Who knows which pieces of cancer information floating around out there are actually true? I don't. Do cell phones cause cancer? Some say yes, some say no, I say I'm confused! Luckily, I happened upon this Discovery Health article that highlights a variety of myths and then offers the lowdown on each one. Here are seven of them:

Myth #1. There is currently a cure for cancer, but the medical industry won't tell the public about it because they make too much money treating cancer patients.

Chalk this up to urban legend. And consider this: doctors, laboratory scientists, and their families and friends die of cancer at the same rate as everyone else in the United States. How about this: medical breakthroughs happen all the time and are quickly applied. Think about antibiotics and vaccines -- like the polio vaccine -- that have transformed health care. How about this? Not too long ago, less than one in 10 kids with leukemia survived 10 years. Now, the cure rate is nearly 80 percent. Seems like progress to me.

That's Fit blogger Jonathon Morgan wrote on May 25 about five sunscreen myths. In the spirit of Skin Cancer Awareness Month, it seems appropriate to mention this thought-provoking news here on this site.

I just heard a radio commercial about a certain sunscreen, claiming the product is so good consumers need only apply the lotion one time during an eight-hour time frame. It seems, according to the following list of myths, this is not exactly true.

Myth #1: Sunscreens protect all day.
Fact: Regardless of the SPF or what the label says, sunscreens must be reapplied every two hours because active ingredients in most products break down when exposed to the sun.

I'm sharing seven bits of wisdom this Sunday that are not my own. I am borrowing them from Pat McRee who has collected all sorts of survivor stories, affirmations, quotations, poetry, lyrics, and resources, has wrapped them with a bunch of hope and humor, and has packaged them in a box she calls Support to Go, The Unbook for the Journey through Breast Cancer.

McRee's colorful, lively box contains 80 cards. And on each card is some type of tip, idea, recipe, myth, truth, and essay that makes the breast cancer road easier to travel.

Live it. Learn it. Pass it on. That's what McRee says -- and exactly what she did when she stacked her deck of cards with such meaningful and magical material.

There is no way I could easily choose seven cards from my own box of support -- there's just too much good stuff, and it all deserves equal attention. So I drew seven random cards from the pile that sits before me, and this is what I got.

Queasy Made Easy
This card lists menu items targeted for the chemo tummy. A registered oncology nurse for 20 years, Betty Dozier shares what she has learned about what to eat -- clear, cool drinks, fruit juice, plain baked potatoes, Cold canned or fresh fruit, saltines, rice, toast, clear broths, sherbet, Popsicles -- and what not to eat -- gravy, sauces, potato chips, sour cream, heavy creamed soups.

Safety in Numbers
McRee doesn't put much stock in statistics and numbers generated by calculators that have nothing to do with real people. But she does believe in numbers when it comes to survival. On this card, she lists the names of genuine survivors with real numbers. She lists Shirley Weinman, a 20-year-survivor, Janice Johnston, an eight-year survivor, Linda Beebe, a 15-year survivor -- and so on.

No Smile Left Behind
McRee offers a prescription for play, an invitation to smile and laugh and rejoice in the face of cancer. "Cut eye holes in a paper bag and wear it to treatment," she says. "Tell 'em you just couldn't face another day." Another idea -- "Pass the word that everyone who enters the waiting room will get a Standing Ovation. They all deserve 'em just for showing up."

Fuzzy Logic
Check out this oh-so-true poem:

Too gray, too wavy, too doggone thick,
Smack in the front ... a big 'ol cowlick!
Split-ends and frizzies whenever it rained,
Now it's hard to believe I ever complained;
So, Lord, let's grow something! I'll nevermore whine ...
Gray, thick and wavy will suit me just fine.

Postcards
McRee provides a few postcards intended for mailing to surviving friends. One says, I hear you're patched, retreaded and approved for the road. Another says, U are not alone.

Hair Tomorrow
McRee offers a souvenir keeper for a lock of pre-chemo hair. Why not save it, says McRee, who shares that what grows back might be as different as your new life will be.

