By William C. Phelps, PhD

During 2011, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved 30 completely new therapies (new molecular entities, as opposed to the modification of an old drug), 7 of which were for treatment of different types of cancer.  One of them, the lung cancer drug crizotinib, was decades in the making. For a new drug, that isn't necessarily a lot of time.

Why does it take so long to get cancer treatments to the patients who need them? The answer lies both in the complexity of cancer and the complexity of the drug development and testing process. More...

By Marji McCullough, ScD, RD

Before writing a blog about soy and breast cancer, I took an informal poll of a few friends to get a sense of what women believe about soy.  I asked them, "What do you know about eating soy food?  Is it good for you? Not good for you?" (I didn't even mention breast cancer.)  The responses I got were,  "I think it acts like estrogen in the body"; "Consuming any soy products increases the risk of breast cancer"; "I don't eat it a lot because I heard something negative but I can't remember what it was;" and "I've heard you should only have it in moderation."  Apparently, people are hearing that soy may not be good. But what's the truth? In this blog I'll walk you through what we know and what we don't know about soy and breast cancer, and give you some practical tips on eating soy. More...

By Alvaro Carrascal, MD, MPH

These days we hear a lot about health disparities, cancer disparities, health equity, etc. What is this all about? And why do these terms seem to be more discussed now?

MedlinePlus, the National Institutes of Health's website for patients, describes health disparities as "differences between groups of people. These differences can affect how frequently a disease affects a group, how many people get sick, or how often the disease causes death."

For the World Health Organization (WHO), health equity is "the absence of unfair and avoidable or remediable differences in health among population groups defined socially, economically, demographically or geographically."

Essentially, health equity is about everyone getting a fair shake when it comes to health and healthcare. More...

By Michele Szfranski, MS, RD, CSO, LDN

When I talk with people who have gained weight during their cancer treatment, they are often shocked. For people who lost considerable weight before their diagnosis and then felt better once their treatment started, weight gain can be a welcome change. But more often I speak with people who were at a healthy weight or overweight before treatment and did not realize that their treatment might cause some weight gain. More...

By William H. Chambers, PhD

Vaccines are not new. In fact, there is evidence that the ancient Egyptians and Chinese used them many centuries ago.  Vaccines work by preparing your own immune system to attack invading pathogens, thus preventing disease. Vaccines have helped us make great inroads against many deadly diseases over the past 60 years, when they became used more widely.

Using vaccines against cancer is relatively new, though. Cancer researchers have been trying to make vaccines for tumors, just like others have made vaccines for measles, mumps, and tetanus. More...

By Kevin Stein, PhD

June is turning out to be big month for cancer survivors. Not only did we celebrate National Cancer Survivor Day on the 7th, but the Society is also co-hosting the 6^th Biennial Cancer Survivorship Research Conference June 14 -16 in Arlington, VA.

And the American Cancer Society has just released the first-ever Cancer Treatment and Survivorship Facts & Figures, the newest addition to our Facts & Figures publications. The report highlights the continued increase in numbers of cancer survivors in the United States. Survivors are defined as any person with cancer from the time of diagnosis on.

We estimate that there are now 13.7 million Americans alive today who have a history of cancer, and that this number is expected to grow to nearly 18 million by 2022. More...

By Ted Gansler, MD, MBA, MPH

Most people's impression of pathology is based on the forensic pathologists in TV shows such as "CSI" (or, if you're my age, "Quincy, ME"). But for people facing cancer, there is another aspect of pathology to learn about - the testing that is done to find out whether an area of diseased tissue is benign (not cancer) or malignant (cancer).

Doctors often suspect that a person has cancer based on their physical exam findings and on the results of x-rays and scans. In the vast majority of cases, however, samples of cells (called cytology) or tissue samples (biopsies) must be tested to know for sure. And, if the tumor is cancerous, pathology testing will also determine what kind of cancer is present. This information is very important in guiding the treatment you receive, and in estimating your outlook for recovery and survival.

People receiving treatments for cancer usually get to know the teams of professionals who perform surgery and who prescribe and give their chemotherapy and radiation. On the other hand, you rarely meet the pathologists, technologists, and other laboratory professionals who test the biopsies, blood, and other specimens removed from your body. Learning about what they do with your samples can help you make informed decisions about your care. More...

By Tom Glynn, PhD

Hookah smoking is no safer than cigarette smoking. If you read no further, that is the take-home message for this blog -- no matter what you may have heard or read, the scientific evidence is clear that hookah smoking is not a safe alternative to smoking cigarettes.

Countering the widely-held, although mistaken, belief that hookah smoking is safer than cigarette smoking is important, so let's take a step back and consider what hookah is, learn about its history and current popularity, and then look at the facts about the scientific evidence regarding its effects on health. More...

By Alpa Patel, PhD

How often do you see someone battling cancer and wish there was something tangible you could do to make a difference?

During the past 50 years, more than 2 million volunteer participants have joined the American Cancer Society's Cancer Prevention Studies and have been making a difference simply by giving a little time to fill out surveys and share information about their behaviors, lifestyle, family and personal medical history, and other information. In 1959 and 1982, adult men and women voluntarily joined the Cancer Prevention Studies I, and II, respectively. Their simple actions as study participants have helped us understand much of what we know about how cancer develops in the population.

Today, a new generation can do the same, by joining the Cancer Prevention Study-3 (CPS-3), the Society's newest Cancer Prevention Study. More...

By Terri Ades, DNP, FNP-BC, AOCN

We remember the phrase from the 1980s. It emerged from a substance abuse prevention program to teach students skills to resist peer pressure and other social influences. When Mrs. Nancy Reagan was visiting an elementary school in California and was asked by a schoolgirl what to do if she was offered drugs, the first lady responded by saying, "Just say no."  Upon her husband's election to the presidency, Mrs. Reagan outlined how she wished to help educate the youth, stating that her best role would be to bring awareness about the dangers of drug abuse.

Mrs. Reagan was talking about drug abuse among our youth- she was not talking about the appropriate use of drugs to treat cancer-related pain. Yet patients are hesitant today to take pain-relieving medicines for their pain, and caregivers are reluctant to give them. Many are afraid of addiction. Are their fears related to this campaign from the 1980s? Probably not, but we know it is very difficult to change people's attitudes about taking pain-relieving medicines once those attitudes are formed. More...