Cancer Blog

Height may play a role in manifestations of prostate cancer, say US and German researchers.

Study chief Jiyoung Ahn, of the New York University School of Medicine, told Reuters Health, "tallness is associated with increased risk for younger onset aggressive prostate cancer." Ahn's comment follows research they conducted that analyzed data from a screening study involving 34,268 men.

According to their research, which was published in the British Journal of Cancer, 144 men developed prostate cancer during a follow up period of 8.9 years.

Overall findings suggest cancer risk was not greater in tall men, but the risk of having more aggressive prostate cancer tended to be greater in taller men. Reuters summarized these finding by saying that "compared to men who were around 5 feet 7 inches -- 170 cm or less - those who were taller than roughly 6 feet 3 inches -- 190 cm or more - had a 39% higher risk for aggressive cancer."

Also, this risk was seen predominately in men younger than 65.

Are you currently fighting aggressive prostate cancer? Share your experiences with treatment and provide support to patients and survivors at the Cancer Compass Prostate Cancer Board.

The American Cancer Society (ACS) recently announced that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has expressed concern about using electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) as a method to quit smoking.

A new analysis by the FDA found e-cigarettes contain carcinogens and toxic chemicals, including diethylene glycol, a common ingredient in anti-freeze. ACS reports these concerns about toxicity and the use of these e-cigarettes as a quit-smoking method led the commissioner of food and drugs to say "The FDA is concerned about the safety of these products and how they are marketed to the public."

E-cigarettes are battery-operated devices containing cartridges with varying levels of nicotine to simulate conventional cigarette smoking. They were first produced in China five years ago and come in a variety of flavors.

The FDA report found inconsistencies between 2 leading e-cigarette brands after analyzing 18 cartridge samples.

ACS has published a Guide to Quitting Smoking for anyone seeking help with their habit.

Research from two different studies suggests head and neck cancers caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV) are more treatable, which means better survival rates, reports ABC News.

In the current study, researchers analyzed 106 white and 95 black patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. They found the median survival was 52.1 months for white patients and 23.7 months for black patients. Overall survival in the oropharyngeal cancer subgroup found whites had a median survival rate of 69.4 months compared to blacks with 23.7 months.

The finding, published in the journal Cancer Prevention Research, could explain why black Americans with oropharyngeal cancer (throat cancer) do worse than whites, say researchers.

ABC News quoted one doctor who noted that the study "implies that the apparent black-white difference in outcomes is really a difference in who is infected with HPV." He went on to add that the research could help in comprehending the biology of cancer.

Tanning beds topped a highly-recognized, national list that rates human risk associated with exposure to carcinogens.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have moved tanning beds from the category classification called "probably carcinogenic to humans" to their group 1 category of "carcinogenic to humans," says the American Cancer Society.

Recent research that shows people using tanning beds before the age of 30 raise their risk of melanoma of the skin by 75 percent influenced IARC's decision. In addition the research, published in The Lancet Oncology, also found a link between tanning bed use and risk of melanoma of the eye.

What are your thoughts about avoiding tanning beds to prevent skin cancer? Share your experiences with this and other methods of cancer prevention at the CancerCompass Message Board.