Roger Ebert, one of America's best known film critics, has not been able to speak since he had emergency cancer surgery on July 1 to repair a burst blood vessel near the site of his June 16 surgery to remove a cancerous growth on his salivary gland. But he can still give a thumbs up or thumbs down as he reviews movies on his Web site.

Starting today, clips from Ebert & Roeper and Ebert's prior episodes of his movie review TV show will be posted here. It just may be the largest collection ever of video-based online movie reviews -- 5,000 movie reviews spanning the past 20 years will be featured.

Ebert is not quite sure when he might return to television as he awaits another surgery to restore his voice. In the meantime, he screens as many as three films a day. He watches DVDs at night to catch up on those he missed, and he's writing more than ever, he says.

Edward Yang, best director winner at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival, died Friday at his Beverly Hills home from complications of colon cancer. He had been battling the disease for seven years but kept his condition private. He was 59.

Yang, an American citizen born in Shanghai, first made a career for himself as a computer engineer. On his 30th birthday, he decided to change directions. He became a filmmaker.

Known for his realistic movie portrayals of modern Taiwan, Yang favored stories set in the Taiwanese capital, Taipei. He is responsible for the 1991 film A Brighter Summer Day. First-time actor Chang Chen worked on this film and then went on to star in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the Ang Lee kung fu hit.

Summer Running: A Race To Cure Breast Cancer is a documentary about two amazing women who are fighting breast cancer. The film sheds light on this common disease and those dedicated to finding a cure.

Donate just 20 dollars and you can get this highly acclaimed documentary. Net proceeds go to cancer researchers at Johns Hopkins University and The University of Virginia.

"... a highly inspirational and moving film about women runners and breast cancer survivors. It also emphasizes the importance of grass-roots funding, and offers a hopeful look at cancer research. Highest recommendation!"
- Theresa Wells, RN / Runner

Movie critic Roger Ebert expects to be back to work at his annual festival for overlooked movies this week. It will be his first public appearance since having cancer surgery last summer -- and while some say his appearance may attract the gossip papers, Ebert says, "So what?"

Ebert, 64, will be seen at the ninth annual Overlooked Film Festival, beginning today at the University of Urbana-Champaign, wearing a gauze bandage around his neck. And his mouth will be seen to droop, he says.

This is all because of Ebert's tracheostomy -- it opens an airway through an incision in his windpipe, rendering him speechless -- that resulted from his June 16 surgery to remove a cancerous growth on his salivary gland and a subsequent July 1 surgery to repair a burst blood vessel close to the same site.

On Tuesday, Ebert shared that his cancer began in his salivary gland but then spread to his lower right jaw. As a result, part of his mandible was removed and two surgeries were necessary to reconstruct the area. Both surgeries were unsuccessful, however, and led to unanticipated bleeding.

"The doctors now plan an approach that does not involve the risk of unplanned bleeding," Ebert, a film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times since 1967, says. "If all goes well, my speech will be restored."

This cancer survivor, who says we spend too much time hiding illness and is proud to be back in the spotlight, has also co-hosted the Ebert & Roeper television show with fellow Sun-Times columnist Richard Roeper since 2000. Film critics and filmmakers have been filling in for Ebert during his recovery.

One man. One cancer diagnosis. One feature-length film. About how 17,000 men gain membership every month in a group this one man calls, The Men's Club.

The man is Rocky Galgano. He is 58 years old. He is a retired police officer. And he happens to be a member of the very club he features in his film -- a club full of men living with prostate cancer.

Galgano created his documentary as a companion to all the densely-written books and resources he found filled to the brim with medical jargon about a disease that will strike 218,890 and kill 27,050 men this year alone.

Men are reluctant to talk about prostate cancer or get tested for the disease, says Galgano. And yet this form of cancer can be cured if caught early. So Galgano stepped to the plate and started talking. He talks about his personal experience, and he talks about different types of treatment. He has nine different doctors talk. He has cancer survivors talk. And he says he wants as many people as possible to see this film.

Galgano is working on distribution and says he's close to a deal with Amazon.com. He also plans to market the not-yet-rated film to urologists across the country, and he will soon sell his masterpiece -- a trailer can be seen here -- on his website for $19.95.