Buttoned-Up
Make your own buttons -- and wear them proudly. This card gives button wording ideas -- like Symmetry is so yesterday, Cancer: Been There, Beat That, and Stamp Out False Hopelessness.

Seven down -- 73 to go. I can't wait to read more.

Ah, the festive holiday parties and dinners were fun, but now we notice a few extra unwanted pounds. No surprise that diet and exercise top the list of traditional New Year's resolutions, and with good reason. Not only do we feel better when our clothes fit easily, but staying active, exercising and keeping fit are known lifestyle choices each of us can make that will offer an added measure of cancer prevention.

But, before we finish making our list of resolutions to a slimmer waistline and better health, the inner naysayer voice pipes up to point out all the reasons why we should not even bother. The Entrepreneur Diet comes to the rescue as it busts the more common myths standing in our way to getting and staying fit, and offers a reality check to the misconceptions.

As we read the reality checks to the following top ten myths -- I'm not athletic, so even if I wanted to become more active, I can't do it; it's too late for me to exercise; exercise isn't enjoyable; a woman will get too bulky if she lifts weights; exercise is dangerous; it takes too much time to eat right and exercise; I won't be able to enjoy my favorite foods; no pain, no gain; it's inevitable that I'll gain weight as I age, so it's not worth fighting it; and I have to join a gym or buy expensive equipment to get in shape -- we realize that keeping the resolutions we are about to make are more than doable.

To read the reality checks to these top ten fitness and diet myths, visit the Entrepreneur's Work & Life column here.

If you live in the northern hemisphere, we are fully into the fall season. In the southern hemisphere, they are enjoying spring, and looking forward to the upcoming summer. To maximize daylight hours, we turn our clocks ahead one hour each spring, and turn the clocks back one hour each fall. However, this has become a bit of a debate in Australia, as Queensland Premier Peter Beattie is digging in his heels, locking his knees, and crossing his arms against his chest in refusing to follow fellow countrymen in Western Australia when it comes to considering the policy of instituting daylight saving time.

Beattie is well-intentioned but ill-informed in his concern that the extra hour of light might increase the already high risk of skin cancer in Queensland. Adding an extra hour at the end of the day -- or the beginning of the day -- depending on how you want to view it, will not increase skin cancer risks resulting from excessive exposure to sunlight. The hours of the day when the sun is most damaging, and most dangerous in increasing skin cancer risks, is the middle of the day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

According to The Skin Foundation, to reduce skin cancer risks, we need to protect ourselves year-round by staying out of the sun during peak hours of 10a.m. to 4p.m., by wearing a broad-spectrum sunscreen with a sun protection factor SPF 15 or higher, wearing a broad-brimmed hat and UV-blocking sunglasses, avoiding the use of tanning parlors and artificial tanning devices, keeping newborns out of the sun, teaching children good sun-protective practices, examining skin from head-to-toe once a month, having a professional examination annually, and avoiding sunburn.

For more information about skin cancer myths and fact, read Skin cancer myths debunked by dermatologists.

How do we learn what we believe to be true? For the most part, we start out learning as a result of parental explanations, classroom study, schoolyard conversations, from conclusions based on personal experiences and what we read in the news. Some of the facts turn out to be myths.

One day, some of the debunked myths will be found to be not myth but truth because knowledge is not static and continually morphing as more is discovered about how things work. As it stands now, from what we know now, the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center has published 16 common myths about breast cancer. Here is a brief overview.

While Anaia Bedford, wife of Emmy award winning photographer Ken Bedford, underwent chemotherapy and radiation for breast cancer, both Anaia and Ken conducted research and asked many questions of experts. According to what they learned, early detection, a healthy diet, exercise and a strong immune system are the keys to breast cancer survival and that "breast cancer awareness and education among African American and other minority women in general is vital because there is a lack of medical attention due to financial hardships, spousal rejection fears and being so terrified that the disease will take their lives."

