There is nothing unusual about a non-profit organization publishing a calendar. There is something very unique about this one. Life is a Carnival is a bold approach to mastectomy and reconstruction education.

This 2008 calendar features photos from FORCE: Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered members who have undergone bilateral mastectomy -- with or without reconstruction. To retain the anonymity of the models, they are wearing mardi gras masks.

This project is meant to celebrate life after mastectomy, to showcase many types of reconstruction and non reconstruction options in a nonthreatening and positive light. The calendar contains information about the models surgery with references included to the chapters in the Breast Reconstruction Guidebook which explains each procedure. A secondary goal of this calendar is to raise needed funds for FORCE programs.

Patients diagnosed with retinoblastoma have a greater chance than the general public of developing soft-tissue sarcomas over their lifetime, says an article recently published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Retinoblastoma is a rare cancer that originates in the eye. Treatment for retinoblastoma often includes radiation therapy and may also include chemotherapy and surgical removal of the eye. There has been some concern that radiation therapy increases the risk of developing cancer in tissues within the radiation field.

The National Cancer Institute recently conducted a study to evaluate potential associates between patients diagnosed with retinoblastoma and the rate of soft-tissue sarcomas following treatment.

The study included 963 patients treated and diagnosed with hereditary retinoblastoma from 1914-1984. Data on these patients regarding the rates of soft-tissues sarcomas were compared to the general population.

The researchers concluded that patients diagnosed with hereditary retinoblastoma appear to have a significantly increased risk of developing soft-tissue sarcomas. This risk was increased in these patients whether or not they received radiation therapy and remained increased outside the field of radiation therapy; this indicates a potential genetic susceptibility for soft tissue sarcomas among patients with hereditary retinoblastoma.

I loved Ann's story, you will too. Ann is a fellow young breast cancer survivor. She lost her mother at a young age to breast cancer. Ann has two sons and when she was diagnosed she knew that she had to handle the situation differently when it came to telling her children what was going on. When she was young and her mother was diagnosed the family tried to protect her by not giving her information about what was going on with her mom. She knows first hand how that approach, though well meaning, only made her more scared and confused. Ann has a lot of good advice to share and feels honored to share her story with us. You can also read more about Ann in her blog called The Life Journal of Geeky Gal.

Check out Self magazine's 2006 breast cancer handbook that is available online. Some of the features and articles include How to help your friend diagnosed with breast cancer, which gives tips to support your friend every step along the way of her cancer journey. You can also learn how to be more informed about breast cancer yourself by taking the breast cancer IQ test or reading the article The Stages of Breast Cancer to better understand the disease.

In another article, Legacy's of Strength, actresses Christina Applegate and Brittany Murphy along with singer Mya talk about something they all have in common. All three of their mothers have been diagnosed with breast cancer. The three women share their experiences and the knowledge that they too might be at risk and how they handle it in their own lives.

A study led by scientists at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center found that women who developed endometrial, or uterine, cancer had a one in fifty chance of having an inherited mutation that could lead to high risk of other cancers.

Those that have the inherited mutation called Lynch syndrome have a higher risk of developing colon, endometrial, ovarian and gastric cancer. The most common cancer for this condition is endometrial cancer.

It is important for women diagnosed with endometrial cancer to be tested for the Lynch syndrome mutation. These women can benefit from knowing that they are at high risk for other cancers by being proactive and making sure they get the correct screening tests on an annual basis.

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.

Remember Dolly the first successfully cloned sheep? In 1997, a scientist named Ian Wilmut stunned the world when he announced he had successfully cloned a sheep from an adult cell. With a new book, After Dolly, set for release on June 12, Wilmut is suggesting that we should seriously consider cloning babies to put an end to genetic disease. But Wilmut says he is not suggesting the practice of genetic enhancement to create designer babies. It certainly sounds like that is what he is saying when he suggests that parents, with the assistance of scientists, be allowed to combine the cloning of human embryos with genetic modification to eliminate hereditary disease. The process of creating designer babies is the same, the intent of purpose separated by a thin veil. Regardless of what he says he is or is not saying -- what he is describing is the eventuality of designer humans.

Wilmut states, "The use of genetic and reproductive technologies is not a step backward into darkness, but a step forward into the light." But in following Wilmut into his light, will our eventual fate be that of Icarus, who soared toward the sun on wax wings? I don't want to go all Luddite, but I am very uneasy about the ethics and where this all leads. And to take it to the next level, will there one day in the future be two races of humans? The genetically perfect designer human, and the genetically-imperfect unmodified human. How will it work? Who will decide? What do you think? 

Rutgers researchers have concluded a new study that shows cruciferous vegetables, like broccoli and cauliflower, contain a compound known as sulforaphane that might reduce the risk of developing hereditary cancers. In previous studies, sulforaphane was found to inhibit some cancers. In this study, researchers focused on genes associated with an inherited colon cancer risk. 
 
"Our research has substantiated the connection between diet and cancer prevention, and it is now clear that the expression of cancer-related genes can be influenced by chemopreventive compounds in the things we eat," said Ah-Ng Tony Kong, a professor of pharmaceutics in the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy at Rutgers.