Results of a study at St. Jude show why imatinib (Gleevec) is unable to prevent the relapse of an aggressive form of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Imatinib has improved the treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) dramatically.

CML and an aggressive form of ALL share the same mutation, the Philadelphia chromosome (Ph). Ph-postiive cells produce a growth-promoting enzyme BCR-ABL. However, in some aggressive cases of ALL, Ph-positive cells lack a tumor suppressor gene called Arf, which is present in CML cells, say the researchers.

The paper's first author, Richard T. Williams, says that doctors might be able to identify those people with ALL who lack Arf.

Rise Above It (RAI) is a non-profit organization that helps young adults battling cancer. The strength in spirit of its founder, Colin O'Donoghue, guides RAI in its efforts. As a friend, teacher and coach, Colin deeply enriched the lives of others.

RAI continues this practice with the same enthusiasm and vigor he brought to every aspect of his life. Colin always believed that enjoying life and embracing a positive attitude were essential components of happiness. Using this principle as inspiration, RAI devises fun and positive events that raise money to accomplish its primary objective: to provide meaningful support to young cancer patients.

This is achieved by hosting fund-raising events designed to provide eligible recipients with additional resources. Using the proceeds from these events, RAI board members solicit cases to provide grants and personal consultation to individuals and families with immediate needs in their fight against cancer. Through financial assistance and personal attention, RAI strives to instill a positive attitude within its recipients, thus allowing them to live each day with faith and a fighting spirit.

Young patients that are diagnosed with a form of leukemia called acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) are at an increased risk of relapse if they have a high body mass index at the time of diagnosis.

Dr. Anna M. Butturini, lead investigator of a study that reported the findings, said "Obesity is associated with lower probability of cure in pre-adolescents and teenagers with ALL. A current analysis suggests that the same is true for adults with the same disease".

Dr. Butturini thinks that there is a need for better understanding of why obese patients have an increased risk of relapse. If this is found out, then better therapies for these young patients could be potentially designed.

Childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is being studied in a way to examine the chromosomes present in the diseased cells. Extra numbers of specific chromosomes are present and can arise according to a predictable pattern.

What does this mean? Our chromosomes carry the genes in all cells, which normally have 46 chromosomes. The ALL cells that are being studied can have more than 80 chromosomes.

This could help to understand what early events can cause this type of leukemia. The researchers also want to understand why children with ALL that have 51 or more chromosomes generally respond better to treatment than those with 50 or fewer chromosomes.

One of the authors of the study, Nyla A. Heerema, professor of pathology, states "The fact that an excess of certain chromosomes is associated with the particular overall number of chromosomes tells us that something significant happens when that first abnormal cell divides and initiates the disease"

Researchers are trying to figure out why these certain patterns occur and whether it can help guide decisions about therapy.

All-Star Cincinnati Reds catcher Ed Bailey -- famous in the 1950s -- died of throat cancer on Friday, six months after he was diagnosed with the disease. He was 75.

Bailey, a five-time All-Star, started his baseball career with the Reds in 1953. He went on to hit 28 home runs for the team in 1956 and then went on to play for the Milwaukee Braves, the Chicago Cubs, and the California Angels. He played in his final game in 1966.

Bailey is survived by his wife, Betty, and four sons, Jack, Jeff, Joe, and Jim Bailey of Knoxville.

Boise State basketball player Coby Karl, son of Denver Nuggets coach George Karl, had surgery 13 months ago to remove his thyroid after he was diagnosed with papillary carcinoma, a form of treatable cancer. And while Karl received chemotherapy to kill off any lingering cancer cells, he must undergo cancer surgery once again.

Karl, who plans to play in the NABC All-Star game in Atlanta on March 31, will return to Boise on April 2 for surgery to remove cancerous lymph nodes.

The lymph node cancer was identified in January, but Karl, 23, kept his condition private until his team lost to New Mexico State in the Western Athletic Conference tournament semifinals. This ended the Broncos' season. And now begins Karl's second go-round with cancer.

You may remember Karl as one of last year's NBA draft hopefuls. He worked out for three teams, including his dad's team, but eventually withdrew his name from the draft and returned to Boise State for his senior year.

It's an unsettling journey -- the pursuit of the five-year cancer survival mark. Some say each year of cancer survival makes the future more of a sure thing. And so surviving five years -- the traditional landmark of real remission -- is a big accomplishment. But then there's the perspective of numbers that for me say I have a 93 percent chance of surviving breast cancer for five years. After that, though, there's no telling what will happen. So I am eagerly awaiting the moment when I cross the five-year finish line as I anxiously realize this very same moment may also signal a more dismal outlook.

