Recently in Cancer Category

When we slather up with sun tan lotion, most of us bypass our lips.  We coat our arms, our legs, our foreheads and noses with a suitable SPF -- but putting lotion on the lips is a non starter. And few people use a separate protective lip balm.  In fact, a recent study out of Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas found that fewer than 25 percent of Americans protect their lips from the sun.

That's a big problem, because our lips are among the most vulnerable places on our bodies -- exceptionally prone to cancers and aging damage.  According to dermatologist Christine Brown, "When skin cancer occurs on the lower lip, it has the potential to be much more aggressive and metastasize to surrounding lymph nodes."

Although researchers have known for years that use of the birth control pills can cut the risk of ovarian cancer, the medical world got all excited last week with the release of new evidence indicating that the cancer-preventing effects can last as long as 30 years after women stop taking the pill. The latest report, based on research by Valerie Beral from the Cancer Research U.K. Epidemiology Unit at Oxford University, found that the longer women take the pill, the more cancer-preventing benefit they derive. The report culled 45 studies involving over 23,000 women, and found that those women who stayed on the  pill for 15 years or longer cut their risk of getting ovarian cancer in half, plus also reduced their risk of endometrial and colorectoral cancers.

Until a few days ago, we had been told that women who have a family history of breast cancer combined with mutations in BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes have an 80-percent chance of developing the disease at some point in their lives. Women in this at-risk group have been receiving advice to consider "a bilateral prophylactic mastectomy," which means having both their still-healthy breasts surgically removed to preempt the possibility that they might develop cancer. Astoundingly, about 20 percent of these women have been opting for the preventative surgery.

A just released study of 1,093 patients treated for head and neck cancer showed that their state of mind had no influence on their outcomes. Or to put it simply, having a positive attitude, had no impact on survival.

In reporting the study, WebMD quoted Dr. Jimmie Holland from Sloan-Kettering, who coined the phrase "the tyranny of positive thinking." Commenting on the study, Dr. Holland said, "The idea that we can control illness and death with our minds appeals to our deepest yearnings, but it just isn't so. It is so sad that cancer patients are made to believe that if they aren't doing well it is somehow their own fault because they aren't positive enough."

This is shocking! A study recently released by the Journal of the American Medical Association concludes that diet plays a major role in colon cancer! Who would have believed it? Thank goodness we have researchers who can uncover such things for us.

While there is no shortage of evidence linking the so-called Western diet to an increased risk for developing colon cancer, the study is among the first to examine the impact of such a diet on survival among patients treated for the disease. Who knew?

An advance copy of an article in the September 1st issue of Cancer was just released detailing the results of a survey that explored some of the cancer “myths” that many people naively believe in. "A substantial proportion of people have some inaccurate beliefs about cancer risk," said lead researcher Kevin Stein, the director of the Behavioral Research Center at the American Cancer Society.

Let’s explore some of those “inaccurate beliefs.”

Back in 2002, a series of studies started coming out challenging the safety of flax seed oil for men in regard to prostate cancer. In October of that year, I wrote a newsletter questioning the validity of those studies, and I caught a lot of grief for taking that position. People questioned my judgement saying, "Why even go there?" "Better safe than sorry." "Why not just use fish oil to get your Omega-3’s?" Even many alternative health authorities backed away from flax based on those studies.

The current issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (JNCI) contains the result of a study that is likely to get major play in the press. The study used questionnaires to track some 300,000 men over a five year period in an attempt to analyze the effect of multivitamin/antioxidant supplements on prostate cancer.

Over the last few weeks there have been back-to-back announcements that President Bush's spokesman and the wife of Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards are battling recurrences of cancer. It is not my wish to talk about their personal struggles or their personal choices on how they deal with the disease other than to wish the two of them and their families the best of possible outcomes.

On Feb 2nd, Texas governor Rick Perry issued an executive order mandating the vaccination of young girls with the Gardasil HPV vaccine sold by Merck What a storm that unleased. The Texas legislature screamed foul. The Republican Party screamed foul. And many alternative health experts screamed foul.