Researchers are reporting that a new vaccine designed to treat breast cancer appears to be safe in women with advanced disease. It showed signs of slowing down tumor growth too.

The Neuvenge vaccine, made by Dendreon Corporation -- maker of the Provenge prostate cancer vaccine -- targets the aggressive Her-2 positive form of breast cancer, which affects 20 to 30 percent of breast cancer patients. Using immune cells from a cancer patient's own body, Neuvenge is a tailor-made therapy.

Reports about Neuvenge, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, indicate the vaccine did not cause any serious side effects and of the 18 women who participated in the Phase I study, there was a reduction in the size of a tumor in one patient. In three other women, the disease seemed to stabilize for as long as a year.

It's believed by some experts that there's a safe, non-addictive, completely harmless way to kill cancer cells as well as many other illnesses. This magical drug? Well, it's not a drug. It's something you probably have in your home right now .... magnets.

Magnets have been shown to kill cancer cells in animals. What's more, a negative magnetic field can function much like an antibiotic when surrounding a tumor, and it can destroy bacterial, fungal and viral infections. The patient in this article reported that using magnetic fields during his battle with colon cancer reduced his discomfort by quite a bit. Ok, maybe this isn't the miracle treatment we've all been waiting for, but maybe it is, and shouldn't there be more hype about this?

Are pharmaceutical companies -- evil, money-hungry, paradoxically both the saviours and enemies of the health industry -- denying us magentic treatment, which could save millions, because they can't make a profit on it? What do you think?

There's a bit of breast cancer news in just about every magazine out there -- news about treatments and protocols and studies, news about celebrity diagnoses, news about lives lost to breast cancer and lives conquering breast cancer, news that is scattered here and there and everywhere. But now, there is a magazine all about breast cancer -- and just about breast cancer. All sorts of breast cancer wisdom is conveniently packaged into one slick, glossy publication that debuted on newsstands yesterday, September 19.

Beyond: Live & Thrive After Breast Cancer is a semi-annual publication from Meredith Special Interest Media, part of the Meredith Corporation -- a leading media and marketing company and home to magazines such as Better Homes and Gardens, Ladies' Home Journal, Parents, and Fitness. Meredith's new breast cancer venture provides women living with the disease -- and those who may one day encounter it -- with support and with the latest information on treatment and recovery.

The Fall/Winter 2006 premiere issue of Beyond features a cover story about Dallas Mayor Laura Miller, a survivor forging ahead into a life beyond breast cancer. Also filling the pages are inspiring real-life profiles and stories, nutritional advice, up-do-date medical information, fashion tips, the Pink Pages -- a resource guide that details upcoming races and products that support breast cancer -- and much more.

Behind the scenes of this issue is an advisory board of leading experts in the breast cancer field. Experts include Susan Brown, the health manager at Susan G. Komen Foundation; Carolyn M. Kaelin, director of Comprehensive Breast Health Center and breast cancer survivor; and Lillie Shockney, Administrative Director at Johns Hopkins Breast Cancer.

If there is one theme common to women surviving breast cancer, it must be the desire to live beyond the control of this life-threatening and life-changing illness, to recapture an existence that resembles something normal, to embark on a journey outside the confines of cancer. Tips, techniques, strategies, and inspiration for accomplishing these feats are printed on the pages of this new magazine that is sure to reach its intended audience -- that today includes two million women who are living with breast cancer.

I'm in the market for a new vacuum cleaner. Mine is 11 years old -- it was a wedding gift -- and although it still picks up the dirt and sand and grime that often litters my carpet as a result of two busy little boys, it's been through the ringer. Maybe that's because all I do is vacuum, or so my 5-year-old Joey thinks. He was asked in preschool one day to talk about his daddy's job and his mommy's job. He told his teachers that his daddy "plays the keyboard" which is true but while he meant a computer keyboard, his teachers conjured up the image of a musician and wanted to invite Joey's daddy to join the class for a jam session. And Joey said that his mommy "vacuums." Of all the things I do in a day -- as a mostly stay-at-home-mom -- Joey seems to think vacuuming sums me up. I think this justifies the purchase of a new vacuum cleaner.

There's a pink vacuum cleaner on the market, and I think it's just what I need. Made by Oreck Corporation -- a company that intends to offer the finest products for a cleaner, healthier home -- this vacuum also benefits the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation by donating $50 for each consumer who tries for 30 days this special edition Clean for the Cure product. This hypo-allergenic vacuum weighs just eight pounds and comes with an eight-year guarantee and eight free annual tune-ups. And you can't beat the pink color and pink breast cancer ribbon displayed prominently on this product that can tidy up the messiest of messes while helping to power the fight against breast cancer. I'm sold.

Few would disagree that the health care system in this country is breaking down. If you are one of the 45 million without health insurance you already know how difficult it is to get health care, and if you have medical insurance you continue to watch as your insurance premiums and deductibles go up year after year. Medicine has become more about money and less about patient care. We are told we spend more because we have the best health care system in the world.

But as Maggie Mahar points out in her new book, Money-Driven Medicine: The Real Reason Health Care Costs So Much, "We spend twice as much as Japan on health care -- yet few would argue that our health care system is twice as good." Mahar, a seasoned financial journalist, takes an in depth look at what she calls America's complicated and increasingly dysfunctional health care system, and what she finds is disturbing. Frankly, from a patient's perspective, it's reprehensible.

Doctors aren't allowed to function as doctors in putting a patient's needs first -- no -- medicine is business and corporations decide on a patient's treatment. To put it bluntly, medicine is a market-driven $2 trillion industry rife with competition. To cite just one example of what is taking place, and to illustrate how medicine truly sees itself  -- Milwaukee hospitals spent more in one year on advertising than fast food business did. Reviewers are calling Mahar's book a thoroughly researched and carefully reasoned study. I call it gutsy because she takes no prisoners and she isn't keeping any secrets. Until the day comes when doctors are allowed to practice medicine once again, with the priority on the patient and not corporate profit, the wheels on this buggy are going to keep falling off one by one until the axle completely splits in two. A must read for anyone who wants to understand how the system works and what motivates the players. The patients aren't even in the game. And that is what is truly appalling.