Want to reduce your risk of melanoma? Smear yourself with broccoli. No, really -- at least if you're a mouse specially bred to produce tumors and sizzled in ultraviolet rays under thoroughly artificial laboratory conditions. Apres-Sun Spritzing Mist with Oil of Broccoli, anyone?

Contributed by Lissa Harris

Texas District Judge Jack Hunter has a hell of a choice ahead of him: he can return 13-year-old Katie Wernecke to her parents (who insist on treating her advanced Hodgkins' lymphoma with Vitamin C), or he can give her over to the tender mercies of the state (which has been forcing her to undergo radiation therapy, against her parents', and her own, wishes). Wherever he decides she'll go, there's a good chance that's where she'll die.

There's something in this case to get everybody's knickers in a twist: alternative medicine promoters, child welfare advocates, folks who worry about the government interfering in their kid-raising, doctors, family law practitioners, and all kinds of other people who think they know what's best for Katie. (And let's not forget that more than just Katie Wernecke's life is at stake. What's that dirty word? Oh, yeah: precedent.) Here's a thread from a blog for young libertarians that touches on a few of the complex issues at hand, before it devolves into ad hominem attacks and Nazi-baiting.

Update: Judge Hunter ruled that Wernecke should be returned to her parents.

Contributed by Lissa Harris

It may be the last day of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, but the fight continues on year round -- and on one front, researchers are looking at whether or not exercise can reduce one's risk of a breast cancer diagnosis. There is some evidence to suggest that exercise not only reduces the chance of developing breast cancer, but that it may also help prevent a relapse of the disease in breast cancer survivors. A new study at the National Cancer Institute will break out of previous survey-based study methods and follow a set of inactive women between the ages of 18-35 as they encourage them to get active and measure the resulting effects. These women are either breast cancer survivors or at high risk for developing breast cancer, and must self-classify as sedentary to participate in the study. Once active in the study, the participants will be asked to walk 10,000 steps each day, and the effects on cancer relapse rate as well as effects on other cancer risk factors such as circulating hormone levels, cholesterol levels, and some immune markers will be determined.

In what's being described as the greatest breakthrough in breast cancer in 30 years, researchers have published a study that shows women who receive chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer of type HER-2 positive (about 20 percent of all breast cancers) followed by treatment with the drug Herceptin show a 46 percent lower rate of cancer recurrence. Unfortunately, the drug is not cheap -- a year's supply can run as much as $60,000. Studies from international clinical trials of 5000 patients from 39 countries confirmed similar results found in two 3000 patient trials in the U.S., prompting the Australian Cancer Council to call for Herceptin's listing on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, which would make the drug more cheaply available via federal subsidization.

A cancer test kit developed in Singapore reportedly detects warning signs of the disease years before the onset of physical symptoms. The kit works by examining minute changes in the chemical bases that comprise DNA -- in some cancers, cytosine has been shown to undergo a molecular structure-altering chemical change that occurs well in advance of actual cell mutation. If detected early, this cytosine methylation can indicate the potential for a future condition, and doctors can administer pre-emptive treatment in an attempt to prevent the development of cancer. The cancer diagnostic kit is a project of the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) and electronics giant Hitachi, and addresses the inaccuracy of conventional screening methods which only examine a few genes at a time by examining multiple areas in one test.

[Via Philoneist]

A recent study sponsored by the University of Alberta followed the treatment of 20 men from ages 44 to 85 who have been diagnosed with breast cancer. Researcher Edie Pituskin indicates that most of the men were not even aware they could get breast cancer, and so didn't think to see a doctor even if they detect suspicious lumps. Conversely, doctors also aren't as aware of the possibility of breast cancer in male patients, leading to a tendency on the part of both health care professionals and the population at large to ignore warning signs. Pituskin says she hopes her research, to be released at the National Conference for Men's Health in Atlanta, will increase doctor awareness of the possibility of male breast cancer, as well as encourage drug and treatment trials to include male as well as female participants.

 Hello, readers -- I wanted to take just a brief moment to introduce myself, as I'll be filling in for the inimitable Catherine Calacanis over the next couple of weeks. I am excited to brush a bit of the dust off my degree in biochemistry and return to my science roots after having had my head squarely in the tech world for some years now! I'm looking forward to discussing some of the latest medical and scientific developments in the fight against cancer with you all. Thanks!