Liz Claiborne, fashion designer for working women climbing corporate ladders, died Tuesday at the New York Presbyterian Hospital after battling cancer for many years. She was 78.

Said Bill McComb, CEO of Claiborne's company since November: "In losing Liz Claiborne, we have not only lost the founder of our company, but an inspirational woman who revolutionized the fashion industry 30 years ago. Her commitment to style and design is ever present in our thinking and the way we work. We will remember Liz for her vision, her entrepreneurial spirit and her enduring compassion and generosity."

Claiborne, with husband Art Ostenberg and partners Leonard Boxer and Jerome Chazen, launched her label in 1976 after working for years as an unknown dress designer. Her brand featured ensemble sportswear with price tags below that of other designers and revolutionized the department store industry. Once compartmentalized, with pants in one department and skirts in another, Claiborne's coordinated clothing inspired the merging of once-separate departments.

I had a lumpectomy. It all turned of fine. I have two scars -- one underneath my armpit, one across the side of my left breast -- and while they are sometimes obvious if I wear a sleeveless shirt, they don't really bother me so much.

Some women -- about one-third to be exact -- are bothered by their lumpectomy results. Even though lumpectomy is intended to conserve the breast, these women say they are so unhappy about how their breasts look, they would consider reconstruction surgery.

According to a study presented at the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) Plastic Surgery 2006 conference in San Francisco, 28 percent of breast cancer patients stated they were dissatisfied with the cosmetic outcome of surgery. Of these, 46 percent believed their physical appearance was worse or much worse after surgery. Interestingly, 26 percent of these unsatisfied patients still said surgery gave them an improved sense of body image. Plastic surgeons believe this disparity stems from the relief of having had cancer removed from their bodies, leading them to feel better even though they were not happy with how their breasts looked.

The fortunes and ills of modern society. Without argument, the advent of artificial light has provided a new way of life, a freedom from the dictates of the light of day and the darkness of night. However, it appears, we are not getting enough light during the day and we are getting too much light at night. As a result, it is creating an internal hormone imbalance and we might be paying the price of progress in increased rates of breast cancer and other cancers as well.

It's called light pollution at night and energy conservation by day. To save on energy, we dimmed the indoor lighting. Many of us spend most of our days exposed to a quality of indoor lighting that is insuffcient for our health needs. At night, we are exposed to too much light when the body needs darkness. The trouble stems from the interaction between melatonin and light. At night, when melatonin should be most active in our bodies, artificial light shuts it down. According to researchers, one of the functions of melatonin is in its ability to shut down cancer cells.

At a conference in Ottawa, Canada, more than 100 psychologists, biologists, medical researchers, engineers and lighting designers are attending a conference to address the research and to explore possible solutions. As one of the researchers suggested, "we tend to live in a state of perpetual low light."

While visiting Australia, Dr. Monica Morrow, a breast cancer specialist from the Fox Chase Centre in Philadelphia, was a radio guest on PM, where she shared her expert view on needless breast cancer surgery. According to Dr. Morrow, survival rates for women diagnosed with breast cancer who choose lumpectomy and follow-up radiation have the same life expectancy as those who choose to have a complete mastectomy. However, too many women are choosing radical mastectomies when they do not have to because they believe it will improve their chances of surviving breast cancer. Dr. Morrow speculates the reason women with breast cancer still make the choice for such a radical surgical solution is due to fear. "I think what is difficult is for many women to accept that idea, that a smaller operation can be just as good as a bigger, more radical surgery." The transcript of the interview is available online, as well as an audio of the broadcast.

That's what I am calling AOL's list of top ten green cities -- the top ten cancer prevention cities -- because when it comes to reducing environmental cancer risks and promoting a healthy lifestyle, a city that is known as a green city is also a cancer prevention city. AOL's criteria in choosing the top ten green cities they believe are creating a healthy and livable place for its residents are: clean air and clean water, renewable energy, reliable city buses, trams, streetcars and subways, a growing number of parks and greenbelts, and farmer’s markets.

Not to claim bragging rights, but my hometown of Portland, Oregon is on the list. Austin, Texas; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Boulder, Colorado; Burlington, Vermont; Madison, Wisconsin; San Francisco, California; Santa Monica, California; Chicago, Illinois and New York, New York made the list. New York City? Yes. According to AOL's reviewers, Central Park goes a long way in making New York City a green city. As does the fact that 80 percent of the residents use public transportation. New Yorkers use fossil fuels at the rate the U.S. did in the 1920s. To learn all the ways these cities made the green list, go read AOL's Top 10 Greenest Cities. Or as I like to think of it -- the top ten cities promoting a healthy lifestyle and maintaining clean livable areas resulting in the creation of a cancer prevention environment -- the top ten cancer prevention cities.