Filed under: Thought for the Day Here's an interesting story: Women in the Canadian province of Quebec are less likely than women elsewhere to take preventative action after learning that they have a certain gene linked to breast and ovarian cancers . Women who carry the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutations have a higher risk of developing cancer, prompting many women to either have their breast or ovaries removed. Two thirds of women in Quebec took no preventative actions after learning of their risk, while only one third failed to take preventative steps in the rest of the country. So, my thought for the day is: What would prevent someone from taking action against a disease that could kill them? Religious beliefs? Lack of knowledge about the disease? Lack of money? And if you found out you were at a high-than-normal risk for breast cancer, would you act right before it had the chance to get to you, or would you take your chances? Read     Permalink     Email this     Linking Blogs     Comments

Filed under: Skin Cancer , Research , Daily news The skin cancer we so desperately try to avoid may be caused, in part, by the very thing we use to prevent the disease -- sunscreen. Scientists at the University of California report in the journal Free Radical Biology & Medicine that some of the chemicals found in sunscreen products can become cancer-causing agents once they are absorbed into the skin. And perhaps this is why more and more people are developing skin cancer, despite the increasing use of sun lotions. "Sunscreens may be doing more harm than good," says lead researcher Dr. Kerry Hanson. May is the important word here. Sunscreens may contribute in some way to the incidence of skin cancer. But the jury is still out. And experts are not sure right now how significant this research will be in the long run. Read     Permalink     Email this     Linking Blogs     Comments

Filed under: All Cancers , Research , Diets , Vitamins and nutrients , Daily news , Thought for the Day I'm never quite sure what to do about vitamin supplements. Should I take them? Or should I leave them? Sometimes I think supplements could surely help me with whatever I'm lacking in my diet. Other times I don't want to mess with what might be working just fine in my body. Now if a doctor tells me my iron is low, I'll take a supplement to boost my levels. But if there is nothing apparently off kilter in my system, I tend to just leave things alone.

Filed under: Breast Cancer , Research , Exercise , Daily news , Radiation It's no secret exercise is beneficial for just about everyone. So it should come as no surprise that researchers reported Monday that moderate, regular exercise can help women combat some of the side effects of breast cancer radiation treatment. Researchers found that breast cancer patients who walked briskly 20 to 45 minutes three to five times per week during treatment maintained healthy blood cells. Red blood cells and hemoglobin -- which carry oxygen -- often suffer during radiation treatment. And those who do not exercise lose significant oxygen capacity. This study, published in the journal Cancer, is the first to look into the effect of exercise during breast cancer radiation treatment. It rounds out research that already shows exercise can help prevent breast cancer and can also help women recover from the disease. Read     Permalink     Email this     Linking Blogs     Comments

Filed under: Drug , Chemotherapy , Prevention , All Cancers Before I had my first chemotherapy treatment I was told that to prevent from getting nauseous and vomiting as a side effect that I could take a pill. I mean, what is worse than being nauseous all the time? Not too many things. I was prepared after my first chemotherapy of Adriamycin and Cytoxan to be leaning over the toilet for a long time. This vision was what I expected to happen and I tried to be ready for it knowing that the anti-nausea drugs given aren't always effective for everyone. I did end up spending a lot of time near the toilet after taking Zophran , an anti-nausea medication, but I spent that time on the toilet, not leaning over it!

Filed under: Prostate Cancer , Prevention , Clinical Trials , Research High grade Prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN) is the most significant risk factor for prostate cancer. PIN is strongly predictive of adenocarcinoma and if its identified in a biopsy specimen then it warrants repeat biopsies to check for cancer. This preinvasive cancer does not seem to have an impact on the levels of PSA scores.

