The 1998 guidelines on breast cancer follow-up has been updated by the American Society of Clinical Oncology. They state the most reliable way for detecting a recurrence is to receive physical exams and educating patients on the symptoms of recurrence.

All women should perform monthly breast exams. Genetic counseling is recommended for high risk women, including those with Askhenazi Jewish heritage, family history of breast or ovarian cancer, or diagnosis of bilateral breast cancer in the patient or relative.

Study results show no survival advantage for intensive verses conservative surveillance. Complete blood counts (CBCs), liver function tests, imaging studies, and assessment of tumor markers are not recommended for routine surveillance.

Breast cancer can recur within 15 years of the initial diagnoses and beyond, surveillance is a lifelong process for breast cancer survivors.

Glioblastoma is the deadliest form of brain cancer, most often striking patients in their 50s and 60s who after diagnosis typically have only 10 to 12 months to live.

Glioblastoma is a shocking diagnosis -- and while the tumors don't tend to spread outside the brain, they resist surgery and return even when half the brain is removed. They also are resistant to most treatment. Clearly, insight into this deadly cancer is a must. Thankfully, a little slice of insight has just emerged.

Armed with findings from experiments in mice, researchers report they've discovered a clue that might help unravel the mystery of glioblastomas.

Studies show that some mice recovered from a human form of brain cancer when given bone morphogenetic proteins that appeared to interfere with the cancer growth process in stem-like cells. This leads researchers to believe the proteins could be used to stop cancer growth and prevent it from recurring.

The research is not ready for prime time, says one of the researchers who maintains there is still a long way to go. Yet the findings are promising -- and they suggest stem cells may play a critical role in tumor formation.

About 17,000 to 18,000 Americans develop brain cancer each year. Half of these patients will be diagnosed with glioblastoma.

All cells in our body are programmed to die. They have a limited lifespan and they die when they are damaged, worn out or no longer needed by the body. This is a normal process called apoptosis, programmed cell death, that the body depends on to be healthy. When cells die they are replaced by new ones.

In cancer cells the process of apoptosis fails and the damaged cells live on and multiply indefinitely and uncontrollably. Most chemotherapy drugs that are given to cancer patients are aimed at killing fast dividing cells, this is sometimes successful at halting the disease but these drugs damage many normal tissues.

Researchers look to find smarter drugs that do not have severe side effects but target only the cancer cell itself. A new drug being studied in the lab suggests that it may prove to be more effective and less toxic than current chemotherapy drugs. The drug called ABT-737 has a different strategy for attacking cancer. Instead of poisoning the cancer cells, the new drug attempts to reactivate the cell death program that had failed.

The leader of the project, Dr. David Huang says "Much more remains to be done to assess the drug's safety and effectiveness in patients, but early results from the laboratory are promising. Our hope is that the new drug will prove to be more effective while having fewer side effects".

I have had a hard time keeping my counseling appointments lately. Life keeps getting in the way, and counseling keeps getting pushed to the side. The last time I called my counselor to cancel -- due to an emergency room trip with my three-year-old -- I mentioned that my inability to keep up with sessions was perhaps a precursor to an eventual termination of our counseling relationship. My counselor -- Lindsay -- said this was maybe an accurate assessment, that we should discuss the possibility of an ending point. We haven't yet discussed it, though, because I have not made the time to contact her. I have continued to leave counseling on the back burner.

But today Lindsay sent me an e-mail to check in. She wrote that I am probably going to be okay on my own now -- in the aftermath of cancer -- and that we should have one final session to reflect on my progress over the past 16 months. I have not replied to Lindsay -- not because I am busy with other things but simply because her words made me cry. They still make me cry, hours later. I'm not exactly sure why. And I'm not exactly sure how I will follow up on scheduling my very last session.

I assume my tears -- my sadness -- are part of the healing process, part of the separation anxiety I feel each time a part of my treatment ends and a part of my life moves on. I assume I am sad at the prospect of leaving a vital part of my recovery behind, about leaving the comfort of my counseling chair, about leaving Lindsay. The possibilities are endless. And I suppose we will cover all possibilities when Lindsay and I sit down for our last, final, concluding session -- when we recall how much I have grown since the day we first met, when I could barely mutter a word about cancer without weeping uncontrollably, when I could barely manage to find pleasure in my days, when I could barely imagine that life could -- and would -- offer me peace and happiness.

Today, life is good. And it's clear that counseling is no longer necessary for my survival. But that doesn't make it any easier to make my final appointment. To contemplate saying my last goodbye. To tackle life completely on my own. Which is what I will do -- in time -- so I can continue moving on, away from breast cancer.

One day, look for these enhanced food products to appear on supermarket shelves, because more and more, consumers are demanding that the food they buy offer health benefits beyond what has been traditionally offered, and scientists are discovering ways to make that happen. Recently, University of Maryland researchers created, and patented the process, of transforming wheat, corn and rice flours into antioxidant powerhouses in the newest offering of functional foods. They have also devised a means of developing a flour based on fruit seeds that were discarded in the making of fruit juice.

