Although there is a big marketing campaign underway to increase the public’s awareness of breast cancer, it has been found that lung cancer actually kills more women than breast, ovarian and cervical cancers combined. This is unfortunate news, but the truth has to come out.
What is very surprising about this is that 66% of women who come down with lung cancer either have quit smoking at least 10 years before diagnosis, or they have never been smokers. continue reading…
It now appears that although sunscreen has been touted as a great way to protect people from skin cancer, an FDA study has now shown that they may actually be a cause of cancer. Approximately half of the 500 most popular sunscreen products are alleged to accelerate the rate and growth of skin cancer due to the vitamin A content.
Although the products do prevent sunburn, they do not stop the UV radiation from the sun from causing tumors and lesions on your skin. This study was performed by researchers from the Environmental Working Group. In fact, the study says that only 39 of the 500 products investigated were deemed ‘safe and effective’. continue reading…
It doesn’t matter what metric you use, $90 billion dollars is a LOT of money to spend. Especially in these difficult financial times. The bottom line is that cancer spending in 1990 was $27 billion. In 2008, this figure increased over 3 times to a whopping $90 billion. This massive increase in spending is said to be caused by the rapidly increasing costs of complex new drugs, robotic surgeries and radiation procedures, and the increasing number of patients eligible for them. continue reading…
The Food and Drug Administration recently approved a vaccine to treat prostate cancer. It is the first vaccine that has ever been approved to treat cancer. It is touted as the result of decades of intense, expensive scientific research. It’s method of action is to use the powers of the immune system to fight cancer. This vaccine, called Provenge, does not prevent cancer, nor does it cure cancer.
Studies show that even though Provenge does not prevent or cure cancer, it has been demonstrated in scientific trials to prolong the life of prostate cancer patients by an average of four months longer than patients who were given placebo shots. The details of this research show that after 3 years, 32% of men given Provenge were still alive, compared to only 23% of men who were given placebos in the same time period. This is a statistically significant improvement over the current treatment method. The current standard chemotherapeutic substance, docetaxel, only improves life expectancy 2.4 months. continue reading…