There’s no question that quitting smoking benefits your health, not least by reducing your risk of developing lung cancer. But what if you’re a smoker who has already been diagnosed with lung cancer — will quitting give you any advantage in fighting the disease?
Cancer
Cancer screening smackdown continues: Pap smears and colonoscopies take a hit
It’s been a long three weeks for the American Cancer Society. The public relations nightmare that started with an admission to the New York Times that they’d overstated the benefits of detecting many cancers is continuing with new evidence that two of the most reliable screenings—Pap smears for cervical cancer and colonoscopies for …
Green tea’s promise of cancer prevention grows
Green tea may be considered a little woo-woo by some mainstream cancer experts but the popular beverage continues to creep toward credibility as a weapon against many forms of the disease. The best studies to date hint that green tea may help ward off cancers of the breast and prostate. And this week oral cancer came one step closer to …
Early Trauma, Diet and Cancer: Holocaust study probes links
A link between exposure to traumatic stress and cancer has long been suspected—but researchers don’t yet fully understand how severe stress could produce this insidious effect or which types of cancer might be most affected. A new study of cancer risk amongst Holocaust survivors offers some clues.
The research also suggests that …
American Cancer Society calls for better monitoring of exposure to carcinogens
A new report from the American Cancer Society (ACS) calls for honing strategies to monitor people’s exposure to cancer-causing chemicals in the environment, including enhancing toxicity testing, enforcing regulatory standards, and lowering the public’s exposure when possible. Authors of the report put minimizing exposure to …
An oncologist’s dream: Protecting healthy cells from radiation
Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine say they may be hot on the heels of the Holy Grail of cancer therapy: a means to protect healthy tissue from the harmful effects of radiation treatment while speeding tumor death. The study, published this week in Science Translational Medicine, could one day be a game changer …
Does Sunscreen Really Prevent Skin Cancer?
You’d be surprised. There’s a difference between preventing sunburn and preventing other types of skin damage. Some sunscreens can do both, but others can’t.
