My sister has skin cancer -- the basal cell variety. She has two spots, both on her chest, each one scheduled to be surgically removed in a few weeks. If it were me with this new diagnosis, I'm sure I'd be freaking out, maybe because I've already had breast cancer and tend to panic about any cancer or maybe just because I'm a worrier by nature. But my sister is taking her cancer news in stride, and I am too -- because now that I've done a little research, it seems this type of cancer is pretty easy to beat.

Here's a little refresher lesson on the skin: The skin is the largest organ in the body, and is made of three layers -- the epidermis (top layer), dermis (middle layer), and subcutis (deepest layer). For the purpose of this post, let's focus on the epidermis.

The epidermis has three layers -- an upper, middle, and a bottom layer. This bottom layer is comprised of basal cells. This is where basal cell cancer begins.

Vitamin D is one of the latest, greatest hot cancer topics. Why? Well, it seems many of us women are vitamin D deficient. Such a deficiency might be linked to breast cancer risk so it's in our best interest to make sure we get a healthy dose of this vitamin. It's not as easy as adhering to the Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) guidelines, though. Follow them and you'll still come up short -- the Food and Nutrition Board, responsible for setting the DRIs, have not yet updated guidelines in light of cancer concerns. So what's a girl to do?

For starters, we need to understand that for overall health benefits, 1,000 IU (International Units) per day are necessary. The outdated DRI recommends 200 to 600 IU. This is based on preventing only bone diseases like rickets. Second, keep in mind it's safe to take up to 10,000 IU each day. Third, up your intake of this important vitamin. Here's how:

Fatty fish is the best source of vitamin D. But watch out for high mercury levels. Fortified milk is also good. It has 100 IU of vitamin D per eight-ounce serving, but cow's milk been linked to breast cancer risk as well.

I'm no cook. And I'll never claim a recipe is my own. Anyone who likes my taco salad should thank my friend Kim and her mom Kathy. My turkey meatballs: all credit goes to my brother-in-law's mom. The brownies I once whipped up and now have given up: kudos to Betty Crocker. And this recipe I'm about to share comes straight from the pages of the May 2007 issue of Family Circle magazine. It's such a simple recipe -- takes five minutes tops. I probably could have invented it on my own. But I didn't.

Go With The Grain

Top 1 cup whole-grain cereal with:

2 tablespoons ground flaxseed
1/2 cup each strawberries and raspberries
1 cup 1% milk

Time to test your smarts -- about sleep, sun, food, and alcohol.

Just read the following questions, pick an option and then scroll down to determine if you really know what's best for your health.

• Is it healthier to sleep an extra hour or force yourself out of bed in the morning to exercise?

• Is it healthier to spend 15 minutes in the sun without sunscreen or two hours in the sun wearing SPF 30?

• Is it better to have a second glass of wine at dinner or a sinful dessert?

A drug commonly used to minimize the toxic effects of chemotherapy has been shown in mice to cause bone loss and promote tumor growth, according to the results of a recent study.

This drug, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) -- also known as Neupogen, Neulasta, and Granocyte -- helps restore white blood cell counts that take a beating during chemotherapy, protecting cancer patients from an increased risk of infection.

According to researchers, G-CSF -- essentially a growth factor -- encourages bone breakdown. And any therapy that decreases bone density can enhance tumor growth in bones. So doctors are urged to closely monitor their patients during chemotherapy with regular bone density scans. They can also prescribe medications to prevent bone loss if necessary. And patients can protect their bones by consuming enough calcium and vitamin D and engaging in regular exercise.

Currently, research on cancer patients treated with G-CSF have not yielded the same strong results researchers found among mice.

The details of this study appear online in the journal Blood, and will be published in an upcoming print issue.

If clinical trials go well, a new drug simulating the effects of normal sunlight and increasing the life expectancy of prostate cancer patients, could be available in 2009.

The drug, Asentar, provided levels of vitamin D between 50 and 100 times higher than levels delivered by the sun and could double life expectancy from nine to 18 months for those taking the pills. Absent would be any of the consequences associated with such an overdose.

"An extension of nine months would be very significant in my view," said Nick James of the University of Birmingham. "If the results of the phase III trial are as good as those of the phase II trial, that would be significant."

Details about this study can be found in the journal Chemistry & Industry.

I wish I could reverse the damage I've already done to my skin after too much time spent in the scorching sun, in search of a tan. It's seems unfair that a tan is so temporary -- yet its damage is everlasting. And it seems crazy that so many people are still searching for a tan -- when it has become so clear that is it so harmful.

As many as 60,000 people a year die from too much sun -- mostly from malignant skin cancer -- according to the World Health Organization (WHO). About 48,000 deaths are caused by malignant melanomas, and 12,000 deaths are caused by other kinds of skin cancer. And 90 percent of these cancers are caused by ultraviolet light from the sun. Cancer is not the only side effect of sun exposure, though -- serious sunburn, wrinkling, eye cataracts, growths on the flesh of the eye, cold sores, and other illness can result from the sun.

We all need some sun -- the vitamin D that is produced in the body by the sun helps to prevent disease and immune disorders. But too much is dangerous and sometimes deadly. Yet almost all ill effects from the sun can be prevented. And the WHO has released a report that advises people to seek shade, to use sunscreen with an SPF of at least 15, and to stay out of tanning salons. The report operates under the premise that sunscreens be used not to prolong sun exposure but to protect the skin when exposure is unavoidable.

What the sun has to teach us about cancer prevention is starting to sound like simple common sense -- excess and extreme of any kind is unhealthy. Sun worshippers who spend hours in the hot summer sun are at significant risk for skin cancer. People who spend most of their time indoors because of lifestyle or choice, are at greater risk of developing a number of diseases from the lack of sun exposure, including cancer.

According to the Australasian College of Dermatologists and the Cancer Council Australia, UVB exposure in small amounts is essential to good health, as UVB exposure is how the body manufactures vitamin D. In the summer as little as five minutes a day exposure to face, arms, and hands will provide the necessary sun exposure needed. In winter, when UVB rays are weakest, an accumulated exposure of two to three hours a week is needed. Even with that, we need to keep in mind that as we age our body loses the ability to synthesize vitamin D the way it did when we were younger, and vitamin D supplementation in capsule form is recommended. Other sources of Vitamin D include fish-liver oils, egg yolk, fortified milk, bread and cereals. The Australasian College of Dermatologists and the Cancer Council Australia Risks and Benefits of Sun Exposure report is available as a PDF document. So, do what your mother told you to do when you were young -- go out and get some fresh air and sunshine -- just not as much when UVB rays are the strongest.