Results of two studies, sponsored by the Adjuvant Breast Cancer (ABC) Trials Collaborative Group, conclude that adding chemotherapy to the estrogen-blocking drug tamoxifen improves survival for those with early-stage breast cancer. The same studies reveal preventing the secretion of estrogen from the ovaries does not offer much benefit for most women.

Researchers studied 1991 patients, ages 28 to 81. All had received five years worth of treatment with tamoxifen therapy with or without standard chemotherapy. Some premenopausal women were also treated with ovarian removal (ablation) or suppression, a technique used to stop the glands from secreting hormones.

While early results, appearing in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, fell short of statistical significance, chemotherapy still reduced the overall risk of death by 17 percent, mostly for women younger than 50 and especially for premenopausal women not treated with ovarian ablation or suppression.

This comment just arrived in response to yesterday's post Headed for melanoma, and it's just too raw and powerful to leave buried in the comment section of the site.

So here it is, word for word -- a chilling and empowering message from a 37-year-old mom of two living with a disease that is downright deadly.

I have melanoma. I was diagnosed last August and have had 6 surgeries in 6 months.

I have lost 4 members in my melanoma support group. I go to Jaime's funeral tomorrow afternoon. She was 29 years old. Heather was 37 when she died on March 2, 2007. The midwife noticed a suspicious mole on her leg during the birth of her 4th child. She died 23 months later. Jan was a mother of 5 ages 9 to 19, she passed away on February 8, 2007. Ceri was only 20 years old when melanoma claimed her life on January 14, 2007.

I always thought skin cancer had to be HUGE, ugly, and hard to ignore. I didn't know it could be small, have no symptoms, and KILL you.

Melanoma incidence is increasing faster than any other cancer. According to statistics found on the American Cancer Society's website (www.cancer.org), the prognosis for someone diagnosed with melanoma is worse, stage for stage, than someone with breast cancer.

Getting more than 3 blistering sunburns during childhood doubles your risk. Sunbed use increases ones risk. Having fair skin and light eyes also puts you at a higher than average risk, but having dark skin does not make you immune. Bob Marley died from Melanoma in 1981.

Everyone at higher risk should get screened by a dermatologist every year. And all of us should be checking our own skin each month.

Melanoma is a virulent and aggressive cancer. It begins in the melanocytes, or the pigment in the skin. It presents itself as a change in an existing mole or skin pigment, or in the formation of a new one. It is easily treated in its most early stages. Once it spreads, though, it is often fatal.

Unfortunately, there is no cure for melanoma. Melanoma is one of the cancers that won't respond to conventional chemotherapy. There have been no significant advances in the medical treatment or survival rate in the last 30 years.

More awareness is needed. Most think "it's only skin cancer" and consider it nothing serious. But I can tell you with absolute certainty, they are DEAD wrong.

A clinical study involving 1,000 prostate cancer patients was stopped this week by Southwest Oncology Group in Michigan due to concerns the treatment may have caused leukemia in three of the participants.

The men in the study received the chemotherapy drug mitoxantrone, thought to possibly improve survival rates for those with poor prognoses following prostate surgery. But before results could be measured, leukemia struck and researchers halted the study, declaring the leukemia findings "an unacceptable risk to patients."

While the assumption is that the drug caused the leukemia -- a disease commonly associated with children and the elderly -- it's still unproved at this point.

Mitoxantrone is not a worthless drug, say some experts. Since its release a decade ago, it has been used to decrease bone pain for men with advanced prostate cancer and to treat multiple sclerosis and, ironically, adult leukemia.

Evangelical preacher Darlene Bishop believes prayer can cure cancer. She wrote a book about it, and she convinced her brother to abandon conventional cancer treatment so he could fully pursue the power of prayer. Sadly, his pursuits were unsuccessful and he died 18 months ago from throat cancer. Now Bishop is in the midst of a multi-faceted legal battle with family members who claim she did her brother wrong. Maybe she did.

