Cancer does not discriminate but community awareness of it does.

The luminous trail left by sports journalist Rebecca Wilson, who died from breast cancer on Friday, will include a new march of women to screening clinics, jolted by the reminder of their mortality.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer affecting Australian women, with 300 cases per 100,000 women, but survival rates are high when it is detected early.

The latest report card on breast screening from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare showed the proportion of women aged 50 to 69 getting screened remained steady around 54 per cent between 2010 …

There are large inequalities in health within and between countries. The first 2016 Boyer Lecture looks at the social determinants of health: the conditions in which people are born, grow, live and work; and inequities in power and resources. Listen now …

Most women know about the BRCA 1 and 2 gene mutations and how they significantly increase a woman’s chance of developing breast cancer.

But they probably haven’t heard of the rare genes PALB2 and ATM, which pose a similar risk – according to new research.

A large global study led by researchers at the University of Melbourne and Cancer Council Victoria has confirmed these genes increase the risk of breast cancer.

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A MT Druitt nurse has urged women to get regular mammograms after she was diagnosed with stage two breast cancer.

Lourdes Catap, 55, shared her breast cancer story reently in a Western Sydney Health video, aimed at reiterating the importance of regular breast screening.

An emergency department nurse, Mrs Catap said she owed her life to the early detection provided by a routine mammogram at Mt Druitt Hospital’s Sunflower Clinic five years ago.

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MRIs, doctors’ latest weapon against prostate cancer, are saving lives – but at up to $800, they can be a financial bridge too far for someone on the pension or the poverty line, without private insurance.

Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer killer of men. Traditional Medicare-covered diagnostics are the dreaded digital exam and blood tests, with biopsies needed for the final say.

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Des Rowley has lived his life in a truck, and he’s not wanting to stop yet.

The 69-year-old Queanbeyan resident got his truck driving licence at 21 and has been driving semi-trailers full-time since age 27, in the mid-1970s.

But a prostate cancer diagnosis in 2007 threatened to end the happy times in his blue Kenworth, where he often delivers for quarries.

“I went to my GP saying I’m having trouble with the waterworks, and he said, ‘It could be prostate or diabetes, we’ll check it up’.”

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A radioactive prostate cancer drug has been recommended for routine NHS use following a decision by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice).
Radium-223 dichloride, marketed as Xofigo, could be made available for treating prostate cancer patients as early as December.
The draft guidance on the drug – which homes in on tumours that have spread to the bones and attacks them with alpha radiation – is seen by charities an “important victory” for some patients.
It is hoped that Radium-223 can be used to help those who are too unwell to undertake chemotherapy.
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Dharmica Mistry has good news for women who dislike having their breasts pushed and pinched into position for a mammogram nearly as much as they fear breast cancer itself.

If her Breast Cancer Associated Lipids (BCAL) blood test passes clinical trials in 2017, they might not have to undergo that ordeal any more.

Instead, they’ll just be able to add BCAL to the cholesterol, blood sugar, iron and other tests they might have once every year or two.

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Each year, the number of people affected by cancer increases; by 2030 there will be four million people living with or beyond cancer in the UK alone.1 A substantial proportion of cancer patients will experience anxiety. A survey carried out by Macmillan Cancer Support in 2006 found that 75% of all respondents had experienced problematic anxiety levels at some point during cancer treatment or survival, but there is no standard presentation.

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A therapy that retrains the body’s immune system to fight cancer has provoked excitement after more than 90% of terminally ill patients reportedly went into remission.
White blood cells were taken from patients with leukaemia, modified in the lab and then put back.

But the data has not been published or reviewed and two patients are said to have died from an extreme immune response..

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