Free Republic

With October as the month for breast cancer awareness and Komen for the Cure, which donates to the Planned Parenthood abortion business, holding events across the country, pro-life groups are taking a more active stance speaking out about the problems with the organization.Texas Right to Life has launched a new effort, “Pink Ribbon Scandal, A warning to Pro-Lifers about Susan G. Komen’s ‘race against Life.” “October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, and men and women clad in pink will gather to mourn, celebrate victories of healing, and express solidarity in their goal to eradicate breast cancer by participating in Susan...

Watching football with about every player trimmed out in pink, from their shoe laces to their chin guards, I wonder, "Does prostate cancer have a month?" They do. It's September, but I don't recall any baby blue ribbons or TV adds with celebrities alerting me to that fact. Please don't misunderstand me, I do not mean to take anything away from the commendable efforts by the NFL, other organizations, and common people in their pursuit to rid the world of this devastating disease. However, I did some research and discovered that there didn't appear to be any statistical significance to...

Every October, sure as the leaves fall from the trees, pink ribbons and products blossom virtually everywhere you go. Breast Cancer Awareness Month has all the hallmarks of an effective public health campaign; people going about their regular routines can’t help but notice all the pink and — especially while shopping — be encouraged to contribute to the cause. During a friendly gathering last year, an acquaintance of mine wondered aloud why football players on the TV in the background were wearing pink on their uniforms. The answer soon came. Awareness had been raised. Everyone in the room voiced approval;...

Zipping right along on the Unplanned Journey, October brings a reminder of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Because my cancer was diagnosed with a mammogram, I'm on the soapbox and dedicated to every woman having that test. While some insist that it's painful, and for them it may be, it beats letting cancer get a head start. And it's quick. My advice: Think positive thoughts, breathe in, relax, exhale through the mouth. And repeat. ----------advertisement----------- As for the cost of a mammogram, if you are without insurance and unable to pay for it yourself, check with the county health nurse in...

Landra Reid, the wife of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, has been diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer and is being treated in Washington, DC. Reid’s office confirmed the diagnosis this morning when I called. Landra Reid is receiving treatment, including chemotherapy. Reid’s folks emphasized that he is by her side but that his work as majority leader will not be compromised.

PITTSBURGH -- Thousands of bras stretch all the way across Pittsburgh's Hot Metal Bridge that connects the South Side Flats and South Oakland. "Bras Across the Bridge" is hosted by American Eagle's Aerie, in connection with the Bright Pink nonprofit group that promotes early detection of breast and ovarian cancer in young women. "I think it's interesting that we're doing this project on the Hot Metal Bridge that was built in the 1800s and used to carry thousands of tons of molten steel back and forth," said Marcie Eberhart, of American Eagle Foundation.

HERSHEY, Pa. -- A nondisease-causing virus kills human breast cancer cells in the laboratory, creating opportunities for potential new cancer therapies, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers who tested the virus on three different breast cancer types that represent the multiple stages of breast cancer development. Adeno-associated virus type 2 (AAV2) is a virus that regularly infects humans but causes no disease. Past studies by the same researchers show that it promotes tumor cell death in cervical cancer cells infected with human papillomavirus. Researchers used an unaltered, naturally occurring version of AAV2 on human breast cancer cells. "Breast...

I see today that Andrea Mitchell has breast cancer. I read threads here and at other sources from time to time of others newly diagnosed or struggling with it. What you won't hear most of the medical community tell you is, breast cancer, thyroid cancer, other reproductive cancers, including prostate, are tied directly to iodine deficiency. Same applies for breast and uterine fibroids and enlarged prostate glands. As well as goiter or nodules on the thyroid. I felt compelled to start a thread on this as we ALL need iodine and we are almost ALL deficient in it. Iodine is...

Pink ribbons are cute. They have become very trendy. Everyone has caught on to them, too. A couple of airlines wear pink during October…some yogurt companies have pink ribbons on their merchandise…everyone is doing it. Well, not me.I hate breast cancer. I REALLY hate it. Breast cancer stole one of the most important people in my life from me…my father’s twin sister…my aunt. Both of my grandmothers had breast cancer. My cousin died of breast cancer. Breast cancer is like a terrible virus that keeps sweeping through my family. And like all viruses, you can’t get rid of them; they...

For Raymond Johnson it was bad enough being diagnosed with cancer when he was just 26 and with no health insurance, but his shock was only aggravated when he was denied Medicaid, because rules say men are not covered for breast cancer. Johnson, a construction worker from Charleston, S.C., is one of the roughly 2,000 men who develop breast cancer each year -- just 1 percent of all breast cancer cases. But doctors say even though the numbers of cases may be small compared to the number of women who get the disease, what male breast cancer patients suffer is...

