With cancer being more and more understood as a result of genetic and environmental variables, it's quite surprising to see that half of all citizens in Britain do not understand the links that occur between one's diet and the possibility (or even treatment) of cancer.

This from the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF), which recently conducted a poll that concluded with the percentage of those that were unfamiliar with the connection between unhealthy foods and cancer -- a staggering 46% of those polled in Britain. I'm sure that same percentage (or even higher) would exist in the U.S.

Lifestyle choices are so varied these days (from extremely good to incredibly bad) that it's no surprise the cancer rate in industrialized countries is soaring. Education is then action is key, not staying uninformed and in the dark. What will you do?

A recent study found that heart CT scans can increase the risk of cancer, particularly for young female patients. For example, researchers found that a 20-year-old woman's risk of developing cancer, usually breast cancer, increased to as high as one in 114 after a single scan. In comparison, the risk for an 80-year-old after one such scan was about one in 3,000.

So does this mean that we should stop using CT scans for heart imaging, especially for young women? According to Dr. Donald Frush of ABC News, the answer is no.

Frush does mention that there are other ways to diagnose heart problems, including ultrasound or MRI. These methods do not use radiation. Stress tests are another method.

Frush says doctors should take into account a patient's history when deciding what is the best method to use. For example, for a young woman with a history of breast cancer in her family, CT scans might not be the best option. But he concludes that CT scans for young women should not be ruled out entirely.

A reason more men end up developing liver cancer than women may have been discovered, as new findings have pointed to a protein that's produced more by males than females.

The protein (interleukin-6) results in adding liver inflammation to an existing chronic liver condition that can lead liver cancer. It was found that women produce less of the protein due to estrogen keeping the level in check.

With men three to five times as likely to develop liver cancer than women, avoiding large amounts of alcohol and -- if possible -- avoiding hepatitis infections (B and C types) are key for men in not developing conditions that could lead to liver cancer.

I'm trying to keep breast cancer away. I've had it once, and I really don't want it again. So I am committing myself to all strategies for keeping the disease out of my life -- like eating right, maintaining a normal weight, not drinking, not smoking, and as of yesterday, exercising strenuously.

New research shows strenuous exercise is what it takes to minimize the risk of breast cancer. Not moderate. Strenuous.

OK, I'm on board.

Now I've been a student of moderate fitness for most of my life. But now I'm embracing this new approach, this new way of pushing my body to its near limits. I figure if my choice is cancer or strenuous exercise, I better take the route that will leave me sweating and huffing and puffing, not sick and weak and bald. And so yesterday I took my first stab at what I will try to do at least five hours per week -- what experts say it takes to make a difference.

It all started with a warm-up lap on my treadmill -- just one lap at 4.5 miles per hour. Then I upped my speed to 5.3 and ran for a mile and a half. I continued running for another half mile at 6 miles per hour and then began walking again. I started at incline 1 for one minute, then moved to incline 2 for one minute, then incline 3 for one minute, and so on until I reached incline 10. My goal was to then continue walking while decreasing the incline each minute for ten minutes -- but I was so out of breath and fatigued, I jumped the incline down to 4 for one minute, then did 3 for one minute, 2 for one minute, 1 for one minute, and then I stopped. The whole process took about 40 minutes and left me soaked with sweat and gasping for air. Then, just in case my workout wasn't strenuous enough, I did 20 push-ups, a handful of sit-ups, and a few other floor exercises before heading to the shower.

So that's my version of strenuous. Now, I don't plan to do this same exact routine for all five hours I must complete each week, but I do intend to sweat and huff and puff just as much as I did yesterday. Because if strenuous is what it takes to ward off evil cancer cells, then I'm game.

Women with ovulation disorders -- and related infertility problems -- have a lower risk of developing breast cancer, according to a study of more than 116,000 women.

Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston studied data from the Nurses' Health Study II and evaluated female nurses aged 25 to 42, tracking them every two years beginning in 1989 and ending in 2001.

Results of the study, reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine, revealed 1,357 diagnosed cases of invasive breast cancer. Overall, women with ovulation disorders had a 25 percent less chance of developing this disease than those without the disorder.

Also detected was an even lower risk of breast cancer for women who experienced induced ovulation for treatment of infertility. This is potentially great news -- pending more research, of course -- for women worried about breast cancer implications of infertility treatment.