OK, we all know young women get breast cancer. But the way some talk about the pair -- young women and the deadly disease -- it would seem finding a young one living with this type of cancer is like locating that needle in a haystack. Many a young woman -- like me -- have heard doctors and nurses and technicians and family and friends remark, "you are too young for the disease," and then dismiss cancer suspicions as needless worry.

The median age for women diagnosed with breast cancer is 65. But think about this fact, published in the Spring/Summer edition of Beyond: Live & Thrive After Breast Cancer.

More than 240,000 women in the United States age 40 and under are living with breast cancer. Each year in this country, more than 14,000 women 40 years old and younger are diagnosed with breast cancer, says Boston oncologist Ann Partridge, M.D., of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

That's a lot of young women. That's a lot of breast cancer. And yet, mammograms still are not recommended for women under the age of 40.

A little bit of education goes a long way, especially in the war against cancer. Armed with facts and figures and know-how, we can help advance prevention and early detection of this deadly disease.

So in the spirit of National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, here are seven truths that serve to broaden your horizons about the third most common cancer found in men and women in this country.

As you read these truths, be aware that the death rate from colorectal cancer has been on a downward climb for the past 15 years due to better screening, fewer diagnosed cases, early detection, and more advanced treatment. Keep in mind that you can help keep this trend going by raising your own awareness and by taking action on behalf of yourself and your loved ones.

• Colorectal cancer refers to cancer that starts in the colon or rectum. These cancers begin in the digestive system where food is processed to create energy and rid the body of solid waste matter.

• Colorectal cancers develop slowly over a period of years and mostly begin in the form of polyps -- growths of tissue that start in the lining and grow into the center of the colon or rectum. Removing polyps early may prevent them from becoming cancerous. More than 95 percent of colon and rectal cancers are called adenocarcinomas.

• For people of average risk, screening is recommended beginning at age 50. Those whose risk is higher than average should talk with a physician about appropriate screening.

• Screening is used to detect disease in people who do not have any symptoms. In many cases, screening tests find colorectal cancers at an early stage and greatly improve the chances of successful treatment. Screening tests can prevent some cancers by allowing doctors to find and remove polyps that might become cancer. There are several tests used to look for colorectal cancer. Ask your doctor what test is best for you.

• Treatment for colorectal cancer includes surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and newer targeted therapies.

• The American Cancer Society predicts there will be 112,340 new cases of colon cancer and 41,420 new cases of rectal cancer in 2007 in the United States. Combined, the diseases will cause about 52,180 deaths.

• The Colorectal Cancer Coalition -- or C3 -- is a national organization whose mission is to eliminate suffering and death due to colon and rectal cancer through advocacy. Visit here for more information.

The material shared in this post was gathered from the websites of the American Cancer Society and the Colorectal Cancer Coalition.

Eight-year-old Luis Carranza, whose mother slipped him from Mexico into the United States for live-saving cancer treatment, has died of leukemia after the same treatment that once offered him remission attacked his central nervous system, and caused seizures and terminal, irreversible brain damage.

Luis' story, first featured in a September 18 post, is a powerful one, riddled with struggle and hardship and love and commitment.

The story began less than two years ago when Guadalupe Carranza smuggled her young, sick son into the United States for treatment. Luis was welcomed into a Texas hospital and was showered with an abundance of love from staff and volunteers. Guadalupe did not receive the same warm welcome, however, and was deported back to Mexico. And while she battled to return to her son's bedside, Guadalupe was met with continued defeat -- until her son fell into a coma and border and consulate officials allowed the mother to cross back into the United States where she stayed until her son passed away on Thursday at his grandparent's house in El Paso.

Guadalupe had been with her son since May 8, 2006. And an attorney involved in Luis' case says he believes the boy, despite his serious condition, could sense his mother's presence. And everyone involved believes the boy, who was clearly suffering, is now in a much better place.