The researchers assure that the process of enhancing flours is environmentally friendly -- which is another concern of many consumers. We want to be eat for good health, but we also want to be good to the earth. Antioxidants are known to offer cancer prevention benefits and are naturally found in whole foods such as fruits, vegetables and berries. Using antioxidant-enriched flours will be one more way to incorporate antioxidants into our daily diet.

This finding, along with the news of mandarin orange juice liver cancer prevention benefit, will be presented during the four-day conference Functional Foods and Health, at the 232nd national meeting of the American Chemical Society.

Cancer is not an inevitable outcome in the process of aging, but the older a person gets, the greater the odds for developing cancer. Aging have long been known as one of the greatest risks to developing cancer -- and not one that anyone has ever been able to alter.

In the Times Online Sunday edition Sue Armstrong writes the most compelling and engaging article about a gene that has the power to stop cancer -- but right now it comes wrapped in a conundrum of potential consequence in unknown disaster. She refers to the power of p53, a genetic miracle worker, a power discovered by sheer error on the part of researchers who created mice without the gene known to protect humans from cancer. As expected, these mice developed cancer early and often. In a different group of mice researchers created mice with the gene but in a more active form than is usually found. What came next surprised everyone.

I've been keeping a journal ever since I was first diagnosed with breast cancer. I first wrote by hand in a pink fabric-covered book, sprinkled with multi-colored polka dots. It looked feminine -- which is why I bought it -- and it's vibrance made me feel inspired, motivated, eager to write down the dreaded details of the beginning of my journey. Then I stopped writing in this book and began typing my words in an on-line journal -- a blog. My husband designed the presentation of it, with a pink banner that serves as the backdrop for the title -- my Breast Cancer blog. My first entry was completed on December 21, 2004 and I am still chronicling my journey here. I am also writing for this site -- the Cancer Blog -- and I write whenever and wherever else I can record my words. I do it because it helps me process information in a quiet, calming, introspective way. It soothes me, helps me work through panic and anxiety, helps me heal, and helps me chart my progress. When I look back at what I've written, I realize how far I've come -- or haven't come -- and it helps me move forward. I recommend journaling for everyone, and I recommend these seven simple suggestions for getting started.

Welcome back from the weekend! Here is a review of what we were talking about during the second week in July in our other health blogs.

From The Cardio Blog:

• Bucindolol: experimental heart failure drug.
• Mammograms can find heart health problems.
• Eggs: bad or not bad for heart health -- which is it?
• The clock of life and time of day determines heart health.
• Extreme obesity raises mortality rate in women.
• Austrailian stem cell research innovates new heart treatment.
• Public physical activity program helps weight loss, lower blood pressure.
• Tuna imported from Latin America has highest mercury level.
• Eating less helps slow aging process.
• Teens helped to learn healthy diet habits with household food rules.
• Volunteer work helps seniors stay active and healthy.
• Working overtime worse for womens health.
• Aging and single living combined linked to higher heart disease risk.
• Tubby kids motivated to exercise by reward of TV time.
• Humidity and high temps linked to rise in summer heart attacks.
• Comedian Red Button dies of vascular disease.
• Migraine aura linked to increased heart attack stroke risk.
  

From The Diabetes Blog:

• Martial arts black belt uses youth group to fight diabetes.
• FDA approves GlaxoSmithKline diabetes drug.
• Pink Floyd Syd Barrett dies from diabetes complications.
• Update on fatal NC car crash involving diabetic driver.
• Major study links Type 2 diabetes and glaucoma risk.
• Life insurance industry plays catch-up.
• A1c Champions program trains diabetes mentors.
• Danish study confirms suspected diabetes, multiple sclerosis link.
• Debate continues on virtues, shortcomings of inhalable insulin, Exubera.
• Blogger's advice to T2 diabetics: follow in footsteps of movie producer Weinstein.
• Diabetes, obesity blamed for sky-high US kidney failure rates.
• Canadians await approval of inhalable insulin.
• Lifestyle ed could greatly reduce diabetes onset in older Americans, say researchers.

To your good health! To a great week!

Before my radiation for breast cancer, I heard horror stories about the treatment. I heard that I might be extremely tired and severely burned and that I might feel generally unwell for the time it would take to completely zap any and all traces of cancer surrounding my breast. But my own radiation wasn't all that bad -- and really, the worst part of the whole therapy for me was the drive to and from the cancer center every day for seven weeks. It was a hassle, a nuisance, a bother. There were other small annoyances throughout the course of my radiation, but they were minimal -- thanks to some secrets that were shared with me along the scorching path of radiation and beyond. And here are seven of them.

I have had many moments in my life where anxiety and panic have filled my mind. But this is normal and necessary really as life delivers all kinds of situations that produce all sorts of emotions.

I can recall vividly anxious feelings before a school exam but this is what motivated me to study and prepare and to pass the exam with flying colors. This anxiety gave me a push, a kick in the pants -- in a good, healthy way.

Without a bit of panic, I may not have cared. I may have been aloof to the importance of doing well in school. But while life has presented me with a good amount of this healthy emotion, it has also tossed an abundance of unhealthy anxiety and panic my way -- the kind that has consumed my mind and twisted my insides. The kind that made peaceful living seem impossible.