Perhaps prayer alone can't cure cancer, but a new study does indicate prayer can be of great benefit to some people following a cancer diagnosis.

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin looked at transcripts from 97 breast cancer patients active in an on-line support group. They found patients who wrote more religious words -- like prayer, worship, faith, and holy -- had less negative emotions than other patients. They also had higher levels of overall well-being.

This study, also revealing prayer has the same effect regardless of specific religious practices, lends support to research showing cancer patients with positive purpose in their lives fare better through their journeys than those floundering in negativity.

Maryland's air has cancer-causing toxins, and they are far higher than the federal government considers safe, according to Environment Maryland -- an environmental group lobbying to make Maryland the 11th state to follow stricter auto emissions standards.

The group, a spin-off of the Maryland Public Interest Group, has released a report revealing the risk of cancer from air toxins was at least 10 times higher than federal standards in each of the state's counties and Baltimore City.

While California is currently setting the bar for higher auto emissions standards, there is no data at this time to compare Maryland's levels with the rest of the country.

Support group facilitator and social worker Susan Abrams gives you the inside scoop on support groups and what to expect if you join.

Support groups may not be for everyone but each year thousands of women diagnosed with breast cancer join a support groups to help them cope with the disease. Some are informal gatherings and some are facilitated by a trained professional.

Years ago no one discussed breast cancer and women felt isolated. They had to deal with breast cancer completely on their own. These days women have many outlets for talking about their breast cancer, some women however still remain isolated and would benefit from joining a support group.

Some support groups might be larger and have a guest speaker on occasion to discuss specific topics. Some women like to use a support group for a year or longer after their cancer diagnosis. Usually at this time the patient doesn't want to discuss their breast cancer with friends and family, who may have had enough of the subject. They feel comfortable discussing their fears and concerns with other survivors.

Some benefits of joining a support group:

• help in coping with the disease.
• hear new information to discuss with your physician.
• hear of new treatments or clinical trials.
• reduce stress.
• receive understanding.
• emotional support.

Why you might not want to join a support group:

• you feel that you would benefit more from one on one therapy.
• you find others stories make you more anxiety-provoking than helpful.
• you are too fragile to see someone in worse shape.
• you might begin to doubt your own decisions when listening to others.
• someone in the group could die which could bring on anxiety and fear.

The best way to find a support group is through your physician. Hospital-based support groups are usually very good. Trust your instincts when looking for a group, if you don't feel comfortable with one, try and find one that feels more fitting.

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.

In the United States, mammograms are not recommended for women under the age of 40. Other then an annual check-up and a monthly self breast exam, young women with no family history of breast cancer have no medical tools available for preventing and detecting the disease. But no woman is immune to this disease -- and being female is the single most important risk factor for diagnosis. And young women do get breast cancer. I did. And so did Sharon Rutherford, a 36-year-old Ulster woman who was diagnosed in December.

Rutherford is urging health officials to lower the age for screening in Northern Ireland -- where routine breast screening programs are reserved for women between the ages of 50 and 64. Rutherford says this is inadequate as there is an "absolutely chronic" number of younger women suffering from breast cancer.

Although there is a reduced-age screening program that monitors women beginning at age 40, Rutherford would like to see the screening age reduced to 30. Until then, she is educating women about how they can be vigilant about their own care. She urges women to report to doctors anything that just doesn't feel right. And because doctors may excuse symptoms because women are "too young" for breast cancer -- that's what doctors told her -- women must aggressively pursue medical care. Rutherford kept pursuing the thickening she felt in her breast -- and eventually she was referred for screening.

Rutherford has had a partial mastectomy, chemotherapy, and radiation treatment. And she is now active in the Ulster Cancer Foundation's new support group -- specifically for women under the age of 40.

When diagnosed with breast cancer, it feels as if, for the first time, your life has acquired an expiration date. Blurry and unreadable, still it is there, stamped on your consciousness. The surgeon is telling you what he needs to take away, the plastic surgeon is telling you what he can give you back. The oncologist is telling you about treatments and survival statistics. The radiologist is telling you about treatment and survival statistics. The counselor is there if you want to talk.

