Overall cancer incidence rates decreased in men between 2008 and 2015, while remaining stable in women from 1999 to 2015, according to the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer. The report also said that cancer incidence rates, meaning the rates of new cancers, continued to decline… Continue reading Number of New Cancer Cases Continues to Decline
Category: Cancer Overview
If You Have Cancer, You Need All the Support You Can Get
When we receive a cancer diagnosis, most of us will feel frightened and vulnerable, as I did when I received my own diagnosis. If you have a supportive family and caring doctors, you’ll need them. But if you don’t, it’s important to find as many sources of support as you can. While I have always… Continue reading If You Have Cancer, You Need All the Support You Can Get
Research Team Discovers Compound That Could “Freeze” Cancer Cells
It may be possible to freeze cancer cells and kill them where they stand, rather than trying to kill them after they have spread, investigators say. The finding, by researchers from Oregon Health & Science University, was published in June in the journal Nature Communications. The team used a mouse model for their study. According… Continue reading Research Team Discovers Compound That Could “Freeze” Cancer Cells
11 Things You Need to Know About the HPV/Oral Cancer Connection
Maybe you think that because you’ve been vaccinated against the human papillomavirus (HPV) you’re in the clear when it comes to cervical cancer. Maybe you think that since you don’t drink or smoke that you can’t get oral cancer. Here are some surprising and sobering facts. So much of what we hear about HPV has to… Continue reading 11 Things You Need to Know About the HPV/Oral Cancer Connection
The Cancer That Puzzles Doctors
Cancer of unknown primary is a rare disease in which cancer cells have spread in the body but the place the primary cancer began is unknown. There are a number of reasons why the primary cancer may not be found. The primary tumor may be too small to find, or the body’s immune system may… Continue reading The Cancer That Puzzles Doctors
Understanding Metastatic Cancer
The main reason that cancer is so serious is its ability to spread in the body. Cancer cells can spread locally by moving into nearby normal tissue. Cancer can also spread regionally, to nearby lymph nodes, tissues, or organs. And it can spread to distant parts of the body. When this happens, it is called… Continue reading Understanding Metastatic Cancer
When Cancer Comes Back
From the National Cancer Institute, information every cancer survivor should know: When cancer comes back after treatment, doctors call it a recurrence or recurrent cancer. Finding out that cancer has come back can cause feelings of shock, anger, sadness, and fear. But you have something now that you didn’t have before—experience. You’ve lived through cancer… Continue reading When Cancer Comes Back
40 Percent of Cancers Linked to Weight Issues
An update from the experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) emphasizes the need for good health habits as a means of avoiding many cancers: Overweight and obesity are associated with increased risk of 13 types of cancer. These cancers account for about 40 percent of all cancers diagnosed in the United… Continue reading 40 Percent of Cancers Linked to Weight Issues
Study: Deaths from Cancer Higher in Rural America
Despite decreases in cancer death rates nationwide, a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows slower reduction in cancer death rates in rural America (a decrease of 1.0 percent per year) compared with urban America (a decrease of 1.6 percent per year). The statistics come from the CDC’s Morbidity and… Continue reading Study: Deaths from Cancer Higher in Rural America
New Benefits Found for Aspirin
Taking an aspirin a day can help some older Americans reduce heart-attack risk, prevent some cancers and cancer deaths, and extend their lives, according to a new study from the University of Southern California (USc). The study found that the people who benefited from daily low-dose aspirin had a high risk of heart disease. Researchers… Continue reading New Benefits Found for Aspirin
What to Do when A Loved One Says, “I Have Cancer”
Anyone who has been given a cancer diagnosis makes an immediate recalibration of every previously held ambition. Friends and loved ones often don’t understand how priorities held for a lifetime can change overnight when someone learns that he or she has cancer. Reactions to a cancer diagnosis, regardless of the prognosis, will vary according to… Continue reading What to Do when A Loved One Says, “I Have Cancer”
New Discovery about Oxygen and Cancer Cells
Scientists are drawing closer to understanding how cancer cells pursue oxygen, which they need to survive. The discovery represents a step toward understanding one of the ways cancer spreads. In a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, bioengineers from Johns Hopkins University and the University of Pennsylvania report results of… Continue reading New Discovery about Oxygen and Cancer Cells
Preventive Steps Substantially Reduce Cancer Risk
If people follow cancer prevention recommendations on diet and physical activity, overall cancer incidence and mortality will be reduced, according to results of a systematic review published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. Adherence to the guidelines set by leading cancer organizations also was associated with… Continue reading Preventive Steps Substantially Reduce Cancer Risk
Cancer Survivors Can Help in The Fight Against Cancer
Cancer survivors, their loved ones, and others who have lost someone to cancer know what the cancer journey is like. Taking part in cancer-related activities can be a two-way street. Many people find a sense of fulfillment when they help others. Common benefits people share: Accepting cancer as part of life. For many, getting involved… Continue reading Cancer Survivors Can Help in The Fight Against Cancer
Landmark Cancer “Basket Study”
Researchers from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center have announced results from the first published “basket study”, a new form of clinical trial design that explores responses to drugs based on the specific mutations in patients’ tumors rather than where their cancers originated. Published in August 2015 in the New England Journal of Medicine, the early… Continue reading Landmark Cancer “Basket Study”
IV Nutrition Can Improve Effectiveness of Chemo Drugs
An IV-administered nutrition source could lessen the toxicity of platinum-based cancer drugs, according to a new study. The analysis, by biologists from Carnegie Mellon University, was published in the journal Scientific Reports. Platinum-based drugs, including cisplatin, carboplatin and oxaliplatin, have been used to treat cancer for decades. They are the most potent chemotherapy drugs, but… Continue reading IV Nutrition Can Improve Effectiveness of Chemo Drugs
Tomatoes and Other Lycopene-Rich Foods Can Fight Kidney Cancer
The natural antioxidant lycopene, found in tomatoes, watermelon and papaya, could lower the risk of a kind of kidney cancer in postmenopausal women. A higher intake by postmenopausal women of the natural antioxidant lycopene, found in foods like tomatoes, watermelon and papaya, may lower the risk of renal cell carcinoma, a type of kidney cancer.… Continue reading Tomatoes and Other Lycopene-Rich Foods Can Fight Kidney Cancer
Improved Quality of LIfe for Lung-Cancer Patients
African-American and older patients with advanced lung cancer can be effectively treated with a new, federally approved therapy, according to researchers from the University of Cincinnati. Such patients are not good candidates for chemotherapy. The findings were published in the journal Libertas Academica. The treatment the researchers focused on is gefitinib, a drug that’s already… Continue reading Improved Quality of LIfe for Lung-Cancer Patients