One in 18 men and women will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer during their lifetimes -- that translates into more than 150,000 people diagnosed and more than 52,000 colorectal cancer deaths each year, securing the disease as the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States.

Fortunately, mortality rates for this disease have been declining due to earlier screenings, awareness of symptoms, removal of polyps, and improved treatments through advances in research discoveries -- like today's genetic breakthroughs.

In a recent study, researchers identified a cell pathway critical in the development of colon cancer and also lung and stomach cancers.

STAT3 (signal transducer and activator of transcription 3) is the newest discovery and is a target regulated by PRPRT (receptor protein tyrosine phosphatase T), already identified to be mutated in these cancers.

"The role of protein tyrosine phosphatase in cancer is still an under-explored area," says Zhenghe John Wang, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Genetics at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and Case Comprehensive Cancer Center.

"Our study shows that receptor protein tyrosine phosphatase T regulates an important signaling pathway that is critical in cancer development. This identification will allow new approaches to pharmacological designs and facilitate alternative approaches for cancer treatment."

This study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS Online Edition Feb. 20-23, 2007), provides new hope for the development of drugs that will target this potentially deadly disease.

Some scientists believe that surgery to remove a breast tumor may actually help the cancer spread and have recently reported that this same belief may be the exact reason black women are more likely to die of breast cancer.

There is apparently a widespread belief in parts of Africa and the United States that removing a tumor hastens death.

"I must say that I am sure there is more to this than just a myth," said Michael Retsky of Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, who shares his opinions in the International Journal of Surgery.

Retsky still urges any woman with breast cancer to have her tumor removed. And he says chemotherapy is such standard practice for any cancer threatening to spread. It's a safety net of sorts to catch the cells that get away. So if surgery causes cancer to spread, then in theory, chemotherapy should stop the spread.

Retsky, who is not suggesting any change in clinical practice, thinks the subject needs far more research. American Cancer Society experts, who tend to question this theory, agree.

"Whether or not the theory is correct, I have difficulty with the logic that they employed to get there," said oncologist Dr. Len Lichtenfeld of the American Cancer Society who says women should never delay treatment for breast cancer.

Retsky believes that perhaps surgery, by wounding the body, causes it to produce growth factors that fuel the growth of other, tiny tumors. Or maybe a primary tumor secretes some sort of factor that holds the other tumors in check. When the main tumor is removed, the smaller tumors grow.

But it could be that surgery does not cause a spread at all – and that any belief of this nature has no connection with breast cancer tendencies in black women. It may be that black women just have a genetic predisposition for more aggressive forms of the disease.

Besides preventing birth defects in the brain and spine and other congenital abnormalities, the folic acid found in prenatal multivitamins has now been shown to prevent cancer in children whose mothers take the vitamins during pregnancy.

A new Canadian study, appearing online in the journal Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics, estimates prenatal multivitamin supplements can save hundreds of children each year in Canada -- where only 40 to 50 percent of women take prenatal vitamins -- from developing leukemia, brain tumors, or neuroblastoma. And the vitamins may prevent 900 cases of pediatric leukemia and more than 300 brain tumor cases annually in the United States.

It's not clear which vitamins or minerals, and in what amounts, could be protecting babies from cancer, but it's possible folic acid -- critical for cellular function -- may be acting alone.

One thing is certain, says lead investigator Dr. Gideon Koren -- this is one inexpensive way to prevent cancer.

The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences needs sisters -- 18,000 sisters to be exact -- to join the nation's largest research project aimed at pinpointing the causes of breast cancer.

The Sister Study ideally will enroll a total of 50,000 women whose sisters had breast cancer. Since the study launch in October 2004, 32,000 women have been recruited. But still more are needed.

The 10-year observational study requires very little time, is available in English and Spanish, and requires women to first answer questions about diet, jobs, hobbies, and breast cancer risk factors. Later, a female health professional collects small samples of blood, urine, nail clippings, and house dust for use in analysis of environment and genetics.

