A study appearing in the Journal of Clinical Oncology reveals there may be something out there that can extend the lives of patients with recurrent prostate cancer.

This something is a new class of anti-cancer targeted drugs that scientists at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles say are quite promising, despite their ineffectiveness in some prostate cancer patients with no previous chemotherapy treatment.

Pertuzumab, a molecular targeted compound that has been used successfully in ovarian cancer patients, has been shown to block the human epidermal growth factor receptor family by binding to and inhibiting the function of HER2 receptors. They essentially block a key pathway that leads to cancer growth. And this blockage can possibly offer a better, longer life for recurrent prostate cancer patients whose diseases no longer respond to traditional chemotherapy.

Pertuzumab, marketed under the brand name Omnitarg by Roche and Genentech, is just one of many targeted cancer therapies that give researchers hope that cancer may one day be a lifetime disease that can be skillfully managed.

Hank Bauer, wounded World War II Marine and New York Yankees legacy, died on February 9 at the age of 84. The cause of death -- cancer.

Bauer, who managed the 1966 Baltimore Orioles to their first World Series title, was a three-time All-Star Yankees outfielder during his time with the team that won nine American League pennants and seven World Series titles in just 10 years. Bauer, a Yankees fixture from 1948-59, set the Series record with a 17-game hitting streak. His record still stands.

Yankees owner George Steinbrenner says, "Hank Bauer is an emblem of a generation that helped shape the landscape of our country. He was a natural leader and a teammate in every sense of the word, and his contributions went well beyond the baseball field. His service to the Yankees, his country, and his family shows why I have been so privileged to call him a friend."

Bauer's baseball accomplishments, which also include playing two seasons with and later managing the Kansas City Athletics and scouting for the Yankees and Royals, are not his only claims to fame. He also earned two Bronze Stars and two Purple Hearts for his courageous dedication to the United States.

Enlisting in the Marines shortly after Pearl Harbor, Bauer was wounded in Okinawa when he was hit in the leg by shrapnel just 53 days after he arrived on the island with 64 other men. "Only six of us came out," said Bauer who signed with the Yankees minor league after his discharge and sported his Marine Corps crewcut throughout the baseball career that landed him with the likes of Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, and a young Roger Maris.

During the same week Bauer lost his life, two other players of his time also passed away -- Steve Barber, who pitched for Bauer in Baltimore and Lew Burdette, who played against the Yankees in the 1957 and 1958 World Series.

Bauer is remembered by many.

"I am truly heartbroken," says Berra. "Hank was a wonderful teammate and friend for so long. Nobody was more dedicated and proud to be a Yankee, he gave you everything he had."

Laws were established in an attempt to improve women's health by allowing women direct access to obstetricians or gynecologists. Managed-care plans were forced to allow women to make these appointments without having a referral from their primary care physicians. This gave women easier access to get screened for breast and cervical cancer. It was thought that this approach would increase the likelihood of the women getting the preventative tests.

A study was conducted to compare health care utilization among privately insured women before and after passage of direct-access legislation in various states. The study, published in the current issue of Health Services Research, found that there is no evidence for a strong consistent relationship between direct-access legislation and screening rates for breast or cervical cancer.

So it's not working according to lead author Laurence Baker, Ph.D., of the Center for Health Policy at Stanford University. "Good health care requires much more than having these laws in place. Maybe direct access legislation isn't the right way to go about this at all. Consumer and provider education may be better ways of improving population health. Covering preventive care for uninsured individuals is also key." said Baker.

In an interview with the Globe, We're on the way to making cancer a chronic but tolerable disease, one of the leading oncology experts in the US, John Hopkins Medical Institution cancer researcher David Sidransky, states that we are undergoing a profound change in the way cancer is thought of -- from a deadly disease to a chronic one that will be treated much the same as diabetes or heart disease is currently managed.

With individualized treatments and new drugs, Dr Sidransky predicts that chemotherapy dosages can be reduced and in some cases, not needed as a part of cancer treatment. When asked what he thought chemotherapy drug manufacturers reaction to this might be, he explained that patents on most chemotherapy drugs have already expired, and these companies are working on the next generation of cancer treatments -- such as drugs to manipulate the immune system.

Most of the interview focus is on business and the development of Israel's biotechnology industry, and it is a peek into the potential future of cancer treatments. The bottom line is cancer treatment is driven by the business of drug companies. Paying attention to what they are talking about and what direction they are headed gives us an idea what we can expect in new treatments.

It does not surprise me that the Cleveland Clinic Cancer Center is among the best in the nation -- with internationally recognized physicians -- because I have always known this hospital to be the one stop where all medical difficulties and mysteries might be best managed -- in Ohio anyway. Growing up just an hour away from this facility, I thought maybe this was just the best Ohio hospital and that people headed here when other area hospitals could not deliver the best care. But now I know that the Cleveland Clinic is a destination for people from many states and countries. U.S. News & World Reports names the Cleveland Clinic one of the nation's top three hospitals, the clinic's heart program is ranked number one, it boasts a highly successful Children's Hospital, and cancer patients travel from all over the world for leading-edge cancer care at the Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Center. There is even a Cleveland Clinic location in Florida. This hospital -- that I once believed was nothing more than a local healing place -- has quite a reach. And quite a reputation.