Anaia felt that had she been diagnosed earlier, her chances of survival would have been greater. Anaia lost her struggle to survive breast cancer in 2004.

The Anaia Breast Cancer Awareness Program was founded by her family to increase breast cancer awareness and promote early detection in minority communities. As a tribute to Anaia and to educate women about breast cancer, an annual gala is hosted at the Galleria Marchetti in Chicago. This year's keynote speaker was Dancing with the Stars Vivica A. Fox. Governor Rod Blagojevich, Mayor Richard Daley, Angela Winbush, Phil Perry, Glenn Jones, Howard Hewett and jazz Sax Man Ray Silkman also attended the event.

Anaia believed "Knowledge is power, the more you know and understand will reduce many of the fears and myths you hear about breast cancer." Her family and friends are continuing the cause of raising breast cancer awareness Anais felt was important to surviving cancer. To learn more, visit the Anaia Breast Cancer Awareness Program.

Breast cancer is widespread -- so widespread that most of us have direct personal contact with someone living with this disease. Information about breast cancer is also widespread -- so widespread that it's easy to get lost in the maze of details that define this illness that two million women in the United States are living with at this very moment. Breast cancer has its own set of definitions and facts and statistics -- and myths too. And here are seven myths that are not worth spreading.

Most lumps in the breast are cancer.
Actually, most lumps in the breast are not cancer. But every lump should still be examined and diagnosed.

Breast cancer does not occur in young women.
While most breast cancer cases occur in women over the age of 50, breast cancer can and does occur in women of all ages. I was diagnosed at age 34.

Women with large breasts have a greater risk of breast cancer.
Size does not affect risk. But it can be more difficult to examine large breasts and therefore detect a suspicious lump due to a larger amount of tissue.

A woman has little or no risk of breast cancer if she has has no family history of the disease.
Most women with breast cancer -- about 75 percent -- have no family history of breast cancer. Simply being female puts all women at risk. I have no family history of breast cancer -- but I still was diagnosed with this disease and have been treating it for almost two years.

If mammography shows nothing to worry about, then there is nothing to worry about.
Mammography can miss 10 to 15 percent of all breast cancers. So any suspicious mass should be investigated with further tests -- such as ultrasound and MRI. When my lump was examined during a mammogram, my doctor was not worried. But an ultrasound that followed revealed a solid mass -- and this was something to worry about. A biopsy came next. And then came my breast cancer diagnosis.

Once a woman is treated for breast cancer, she should avoid becoming pregnant.
Many breast cancer survivors go on to have successful pregnancies and healthy children. Women should consult their doctors, however, about current and previous treatments and should discuss any possible concerns about pregnancy after breast cancer.

Removal of the entire breast is safer than segmental mastectomy.
Survival is similar for women who have breast-conserving surgery -- like a lumpectomy -- and for those who have either a total or modified mastectomy.

It's not surprising that inaccurate information is floating around about breast cancer -- because there is so much information on the topic and much of it is not completely understood by those who study the disease every day. But we all can take an active part in our own education by researching each tidbit of news that comes our way. We can confirm it, deny it, and understand it better if we take matters into our own hands. And if we don't spread anything we just are not sure about. We owe it to ourselves -- and women everywhere -- to spread only the most accurate information about this disease we all need to better comprehend.

I love the terminology used by those behind the scenes at Hurricane Voices. This is where I first read the words breast cancer dancer and where individuals have gathered to advance the rebellion against breast cancer. The content on this site is powerful, edgy, and truly inspiring -- it incites public action. And it makes me want to jump up and do something -- now. To break down the barriers to progress in pursuit of the causes and cures for breast cancer -- which is the whole purpose of Hurricane Voices.

Hurricane Voices began because of one woman -- Lois Egasti, a wife and mother living with metastatic breast cancer. Lois, who passed away on April 15, 2003, knew she was not alone and felt the need to take a stand against the disease. So she put her urge into action and formed this not-for-profit organization. And in just four years, a great community of voices emerged -- voices that have helped raise support and participation in far-reaching programs and events.

