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: Prostate Cancer , Television , Daily news , Celebrity news Merv Griffin, creator and producer of TV game shows Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune, announced in July that he'd been diagnosed once again with prostate cancer. Hospitalized after the cancer recurrence was detected during a routine examination, Griffin was reportedly doing fine. New reports indicate Griffin's prognosis is not so fine, although his reps won't confirm of deny this. It is clear Griffin is still in the hospital. Sources close to him say he is putting all his strength into fighting this battle with cancer. In lieu of sending him flowers, Griffin asks that well-wishers donate to the Young Musicians Foundation -- an organization he chairs. Also, messages can be sent here .

Filed under: Fundraisers , Young Adult Cancers , Services Rise Above It (RAI) is a non-profit organization that helps young adults battling cancer. The strength in spirit of its founder, Colin O'Donoghue , guides RAI in its efforts. As a friend, teacher and coach, Colin deeply enriched the lives of others.

Filed under: All Cancers , Environment , Diets , Exercise , Smoking , Sunday Seven Who knows which pieces of cancer information floating around out there are actually true? I don't. Do cell phones cause cancer? Some say yes, some say no, I say I'm confused! Luckily, I happened upon this Discovery Health article that highlights a variety of myths and then offers the lowdown on each one. Here are seven of them: Myth #1. There is currently a cure for cancer, but the medical industry won't tell the public about it because they make too much money treating cancer patients. Chalk this up to urban legend. And consider this: doctors, laboratory scientists, and their families and friends die of cancer at the same rate as everyone else in the United States. How about this: medical breakthroughs happen all the time and are quickly applied. Think about antibiotics and vaccines -- like the polio vaccine -- that have transformed health care. How about this? Not too long ago, less than one in 10 kids with leukemia survived 10 years. Now, the cure rate is nearly 80 percent. Seems like progress to me. Myth #2. Electronic devices, like cell phones, can cause cancer in the people who use them. Although very few studies suggest a link between rare types of brain tumors and cell phone use, the consensus among most research is that there is no consistent association between the two. The same goes for microwaves and related appliances that emit low-frequency radiation. Myth #3. Treating cancer with surgery causes it to spread throughout the body. This belief may have started many years ago when most patients already had very advanced forms of cancer at the time of surgery. Doctors may have detected a widespread disease that could not be successfully treated. When the patient died a short time later, some may have believed the surgery caused the cells to spread and kill the patient. The truth, however, is that doctors have long known how to safely take biopsies and remove tumors without causing any spread. In many cases, surgery is essential for survival. In cases where cells could be dislodged, doctors take proper precautions. For example, in testicular cancer cases, the entire testicle is removed to prevent this scenario. Myth #4. Regularly eating meat cooked on a charcoal grill won't increase cancer risk. Chemists have determined that grilling meats creates chemicals linked to cancer in animals, and you can increase your cancer risk by eating too much grilled red meat or chicken -- or even meat pan-fried at a very high temperature. So stay away from meat or chicken that is well-done or burnt. And try to eat grilled meats only occasionally. Myth #5. The risk of dying from cancer in the United States is increasing. Nope. Sometimes cancer figures are reported out of context, but the actual number of people dying from cancer is dropping. Cancer diagnoses and deaths have been decreasing since the early 1990s -- and less than half of those diagnosed with cancer today will die of the disease. Myth #6. What someone does as a young adult has little impact on their chances of getting cancer later in life. Lifestyle choices that begin early in life can increase the risk of developing cancer. The use of tobacco, diet, exercise, and exposure to the sun all have a cumulative effect, and most cases of cancer are consequences of many years of engaging in risky behaviors. More than two-thirds of all fatal cancer cases could have been prevented with simple lifestyle changes. Clearly, what we do early in life can come back to haunt us. Myth #7. You can prevent skin cancer by putting on one application of sunscreen at the start of each day. Slathering on sunscreen on a daily basis can give a false sense of security. It simply must be reapplied -- and even then, it offers on a certain level of protection. To make sure your skin is safe from UV rays, keep that sunscreen around, but also gather up some hats, long-sleeved shirts, and sunglasses -- and use them. And try to hide from the sun between the hours of 10:00 AM and 4:00 PM.

Filed under: Skin Cancer , Daily news For many young people, the risk of wrinkling is a bigger tanning deterrent than the risk of skin cancer. How's that for some misplaced worry? Now if the wrinkle-worry gets these youngsters to stop tanning, then I'm happy. Still, it amazes me that warnings about skin cancer still are not taken seriously. "We don't know for sure, but there's some suggestive evidence that young people are more influenced by thinking about themselves getting old faster, than thinking about themselves getting a skin cancer," says one doctor. Experts say that perhaps young people see themselves as invincible and don't believe they can really get skin cancer. One young girl, who worried she was starting to look older after regular tanning bed use, says: "Even though skin cancer does run in my family, it was the crow's feet that scared me."

