Oncology

• Which Cancer Tests Do You Really Need?

  

  Posted 9:21 PM 2/1/2013

  Feb. 1, 2013 -- Not all cancer screening tests are helpful, and some are potentially harmful, according to a new Consumer Reports rating.

  In the new report, Consumer Reports recommends only three of 11 common cancer screening tests, and then only for certain age groups.

  Screenings for cervical, (More)
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• Cancer Death Rates Drop 20% Over 2 Decades

  

  Posted 8:43 PM 1/17/2013

  Jan. 17, 2013 -- Cancer death rates have fallen by 20% from their peak about 20 years ago, according to the latest statistics from the American Cancer Society.

  This means that from 1991 to 2009, 1.2 million lives were spared, including 152,900 lives in 2009 alone.

  "The big picture is that progress is steady, and for the four major cancer sites, progress is even more rapid," (More)
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• Pap Test to Detect Ovarian, Endometrial Cancers?

  

  Posted 7:26 PM 1/9/2013

  Jan. 9, 2013 -- A new test for ovarian and endometrial cancers looks at cervical fluid obtained during a routine Pap test to detect genetic mutations linked with the cancers.

  Although the research is in early stages, the test did well in detecting these cancers, says researcher Yuxuan Wang, a graduate student at the Ludwig Center for Cancer Genetics and Therapeutics at the Johns (More)
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• Most Cancer Deaths Continue to Drop

  

  Posted 8:17 PM 1/7/2013

  Fewer Americans are dying from cancer.

  This is one main take-away from the latest report on cancer death rates and new diagnoses of cancer in the U.S. This decline is seen among men and women across all major racial and ethnic groups, and for 17 of the most common types of cancer including lung, colon, breast, and prostate cancers.

  Still, not all of the news from the new report (More)
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• Pap Tests Often Given When Not Needed

  

  Posted 9:44 PM 1/3/2013

  Dec. 3, 2012 -- Against clinical guidelines, many women are still getting Pap smears (a test that's meant to find cancer of the cervix) even after they've had a total (More)
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• Coffee May Lower Risk of Dying From Oral Cancers

  

  Posted 4:51 PM 12/12/2012

  Dec. 12, 2012 -- Heavy coffee drinkers -- those who drink more than four cups a day -- may cut their risk of dying from cancers of the mouth and throat by nearly half, according to new research.

  "We examined coffee drinking habits in nearly 1 million men and women," says Janet Hildebrand, MPH, an epidemiologist with the American Cancer Society.

  "Those who reported drinking at least four cups per day of caffeinated coffee incurred about half the risk (More)
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• UV Nail Lamps Safe, Study Suggests

  

  Posted 7:31 AM 12/6/2012

  Dec. 6, 2012 -- Widely used UV nail lamps are highly unlikely to cause skin cancer, even if used weekly for 250 years, a new study suggests.

  The finding contradicts the feeling of many dermatologists that the devices are as harmful as tanning beds. That feeling is largely based on a 2009 report of (More)
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• Breath Test May Detect Colon Cancer

  

  Posted 3:01 AM 12/5/2012

  Dec. 5, 2012 -- A breath test similar to the one used to determine when a driver has had too much to drink shows promise as a screening tool for cancer.

  In a new study from Italy, researchers were able to identify patients with colorectal cancer with an accuracy of over 75% by analyzing samples of their breath.

  Cancer Breath Test

  Similar research is under way to develop (More)
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• Diabetes Drug Metformin May Fight Cancer

  

  Posted 3:01 AM 12/3/2012

  Dec. 3, 2012 -- One of the oldest, cheapest, and most widely used diabetes drugs may be a promising new cancer treatment.

  In new research from the Mayo Clinic, ovarian cancer (More)
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• 'Chemo Brain' Real, Not Just Patient's Imagination

  

  Posted 7:58 PM 11/29/2012

  Nov. 29, 2012 (Chicago) -- For cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy who have found their complaints of general mental fogginess and haziness dismissed by their doctors as not being a real medical condition, vindication has arrived.

  Using (More)
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