Features

Explore cancer-related feature stories, covering everything from cancer prevention and early detection to survivorship and healthy living.

 

ACS Medical Content and News Staff

How to Read the New Sunscreen Labels

Look closely at the sunscreen you buy and you may notice different wording on the label. This is the first summer that the FDA’s new labeling requirements are in effect.

Cancer Prevention Tips for the Men in Your Life

As Father's Day approaches, help the men in your life stay healthy by encouraging them to adopt healthy habits. Eating better, exercising more, and getting recommended screenings are all part of the equation.

World No Tobacco Day

May 31 is World No Tobacco Day, sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO) to highlight the risks of tobacco use and advocate for policies to reduce smoking.

A Backyard Chef's Guide to Healthier Grilling

Getting your family and friends together for a barbeque is one of the perks of the season, but backyard chefs should beware: some research suggests that cooking meats at very high temperatures creates chemicals (heterocyclic amines, or HAs) that might increase cancer risk.

How to Stay Safe in the Sun

The Friday before Memorial Day is Don’t Fry Day – a day to raise awareness of sun safety and encourage everyone to take steps to protect their skin.

The American Cancer Society Marks 100 Years

This May the American Cancer Society is turning 100 years old. It’s marking the occasion by celebrating the many successes the organization has contributed to in the fight against cancer during the last century.

Volunteers: Motivated to Help Others

Many cancer survivors are moved by their own experience to help others facing diagnosis and treatment. Find inspiration and hope in these stories of volunteers who are making a difference in the fight against cancer.

Look and Feel Your Best During Cancer Treatment

Treatment for cancer may cause changes in your appearance that you may or may not have expected. These can include hair loss, fingernail changes, skin discoloration, weight gain, and weight loss.

Living with Prostate Cancer

Increasingly, studies show that staying at a healthy weight, eating well, and maintaining an active lifestyle after a prostate cancer diagnosis might lower the risk of dying from prostate cancer.

World Cancer Day 2013

February 4th is World Cancer Day, a time when organizations and individuals around the world send a message: Ending cancer should be a global health priority.

Tips for Your Next Physical

These tips from the US Department of Health and Human Services can help you get ready for your appointment, especially if you haven’t been to the doctor in a while.

Eat Right and Stay Active While Traveling

December brings travel plans for many of us – whether we’re visiting family this season or vacationing. But you don’t have to take a vacation from eating right and exercising.

Coping With Grief During the Holidays

Losing a loved one to cancer is a painful and difficult experience. The death of a loved one is always traumatic, but during the holidays, the feelings of loss can be even more pronounced.

Eating When You Have No Appetite

During treatment for cancer, eating right is important. Some people continue to enjoy food and have a normal appetite throughout their treatment. Others have days when they don’t feel like eating.

Frequently Asked Questions About Lung Cancer

Lung cancer is one of the more common cancers diagnosed in the US, and it’s often discovered in a later stage when it’s harder to treat. In 2012, an estimated 226,160 new cases will be diagnosed.

The Truth About Kids and Smoking

Every day, more than 3,800 children in the US smoke their first cigarette, according to the Surgeon General, putting themselves at risk for nicotine addiction and diseases including lung cancer.

Understanding Hormone Therapy

Hormone therapies work with the natural properties of these substances to relieve symptoms and even fight diseases, including cancer.

Four Ways to Reduce Your Breast Cancer Risk

About 1 in 8 women will develop breast cancer at some point during her life. While you can’t change some risk factors, there are things you can do that may lower your breast cancer risk.

When Your Friend Has Breast Cancer

Even with cancer as an all-too-common household word, we are often unsure of what to say – or, equally important, what not to say – when someone we know is diagnosed with breast cancer.

Breast Cancer Discoveries on the Horizon

What if there was an easier way to find out whether a breast tumor was malignant? What if a weakness was found in triple-negative breast cancer? What if we knew how breast cancer spread to bone?

Your Body After Breast Cancer

Newlywed Sarah Lien didn’t want her husband seeing her bald. When they married two years earlier, the tips of her vibrant hair would brush against her face and tickle her healthy pink cheeks.

Prostate Cancer Screening FAQ

Screening – or testing to find a disease in people without symptoms – can help find some types of cancer early, when it’s more easily treated.

Five Ways to Fight Breast Cancer

The fight against breast cancer takes place on many fronts, not just in the treatment center. Here are 5 ways to use your time, your skills, and your voice to make a difference.

Hope Lodge Founder Turns 105

Margot Freudenberg, the American Cancer Society’s longest serving volunteer, still works to drum up donations for the program she founded, the American Cancer Society Hope Lodge.

