Stand Up To Cancer

Another week, another round of links. We're always inspired by the stories of cancer survivors who go on to do incredible things, and this week we read a doozy of a story about a Houston grandmother who ran a marathon after beating cancer - for the third time. Maybe we should all be running a few miles a day.
http://www.hcnonline.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19800922&BRD=1574&PAG=461&dept_id=635432&rfi=6

Speaking of athletic accomplishments, we also loved the story of Nikki Newell, who survived a brain tumor and went on to participate in a San Diego Iron Girl competition last weekend. Iron Girl indeed!
http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/20080620-9999-1s20breakout.html

We generally tend to focus on cancer as it affects Americans and citizens of other Westernized countries. But it's a worldwide issue, and nowhere is the problem more acutely felt than in countries where advanced technology is unavailable. In this BBC news article it is estimated that Africa will be facing a cancer epidemic by 2020 if things don't change.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/7450064.stm

It may be hard to believe, but serious access problems also exist in the US, despite its status as one of the richest countries in the world. For instance, new research shows that African Americans and Hispanics are still getting less screening for colorectal cancer than their white peers.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/112584.php

Doctors call ovarian cancer "the silent killer" because, like lung cancer, it generally goes undetected until it's too late. But Swedish and Hungarian researchers have trained working dogs to actually smell ovarian cancer - even in its earliest stages.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080626090901.htm

Speaking of ovarian cancer, another highly publicized study showed that a simple checklist, combined with a blood test, could detect up to 80% of these cancers while they're still in a treatable stage. The checklist alerts women to some of the symptoms of ovarian cancer, which include bloating, pelvic or abdominal pain and difficulty eating.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/06/23/health/webmd/main4203825.shtml

Lawmakers in New York there recently passed a "cancer mapping bill," which will mandate that health care providers and the state collect extra information on cancer patients. Why? Because this kind of epidemiological data will come in handy in determining environmental causes of malignancies. Rock out, New York. Our children and grandchildren will thank you for this.
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/06/20/ap5138737.html

Speaking of environmental causes, check out a video report on a California middle school where no less than sixteen former or current teachers have developed some form of cancer. The school denies that anything's wrong, but the American Journal of Industrial Medicine says the problem is harmful energy from bad wiring. Where's Erin Brockovitch when you need her?
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=5057721&affil=kabc

To end on a happy note, take a look at this report from the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Researchers have made a breakthrough discovery that could eventually lead to - wait for it - a colon cancer vaccine. Yowza!
http://jnci.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/extract/100/11/764

That's it for this week. Stay tuned - next Thursday we'll bring you a fresh round of eminently clickable, highly educational links!

--Cat Vasko, associate editor of SU2C Mag