On February 4, Jennifer Ireland, a young wife and mother of two small daughters, took her last breath after a courageous battle with colon cancer. And today, February 14 -- a day reserved for all things love inspired -- you are invited to take part in a live Kansas City, Missouri benefit in honor of this lovely woman.

Join the live webcast of Film Clips -- a celebration of Mairtin de Cogain's soon-to-be-released American film The Wind That Shakes The Barley. Not only a celebration of film, this event will also feature the clipping of every strand of Mairtin de Cogain's hair -- and beard too. Attendees can claim a lock with a donation of $10 that will head straight to the Jennifer Ireland Fund. It all happens between the hours of 11:00 and 2:00 PM on this St. Valentine's Day.

There is so much more to say about Jennifer -- and she and her husband powerfully say it all on the blog they authored throughout their harrowing yet moving journey.

On December 20, founder of L.A.'s Circle West theater company and member of the off-Broadway Circle Repertory Company in New York, playwright and screenwriter John Bishop passed away from cancer during his stay at a clinic in Bad Heilbrunn, Germany.

Marshall W. Mason, founding artistic director of the Circle Repertory Company is quoted as saying, "John was one of our major writers. I think next to Lanford Wilson, he was our most prominent writer; he wrote many plays for us. Bishop had a remarkable insight into the dark side of human nature, which he saw in both a comic and satiric way. All this served him very well when he came to Hollywood because of that sardonic view, and also he was very into action. He made a good screenwriter as a result."

Bishop's credits are many, both as a playwright and screenwriter. Plays produced on Broadway included The Trip Back Down, The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940, Elmer Gantry, Borderlines, The Great Grandson of Jedediah Kohler, Winter Signs and The Harvesting. He directed The Beaver Coat, El Salvador, Florida Crackers, and Empty Hearts. His screen credits included Drop Zone, The Package, Sliver and Beverly Hills Cops III. Described by the New Yorker as "one of our best dramatists," Bishop was 77.

Sexy. Seductive. Super-intelligent. All aptly describe Sharon Stone. Another is sportswoman, as Stone is an avid golfer. During a recent interview with Golf for Women, she shared a story about her father, also an avid golfer, surviving esophageal cancer by playing golf.

Given three months to live, her father was able to play through his chemotherapy and radiation treatments because of specially-built clubs designed by the golf equipment company Callaway. A feeding tube inserted after surgery prevented him from being able to bend. Without the new clubs, he would not have been able to continue in a much-loved positive activity.

Around the same time, Rob Lowe's father was being treated for cancer with a new targeted drug therapy, Avastin, and they helped Stone obtain the same drug for her father. She attributes the game of golf and the help of her friend Lowe with saving her father's life.

Twenty-two operations later, when Stone's father had successfully beaten cancer, she called the Callaway company to let them know how much a part she believed the company had in her father's recovery. The woman who took the call began to cry because it was the one year anniversary of her own mother's death from cancer and Stone's call lifted her spirits that something the company had done might have helped someone survive cancer.

For many golfers, golf is more than a sport. "Golf teaches you about life, about humanity, about things that will make you a better person," explains Stone. At the end of the article, Stone offers this advice, "Your life is a book; every page you write, you carry with you. You don't get to tear the pages out and throw them away. So write wisely. It doesn't matter what others write, ever, ever, ever. They don't know you at all. But what you write is indelible." Spirited. Insightful. Centered. All Sharon Stone.

Sharon Shakes It Up, Hollywood's A-list femme fatale has strong opinions about everything--including golf, is the Golf for Women cover story in the January/February 2007 issue. The interview has been published online here.

Now that Farrah Fawcett has successfully completed treatment for cancer, she is turning her attention to raising money for cancer research and cure.

Only available through her website is the Farrah Fawcett's Fight the Fight T-shirt and Hoodie clothing line. The apparel, which she designed, reflects her personal motto, Fight the Fight, as she underwent treatment for cancer.

A portion of the profits from the Farrah Fawcett's Fight the Fight T-shirts and Hoodies will be donated to the American Cancer Society. During an Entertainment Tonight interview, Fawcett said she is looking forward to getting back to work in the near future. Visit the official Farrah Fawcett website for more information about the Fight the Fight clothing line to benefit cancer research.