New ACS Book for Children Addresses Grief

Ten-year-old Emily and 7-year-old Ben have just lost their mother to cancer in a new book for children, “And Still They Bloom” written by Amy Rovere and published by the American Cancer Society.

What You Should Know About Colon Cancer

Over the past few decades, more people have been surviving colon cancer, and fewer people have been dying from it. This is thanks to improvements in colon cancer screening and treatment.

World Cancer Day 2012

February 4th is World Cancer Day, a time when organizations and individuals around the world send a message: Ending cancer should be a global health priority.

Fighting Cancer: A Team Effort

It may not be time for March Madness quite yet, but there are plenty of reasons to be excited about basketball season – especially when so many teams are helping fight cancer.

Radon Gas and Lung Cancer

Getting your home tested for radon can help protect you and your family from a key cause of lung cancer.

Limit Alcohol to Lower Cancer Risk

Having one drink at a party isn’t likely to cause you much harm. But routinely having more than 1 or 2 drinks per day could raise your cancer risk.

NFL Supports Fight Against Breast Cancer

The National Football League is joining the American Cancer Society to raise awareness about breast screenings and to raise money to help fight breast cancer.

Bang! Zap! Pow!

The newest graphic novel in a series designed to explain cancer to children depicts superhero medical experts and cartoon cancer cells.

Healthy Habits Men Need to Know

As Father's Day approaches, help the men in your life stay healthy by encouraging them to follow the American Cancer Society's guidelines for cancer screening, nutrition, and physical activity.

Protect Your Skin on Don't Fry Day

The Friday before Memorial Day is Don’t Fry Day – a day to raise awareness of sun safety and encourage everyone to take steps to protect their skin.

Everyday Steps to Help Lower Your Cancer Risk

Every April the American Cancer Society and other organizations work together to raise awareness about cancer among minorities in honor of National Minority Cancer Awareness Week, celebrated this year April 17-23.

Expert Voices

Get timely insight on cancer topics from Expert Voices, our new blog by the experts at the American Cancer Society.

Renew Your Resolutions

Committing to living a healthier lifestyle can make a difference any month of the year.

iPhone App Helps You Celebrate More Birthdays

Own an iPhone or iPod Touch device? The American Cancer Society, the Official Sponsor of Birthdays, has developed a free iPhone application that will make it easier for you to remember the birthdays of the people you care about.

Relay For Life Family Gets ABC Home Makeover

On Sunday, January 31, at 8 p.m. EST, set your dial to ABC and gather with your local Relay For Life team, committee, or community to watch colon cancer survivor and Relay participant Tricia Creasey and her family on a special episode of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition."

Tips for a Healthier 2010

This year, if your goals involve eating better and exercising more, make your resolutions stick by enlisting the help of these tips and tools.

Coping with Pain

Whether it's from a headache, a broken bone, or something more serious, all of us have experienced pain at one time or another.

Tips for a Healthier Thanksgiving

Ah, Thanksgiving: the air is cooler, the colors are vibrant, and our plates are full – both with busy schedules and hearty fall fare.

Protect Yourself From Breast Cancer

If you see pink everywhere you turn this month, here's why: October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a time when survivors, advocates, and health organizations strive to raise awareness of the progress we're making together in fighting this disease – and the things women can do to protect themselves.

Give Back, Celebrate Service on September 11th

In April 2009, President Barack Obama signed the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, which expanded volunteer opportunities for Americans and established September 11th as a National Day of Service and Remembrance.

Common Prostate Cancer Questions Answered

Prostate cancer affects nearly 200,000 men in the United States every year. The good news is that more than 2 million men in the United States who have been diagnosed with prostate cancer at some point in their lives are still alive today.

Tips for a Healthier School Year

Whether you welcome it with glee (no more kids in the house!) or feel a twinge of dread (goodbye, lazy days by the pool), school is starting up again.

How to Control Your Cancer Risk

While recent research has shown that racial disparity in cancer death rates is decreasing, minority groups continue to bear a greater cancer burden than whites. However, there are things you can do to help reduce your cancer risk.

Don't Lose Your Resolve to Live Healthier

Sticking to those New Year's resolutions can be tough, especially if you've put major lifestyle changes like quitting smoking, getting more exercise, or eating better on your list.

New Book Offers Practical Advice and Hope for Cancer Survivors

If you were recently diagnosed with cancer or are currently going through cancer treatment, you will find a lot of practical advice and encouragement in Julie K. Silver, MD's new book, What Helped Get Me Through: Cancer Survivors Share Wisdom and Hope, published by the American Cancer Society.