Filed under: Fundraisers I'm a big fan of Fat Bastard wine, which I picked up a bottle of a few years back simply because of the odd name. If you enjoy their wine too be sure to pick some up during the months of September and October because the makers will be donating $0.25 from every bottle sold to breast cancer charities . It might seem to be a bit of a contradiction to sell alcohol in support of cancer, but actually wine (in moderation) can help reduce to your risk of several types of cancer, not to mention heart disease. Just make sure you stick to one glass a night and enjoy the benefits of a good vintage. I'm curious to know that you think though. Is it wrong to sell wine to raise money for breast cancer? Read     Permalink     Email this     Linking Blogs     Comments

Filed under: Childhood Cancers How are children surviving cancer today? Better than ever before. Some childhood cancer patients, now in their young adult years, are expecting to reach milestones in their lives others before them never would have reached. Today, 1 in 1,000 young adults in the United States is a childhood cancer survivor. In the 1970s, the chance a child would outlive leukemia or lymphoma was 25 percent. Today, it's 80 percent. That's better than most adult recovery rates. As recovery rates rise, a new frontier is on the horizon -- follow-up for these young people as they age. You see, the very treatments that saved these individuals may cause them complications later in life. It's not yet clear what happens when kids live 20 to 30 years beyond diagnosis. But teams at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, plan to find out as they launch one of the most ambitious follow-up programs to date. Contacting 5,000 patients who have survived for more than 10 years, doctors hope they will recruit a group to receive free check-ups for life. They'll also receive blood tests, MRI scans, even fertility counseling. Their medical histories will serve as rich textbooks for medical professionals and future patients -- so the war on childhood cancer can continue. Read     Permalink     Email this     Linking Blogs     Comments

Filed under: Research As soon as I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I started reading, researching, and investigating. I hunted down every bit of information I could find about the disease that had somehow tunneled through my breast tissue. What I found kept me in the know. I felt informed and in control -- and a bit skittish too. My doctor once told me to stop reading. It was causing me too much worry, too much unnecessary stress. And while I didn't stop reading altogether, I did cut down on my Internet research. Since anyone can post anything on the Internet, it can be an iffy source of information. So iffy that some doctors -- like mine -- have expressed concern. Doctors may be able to breathe a sigh of relief, though. According to a study published in the April issue of the International Journal of Medical Informatics, using the internet generally convinces patients that their doctors are right on track with their medical opinions. Source: MAMM magazine, May/June 2007 Permalink     Email this     Linking Blogs     Comments

Filed under: Breast Cancer , Services Ever wonder where your money goes when you make a charitable cancer contribution? Well, here's the lowdown on how the Susan G. Komen Foundation spends their donated funds. For 25 years, this world's largest and most progressive grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists has allocated 33 percent of all dollars for research and awards, and 29 percent for education. Fifteen percent of donations are spent on screening, eight percent on fundraising, and eight percent on administration. Finally, seven percent goes towards treatment. Komen professionals say they are extremely careful about how they spend the dollars entrusted to their care. And that makes me happy. Read     Permalink     Email this     Linking Blogs     Comments

Filed under: Research , Thought for the Day Until the 1990s, most medical studies used only men. Women are included now, but more research is needed on how diseases, like cancer, affect each sex. Women have unique needs, after all, and it's critical that all angles are represented in important research findings. Think you might want to volunteer and help advance research on this female front? Just visit womancando.org and find out how you can do your part. "The power of one can make a difference," reads this website. "You can make a powerful contribution to improving women's health by participating in medical research and becoming part of the effort to understand health and treat disease. Today, it is easy to take health advances for granted. We know a lot about how to treat and prevent disease, but much remains to be learned." Read     Permalink     Email this     Linking Blogs     Comments

Filed under: Breast Cancer , Research Here's an opportunity for you to share your personal breast cancer experiences, and help further research too. Molly, a college student at BYU, has launched a national research project aimed at examining the relationship between couple leisure satisfaction and marital satisfaction of couples in which one spouse has breast cancer. Molly and her study partner Dr. Ramon Zabriskie hope to identify new avenues for cost effective intervention targeted at improving the quality of life for adult cancer patients and their spouses. Both the cancer patient and spouse/partner will be asked to complete a short online questionnaire. No identifying information is required, and all responses will be kept confidential. If you would like to participate in Molly's study, click here . Spread the word too -- the more participants, the merrier. Thanks to my breast cancer surviving friend Adriene for this tip!

Filed under: Breast Cancer , Celebrity spokesperson Oscar-winning actress Reese Witherspoon has been chosen as Avon's first-ever global ambassador. Serving as honorary chairman of the Avon Foundation , the 31-year-old will focus on issues of breast cancer, domestic violence, and emergency relief. "I'm very excited about working with the Avon Foundation, with many different aspects of it," Witherspoon says. "First and foremost, breast cancer research and awareness, programs that they're working on. Someone very close to me is a breast-cancer survivor. It's a cause that's very close to my heart."

Filed under: Skin Cancer , Research , Daily news Researchers at Harvard Medical School say the active component of marijuana may enhance the virus that causes a rare type of skin cancer called Kaposi's sarcoma. While most people are not at risk of developing this cancer, AIDS patients are transplant recipients are. It's the weakened immune system that puts some at risk for this disease. And these are the people who should discuss with their doctors the costs of using marijuana medicinally or recreationally. It may take only small doses of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) -- the ingredient that gives marijuana users a "high" -- to cause cells to become infected and then multiply, according to a study reported in the August 1 issue of Cancer Research. Previous studies have indicated this very same association between marijuana use and Kaposi's sarcoma. But this study shows THC itself is the driving force. Read     Permalink     Email this     Linking Blogs     Comments

Filed under: Pancreatic Cancer , Cancer events , Research , Fundraisers More than 37,000 Americans will be diagnosed this year with pancreatic cancer. Around 75 percent of those diagnosed will die of their disease. Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States, yet one of the most underfunded for research.

Filed under: Drug , Ovarian Cancer , Clinical Trials Ovarian cancer clinical trial to test the drug Phenoxodiol was a post I did back in November of 2006.