A new study in mice suggests that a way of starving tumors of their blood supply may cause heart attacks and strokes. This study raises concerns about this type of cancer therapy according to the researchers at UCLA.

Drugs that block blood vessel growth, such as Avastin, do so from the outside of the cell by blocking vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), a signaling protein.

In the study, Luisa Irula-Arispe and her team bred mice that lacked VEGF in endothelial cells. The team did not use drugs to block the VEGF. More than half of the mice in their study suffered heart attacks and fatal strokes and even those that lived became ill. Irula-Arispe said that signaling inside the cell is different that signaling outside the cell. She said it is not clear if such drugs as Avastin are dangerous., although she believes that researchers should try to find a more targeted way of getting the drug to the tumor. Currently Avastin and other such drugs are infused, and therefore circulate through the patient's whole body.

The overall cure rate for the 20,000 children diagnosed with cancer in the United States each year is more than 75 percent. Sounds good -- especially when 50 years ago, most children diagnosed with cancer died. But considering that only one in three childhood cancer survivors remain healthy, perhaps this is not such good news.

Thirty years after diagnosis, about 40 percent of survivors have a serious health problem and one-third have multiple problems. Strokes, heart disease, and kidney failure are just a few of the major health concerns that plague many survivors who have entered adulthood.

Doctors have long known that cancer treatments can cause new cancers later in life. But the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study -- the largest ever childhood study of its kind -- shows there are other long-term health problems. Researchers studied 10,000 survivors -- past studies examined 200-300 survivors -- and found these survivors were eight times as likely as their siblings to develop severe and life-threatening conditions. They found survivors of bone tumors, nerve and brain cancer, and Hodgkin's disease faced the highest risk.

The source of these later-in-life health problems vary. Kidney failure may result from damage caused by chemotherapy or radiation or the infections children suffer when their immune systems are weakened. Drugs used to treat infections may also be to blame. Strokes may result from head and chest radiation.

Cancer treatment for people of all ages comes with a price. We buy time, we buy life in exchange for the unknown. But for children -- who stand to live longer than adults -- there is a greater unknown. Sadly, there is a dark side to surviving cancer.

Double the hormone, double the risk. Or so says one study of older women who take hormone pills. When estrogen and testosterone are combined, women face twice the chance of getting breast cancer, according to a study of more than 70,000 nurses. This type of combination therapy may help with mood, libido, and bone density -- but the possible risk of breast cancer may just outweigh these benefits. These findings, published in Monday's Archives of Internal Medicine, add to the evidence that certain types of hormone supplements -- like estrogen-progestin pills -- increase risk of breast cancer, strokes, and heart attacks in women. Other research points to a link between breast cancer and high natural levels of testosterone.

Women's natural levels of estrogen and testosterone decrease with menopause. Use of supplements has climbed over the past 24 years, perhaps putting more women at more risk. Estrogen-testosterone pills are sold under the brand names Estratest and Estratest H.S. and appear on a Washington-based advocacy group's "Worst Pills" list because of breast cancer risk.

Out of New Zealand comes reporting that four New Zealanders have suffered rotting jawbones after taking a bisphosphates medication prescribed to help prevent bone loss for patients suffering from osteoporosis and bone cancers. At least 15 Americans are suing Merck after developing breakdown of bone in the jaw due to taking Fosamax prescribed to strengthen bone and prevent bone loss.

According to the report, while the New Zealand patients were not taking the brand name drug, Fosamax, they were taking a similar version of the same drug. In total, about 2500 cases of rotting jaws have been reported. Merck is the same company who was forced to take Vioxx, an arthritis drug, off the market after a study showed it doubled the risk of heart attacks or strokes if patients took it for longer than 18 months. Perhaps we need to take a closer look into the medicine cabinet -- and start asking more questions -- before we rush to get a glass of water and down the newest approved pill. A new cancer drug is about to hit the market. Let's take a look.