Women in the United States and Puerto Rico between the ages of 35 and 74 may be eligible for the study if their sisters -- living or deceased -- had breast cancer. The study participants must have never been diagnosed with breast cancer themselves.

The Sister Study, in partnership with the American Cancer Society, NIH's National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities, Sisters Network Inc., the Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the Y-ME National Breast Cancer Organization, and the Intercultural Cancer Council, is confidential and safe. Women are never asked to take medications, visit medical locations, or make any changes to their habits, diet, or daily life. They are simply asked to join this effort so that the mystery of breast cancer can continiue to unfold.

To volunteer or learn more about the Sister Study, visit www.sisterstudy.org or www.estudiodehermanas.org. Or call (877) 474-7837 or (866) 889-4747 for the hearing-impaired.

International pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca is donating $10 million to the American Cancer Society (ACS). The donation is one of the largest gifts ever received by the ACS and will help provide support for patients in United States hospitals.

Support will come in the form of specially-trained ACS employees who will work in 60 different hospitals and cancer centers and will offer social, emotional, financial, and transportation assistance in medically underserved Atlanta areas.

London-based AstraZeneca, maker of breast cancer drug tamoxifen and other breast and prostate cancer drugs, made $26 billion in sales last year, the same year the company gave $7 million to a Boston Cancer Society for the development of a Hope Lodge.

Cancer drug Nexavar has made its point. It can help people with liver cancer survive longer.

Bayer Pharmaceuticals and Onyx Pharmaceuticals announced Monday that advanced stage clinical trials for this drug will end early. And now patients in the placebo arm of the study can begin treatment with the actual drug.

It's been a long road for researchers who have been searching for a liver cancer treatment that can target tumors with minimal side effects while extending life for months or even years.

It is estimated that 16,780 people in the United States will die from liver cancer in 2007 -- and it seems Nexavar, a drug initially predicted to fail when used for liver cancer -- may help save some of these lives.

Bayer and Onyx are planning to pursue FDA approval for this drug that has already been approved for kidney cancer.

The first documented whole-ovary transplants are now on the map -- the United States map.

On February 5, a renowned infertility expert in St. Louis transplanted a whole ovary from one woman into her sister in order to enable the sibling to have children after a battle with ovarian cancer that resulted in early and permanent menopause.

Dr. Sherman Silber, who performed the same type of transplant on twins last month and has previously restored fertility via ovary tissue transplants, believes his success is unmatched. Apparently, surgeons in China have reported similar success but offer few details to support their claim. And due to a lack of published material about the case, it is believed Dr. Silber's ovary transplants may be the world's first scientifically documented cases.

Silber says whole-ovary transplants, that could potentially allow women with cancer to freeze an ovary, undergo treatment, and then have the ovary returned to restore fertility, could also one day help women who don't have cancer but experience natural premature ovarian failure, which leads to early menopause.

While both of Silber's ovary transplant patients are awaiting news about their status of their fertility, Silber awaits the long-term results of his work. Ovarian tissue transplants last a few years, but whole ovary transplants should last for decades, he says.

United States Representative Charles Norwood, who left Washington last week to enter into the care of hospice, died yesterday at his home after battling cancer and lung disease. He was 65.

Norwood, whose passing prompted the House to observe a moment of silence Tuesday in his honor, suffered since 1998 from chronic lung disease and later metastatic cancer that spread from his lungs to his liver. Last week, he announced he would no longer accept treatment, that he would allow hospice to care for him for the remainder of his days.

A dentist from Augusta, Georgia, Norwood was the first Republican to represent northeastern Georgia since the Civil War. A conservative passionately opposed to government bureaucracy and adamantly supportive of patients' rights, he hoped to one day become Georgia's first Republican Governor.

Norwood's medical decline began when his lung condition -- idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis -- began restricting his ability to breathe and necessitated a lung transplant in 2004.