Hurricane Voices offers on its website a family reading list, a regular newsletter, an empowering overview of breast cancer and its statistics, and a sampling of various myths surrounding breast cancer. Hurricane Voices provides direction for involvement in unique conferences -- such as When a Parent Has Cancer: Strengthening the School's Response which helps school systems support families affected by parental cancer and Breast Cancer: Truth & Consequences, a conference that challenges the status quo concerning breast cancer. Hurricane Voices initiates thought-provoking public awareness campaigns and strives to inform the public that the disease we call breast cancer is a very serious illness.

Every day, more people are being diagnosed. Every day, more people are dying. Yet we are not beating this disease -- in fact in the time it takes to brush our teeth or drink a cup of coffee, another person has died of breast cancer. And this is what Hurricane Voices wants us to know. This and the fact that well-meaning, misconstrued survival rates in the 90 percentiles only extend for five years. And five years is just not enough.

Powerful -- that's what Hurricane Voices is -- powerful. And each of us can contribute our own power to this organization by becoming a Hurricane Voice. So speak up -- by simply clicking here.

Dealing with cancer in private is hard. Dealing with cancer publicly can be even harder. CEO Donna McAleer -- the founding executive and public face of the large, growing health care company Elant -- knows this firsthand. She just recently went public with her breast cancer diagnosis and prognosis after rumors of her demise started circulating. McAleer set the record straight, announcing that she is doing just fine. While her experience has been frightening, she is surviving well -- and she wants the public to know. She has run Elant for 20 years and wants to dispel any myths about its stability. Apple CEO Steve Jobs faced the same public drama in 2004 after surgery for pancreatic cancer and subsequent drops in Apple stock. Jobs recovered -- and so did the stock -- but the speculation that swirled was powerful and potentially damaging. Just as it was that same year when Kraft Foods was criticized for withholding details of its CEO's hospitalization.

There is some debate in the business world about all of this -- about whether or not executive illnesses should be disclosed. For public companies, one opinion is that there is an obligation to respond quickly to the public. In a private company, it's up to the CEO. McAleer's Elant is not a publicly traded company and there is no worry about stock price -- but her decision to reveal her personal health crisis was the right thing to do, she says. "I have an obligation to share this news in how I progress, in order to educate and make sure people aren't frightened by it," she said in reference to the memo she sent to her 700 employees and community groups too.

I'm open and honest about my own cancer experience because I believe it can help others -- and it helps me to talk about it too. So I'm a fan of a forthcoming approach in the workplace. I appreciate that some fear repercussions that might result from such a disclosure. But honesty may be the best policy -- for prevention of rumors and addressing worry and raising awareness too. McAleer seems to agree as she takes this opportunity to speak up, to encourage women to seek mammograms and to follow up on them.

When Someone You Love Is Being Treated for Cancer is a book of tips and insight from caregivers for caregivers when it comes to the needs and issues of being a caregiver for a loved one diagnosed with cancer. Published online by The National Cancer Institute, the introduction states, "The purpose of this book is to focus on you and your needs."

In reviewing it, I found it to be a valuable and realistic resource for family members who find themselves in the role of caregiver because a loved one has been diagnosed with cancer.

AOL Diet & Fitness is featuring Prevention's 100 Smartest Diet Tips Ever, and it is by far one of the most creative and common sense approaches to achieving and maintaining a healthy weight -- and in hedging your bets with good nutrition against being diagnosed with diseases like cancer. The tips are from registered dietitians in private practice and respected in their field as heads of specialty practice groups for the American Dietetic Association.

Whether you are someone who can only make a small practical change -- or -- looking for ideas on how to get more veggie-goodness into your day -- or -- easy tricks to cut calories -- or -- healthy low-cal dinner ideas if you don't feel like cooking -- there is something for everyone in the list of 100 smartest diet tips ever.