Filed under: All Cancers , Politics These days, politics and cancer seem to go hand in hand. In February, United States Representative Charles Norwood , from Augusta, Georgia, died of lung cancer. In March, Virginia Congresswoman Jo Ann Davis revealed the breast cancer she fought in 2005 had recurred. A few days ago Elizabeth Edwards , wife of presidential candidate John Edwards, shared that her own breast cancer, originally diagnosed in 2004, has relocated to her bones. United States Press secretary Tony Snow is a colon cancer survivor. Presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani is a prostate cancer survivor. Candidate John McCain has had three bouts with melanoma, the most aggressive form of skin cancer. Bob Dole, now 83, was a cancer survivor at age 73 when he ran for the White House as the 1996 Republican presidential nominee against President Clinton. And the 2004 Democratic nominee, John Kerry, had prostate cancer surgery in 2003. If I did more research, I bet I'd turn up a whole slew of other politicians who have received a direct hit from cancer. But that's not necessary. I think what I'm trying to demonstrate is already clear. Take any sector of society and cancer will somehow be woven into the lives of those who define the population. Athletes and cancer. Celebrities and cancer. Musicians and cancer. Kids and cancer. Young moms and cancer. Men and cancer. Politicians and cancer. This brings me to my next point -- cancer is widespread, so widespread it surfaces over and over again within any given group of people. This makes me sad. But this infiltration of the disease also means none of us is alone. And as a woman with cancer; a young mom with cancer; a wife, a daughter, a sister with cancer; and a writer with cancer, this makes me feel comforted, supported, and utterly strong. Permalink     Email this     Linking Blogs     Comments

Filed under: Brain Cancer , Magazines , Thought for the Day OK, we all know young women get breast cancer. But the way some talk about the pair -- young women and the deadly disease -- it would seem finding a young one living with this type of cancer is like locating that needle in a haystack. Many a young woman -- like me -- have heard doctors and nurses and technicians and family and friends remark, "you are too young for the disease," and then dismiss cancer suspicions as needless worry. The median age for women diagnosed with breast cancer is 65. But think about this fact, published in the Spring/Summer edition of Beyond: Live & Thrive After Breast Cancer . More than 240,000 women in the United States age 40 and under are living with breast cancer. Each year in this country, more than 14,000 women 40 years old and younger are diagnosed with breast cancer, says Boston oncologist Ann Partridge, M.D., of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. That's a lot of young women. That's a lot of breast cancer. And yet, mammograms still are not recommended for women under the age of 40. Permalink     Email this     Linking Blogs     Comments

Filed under: Skin Cancer , Research , Daily news , Thought for the Day Oh no. I think I 'm headed for melanoma. At the very least, I seem to have a very high risk for developing the disease, thanks to my once-stubborn pursuit of a silly tan. Think about this: A review of seven different studies concludes that using a tanning bed under the age of 35 -- I'm so guilty -- can increase the risk of melanoma by 75 percent. Even those who have ever used indoor tanning were 15 percent more likely to develop the disease. We're talking the deadliest form of skin cancer here. So deadly some experts are recommending strong measures to restrict the use of tanning beds by young people. Adults should be discouraged from tanning, some say, but access should be limited for those under the age of 18. New Jersey already has regulations in place -- those under 14 are banned from tanning salons and anyone between 14 and 18 must have parental consent. If I could turn back time, I would listen to my grandma. She told me the sun -- and tanning beds too -- were no good. But I was young. And I didn't care. Now I'm older. And I care. But it may be too late. It seems this could be one lesson I learn the hard way. Read     Permalink     Email this     Linking Blogs     Comments

Filed under: Breast Cancer , Young Adult Cancers , Cancer Survivors Unique Issues of Lesbian and Bisexual Cancer Survivors is a panel discussion hosted by the Young Survival Coalition and The Mautner Project . It is a free national teleconference to discuss the unique and various ways a cancer diagnosis affects young lesbian and bisexual women.

Filed under: Testicular Cancer , Cancer by the Numbers Testicular cancer, cancer in one or both of the testicles, usually occurs in young men and will strike about 8,250 of these men this year. About 370 men will die. A man's lifetime risk of developing this cancer -- that typically shows up in only one testicle -- is 1 in 300, securing it as one of the less common cancers in the United States. The chances of dying from testicular cancer are 1 in 5,000, making it one of the most curable forms of cancer. Yet it is still the most common form of cancer in men ages 15-34. It is also a cancer commonly characterized by denial and embarrassment. As a result, it is one of the least mentioned cancers.