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BOSTON -- Teresa Heinz, the wife of the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry, says she is being treated for breast cancer. Heinz, 71, said she found out in late September that she had cancer in her left breast after having her annual mammogram and doctors later discovered a lump on her right breast.

A liberal Web site is trying to enlist celebrities to persuade a top breast cancer research group to dump Sen. Joe Lieberman's wife as its "global ambassador," saying Hadassah Lieberman's health care lobbying work and her husband's opposition to the so-called public option make her unfit for the role.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Karen Malec is the President of the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer. Malec is one of the world's leading authorities on the relationship between abortion and breast cancer. The following essay is a perfect illustration of how mainstream media bias has tried to silence the public debate over this issue. On two occasions early in November, The Daily Iowan's opinion editor, Shawn Gude, invited a reader by the name of Rebecca Curtis to send him a 600-word rebuttal in response to a guest opinion written by University of Iowa law students, Amber Fricke and Amy Hirst, on October 27,...

At A Glance A large-scale clinical trial has found that annual screening with ultrasound in addition to mammography may find more cancers in women with dense breasts who are at elevated risk for breast cancer.For some groups of women, screening with MRI in addition to mammography helps detect breast cancer at an earlier stage.Supplemental screening with ultrasound or MRI increases the risk of false-positive findings. Media Contacts: RSNA Media Relations: (630) 590-7762 Maureen Morley (630) 590-7754mmorley@rsna.org Linda Brooks1-630-590-7738lbrooks@rsna.org CHICAGO — Results of a large-scale clinical trial presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America...

At A Glance Two studies explored ultrasound as an alternative to invasive biopsies for young women with lumps or other specific, localized signs or symptoms.Targeted breast ultrasound successfully distinguished between benign and cancerous tumors in all cases across both studies.The researchers recommend ultrasound as the tool of choice for evaluating palpable lumps in the under-40 population. Media Contacts: RSNA Newsroom 1-312-949-3233 Before 11/28/09 or after 12/03/09: RSNA Media Relations: 1-630- 590-7762 Linda Brooks1-630-590-7738lbrooks@rsna.org Maureen Morley1-630-590-7754mmorley@rsna.org CHICAGO — Targeted breast ultrasound of suspicious areas of the breast, including lumps, is a safe, reliable and cost-effective alternative to invasive biopsies for...

For young women who have a high risk of breast cancer because of genetic mutations or family history, the radiation from yearly mammograms may make the risk even higher, researchers reported at a radiology conference on Monday. The report is particularly troubling because it suggests that the very women who are told they need mammograms most may also be the most vulnerable to harm from them. Doctors routinely urge high-risk women to have mammograms earlier in life and more often than women judged to be at average risk. Researchers caution that the new report is not conclusive, and that the...

Not one word from NOW about the healthcare bill.

Another reason to VOTE THE TURKEYS OUT IN 2010! The Preventative Services Task Force released it’s findings on the proper protocol for breast cancer screening, which suggested that mammograms be conducted semi-annually only after a woman reaches 50. The Democrats would have you believe that they are just recommendations … but if the Reid Bill were to become law, these recommendations would be law as well. Death Panels? You decide. Below Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn (R, TN) details how the Task Force guidelines would indeed become law, despite what the Democrats will tell you and she has chapter and verse to...

A leading medical group added new fuel to a budding health care controversy on Friday by recommending that women delay their first cervical-cancer screening until age 21 instead of starting the test three years after becoming sexually active Continues...================================================================== Say, didn't a certain someone mention 'Death Panels'? The "U.S. Preventive Services Task Force" -- otherwise known as Palin's "mythical" *Death Panel* which oddly would cease being "mythical" if ObamaPelosiReidCare became law -- is worried that too many American women in their 40s are having their breasts examined. With precision timing, two weeks after National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the government...

Columbus, Nov. 20, (THAINDIAN NEWS) The Ohio State Community is “extremely saddened” by the news of the death of Stefanie Spielman, the wife of Ohio State football star Chris Spielman. Stefanie passed away on Thursday after fighting a long battle with breast cancer. She was 42 years old at the time of her death. Stefanie was an activist and fought a public battle against the disease that she herself was afflicted with. She passed away at Upper Arlington, the family’s home. Stephanie was detected with a lump in her breast at the age of 30 years.

So when I heard about the latest release from the government task force not recommending mammograms until age 50, I shuddered to think what would have happened if my mom waited to have a mammogram until she was 50...

Leaders of the Republican National Committee say revised recommendations issued by a government-funded panel that say women only need to be screened for breast cancer after the age of 50 could be the beginning of health care rationing by the government. RNC Chairman Michael Steele and co-chair Jan Larimer wrote a letter to President Obama Thursday, obtained by the Washington Times, that calls the new recommendations a "thinly veiled attempt to save money by limiting mammograms has the effect of placing a dollar value on a human life." The U.S. Preventative Services Task Force, an independent panel of doctors and...