Some of the creative tips include:

• Use a salad plate instead of a dinner plate.
• Keep a food journal. The experts swear this really works wonders.
• Mix three different cans of beans and some diet Italian dressing. Eat this three-bean salad all week.
• Dance to music with your family in your home.
  

Some common sense tips include:

• Fat-free isn't always your best bet. The experts explain why.
• Skipping breakfast will leave you tired and craving naughty foods by midmorning. They give you a quick nutritious breakfast recipe.
• Make vegetables more attractive by avoiding mushy limp vegetables in the refrigerator crisper drawer with ready-to-go bags of frozen vegetables.
• Exercise. It curbs your appetite.
• Drink water frequently. They say it is not how much water you drink but how often. Dehydration slows your metabolism.
  

The last 15 tips are myth busters that take you from fiction to fact and the pitfalls to avoid when it comes to getting the most in diet health benefit. To find out more, go to 100 Smartest Diet Tips Ever for the complete list.

Florida is a sunshine state and dermatologists are concerned about the misconceptions people have about sun safety that are putting them at greater risk for skin cancer. For sun worshippers everywhere, here is the truth about some of the myths:

• Skin cancer is not serious. Skin cancer is very serious and skin cancer diagnosis is reaching epidemic levels in this country. More than one million new cases of skin cancer are diagnosed each year.
• A base tan shields you from sun damage during the summer. Any darkening of skin from the sun is due to sun damage to the skin. Dermatologists state there is no such thing as a safe tan.
• Sunscreen is all the protection needed. According to dermatologists, while sunscreen does offer some protection from the sun, UV rays can defeat the strongest lotion and damage skin.
• Dark-skinned people are safe from sun damage and skin cancer risks. Brown skin with lots of melanin protects better against UV rays, but at the same time, dark-skinned people are more prone than others to have moles, and moles that become abnormal are a major risk factor for melanoma.
• Skin cancer is an age-related disease of the middle-aged and elderly. Yes, the chances of being diagnosed with cancer does increase as we age. But dermatologists say the number of young adults and even children with skin cancer appear to be rising faster than it is for adults now. The depletion of ozone in the atmosphere is letting in more UV rays.
• Tanning salons are safer than the sun. Tanning booths can be more damaging to the skin because they use pure ultraviolet light.
  

For information on how to practice sun safety, read skin cancer prevention kits for kids, shading kids from the sun, global warming skin cancer warning, and pediatricians need to educate parents about sun exposure risks.

As with any significant disease there are untruths that often circulate about what can either lead to cancer or prevent it. Some are downright entertaining while others are just flat out wrong. Whatever the case, following is a list of the top seven cancer myths:

• Fellatio will significantly lower a woman's chances of getting breast cancer. Wrong. While perhaps this might be an enjoyable pastime, there is absolutely no scientific evidence to support this theory.
• High end lipsticks contain cancer-causing ingredients. Nope. The FDA regulates the contents of lipsticks and has yet to find any carcinogens in lipstick.
• Wearing deodorant can cause cancer. No, not true. However, it is important to discern between deodorant and antiperspirant. There have been studies that have shown that antiperspirants are not as benevolent as deodorants, but there have not been any conclusive studies proving either to be carcinogens.
• Nipple piercing, for either men or women, can lead to cancer. False. While some people might enjoy this sort of ornamentation, it does not lead to cancer. They can become easily infected, but not cancerous.
  
• Men can not get breast cancer. Not true. Although the percentages are lower than those of women, men do get breast cancer.
  
• A cure for cancer has been discovered, but drug companies are keeping a lid on this information so that they can continue to make money. False. The frightening part of this statement is that an estimated 30 per cent of Americans believe it to be true. Cancer is caused by so many varying factors that one single cure is unlikely to be found.
  
• By forwarding emails you can help donate money to cancer research or cancer causes. There is an email circulating that the American Cancer Society will benefit by any forwarding of an email. This is a hoax. The organization does not depend on this method for fund raising.

If you have heard of any other myths, scary, weird or amusing, please fell free to share them with us here at the Cancer Blog.