Latest Medical & OCAN News Articles

The Ovarian Cancer Alliance of Nevada wants to help extend your knowledge by keeping you informed about the latest happenings in this area of your health. They consist of articles not only about medical breakthroughs, but of success, hope, and actions. The following links are to articles for the current month, that have appeared in newspapers and publications from sources throughout both the U.S. and world wide, and are available with on-line editions. Each listing has a short opening paragraph of the article. The listing of the links are by date published, with the most recent found listed first.

For last months news, see: Ovarian Cancer August News


September 2007

Sep 21, 2007 - "T he Ithaca Journal", Ithaca, NY
Gynecologic cancer affects more than 80,000 women
September is Gynecologic Cancer Awareness Month. Last year, more than 80,000 women in the United States received an unexpected diagnosis: cancer of a reproductive organ. This means that on average, one woman in the United States is diagnosed with gynecologic cancer every seven minutes — that's more than 200 women diagnosed each and every day. While these types of cancers — including cervical, vulvar, uterine and ovarian — are rarely discussed, they affect more women than lung cancer or colon cancer.

Sep 20, 2007 - "Fox 30 TV", Jacksonville, FL
Ladies, This Is Your Reminder
If you haven't gotten your yearly women's health exam, this is your reminder. September is GYN-cancer awareness month. One local woman shares her story hoping it'll help others. Cynthia Nelson is used to telling other peoples' stories. She's a medical writer for the Mayo Clinic, but now she's telling her own story hoping it'll help others. At age 33, she was diagnosed with cervical and ovarian cancer.

Sep 20, 2007 - "The Plain Dealer", Cleveland, OH
Phillip Morris: Ovarian cancer awareness & support are one man's mission
If George Yarbrough knew then what he knows now, his wife might still be alive. But ovarian cancer is a master of disguise. It's a sneak. Several years back, the disease caught Yarbrough and Mary unaware. It destroyed their home. It robbed her of her life, and Yarbrough of his wife. Now, he's fighting back. He has tasked himself with raising male awareness about a female disease.

Sep 20, 2007 - "Home Town Life", Livonia, MI
Illness prompts woman to give hair to Locks of Love
Judy Mikitaroff, of Salem Township, always planned on donating her hair to Locks of Love, but an unforeseen illness of her own has forced her to cut her 30 inch ponytail. "I've got ovarian cancer," Mikitaroff said. "I decided to cut it off while I still have it."

Sep 20, 2007 - "Five Towns Jewish Times", Lawrence, NY
Don’t Read This Article: It’s About Cancer
Everyone loves stories about pregnancy, labor, delivery, and the birthing process. Having delivered thousands of babies over the past 18 years, I have some favorites that I love to tell—twins; triplets; babies delivered during blackouts and snowstorms. Some of them involve the very people who are reading this article. (You know who you are!) The topic of this article is very different. It is not an easy topic. It is about breast cancer and ovarian cancer. Please read it through, as I believe you, your cousin, your next-door neighbor, or just someone you are acquainted with will benefit if they are aware of this information. With knowledge comes power.

Sep 13, 2007 - "University Chronicle", St. Cloud, MN
Victim's son raises awareness for ovarian cancer this month
Unlike the visible and well-known Pink Ribbon Program and Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October, many women have never heard of ovarian cancer or its symptoms. "Ovarian cancer is taking too many lives and deserves attention," said Tim Brown, president of the Central Minnesota Chapter of the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition (NOCC). Ovarian cancer entered the forefront of Brown's life when his mother was diagnosed with the disease, and he has since been advocating patient and caregiver responsibility as well as awareness of the difficulties of recognizing cancer.

Sep 12, 2007 - "Peninsula News Review",
Ovarian cancer: signs to look for
Ovarian cancer is one of the most difficult cancers to detect, which is why women need to be especially vigilant about watching for warning signs. As with many types of cancer, doctors still don’t definitively know what the causes of ovarian cancer are. Five to ten per cent of cases are linked to genetic predisposition, but the vast majority are random.

Sep 12, 2007 - "Ironwood Daily Globe ", Ironwood, MI
Ovarian cancer attacks without symptoms
Ovarian cancer doesn't get the kind of attention breast cancer gets. It's not as common, and because survival rates are poor, it does not produce an army of survivors to raise awareness. It's traditionally known as the silent killer because it was thought to reveal no symptoms in its earliest, most curable stages. But ovarian cancer is silent no more.

Sep 12, 2007 - "KXAN TV - CH 36", Austin, TX
Keep Away the Silent Killer
This year, about 22,000 women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer. It's often called the "silent killer" because symptoms don't appear until the cancer is in its late stages. The good news is many ovarian cancer patients respond to treatments and go into remission quickly. The bad news is the cancer often comes back with deadly consequences.