Filed under: Colon and Rectal Cancer , Prevention , All Cancers , Opinion , Daily news Chloe is a little girl conceived through in vitro fertilization -- not because her parents could not conceive in the traditional manner but because they wanted to make sure Chloe had no predisposition to cancer in her genetic makeup. And in vitro fertilization is one method of almost ensuring this. There is still a three percent chance of failure but Chloe's parents felt confident in the elective process that would mostly prevent her from inheriting a genetic mutation for colon cancer that has devastated her family -- Chloe's father carries this mutation, and his mother, grandfather, and two uncles have all died from colon cancer. A growing number of couples are using preimplantation genetic makeup to detect a predisposition to cancers that may or may not develop later in life. Using this procedure, parents subject their tiny embryos to genetic tests to determine whether or not they harbor defective genes. Essentially, parents get to pick and choose from embryos in a petri dish which one they want. Since the embryo that became Chloe did not test positive for any defective genes, she was the chosen one. And she is now a healthy two-year-old girl. It's an ethical minefield -- this scientific creation of human life and the picking and choosing of which embryos will survive and which ones will not. One expert says the issue centers around what is considered serious enough to warrant such testing -- and who gets to make this decision. Ethical dilemmas surrounding this issue will only continue to grow as more and more options become available. Already embryos are tested for predisposition for obesity and deafness and a mild skin condition. Some clinics even screen for gender. Some fear this practice may lead to a genetic class divide where the wealthy will become more genetically pure than the poor -- because this process is difficult and expensive, costing tens of thousands of dollars without insurance coverage. Chloe's parents are happy they made the choice they did. Her father says he doesn't know if he could handle being told his daughter has cancer -- especially with the knowledge that he could have prevented it. Read     Permalink     Email this     Linking Blogs     Comments

Filed under: Prevention , All Cancers , Research , Vitamins and nutrients , Daily news I have a cabinet full of supplements I've never taken. I've never been convinced they will do much for me -- other than add an easy-to-forget routine to my day -- and doctors have typically advised me that a healthy diet will deliver just about everything I need for optimal functioning. I still wonder sometimes if I get enough calcium and at times I have taken iron supplements when doctors have determined I lacked appropriate iron levels. But I have never wondered about all the other pills and powders and liquids that claim to promote health -- and sometimes prevent cancer. And after reading a recap of a study in the September 2006 Oprah magazine, I am further convinced that supplements are just not for me. A report from ConsumerLab.com (CL), a company that tests and certifies supplements, suggests that some people might be ingesting too much lead as they try to keep cancer at bay. CL randomly selected various green tea preparations from store shelves, websites, and direct marketers and found that two out of four contained what is considered unacceptable levels of lead. Green tea products they recommend avoiding are Futurebiotics Premium Extract Standardized Green Tea tablets and Herbal Select Standardized Green Tea Extract. Products found to be totally free of lead are Life Extension Mega Green Tea Extract, Nature's Bounty Green Tea Extract, Pharmanex Tegreen 97, and Puritan's Pride Green Tea Extract. Experts believe that some supplements may help prevent cancer. But most testing is done on food so we can't be entirely sure about the safety of supplements. Their advice is this -- make a change through a healthy diet rather than supplements. This is just what I plan to do. Read     Permalink     Email this     Linking Blogs     Comments

Filed under: Skin Cancer , Prevention , Research In the August issue of Archives of Dermatology there is a report on research done showing three ways to remove precancerous skin growths. Acid skin peel, laser resurfacing and chemotherapy cream all removed precancerous growths. What is also really exciting is the fact that these procedures can also slow the development of new skin cancers.

Filed under: Skin Cancer , Prevention , Environment , Daily news I wish I could reverse the damage I've already done to my skin after too much time spent in the scorching sun, in search of a tan. It's seems unfair that a tan is so temporary -- yet its damage is everlasting. And it seems crazy that so many people are still searching for a tan -- when it has become so clear that is it so harmful. As many as 60,000 people a year die from too much sun -- mostly from malignant skin cancer -- according to the World Health Organization (WHO). About 48,000 deaths are caused by malignant melanomas, and 12,000 deaths are caused by other kinds of skin cancer. And 90 percent of these cancers are caused by ultraviolet light from the sun. Cancer is not the only side effect of sun exposure, though -- serious sunburn, wrinkling, eye cataracts, growths on the flesh of the eye, cold sores, and other illness can result from the sun. We all need some sun -- the vitamin D that is produced in the body by the sun helps to prevent disease and immune disorders. But too much is dangerous and sometimes deadly. Yet almost all ill effects from the sun can be prevented. And the WHO has released a report that advises people to seek shade, to use sunscreen with an SPF of at least 15, and to stay out of tanning salons. The report operates under the premise that sunscreens be used not to prolong sun exposure but to protect the skin when exposure is unavoidable. Read     Permalink     Email this     Linking Blogs     Comments