Statistics are good but limited in what they can predict with accuracy. What works beyond statistics? Why does a woman diagnosed with breast cancer -- who statistically fits into the group of women predicted to be surviving breast cancer ten years later -- does not make it that long; and the woman diagnosed with breast cancer -- who statistically fits into the group of women who have perhaps a year or less to live -- is still surviving breast cancer ten years later. Some of the answers might be found woven within the real experiences and stories breast cancer survivors have to tell.

Breast cancer survivors have stories to tell about their experiences, what they tried, what worked, what they are doing, what they did to create a quality of life, what they learned, the wisdom gleaned. Three breast cancer survivors work here at the Cancer Blog. Jacki Donaldson, Kristina Collins and myself. During October's Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we want to bring you the voices of breast cancer survivors. What they did, the advice they have, the hope they represent. We will be featuring breast cancer survivor interviews throughout the month in Survivor Spotlight.

While we are currently interviewing breast cancer survivors, we do not want to leave any one out who would like to share their experience, strength and hope. If you are a breast cancer survivor who would like to be interviewed, please contact us through the Cancer Blog Tips form and we will be in touch shortly.

For cancer survivor and Tai Chi, Yoga and Lebed Method teacher Dawn Stasko, her classes lead to more than a physical improvement in balance, a relaxing means of reducing stress, a boost to the immune system and increased energy for participants. It is a place for newly-diagnosed cancer patients, cancer patients undergoing treatments and cancer survivors to bond and find group support. Stasko accepts the initial non-belief of newcomers that Tai Chi and Yoga could possibly make a difference in the quality of their life, and is touched when they discover the classes do help.

"For me it is pure joy to have someone come into my class and say how can this help," she said with tears in her eyes and in a broken voice. "They listen to me and they are kind of hesitant and skeptical, and at the end of the class I get a 'thank you' and that makes the biggest difference in the world."

Valerie Cutshall features the benefits cancer survivors feel they have received by participating in Stasko's classes in Yoga, tai chi classes help cancer patients survive.

Tai Chi is referred to as a graceful form of exercise and described as meditation in motion. Yoga, when used as a form of alternative therapy to enhance flexibility, relaxation or stress relief, is a combination of breathing exercises, physical postures, and meditation. The Lebed Method focuses on healing through a therapeutic exercise and dance movement program designed for women who have had breast cancer, for all cancer patients who have undergone cancer treatments and for lymphedema. For more information, visit the Lebed Method.

The Mayo Clinic has created the Complementary & Alternative Medicine Center that publishes articles about Yoga, Tai Chi and other alternative therapies that can be incorporated to complement conventional cancer treatments.

You can find Tai Chi and Yoga classes in cities throughout the United States. To locate a class in your community, contact the local hospital, community center, community college, the YMCA or YWCA, health club or wellness center.

The breast cancer chemotherapy drug Adriamycin is often called The Red Devil. It's red in color and devilish in it's attack on both cancer cells and healthy cells. After her own personal attack by this drug, Katherine Russell Rich wrote a book, and she called it The Red Devil: To Hell with Cancer -- and Back. It's her account of how she got sick at the age of 32 with a relentless form of breast cancer. Although she was given just a short period of time to survive, Rich conquered cancer. And years later, she is alive and well. And she has discovered -- by mere coincidence -- that her book years ago inspired a group of women in Baltimore who are helping breast cancer patients through kind deeds. They foot the bill for transportation costs, housecleaning, and massage. They pick up and deliver medications. They gather and hug and eat. They take strolls. They call themselves The Red Devils.

Rich only found out about The Red Devils support group when a friend noticed a mention of the group in a newspaper. She informed Rich who visited the group's website. What she found took her breath away.