Known for zipping around the Capitol with a motorized cart and oxygen tank, Norwood developed cancer on his non-transplanted lung reportedly due to the immune suppression drugs he took after his transplant. And although his cancer was surgically removed and his health did improve, doctors learned this past November his cancer had spread.

The vacancy left by Norwood's death will not be filled immediately due to governmental process. In Georgia, within 10 days of the seat being vacated, the governor must request a special election to the secretary of state. And the election must be held no fewer than 30 days later.

Norwood is survived by his wife, Gloria; two sons, Charles and Carlton; and four grandchildren.

Nearly 20 percent of women and eight percent of men with lung cancer have never smoked, say researchers involved in a study of one million people in the United States and Sweden. The likely culprit in these lung cancer cases is secondhand smoke.

It's not yet clear why women are more likely to develop the disease. Perhaps they are more susceptible to all forms of smoking -- whether direct or secondhand -- or maybe because more men smoke than women, women are more likely to be exposed to secondhand smoke.

While smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer, there are other factors to blame for disease incidence. Radon, asbestos, chromium, and arsenic are all associated with lung cancer.

According to the American Cancer Society, lung cancer will be diagnosed in 213,000 Americans in 2007. The disease will kill 160,000.

United States Representative Charlie Norwood will soon depart Washington, for good. He will head straight home to Georgia where he will receive hospice care now that he has decided to decline all further treatment for lung cancer that has spread to his liver.

An air ambulance will fly Norwood, 65, home as early as Wednesday or Thursday. The congressman, who had been traveling the halls of Congress in an eclectic cart, with oxygen tank in tow has spent much of his time this session in the hospital.

Suffering from chronic lung disease and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, Norwood received a lung transplant in 2004. Doctors then discovered a tumor on his non-transplanted lung and removed it in 2006. But the cancer had already spread to his liver. And while Norwood considered continued treatment, he ultimately determined, "No, you know what, it's time to go home."

Norwood, whose condition was acknowledged by President Bush in his last State of the Union speech, is said to have been as stubborn in his fight against cancer as he was in this fight for the legislation he thought was important for America.

The American Journal of Preventive Medicine issued a report that stated American cigarette warning labels are the smallest and have the least detail printed, making them the least effective.

Other countries such as Canada, Australia, and Britain have warnings that are much larger and include more health information appearing on both sides of the packages. Some countries even have very graphic warning labels printed on their cigarettes.

A study was conducted to see if these larger, more informed labels could make a difference. The study included 15,000 adult smokers in the U.S., U.K, Canada, and Australia to test the effectiveness of the warning labels used in those four countries between 2002 - 2005.

The research did suggest that U.S. smokers might benefit from large graphic warnings on the packages. The U.S. smokers were least likely to notice their American labeling. The researchers also concluded that the U.S. warnings are poor compared to those in other countries.

It is suggested that the U.S. labels need a makeover and putting quit-smoking resources on cigarette packages might also help.

Women with early stage breast cancer now have a new tool at their disposal. The tool -- called MammaPrint -- is newly approved by the FDA and while it is not yet a perfect measure, it can be used along with other information to estimate whether breast cancer is likely to return in five or 10 years.

The value of this test, that measures through computer analysis the activity of 70 genes using a sample of tissue removed from a breast tumor, is that doctors and patients can better determine course of treatments.

MammoPrint offers two results -- high risk and low risk -- and accurately picked in studies which women were at low risk at least 90 percent of the time. However, for women who were told they were at high risk for recurrence as a result of the test, just 23 percent experienced a relapse.

"You can't go all the way to the bank with this test," says FDA official Dr. Steven Gutman who argues the test is still better than having no information at all.

Agendia, the Dutch maker of MammoPrint, is exploring ways to make this one-of-a-kind product available in the United States. It has been used in the Netherlands since 2005.

"This test has enormous implications for the short-term future of cancer research in general, and is one of the truly great breakthroughs of our time," says Cancer Blog reader Gregory Pawelski with whom I am grateful for sharing this story tip with me.