Stand Up To Cancer

A new study from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington suggests that fish oil supplements may help women lower their risk of breast cancer. "People should try to achieve nutrients through a healthy diet, so eating fish is a better recommendation than fish oil," said Dr. Emily White, Ph.D, an epidemiologist and the study's lead author. "We think that fish oil is promising in terms of disease prevention, but it's not proven."
http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/07/07/fish.oil.lower.risk/index.html

British researchers have reported a study that found childhood cancer survivors have 11 times the number of premature deaths than the rest of the general public. "These findings confirm the importance of very long-term outcome data and that survivors should be able to access health care programs even decades after treatment," said the leader of the study, Raoul Reulen of Birmingham University. The study also showed that 7 percent of the deaths were due to a recurrence of their original disease while 77 percent was attributed to new cancers, heart disease and cerebrovascular disease.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66C65120100713

Miami dermatologist Flor Mayoral warns that while a risk of skin cancer is lowered in a person with darker skin, the risk is not eliminated. A recent study of 41,702 melanoma patients in Florida found advanced cases in 12% of whites, 18% of Hispanics and 26% of blacks. "This is a tragedy because it's preventable," says Claudia Hernandez, a dermatologist in Chicago. "Unlike a lot of cancers that are internal and cannot be seen, these are cancers that can be caught at an early stage."
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/painter/2010-07-12-yourhealth12_ST_N.htm

A new study called the Indiana Cancer Pain and Depression (INCPAD) trial includes home-based automated symptom monitoring and telephone-based care management for cancer patients. The INCPAD reports that their patients (from 16 community-based urban and rural cancer practices) had an improved ability to cope with pain and depression after participating in the program. "The fact that INCPAD was beneficial for the most common physical and psychological symptoms in cancer patients demonstrates that a collaborative care intervention can cover several conditions, both physical and psychological," the researchers concluded.
http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/641029.html