An ABC news team in Australia abandoned its Brisbane radio studio yesterday after an investigation revealed there is something about the workplace causing breast cancer.

It's not clear what the cause may be, but the five-month-long investigation concluded a breast cancer cluster is related to the office environment.

Twelve women who worked at the Brisbane Toowong office had been diagnosed with breast cancer over the past 11 years. Eight of these women worked in the newsroom. Most had been there for more than five years.

ABC managing editor Mark Scott would not move his staff earlier this year when 100 staff members walked off the job in July, demanding relocation. He said it would take evidence -- not just suspicion -- of a breast cancer cluster for him to agree to relocation. Now he has evidence.

The investigation report shows women who worked at this office reported breast cancer at a rate 11 times higher than the general working community.

In addition to the relocation, all female staff at Toowong office were offered free mammograms and free counseling services during the investigation. Yesterday, Scott extended the offer to women at other ABC sites in Australia.

Gerald Boyd, the first black managing editor of The New York Times, the man forced to resign two years after his appointment -- during a reporter's plagiarism scandal -- died Thursday of lung cancer. He was 56.

Boyd was diagnosed with cancer in February and while he was sick for most of the year, he kept his condition private from most friends and colleagues.

Boyd is credited for his ability to mobilize a reporting team and surround a story to capture every important fact. He was tough and demanding and had a huge heart. And while he left the paper under sad circumstances, he also left as a well-respected newsman.

Boyd became managing editor in 2001 and resigned in 2003 after the discovery that reporter Jayson Blair had plagiarized material, invented quotes, and wrote stories using datelines of places he'd never seen. The scandal resulted in discontented staff members who lost confidence in Boyd's leadership.

After his resignation, Boyd became involved in several projects and found himself writing a column for Universal Press Syndicate. His goal -- to help people understand how newsroom decisions are made.

Boyd is survived by his wife and 10-year-old son.

Living Beyond Breast Cancer (LBBC) is hosting part two of their annual October telephone conference series called Advanced Breast Cancer: Understanding Treatments and Enhancing Quality of Life. Virginia F. Borges, MD, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Colorado Health Science Center, headlines the teleconference. She will be discussing Managing Symptoms and Side Effects: A Holistic Approach to Advanced Breast Cancer. Dr. Borges will provide creative approaches for managing discomfort, discuss medication for side effects like hot flashes, nausea, fever and chemo brain. She will also explore complementary treatments to supplement conventional treatments.

If you are living with metastatic breast cancer you might want to check out this teleconference that will be held on October 25, 2006 from 12pm to 1:30pm. During the program you will have the opportunity to ask questions of the speakers. The teleconference is free but LBBC asks that you register in advance.

Just two months after her mother lost her battle with gall bladder cancer, Liane was diagnosed with breast cancer. It all happened earlier this year -- and while Liane is still mourning the loss of her mother, she is also still managing the madness of her own disease. Liane is surviving with courage, with determination, with the same powerful spirit that powered her mother's fight.

Liane lives in a small city -- population 43,000 -- in northern Alberta Canada. She has been happily married for 18 years and has two daughters, ages 13 and 15, and a golden retriever named Sunny. Liane loves to garden, cook, read, and spend time with family. She normally works full-time in a real estate and property management office but has been blessed with six months off for treatment. Liane is already -- without a doubt -- a survivor.

I was in my oncologist office yesterday and noticed a new poster hanging on the wall advertising an on-line system for managing health care -- for scheduling appointments, confirming appointments, locating test results, paying bills, and more. Founded in 1999 and headquartered in Emeryville, California, RelayHealth is the premier provider of secure on-line healthcare communication services that link patients, healthcare professionals, payors, and pharmacies in matters that are medically non-urgent. The website also features news and customer stories and aims to improve the delivery and accessibility of healthcare to patients -- in a seamless manner.

I haven't done much with this service yet -- but I did take a short tour and made a simple search for my physician whose information promptly popped up on my screen. That part was easy. And once I register with a username and password, I will have more access to more information pertaining to me and my healthcare team. And you can too.

I remember reading that Barbara Delinsky, novelist and breast cancer survivor, never shared her diagnosis of cancer until well after her fight was over. She feared the news would somehow halt her career in the publishing world. She wanted to remain untainted by disease in the eyes of her readers and bosses so she saved her secret. The secret is out now -- and is also part of a book she wrote called Uplift: Secrets from the Sisterhood of Breast Cancer Survivorship. She is in the clear now -- but she once feared the consequences of managing both cancer and her career.

The experts who offer a website resource at cancerandcareers.org believe that it is possible to combine cancer and career without fear or worry or secrecy. The advice provided on this site offers wisdom for working women and for employers and for co-workers. There is also a forum for shared stories -- where all of these individuals weigh in on their experiences. There are reading recommendations and a listing of available programs and services and a complete story about how this all came about.

Five years ago, the Board of Directors at Cosmetic Executive Women -- the preeminent nonprofit organization representing women in the U.S. and European beauty industries -- realized that five out of their 40 members had been diagnosed with cancer. Some told their colleagues at work and some did not. But all continued to work and experienced similar challenges. The fact is that work does not stop for all women who have been diagnosed with cancer. So the mission of this group is to help women, their employers, coworkers, and caregivers deal with this problem in the same way that they have learned to deal with problems at work -- strategically, knowledgeably, and effectively. With the right tools, stress and difficulty can be minimized. And this site is one great tool.