The paradox hit me straight in the face yesterday as I was waiting for my radiation oncologist to give me another six-month all clear announcement. I was reading the January/February 2007 issue of Coping magazine while I waited. And as I flipped through the pages, I landed right at these words:

Studies show that half of all breast cancer recurrences occur after completion of five years of standard tamoxifen therapy. Additionally, a third of women with estrogen receptor-positive early breast cancer experience a recurrence, and more of half of these recurrences occur more than five years after surgery.

Now this doesn't apply directly to me. My breast cancer was estrogen receptor-negative which makes me a non-candidate for tamoxifen. And this is what scares me. My tumor was aggressive and while my treatment was also aggressive, I don't get the extra five-year protection from hormone therapy. If women taking this drug can have recurrences after completing the therapy, I wonder what's in store for me having not had it.

Maybe I'm making comparisons that don't amount to any real conclusions. Perhaps my type of disease allows for a more secure future. Or perhaps it places me on shaky ground. I don't know for sure. And I don't think I'll dive any deeper into research than I already have. Instead, I will live for today -- while enjoying the announcement my oncologist shared with me yesterday. All clear!

Florida safety Reggie Nelson said recently he would give up football if he could ensure his mother would survive the breast cancer she had been battling since October 2003. Sadly, such a trade was not possible.

Mary Lakes died Thursday night, just after her son arrived at her Melbourne home following the second-ranked Gators' final pre-Christmas practice in Gainesville.

Lakes, whose illness prevented her from regularly witnessing the wonder of her All-American son -- a possible first-round draft pick -- was able to see Nelson play in September. And while she rarely got to sit in the stands, Lakes and Nelson had a very close relationship.

"Reggie had a special relationship with his mother," Florida coach Urban Meyer said. "She was a tremendous person and an inspiration for Reggie and many others. Our entire football program is deeply saddened and in mourning. We will remain by Reggie's side and provide emotional and spiritual support for him during this difficult time."

Nelson will soon head to Arizona where he and his Florida Gator teammates will take on the Ohio State Buckeyes for the 2007 National Championship title.

Mike Evans was the actor who played Lionel on All in the Family and The Jeffersons. He died of throat cancer on December 14Th, he was only 57.

Evans also helped create and write for the sitcom Good Times. It was one of the first TV sitcoms that featured a primarily black cast.

His last role was in 2000 episode of Walker, Texas Ranger, he also played in some TV miniseries such as Rich Man, Poor Man and made appearances on the TV series The Streets of San Francisco.

Celebrities catch our attention. They cause us to pay attention too -- which is likely why the media uses celebrities and prominent people to send messages about all sorts of issues, like breast cancer.

It's not just the real-life survivor celebrity stories -- about Melissa Etheridge and Elizabeth Edwards and Sheryl Crow -- that make headlines and attract ratings. It's also the portrayal of cancer survivors on television that raises awareness about this disease. It's not a new trend -- it started long ago when All in the Family's Edith Bunker (Jean Stapleton) experienced a breast cancer scare, marking one of the first times the issue of breast cancer was discussed openly on TV.

Tough cop Mary Beth Lacey (Tyne Daly) of the TV show Cagney & Lacey traveled a breast cancer journey. Sisters eldest sister Alex (Swoosie Kurtz) was diagnosed with breast cancer and survived chemotherapy with family by her side. Beverly Hills, 90210 character Brenda Walsh (Shannen Doherty) found a lump in her breast and shed light on the fact that young women are not immune to breast cancer. Sex and the City's Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall) developed breast cancer and proudly pulled off her wig on television. The L Word's Dana Fairbanks (Erin Daniels) lost her battle with breast cancer. And on Angela's Eyes, FBI agent Angela Henson recently learned her mother once had breast cancer -- and that it has come back.

There are many others television story lines woven with the thread of breast cancer. They draw viewers and boost ratings. They also raise awareness -- because people pay attention to celebrities.

I came across Courtney's webpage last week and have been reading updates every day since. Her mom is keeping friends and family updated on Courney's progress at her website called Courtney Nicole. Right now Courtney is in the hospital on day +19 after receiving a bone marrow transplant. Her brother Gabe was a match and became Courtney's donor.

