Story Archives of 'Cancer'

Get ready for pink-ribbon season! October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Now in its 25th year, the event promotes awareness of a disease that strikes one in eight women in their lifetimes. And it’s expected to claim nearly 40,000 lives in the U.S. this year alone.

Efforts to bring attention to the disease and raise money for a cure are ongoing. But some women with breast cancer, as well as survivors are troubled by what they see as exploitation. A growing number charge that companies capitalize on suffering to boost profits. And many regard the proliferation of pink ribbons as a marketing ploy.

We’re joined by Kris Frieswick. Her mother passed away from breast cancer, and her article on the dark side of pink-ribbon marketing will appear in this Sunday’s Boston Globe Magazine. We also talk to Jeanne Sather, a blogger in Seattle who's currently battling metastatic breast cancer and blogs at The Assertive Cancer Patient. She's known in the breast cancer community for her fight against using pink ribbons as a marketing tool, and is leading a "Boycott October" campaign.

"Pink Ribbons, Inc.: Breast Cancer and the Politics of Philanthropy" by Samantha King

Jeanne Sather's blog post debunking the "one in eight" statistic

(Photo by Premier Packaging via Flickr/Creative Commons)

Nashua’s Tess George stopped by the StoryCorps Mobile booth last June with her friend Sandy Bothmer. Tess’s mother was confined to her bed in the final months of her life, and Tess provided care during that time. Tess remembers the months being fraught with meaning.

Cancer is a leading cause of death for humans and also kills millions of dogs, cats and other pets. Now researchers are tracking cancers in wild animals. Dolphins, green sea turtles, and beluga whales are just a few of the animals that have been shown to develop cancers in the wild, and researchers believe polluted waters may be to blame.

Denise McAloose is Chief Pathologist for the Wildlife Conservation Society's Global Health Program and the author of a paper published in the current issue of Nature Reviews Cancer. She joined us to uncover why wild animals are developing tumors and what can be done to slow the spread.

Nature Reviews Cancer: Wildlife Cancer, A Conservation Perspective

Scientific American: Cancer joins threats to wildlife

(Photo by Michael Hanscom via Flickr/Creative Commons)

In May, when Senator Ted Kennedy was diagnosed with brain cancer, rumors circulated that his malignant brain tumor was linked to habitual cellphone use. The rumors prompted CNN's Larry King Live to devote an entire show to the subject.

Millions of people worldwide spend a lot of time with cell phones held up to their ears, and concern over whether cellphones cause or contribute to brain tumours is an issue that keeps surfacing. Maybe you saw the viral video of kids popping corn with their cell phones. Millions of people did, before it was discovered to be a hoax created by the makers of Bluetooth headsets.

We wanted to find out what the latest research can tell us about the potential health risks of radio frequency radiation. Melinda Wenner is a science writer based in New York. She wrote about cell phones and the possible link to cancer in the Canadian magazine The Walrus.

(Photo by Billie)