Related posts:

• Farrah Fawcett completes cancer treatment will offer survivor tips
• Farrah Fawcett: Positivity is a necessity in cancer fight
• Charlie's Angel Farrah Fawcett diagnosis of cancer

Naked librarians. Naked folk singers. Middle-aged village women posing nude. As for the anything goes as long as it's going to charity, thirteen of Britain's top topless models have said enough is enough. With tongue in cheek humor, the models hold that modeling nude should be left to the professionals.

So, in a classic tipping of a sacred cow, the models have decided to put out a calendar of their own, only no one will be taking off their clothes. Instead, the models, who will be bucking the current calendar charity trend of scantily-clad amateurs, strike a professional pose fully-clothed in Calendar Girls Get Dressed For Breakthrough Breast Cancer.

Referred to as glamour girls, the women appear in layered garments of woolen jumpers, scarves, stockings, coats, hats and gloves and go domestic, as opposed to the normal nightlife lifestyle most often associated to the models in the land of model-dom.

According to photographer Stuart White, "I wanted to let the glamour girls make fun of themselves. Their normal image is all to do with partying and the high life, which is why all the portraits show them finding their housework difficult."

A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the calendar will go to UK's Breakthrough Breast Cancer. As stated on the product page, "Calendar Girls Get Dressed For Breakthrough Breast Cancer is an affectionate tribute to the many recent calendars in which unglamorous amateurs have stripped off for worthy causes. It is NOT endorsed by the makers of the 2003 film Calendar Girls or previous films of the same name or those portrayed in them." Without endorsement, it is sure to get a chuckle. Going in the opposite direction and poking fun at yourself is a refreshing turn.

Copies of the calendar can be purchased here.

Ronnie Lippin, long-time publicist and manager who helped shape the careers of rock stars Eric Clapton, Brian Wilson, and Prince, died Monday from a rare form of breast cancer. She was 59 years old.

Lippin began her career in the New York film and stage industry and migrated to music when she moved to Los Angeles with her husband, Dick Lippin. She worked for MCA Records, with Elton John's Rocket Records, and with RSO Records -- home of the Bee Gees and the Grease and Saturday Night Fever soundtracks -- where she became a top publicist. In 1989, she joined the marketing and public relations Lippin Group, founded by her husband. At the time of her death, she was president of the Lippin Group.

Lippin is survived by her husband and a daughter, who also works for the Lippin Group.

Usually, when we announce a celebrity is raising awareness for cancer, it is the result of a news release that the celebrity has joined a cancer foundation in an effort to lend a higher visibility to the campaign.

In the case of actress Julia Roberts, it appears simply having your photo taken is enough to raise awareness about cancer. At a Hollywood tribute to George Clooney, photographers noticed a mole on her right breast which led to a cancer expert urging Roberts to get it checked out. A dermatologist is suggesting that it looks like a scar resulting from the removal of a mole, according to the movie and entertainment reporting of the incident.

Do you think celebrities ever get fish-bowl claustrophobia from such intense scrutiny and unsolicited advice into their private life? Roberts strikes me as an intelligent woman, and I would wager she is aware of her mysterious mole and has sought medical attention for it.

However unintended as a service to public health information, this latest celebrity gossip about Roberts' right breast does create conversation into what might qualify as a suspicious-looking mole likely to warrant medical attention.

The warning signs of a mole that can cause cancer concern are:



Asymmetry -- One side of the mole does not match the other side of the mole and appears uneven.

Border -- The edge of the mole has a ragged or irregular border.

Color -- The color of the mole is uneven and varies in shade.

Diameter -- A mole bigger than a pencil eraser.

There are three main types of skin cancer: basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and malignant melanoma. Basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma are the most common and malignant melanoma can be the most deadly if not caught in its earliest stage. This year in the US, more than one million people will be diagnosed with non-melanoma skin cancer, and 62,190 will be diagnosed with melanoma, according to the American Cancer Society. For more information on skin cancer related posts, visit Melanoma and Skin Cancer.

In her award-winning documentary Toxic Bust, filmmaker Megan Siler takes on the issues and realities of toxic chemicals women are exposed to at home, in the community, and during work in relation to the potential links to breast cancer. Siler focuses on three breast cancer hot spots -- San Francisco and Silicon Valley in California and Cape Cod in Massachusetts.

