Wouldn't it be great if we could receive full-body scans every year to check for early signs of cancer and other disease? Even if possible and affordable -- right now, scans cost about $900 -- it still wouldn't be such a great idea.

Full-body scans often result in false alarms. People with harmless abnormalities may end up facing more tests, more risks, and more worry in order to rule out illness. The scan itself can present health hazards too. It exposes patients to more radiation than a chest X-ray and could slightly increase the risk of cancer, especially for those scanned every year.

How do we know, then, if something has gone awry in our bodies? Well, we can do our self-exams -- breast exams, testicular exams, skin exams -- and we can report for annual check-ups. We can respond to symptoms we experience -- if headaches are bothersome and persistent, your doctor may prescribe a head scan -- and we can pursue tests and screening that we really need for cancer prevention and early detection. Here are just a few:

I AM THE CURE is the Susan G. Komen new rallying cry. Intended to urge us to take an active role in our own breast health and remind us that we all play an important part in finding a cure, these are words to live by. I think I won't soon forget them -- because I have a new key chain inscribed with all four of them.

My aunt just participated in the Aspen Race for the Cure, and she sent me all the goodies she picked up at the race. She gave me the Ford Warriors in Pink scarf -- I've always wanted one and can't wait to wear it on October 20 when I run in my local Making Strides Against Breast Cancer event. She also passed on to me a race t-shirt, the sign she wore on her back -- in celebration of my beautiful niece Jacki, it read -- and pink ribbon magnets, sunscreen, a Warriors in Pink temporary tattoo, and all sorts of other little trinkets. The key chain was one of them.

My new key chain features four different sized pink metal circles, each one dangling from the key ring. On each circle, there is one word. From the smallest circle to the largest, the words I -- AM -- THE -- CURE appear. All on their own, these circles are pretty powerful. But there's more. On an insert that came with the key chain is an explanation for each circle.

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.

Texas Longhorns running backs coach Ken Rucker will soon take a leave of absence, following his recent diagnosis of prostate cancer. Rucker will have surgery on August 27. He wll keep coaching until this date.

Rucker, a 33-year coaching veteran, fully intends on returning to coaching this season.

"I plan to be back this season," he says. "No doubt about it; 100 percent."

Rucker's prognosis is good -- thanks to early detection.

A test using the key ingredient in vinegar, acetic acid, a speculum and a bright light, could aid in the detection of cervical cancer in poor countries, according to a study published in Lancet.

The trial was conducted in India. The researchers, led by Rengaswamy Sankaranarayanan, tested over 31,000 women. 3,088 women were screen positive and went on to further testing, turning up 1,874 cases of precancerous lesions. The women who were screened were 25% less likely to develop cervical cancer and 35% less likely to die from it.

This test was developed at Johns Hopkins and could be an effective screening tool as the pap smear as well as the new HPV vaccines are too expensive for many countries.

ABC's Good Morning America co-anchor Robin Roberts is at home resting after a successful surgery for breast cancer. Pathology reports will take some time to pocess, but when more information is available, the public will be updated, says a Good Morning America spokesperson.

Roberts, 46, told her story recently in an e-mail.

I never thought I'd be writing this. ... I have breast cancer," writes Roberts.

Sure Touch is a unique digital sensing device that assists a physician or other health care professional in screening for breast cancer during routine exams. It can increase the chance of early diagnosis of breast cancer.

During the breast exam the device is placed on the breast and an image is then reflected on a computer screen. It produces a visual map of the breast and if a mass is detected it can show its estimated size, shape, hardness, and location.

A clinical trial published in the American Journal of Surgery says that Sure Touch more accurately determines if there is a mass and if the mass is cancerous than manual palpation alone. The study included 110 women who reported a mass in her breast. These women underwent palpation, then testing with Sure Touch, which was followed by ultrasound and mammography. Sure Touch identified the masses 94 percent of the time, while physician just feeling the breast identified masses 86 percent of the time.

Its always nice to hear about another tool that can be used to detect breast cancer! I hope physicians are taking advantage of this new technology.

I keep thinking about my ongoing negative relationship with the sun, how it burns me time and time again, how I keep trying to fine-tune my approach to dealing with this deadly force. Today, I have arrived at two new thoughts.

1. There was a time when I wanted a tan. I'd accept a burn even, in hopes it would turn to the slightest shade of brown on my pasty white skin. I would search high and low for the sun. I would drive in its direction, bask in its glory, give hours of my day to this crazy pursuit. Somehow, though, achieving a tan -- or burn -- wasn't easy. Sometimes, I'd see some color appear; sometimes my efforts seemed for nothing. It took work, effort, endless amounts of time and while my ventures in sunbathing did sometimes prove successful, there were many times I was left with, well, pasty white skin.

