Stand Up To Cancer

This week brings some interesting news about breast self-exams, which were once recommended for women on a monthly basis but were removed from screening recommendations when studies indicated they didn't impact mortality. Now new research presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Breast Surgeons indicates that breast-self exam is as effective as mammography and MRI at detecting breast cancer in young, high-risk women.
http://www.medpagetoday.com/HematologyOncology/BreastCancer/13868

Research from the same conference also brings surprising news about hormone replacement therapy, which was shown in the nineties to increase breast cancer risk in menopausal women. Now a USC researcher is hypothesizing that hormone replacement therapy in younger women - otherwise known as the birth control pill - could be harnessed to lower breast cancer risk. "I want to encourage people to realize that this really could work," the doc said. "Millions of women took the pill this morning. This could potentially be very, very protective against breast cancer."
http://www.breastsurgeons.org/presskit/Hormone%20Therapy%20ASBS.doc

The American Association for Cancer Research is also having its annual meeting this week. One of the most interesting revelations of the conference is a series of studies looking at the impact of genetic alterations on blood, bladder and ovarian cancers. US News and World Report has a great rundown of the studies' results.
http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/healthday/2009/04/21/gene-studies-reveal-cancers-secrets.html

Well, raise your glass for a toast, because it looks like wine may help improve survival of patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a form of blood cancer. Past research has indicated that the antioxidants present in grapes can inhibit the development of tumors; now a new study shows that consumption of wine slightly increases five-year survival in women with non-Hodgkin's. But researchers caution to take the results with a grain or two of salt, as excessive drinking can cause other problems in cancer patients.
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/health&id=6776590

More news on the food front - my favorite kind. Researchers at the University of Chicago Medical Center have found that grapefruit juice can help make an anti-cancer medication more potent. In another study, docs found that the omega-three fatty acids present in walnuts can help reduce the risk of breast cancer. Sounds like a tasty summer salad in the making!
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/health&id=6774359

Finally, I was touched by this article from the San Francisco Chronicle, which comes bearing the surprising headline, "A few good things to say about cancer." Arthur Hoppe wrote about his experience with lung cancer just a couple of weeks before his death in 2000. He celebrated the "warm bath of sympathy and love" that accompanied his cancer treatment, and concluded that "Any serious illness brings home this ephemeral nature of time. I now do thank God each morning for another day. And while it's impossible to relish every moment, I manage to do it again and again - when I awake from a nap, when my tongue touches that first morsel of lemon cake, when I hug a loved one. Never before have I realized what a wonderful gift is life."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/04/22/EDRJ174DUN.DTL

That's all I have for this week, but I'll be back next Thursday with more.

--Cat