Siler is not alone in her investigative work of environmental links to cancer risks. Even though the current percentage of federally-funded research dollars allocated to the links between cancer and exposure to environmental toxins is in the single-digits, there are those who have spent a good deal of time, energy and resources into studying the cause and effect of the environmental risks to cancer. In the last six years, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) has conducted extensive studies regarding toxic chemicals in the environment. Among the 72 people who participated in the EWG studies, a chemical body burden of 455 industrial pollutants, pesticides and other chemicals in blood, urine, and breast milk were found.

The Toxic-Free Legacy Coalition analyzed the hair, blood, and urine samples of ten study participants and found that every person tested had at least 26 and as many as 39 toxic chemicals in his or her body and the exposure to toxic chemicals came from everyday activities and products. Breast Cancer Action released State of the Evidence 2006: What Is the Connection Between the Environment and Breast Cancer? which provided compelling scientific evidence pointing to some of the 100,000 synthetic chemicals in use today as contributing to the development of breast cancer, either by altering hormone function or gene expression. The report also identifies radiation exposure, such as that from X-rays and CT scans, as the longest-established environmental cause of breast cancer. In the United States, a woman's lifetime risk of developing breast cancer has tripled in the last 40 years.

Wendy Mesley, co-host of CBC's Marketplace and breast cancer survivor, produced and hosted the investigative documentary Chasing the Cancer Answer, that provided revealing interviews with an outspoken American doctor, frustrated cancer victims in southern Ontario, pharmaceutical sales representatives in Paris, France, and activists working to increase awareness of prevention measures. Greenpeace issued a report that Chernobyl cancer deaths have been grossly underestimated. Award-winning and highly-respected journalist and public commentator Bill Moyers produced a PBS documentary Trade Secrets investigating the history of the chemical revolution and the body burden of synthetic chemicals that pose dangers to human health.

We have additional links related to the topic of environmental links to cancer risk at Earth Day: environmental cancer risks and Cancer Epidemic: are we poisoned from birth? Cancer defines about 100 diseases characterized by the uncontrolled, abnormal growth of cells. No one single factor is going to be the cause for all cancers. However, environmental exposure from toxic chemicals cannot be ignored as one, and perhaps multiple, contributing factors in raising the risks of developing cancer.

Technology has come a long way over the years -- and now the technology behind digital mammography is allowing life-saving screenings for the toughest patients to diagnose with breast cancer.

This is no small technological breakthough. It is a critical component for lowering the breast cancer death rate the American Cancer Society reports has declined 2.3 percent each year between 1990 and 2002. Since breast cancer is a treatable disease if caught early, digital mammography will up the odds of survival for women with this disease.

Digital mammography operates according to a computer-based technique that allows for digital manipulation of a breast X-ray. It exceeds the capability of film mammography -- and is much like the comparison between digital photography versus film photography. Both work. But one works better.

Studies show digital mammograms have a lot to offer. They detect tumors better in young women with dense breast tissue, for example. They allow for ease of storage and retrieval of images. And they can easily become part of a woman's electronic medical record.

There are still benefits of traditional mammography and women are still urged to use this less expensive option. They are also urged to conduct self-breast exams and to report for clinical exams with physicians. It's the whole package that contributes to comprehensive breast health, not just one isolated test. When used in combination with all other screening methods, digital mammography makes for a more accurate overall picture.

Diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004, television journalist and young mother Ann Murray Paige set up a video camera in her bedroom to chronicle her struggle to fight and survive breast cancer.

With filmmaker Linda Pattillo, Paige, who was 38 at the time of her breast cancer diagnosis, documents her thoughts and feelings and the experiences of her family as they go with her through cancer treatment and recovery.

"Ann's journey reveals her previously untapped power as she fights not only for her own survival, but to be there for her children. The Breast Cancer Diaries unflinchingly documents one woman's battle against a disease that every woman fears. It does so with wit, compassion, insight and best of all--an unvarnished commitment to the embrace of life!" You can watch Uncut Video excerpt interviews with Paige here.

You can learn more about the documentary here. You can read Paige's blog here.