Sep 10, 2007 - "Applesforhealth.com", Ardmore, OK
Women Confused About Ovarian Cancer
More than one in three Canadian women wrongly believe the new, much-hyped HPV vaccine will prevent ovarian cancer, a new poll reveals. And one in four women surveyed think the Pap test they undergo routinely can detect cancer in the ovaries. In fact, the vaccine prevents infection with some strains of human papillomavirus, which can cause cervical cancer. The Pap test is done to detect early signs of cervical cancer. "This is pretty disturbing," said Elisabeth Ross, CEO of Ovarian Cancer Canada, which commissioned the survey.

Sep 10, 2007 - "e Max Health", Hickory, NC
Ovarian Cancer: The Not-so Silent Killer
Ovarian cancer doesn't get the kind of attention breast cancer gets. It's not as common, and because survival rates are poor, it does not produce an army of survivors to raise awareness. It's traditionally known as the “silent killer” because it was thought to reveal no symptoms in its earliest, most curable stages.

Sep 09, 2007 - "Greenwood Commonwealth ", Greenwood, MS
Older women especially at risk for ovarian cancer
Imagine that you begin to have abdominal pain in addition to bloating. You notice a change in your eating habits because you have difficulty eating, and at times, your stomach gets full quickly. You also use the restroom more often. You go to your primary care provider only to find that you have ovarian cancer. How do you think you would respond if you were 65 years old? Forty years old? What about 16 years old?

Sep 07, 2007 - "clickondetroit", Detroit, MI
National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Day
Friday is National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Day. Several groups of cancer experts have put together a list of certain symptoms that may alert women to ovarian cancer. The American Cancer Society and other groups have released a consensus statement listing the symptoms like weeks of bloating, the need to frequently urinate, eating changes and abdominal or pelvic pain.

Sep 06, 2007 - "Ottawa sun", Ottawa, CAN
Cancer taught me to live
In September 1993, my father was diagnosed with small lung cancer. His oncologist confirmed what we feared the most when he told him, "You have two weeks to live." It's no wonder that I dreaded the word "cancer" after that. That is, until it happened to me.

Sep 06, 2007 - "Medical News Today", UK
Moffitt Focuses On Ovarian Cancer During Gynecologic Cancer Awareness Month
Doctors and researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center are harnessing the power of genomic technology to personalize cancer care for women with gynecologic malignancies by matching the right patient with the right drug.

Sep 06, 2007 - "The News & Observer ", Raleigh, NC
Ovarian cancer sneaks in
In retrospect, Joan Stout Knight figures she'd been experiencing the symptoms for months. Bloating, fatigue, menstrual spotting, occasional diarrhea and urinary incontinence. She wrote them all off to age and stage of life. At 51, she knew menopause was knocking on her door. And what woman over 50 hasn't experienced some of these symptoms? "That's what's so sneaky about ovarian cancer," she says.

Sep 05, 2007 - "News Max", West Palm Beach, FL
More Vitamin D Could Mean Fewer Cancers
Thousands of cases of breast and colon cancers might be averted each year if people in colder climates raised their vitamin D levels, researchers estimate in a new report. A number of studies have suggested that vitamin D may be important in cancer risk. Much of this research is based on cancer rates at different latitudes of the globe; rates of breast, colon and ovarian cancer, for example, are lower in sunnier regions of the world than in Northern climates where cold winters limit people's sun exposure.

Sep 01, 2007 - "The StarPhoenix", Saskatoon, SK, Canada
Report scares women half-to-death
Mayo Clinic researchers paint ovarian cancer symptoms with too broad a brush It's been said that a little knowledge is an dangerous thing. A report from The Mayo Clinic shows that this is particularly true when the subject is ovarian cancer. And it illustrates how easy it is to both inform women and worry them at the same time.

Sep 01, 2007 - "King County News", Seattle, WA
Proclamation: Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month
WHEREAS, healthy people and healthy communities are the centerpiece of a vibrant society, and organizations throughout Martin Luther King Jr. County are working to educate and raise awareness about ovarian cancer among our region’s residents; and WHEREAS, ovarian cancer is the deadliest of the gynecologic cancers and the fifth leading cause of cancer deaths among women in the United States; and

Sep 01, 2007 - "Health News Digest", New York, NY
Ovarian Cancer Symptoms Give Hope for Early Diagnosis and Treatment
Ovarian cancer, long considered a silent killer because of the lack of warning signs, may not be so silent. A new consensus statement released by the Gynecological Cancer Foundation reveals that women who have developed ovarian cancer may have had common disease symptoms.