Cancer News Headlines

Reading the cancer news is a challenge, because it's always changing!

One week, coffee is bad, next week it's a cancer fighter. And soy--should I eat lots, or avoid it completely? Suddenly dark chocolate, a sinful private pleasure, is on the "good for you" list! How can I possibly keep up?

And how can I keep from going insane trying to do the right thing?

Reading the cancer news when you have cancer could be considered a spectator sport. Just remember that most of the studies reported are not the last word--so read the cancer news if you must, but try to keep it in perspective.

For the Guys: A New Prostate Cancer Test
One dead horse that I am going to keep beating is this: the five-year survival rate for prostate cancer is 100 percent if the cancer is detected early. That simple fact should (but probably won't) get all men aged 50 and up to the doctor for a blood test and the nasty digital exam. (Yes, the doctor will poke his finger up your butt--live with it!)

Even better news: Reuters reports that a PSA test before age 50 can be used to predict which men are more likely to develop aggressive forms of the disease, even 25 years before a diagnosis. Then those men can be followed more closely.

The same team of researchers had previously shown that a single PSA test could predict the presence of prostate cancer in men up to 25 years before diagnosis, according to Reuters. The latest findings extend that to determining those most at risk of aggressive forms of the disease.

The PSA is a blood test to measure levels of prostate specific antigen.

Read: Test can predict aggressive prostate cancer

For All of Us
More research linking weight and cancer risk.

Read: British researchers link obesity to more cancers

I have 20 pounds to lose. But I'm not sure if reading reports like this make me more or less motivated to lose weight, however. A certain fatalism seems to set in. And, of course, I already HAVE cancer. I could always get another cancer, of course.

The Make-You-Feel-Bad News
Then there are the reports that make you second-guess your life choices. Like this report that having your first baby at a later age increases your risk of breast cancer.

I had Younger Son (Older Son is adopted, so he doesn't count) at age 35. But would I have made different decisions if I had known I was increasing my risk of breast cancer by waiting to get pregnant? Probably not.

It doesn't do to personalize the news in this way. I don't know that MY waiting to get pregnant caused MY breast cancer. This report is talking about a general trend for a large number of women.

I think I have more of a love/hate relationship with the cancer news than I realized: the news I love to hate. ... something like that.

Read: Breast cancer risk linked with fertility timing

@ Jeanne Sather 2008.

Comments

[Amorette]

You know, I always have really weird feelings about all of this.

We used to have a small above-ground pool in one of the houses where I lived as a child. My mom described how neighbors were spraying their trees for insects, and she could see the mist drift right over into our pool. And that's how we stopped having a pool. But do you think a lot of people think about that?

Think about all of the...just...transitory exposures to chemicals we have over the years. Most cancers don't show up until years and years after the initial exposure. By the time the cancer comes around, we'll have completely forgotten the originating factor.

The one that got me isn't only in water. It's also in the linings of microwave popcorn bags, nonstick cookware, decorating fabrics, stain-resistant clothing and gore-tex outerwear. But how many people are going to think about that?

How many times have you seen people chewing absently on pencils, paper,
fabric?

A local produce farm has a "certified organic" field. They follow all the rules regarding fertilization and pest control, and pump in their irrigation water directly from a polluted river fifty feet away.

For that matter, have you ever noticed on cooking shows that most of the chefs won't wash fruits and veggies before using them? I'm not talking about us not seeing it on-camera. I'm talking about them cracking open a store container of berries and pouring them right in.

How many restaurants do you think wash their fruits and vegetables really thoroughly, with weak detergent to remove the waxy residues, before they're served to you?

Did you know that one of the first things that has to be done in chocolate-processing is removing the live ammunition and other debris from the raw cacao that arrives at the facility? How much of that chemical residue can they actually get off the chocolate?

My boyfriend used to work at a produce-distribution facility. The bananas are sealed in a room and sprayed with a chemical to ripen them enough for store sale. Those chemicals stay on the banana skins. But do you think most people peel carefully and then wash their hands to avoid cross-contamination?

What about the copiers and CRT monitors giving off radiation in the workplace?

What about the formaldehyde and other nasties behind "new car" and "new carpet" smell? Formaldehyde is a known carcinogen.

When you take in all of the information...and there's more of it than any of us will ever know...it's completely overwhelming. When you think of it, it's amazing that cancer doesn't affect 100% of the population.

(Which I think it would, if we only live long enough.)

[jeanne]

OK, you got me with the bananas! I'm going to take this banana that I was just going to eat at the keyboard back to the kitchen and wash it and my hands, and then peel it and wash my hands again before I eat it!

But you are so right. I remember when we lived in Tokyo, members of some neighborhood organization used to come around once or twice a year and pour an insecticide (I think it was, never got a clear story) into the gutters in front of everyone's houses. And here in Seattle there is overhead spraying (from helicopters) for some tree pest.

[Amorette]

And everyone wonders why I'm a compulsive handwasher...lol