Which colorectal screening do you need?
Each year, more than 140,000 people in the U.S. receive a diagnosis of colorectal cancer, and about 50,000 die from the disease. It’s the second-leading cause of cancer death among U.S. men and women combined. Yet it’s highly preventable. “With colorectal cancer screening, we can detect precancerous lesions [and polyps] and get them removed,” said Kofi Clarke, M.D., chief ... READ MORE
New drugs are improving cancer survival
Newer drugs are substantially improving the chances of survival for some people with hard-to-treat forms of lung, breast and prostate cancer, doctors reported recently at the world’s largest cancer conference. Among those who have benefited is Roszell Mack Jr., who at age 87 is still able to work at a horse farm in Lexington, Kentucky, nine years after being diagnosed with lung cancer... READ MORE
Progress on blood tests to detect cancer
A California company said its experimental blood test was able to detect many types of cancer at an early stage and gave very few false alarms in a study that included people with and without the disease. Grail Inc. gave results in a news release in May and reported them at a recent American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Chicago. They have not yet been published in a journal or ... READ MORE
What you eat may affect skin cancer risk
One in five Americans will get skin cancer in their lifetime. For an extra layer of solar protection — sunscreen is a must! — pair these foods with safe sun practices. Get red tomatoes (not red-faced) Use summer’s abundance of this fruit to your advantage. A British study found that people were less susceptible to sunburn after eating 1/4 cup of tomato sauce daily for 12 weeks.... READ MORE
Immune therapy fighting more cancers
A treatment that helps the immune system fight deadly blood cancers is showing early signs of promise against some solid tumors, giving hope that this approach might be extended to more common cancers in the future. The treatment, called CAR-T therapy, involves genetically modifying some of a patient’s own cells to help them recognize and attack cancer. Richard Carlstrand of Long... READ MORE
Facing cancer treatment? This can help
Before she could start breast cancer treatment, Nancy Simpson had to walk in a straight line, count backward from 20 and repeat a silly phrase. It was all part of a special kind of medical fitness test for older patients that’s starting to catch on among cancer doctors. Instead of assuming that patients are too frail for treatment or, alternatively, recommending harsh drugs tested only ... READ MORE
Do you still need to do breast self-exams?
Dear Mayo Clinic: I’m confused about breast self-exams. I’m 45 years old, and I remember being told to do self-exams monthly. At one point, my healthcare provider even gave me a laminated card to put in the shower that showed the correct technique. Now it seems self-exams aren’t talked about much anymore. Are we still supposed to do them? Answer: You are correct that the role of... READ MORE
Coffee and the ‘cancer-causing’ chemical
Q: As I coffee lover, I have been happy to read about its health benefits. However, I am a bit disturbed by the suggestion that one of its ingredients causes cancer. What’s your opinion? A: Indeed, the news on coffee is mostly good. This includes the results of a recent study that found coffee drinkers live longer, a conclusion that held up even for heavy coffee consumption (eight or... READ MORE
Most cases of thyroid cancer are curable
Dear Mayo Clinic: How is thyroid cancer treated? Does it always require taking out the thyroid? When is iodine treatment used, and how does that work? Answer: Treatment for thyroid cancer usually involves removing all or part of the thyroid gland. In cases where thyroid cancer is advanced or aggressive, radioactive iodine treatment may be recommended after surgery to destroy any... READ MORE
Replacing lymph nodes to ease lymphedema
Breast cancer treatment left Susan Wolfe-Tank with an arm too painfully swollen to lift anything heavy or even fit into her usual clothing — a debilitating condition that gets little attention and has no cure. Desperate, the Wisconsin woman traveled hundreds of miles to seek a delicate operation — replacing under-arm lymph nodes lost in cancer surgery — as a small but growing... READ MORE