Betty Fordhas died at the age of 93.

A Food and Drug Administration panel today voted 6-0 to halt the use of cancer drug Avastin for the treatment of breast cancer, saying studies have failed to show Avastin is effective for that purpose. The recommendation came after two days of testimony from patients, doctors, and advocacy groups. The panel faced several tearful accounts of women, young and old, who believed Avastin saved their lives.

A panel of cancer experts has ruled for a second time that Avastin, the best-selling cancer drug in the world, should no longer be used in breast cancer patients, clearing the way for the U.S. government to remove its endorsement from the drug. The unprecedented vote Wednesday by the Food and Drug Administration advisory panel comes less than a year after the same panel reached the same conclusion. In three unanimous votes, the six members of the FDA oncology drug panel voted that Avastin is ineffective, unsafe and should have its approval for breast cancer withdrawn. "I think we all...

CHICAGO — A drug now used to prevent recurrences of breast cancer can also reduce the risk of it occurring in the first place, providing a new option for women at high risk of getting the disease, researchers reported here on Saturday. Two drugs, tamoxifen and raloxifene, are already approved to prevent breast cancer but both are rarely used for that purpose, in part because they can have serious side effects like blood clots. The researchers said the new option, exemestane, does not have those side effects and might be more acceptable. “There’s a very safe therapy that looks highly...

COLUMBIA, Mo. ­— Parsley is usually used as a decorative accent to a scrumptious meal, but don’t set it aside just yet. In a new study, a University of Missouri researcher has found that a compound in parsley and other plant products, including fruits and nuts, can stop certain breast cancer tumor cells from multiplying and growing. The study was published recently in Cancer Prevention Research. In his study, Salman Hyder, the Zalk Endowed Professor in Tumor Angiogenesis and professor of biomedical sciences in the College of Veterinary Medicine and the Dalton Cardiovascular Research Center, exposed rats with a certain...

OSU's Li disrupts cellular messages through fragment-based drug design IMAGE: A simulation created at the Ohio Supercomputer Center by Ohio State’s Chenglong Li, Ph.D., illustrates MDL-A (ball-and-stick) binding with a section of GP130 (yellow ribbon). Li is using fragment-based drug... Click here for more information. An Ohio State biophysicist used a supercomputer to search thousands of molecular combinations for the best configuration to block a protein that can cause breast or prostate cancer. Chenglong Li, Ph.D., an assistant professor of medicinal chemistry and pharmacognosy at The Ohio State University (OSU), is leveraging a powerful computer cluster at the Ohio Supercomputer...

In 1898, German doctors fed fresh cow ovaries to a young woman suffering from severe hot flashes after having her ovaries removed. It was a milestone of sorts in women’s medicine, leading to crude hormone treatments and eventually commercially prepared drugs to relieve the symptoms of menopause. It was also the beginning of a seemingly endless controversy about the safety and necessity of drug treatments for women at the end of their reproductive years. By the 1960s, pharmaceutical companies and doctors were promoting hormones as a way for women to stay “feminine forever,” even as scientists and women’s health activists...

Influenced by the president’s mandate to “bend the health care cost curve,” the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is preparing to deny late-stage breast cancer patients access to the critical, but expensive, life-extending drug Avastin. The FDA wants to “de-label” the drug, a move that would force patients with insurance or Medicare coverage to pay for the drug out of their own pocket in order to survive. Now patients groups are speaking out. Led by the Susan B. Komen Foundation for a Cure, 15 patient advocacy groups have petitioned the FDA to reverse their effort to ration the drug. In...

COLUMBIA, Mo. – A University of Missouri researcher believes there could be a new drug compound that could kill breast cancer cells. The compound might also help with controlling cholesterol. Salman Hyder, the Zalk Endowed Professor in Tumor Angiogenesis and professor of biomedical sciences in the College of Veterinary Medicine and the Dalton Cardiovascular Research Center, and his research team discovered that a small molecule, Ro 48-8071, initially developed for controlling cholesterol synthesis “dramatically destroys” human breast cancer cells. This development was discovered as Hyder’s research team was investigating PRIMA-1, a drug that targets a common mutated gene in human...

The Pill Turns 50: Medicine That Makes You SickROBERT F. CONKLING, M.D.Recently three major health stories appeared in the Washington press in less than two weeks that were an occasion to pause and reflect. Recently three major health stories appeared in the Washington press in less than two weeks that were an occasion to pause and reflect.First, the Potomac Conservancy made headlines about the contamination of rivers and drinking water in major metropolitan areas, including Washington DC. Contaminants include not only bacteria, industrial chemicals and agricultural pesticides but also potentially endocrine-active pharmaceuticals, such anti-depressants, contraceptive sex hormones, antibiotics and...