And it brings me peace of mind to take their advice. So my only option -- the copper IUD -- is what I now use for birth control. And it has proved to be a good only option. I have had no side effects -- although some people may experience side effects -- and I've had no problems and no pregnancies. My only option works well for me. Thankfully. Read     Permalink     Email this     Linking Blogs     Comments

Filed under: Prevention , All Cancers , Research , Environment , Cancer prevention foods Consumer Reports has completed a review of the FDA testing on mercury levels found in canned tuna and i ssued new safety concerns . While the focus is on a clear alert for pregnant women and the damage mercury-contaminated tuna can cause to a developing fetus, mercury is also known to have an adverse effect on the immune system of adults. For anyone interested in cancer prevention, a healthy immune system is a vital first-line defense to keeping cancer from developing in the first place. Mercury, once consumed, can stay in the body for years. Because of the new information provided by Consumer Reports regarding the dangers of canned tuna, and because fish is an excellent cancer prevention food, here is a list of fish that have shown consistently low-levels of mercury during testing and are safe to eat daily. Wild salmon and tilapia can be safely eaten every day. Flounder, sole, mullet, Atlantic mackerel and crab can be safely eaten once a week. In addition, Consumer Reports found fish-oil supplements to be a safe, reliable way to get omega-3 fatty acids. You can check state agencies and the Environmental Protection Agency advisories for contaminant levels of fish caught where you live here . Read     Permalink     Email this     Linking Blogs     Comments

Filed under: Prostate Cancer , Prevention , Research , Environment , Daily news Prostate cancer has been on the rise for the last thirty years. A small but growing group of scientists are beginning to prove with research what environmentalists and activists in the cancer community have been saying for some time -- the link between environmental toxins that mimic estrogens in the body and reproductive cancer is not coincidental. University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Cincinnati researchers have just completed a study that shows a direct link between the chemical, bisphenol A or BPA -- that leaks from plastic products we use in daily life -- to the development of prostate cancer in later life. According to the researchers, these findings could have major implications for human disease, and could, at least in part, explain why the prostate cancer rate has surged. Used for about half a century, BPA is a key component in the manufacture of polycarbonate plastic and is one of the world's most widely used industrial chemicals. Unlike carcinogenic chemicals that can cause profound damage to DNA and trigger cancer, BPA seems to cause subtle changes that are passed from one generation to the next generation. It all starts in the womb. To read more, go here . Read     Permalink     Email this     Linking Blogs     Comments

Filed under: Drug , Blood Cancer , Multiple Myeloma During the late 1950s, Thalidomide was prescribed to pregnant women in many countries around the globe as an antiemetic to combat morning sickness. As it turns out, the drug, which had passed safety tests necessary to gain approval, was a nightmare of unimaginable proportion when it was discovered that babies born to mothers who took the drug suffered extreme birth deformities and missing limbs. Many of the babies did not survive the first year of life. If it were not for Frances Oldham Kelsey, a reviewer for the Food and Drug Administration, who refused to grant approval for a drug she knew was not safe, many babies in the United States would have suffered the same tragic fate. Thalidomide was pulled from the market when it became clear what was causing a sudden epidemic in birth deformities. The drug was later introduced in the treatment for leprosy. Drug makers have found a new use for thalidomide, being marketed as Thalomid , in the approval for treatment of multiple myeloma -- a blood cancer. It sounds like everyone is being very cautious about this drug, and with good reason, given its history. According to reports, it will be strictly controlled to prevent pregnant women from access to the drug. Thalomid also will carry a black box warning about an increased risk of blood clots for multiple myeloma patients. Read     Permalink     Email this     Linking Blogs     Comments