It seems a woman named Lark Schulze had at one time been desperate to learn about young women with stage IV breast cancer -- the same stage her 30-year-old daughter faced -- and she could not find any helpful resources. Until she came across Rich's book and poured herself into one woman's story. Moved by Rich's words, she tried to locate her, with no luck. So she took what she gathered from the book and after losing her daughter 19 months after diagnosis, became a founding member of a powerful support group -- The Red Devils -- in late 2002.

Despite failed attempts at finding Rich, Schulze says Rich changed her life. And now that the women have connected, Rich says Schulze has changed her life. At first Rich was afraid to be drawn into Schulze's world. But with a hunger to understand breast cancer from a mother's perspective, Rich took the plunge. She talked to Schulze, visited her, strolled with her, and soon the hard lump she'd carried in her stomach for so long began to soften as she connected in a deep and bizarre way with a woman she had inspired -- a woman she had never before known.

Faced with a cancer diagnosis, or any challenging life event, you want to talk to someone who has already experienced what you are about to experience. You want to find stories about other people who have overcome adversity, preferably told by the people who went through it first-hand. You want to know what to expect.

Last year, when Katherine Brown's mother-in-law Ruth was diagnosed with Lymphoma, she went on an internet search to find people Ruth could talk to, who knew what it was like to be diagnosed with cancer, be inspired by the personal stories of triumph over the trials and tribulations of a cancer diagnosis and cancer treatment and cancer survivorship.

After an extensive internet search for the kind of community Ruth could connect with, Brown came up empty-handed. As need is the mother of all invention, Brown decided to create what she was looking for and could not find.

The Cancer Buddy Network is a result of Brown's vision. At the Cancer Buddy Network, you create an account; tell your story; be a buddy. Newly-diagnosed cancer patients, family members and friends, and cancer survivors are welcome. It is the blend of cancer patients, cancer survivors and the loved ones touched by cancer that brings real life hope and inspiration in cancer community support. The Cancer Buddy Network is a recent web destination and it looks very well done. Stop by and give it a look, add your voice to hope.

Living Fully with and Beyond Cancer is an annual conference hosted by the Anderson Network. Cancer patients, family members and caregivers can join together to share hope, support and understanding.

The conference will be held on September 7-9, 2006 at the Houston Marriott Westchase.

The Anderson Network is a unique cancer support group of more than 1,300 current and former patients who know what you're going through and can help. The members are living proof that no matter what your diagnosis and treatment, there is always hope, and a chance to live fully each day.

This weekend I traveled to San Francisco from New Jersey. I belong to a Yahoo online breast cancer support group called Sisters in Survivorship. We are a group of young women under forty that have been diagnosed with breast cancer. Every year we take a trip to get together. We pick a city, we pick a breast cancer walk and we have a ball!

This year our walk was for an organization called Friends of Faith. This nonprofit organization was founded in 1997. Friends of Faith are dedicated to fighting breast cancer by giving assistance to underinsured women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer and cannot afford treatment.

Sadly, Faith passed away after a very public battle with breast cancer. She knew how lucky she was to have insurance and great physicians. She knew that others were not so lucky.

Faith's family and friends are keeping her dream alive and helping other women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer.

Today was a celebration of Faith's life. It was the second annual walk for the organization. I learned today how much Faith was loved and supported by her community.

What a great day!

FORCE: Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered is a nonprofit organization for women with increased risk of cancer due to family history and genetic status, and for members and families in which BRCA mutation may be present.

You can find information on risk management, health care, advocacy and also join in on a chat line or message board. There is also a help line to call for those who need support and are concerned about hereditary cancer.

One aspect of the site that I really like is the section for pre-vivors. These individuals have not been diagnosed with cancer but have a predisposition to cancer because of a genetic mutation. This section of the website talks about chemoprevention for breast and ovarian cancer, risk management, family history, genetic counseling and much more.

This is a great resource for those with an increased risk for cancer because they too have to make medical decisions and they face some of the same fears that cancer survivors do.