Courtney's mom lives at the hospital with her daughter, day and night watching and waiting for her to recover. Thats what moms do. It just breaks my heart knowing that Courtney is suffering each day not able to be given any food or liquids because of complications from the chemotherapy/bone marrow transplant.

Courtney was first diagnosed with Leukemia (ALL) in September of 2000. This is her second time battling the disease. I thought that it would be nice to have some survivors, moms of survivors or anyone for that matter to leave a message on Courtney's guestbook. I know I'm going to!

Pink never looked so warm. Check out Misty Harbor's exclusive pink puffy down jacket with fleece lining. The jacket has a price tag of $140, and $28 per jacket goes to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Pick your size -- small, medium, or large -- and bundle up this winter in an all-weather quilted jacket with a zip-out microfleece bib and signature cuff mitts.

Misty Harbor has been clothing men, women, and children in stylish outerwear since 1961. Sold in specialty and department stores, Misty Harbor is known for its all-weather comfort versions of lightweight transitional jackets, rainwear, and coats for truly cold weather.

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is uncommon in adults between 15 and 50 years of age but occurs more frequently in individuals over 50 years of age. The Philadelphia chromosome is a specific gene mutation that occurs in about 20 percent of all ALL cases. The Philadelphia chromosome occurs when specific genetic information is switched. Patients who are Philadelphia chromosome positive typically do not respond well to standard therapies.

Researchers want to find new strategies to improve outcomes for Philadelphia chromosome positive ALL patients. Gleevec has shown some anticancer responses in these patients who no longer responded to standard treatments.

According to a study was done and published in the journal Leukemia, the survival at one year was 66 percent for those patients who received chemotherapy and Gleevec. Among comparison subjects the survival at one year was 43 percent.

What also sounded very promising was that the probability of surviving for one year without a relapse was 58 percent for those in the study and only 11 percent among comparison patients.

In the moment of despair, the cliche time heals all wounds may seem anything but comforting. But that's because it's true. It takes time to heal and we are not in the right frame of mind just as something unfortunate has happened to accept -- or believe -- this advice that might come flowing from a well-wisher's lips. It's popular wisdom. It's commonly offered as comfort. It's easy to spit out. And while our wounds do not exactly fade with the passage of time, we are able to put a more positive spin on them. But it's tough to appreciate this until the unfortunate moment is long gone.

According to a recent study -- summarized in the September 2006 Ladies Home Journal magazine -- memories of distressing events, like the death of a loved one, don't go away but they do gradually get colored by more hopeful emotions. As time passes, we tend to remember strongly emotional experiences as positive even if they were once harrowing. "People are resilient," says one researcher. "We come to terms with our experiences in as positive a way as we can." So we may eventually see the death of a friend as something that made us stronger, something that reminds us to treasure our friendships. Our ability to find such meaning in the saddest of times helps transform it into a valuable experience -- and not just a sad one.

And this is exactly how I feel about having had cancer. No one could have convinced me at the time of my diagnosis that time would heal my wounds. I wasn't even sure how much time I had left on this planet. I was panic-stricken and frightened and tended to defeat conventional wisdom. But now that two years worth of time has passed me by and I am pretty certain I will continue surviving for a long time, I realize time is responsible for my positive outlook. Time did not completely heal my wounds -- I still have days when my wounds are raw -- but it surely bandaged them. And so I do believe time heals all wounds -- in a way -- and I am thankful for each moment of time I have to marvel at this truth.

The University of Miami's first basketball All-American and member of the school's Athletic Hall of Fame died Friday of esophageal and colon cancer. Dick Hickox, a 5-6 guard who led the 1959-60 Hurricanes to a 23-3 record and a No. 8 ranking -- still the school's highest -- was 68 years old.

Hickox never meant to play basketball at UM. He went to Coral Gables with a friend who was homesick and who threatened to leave unless coach Bruce Hale brought in Hickox and a another friend. Hale agreed -- and had no idea what he was getting. Hickox averaged 22.1 points that season and went on to make history. He was named second All-American, alongside Providence guard Lenny Wilkens. Hickox drew crowds of 5,000 and celebrities -- like actors Burt Reynolds, George Hamilton, and then-Cassius Clay -- often cheered him on from under the basket.

Hickox spent his adult years working in the Dade County Public School system and was the business manager of the South Miami High athletic department. In March, he attended the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament in Greensboro, N.C., and received a Legends Award. It was the best basketball weekend of his life, one friend said.

Hickox is survived by his wife, his son, and his daughter.