Fast forward to now. Not only do I seek shelter from the sun, but I use sunscreen, sit under umbrellas, and cover up whenever I can. Still, I get burned. It seems if I look in the direction of the sun, with my sunscreen-coated face, it will get burned. Long ago, my bare face only occasionally absorbed the sun. Why the change? Why when I worked not at all at protecting myself was it so hard to attract a golden glow? Why now do I protect myself in all ways possible and still sizzle? I'm wondering if it has anything to do with the chemotherapy drugs that poisoned my body for so long. A dermatologist once told me about a phenomenon called UV recall. The sun and the drugs can react, long after treatment has concluded, and can cause skin reactions. Maybe this is what's happening to me. Just in case, this gives me all the more reason to avoid all contact with the sun.

Testing exhaled breath with a sensor can detect lung cancer with moderate accuracy, according to researchers at the Cleveland Clinic report, led by Dr. Peter J. Marrone.

The testing device detects patterns of volatile organic compounds in exhaled breath. The study compared the patterns of 49 patients with non-small-cell lung cancer, 73 with other, non-malignant health diseases and 21 control patients.

A predictive pattern was determined that was able to detect over 70 percent of the cancers. However, 28 percent of the non-malignant conditions were incorrectly identified as cancerous using this sensor.

Dr. Marrone adds that further work is needed to, "guide refinement of the sensor array and breath collection system to maximize the diagnostic accuracy of the test."

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed in a study presented at the 2007 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology to be better at detecting ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) than mammograms. MRI's were also shown to be very good at detecting high grade DCIS.

Women are recommended by the American Cancer Society to get an annual mammogram after the age of 40, do clinical breast exams starting in your 20's and if you are in a high risk group to receive annual screening with a breast MRI.

In a study among almost 6,000 women who were screened with both MRI and mammography, MRI detected 92 percent of DCIS cases where mammography only detected 56 percent of cases diagnosed.

Blogger Martha Edwards wrote about it on June 4 -- the fact that cancer cases are soon to explode in Asia, despite the obvious health benefits of Asian-based diets.

It's not the Asian diet influencing rising cancer rates, though. It's the bad Western habits Asians are adopting that will inevitably lead these folks down a dangerous road.

Smoking, drinking, and consumption of unhealthy foods -- all contributors to various cancers -- will drive Asian cancer rates up by 60 percent by the year 2020. Larger aging populations and lack of prevention and treatment in developing countries will also drive this trend.

As Skin Cancer Awareness Month winds down, I find myself hoping you have learned a thing or two about a disease that is far more common than we tend to believe, a diseases that in some cases is downright deadly.

The month of May will soon drift away. Skin cancer will not -- unless of course we make huge, swift strides in prevention. Until this happens, though, the best we can do is be vigilant about early detection. I have an idea. Well, an idea I'm borrowing from The Archives of Dermatology.

The idea: photography. Studies show patients who use photographs of their own skin for reference are better able to detect skin changes while conducting self-examinations.

The researchers don't seem to know why, but there is a decline in the number of women in the United States age 40 or older who have had mammograms over the last two years.

A study published in the journal Cancer says that during the period from 1987 to 2000, there was a steady increase in women receiving mammograms. They believe this to be somewhat responsible for the increase in breast cancer survival that occurred during that period. Supporting the phrase -- early detection saves lives.

They evaluate the trends in mammography use by a survey that is administered to 35,000 adults called the National Health Interview Survey. The current analysis focused on women who had mammograms in the last two years. The survey showed that in the year 2000, 70 percent of women reported they had a mammogram in the previous two years. In the year 2005, the number was down to 66 percent.

Along the pike comes a new product designed to send us an alert when we've had too much sun.

Think about this:

There are some fun and fancy bracelets on the market that change color when it's time to seek shade.

UV Sol Beads, made with UV-detective pony beads and a removable fashion bead, feature off-white beads that remain off-white whenever there is an absence of UV light. When exposed to UV light, the intensity of the beads' color increases as the amount of exposure increases.

Wouldn't it be great if we could find breast cancer long before something appears on a mammogram?

An FDA approved test called the Halo Breast Pap Test System might be able to do just that by collecting Nipple Aspirate Fluid (NAF). The test is designed to detect abnormal cells in the breast. The Halo system can identify benign disease as well as abnormal ductal cells that can be precursors to cancer.

Some research has suggested that ductal fluid excreted from the nipple can be used to identify a women's specific risk of breast cancer. A women with abnormal cells in the fluid has a four to five times greater risk of developing breast cancer.

Think about this:

The introduction of the HALO Breast Pap Test has been compared to the introduction of the Cervical Pap Test in the 1950s, which is widely credited with reducing cervical cancer death rates by more than 70 percent through the identification of abnormal cells in the cervix. Whether the same can be said for the breast pap test remains to be seen, but it is likely that the screen will be adopted by more OB-GYNs as oncologists push for ever earlier identification of cancer.