ABC’s Robin Roberts on Thursday pressed a government official on rationing and a new recommendation that women under the age of 50 shouldn’t get regular mammograms. Talking to one of report's authors, she chided, "Dr. [Thomas] Wilt, you know many are feeling that this is trying to save money, that this is a political move." Roberts challenged Wilt, who is with the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force. Although she didn’t specifically use the word rationing, the implication was clear: "You are an independent panel, but federally funded independent panel. How do you respond to those who feel that this is...

Stefanie Spielman, 42, wife of OSU great Chris Spielman, has died. She is beloved for her courageous struggle against breast cancer. Stefanie is survived by her husband, Chris, and four children. A fund named for her -- Stefanie Spielman Fund for Breast Cancer Research -- has raised more than $6.5 million for breast cancer research, according to the Spielman Fund Web site.

A top federal health official said Wednesday that the controversial new guidelines for breast cancer screening do not represent government policy, as the Obama administration sought to keep the debate over mammograms from undermining the prospects for health-care reform. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, in a written statement, said the new guidelines had "caused a great deal of confusion and worry among women and their families across this country," and she stressed that they were issued by "an outside independent panel of doctors and scientists who . . . do not set federal policy and . . ....

Doctors are in uproar over a recommendation to raise the age of breast cancer screening, saying that more women will die from the disease, which claims 40,000 lives each year. The Preventative Services Task Force of scientists and researchers recommended that breast cancer screening in women should begin at the age of 50 instead of 40. And it further said that women between the ages of 50 to 74 should be screened every two years instead of annually. "Screening saves lives, and cutting back on screening would cost lives," said Dr Timothy Johnson, an oncologist at Holyoke Medical Center in...

SAN FRANCISCO — Only 21% of Massachusetts women older than age 40 years were not in mammographic screening programs. Yet unscreened women accounted for 75% of the breast cancer deaths in an analysis of data on 6,997 invasive breast cancers diagnosed in 1990-1999 and followed through 2007. “The most effective method for women to avoid death from breast cancer is to have regular mammographic screening,” Dr. Blake Cady said at a breast cancer symposium sponsored by the American Society of Clinical Oncology, where he presented the data. Extrapolation from the study's results suggests that for the projected 192,370 women nationwide...

Controversy over the benefits of screening for breast cancer and prostate cancer hit the headlines and the blogosphere when the New York Times reported that the American Cancer Society is planning to temper its proscreening message for breast and prostate cancers, and a prominent representative of the society denied it on his blog. By the end of the day, the society's chief medical officer, Dr. Otis W. Brawley, posted a firm statement that the ACS stands by its screening guidelines. “The bottom line is that mammography has helped avert deaths from breast cancer, and we can make more progress against...

FNC's Pentagon correspondent, Jennifer Griffin has been off-air for nearly six weeks since she was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task force (whatever that is), in the Annals of Internal Medicine, yesterday advised women not to begin mammogram screenings for breast cancer until 50, and then conducting them only every other year and not annually, as had been recommended previously. It’s about time. But why the change? False positives Docs have finally woke up to the effects of false positives. Mammograms are far from perfect test instruments, and a false positive is when the mammogram says you have cancer when you truly do not. These happen all the time with mammograms, especially in younger women who...

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Cancer experts fear new U.S. breast imaging guidelines that recommend against routine screening mammograms for women in their 40s may have their roots in the current drive in Washington to reform healthcare. Critics of the guidelines, issued on Monday by the U.S. Services Task Force, an independent panel sponsored by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Quality, say the new guidelines are a step backward and will lead to more cancer deaths. Here are some of their concerns. * Dr Carol Lee, chairwoman of the American College of Radiology Breast Imaging Commission, said she fears insurers -- both...

Less Rigorous Guidelines for Breast Cancer ScreeningsFor years, women have been taught to perform regular breast self-exams and those 40 and older told to undergo annual mammograms to detect breast cancer, a disease that kills about 40,000 people in the U.S. every year. Now, new guidelines released by an influential government-funded authority on screening offer this message: never mind. The new U.S. Preventive Services Task Force guidelines, published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine, state that routine mammograms aren't necessary for women of average cancer risk in their 40s, and that women between 50 and 74 years old don't...

The long-standing recommendation that women age 40 and older at average risk of breast cancer get annual mammograms and the notion that women benefit from doing breast self-examination at home is being turned on its head. In a nod to the risks of false positives and unnecessary procedures that mammograms can generate, especially in younger women, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force issued new guidelines this week saying women in their 40s who have average risk generally don’t need regular screening and that women 50 to 74 should cut back and get mammograms no more than once every two years....

11/16/09 Most women should start regular breast cancer screening at age 50, not 40, according to new guidelines released Monday by an influential group that provides guidance to doctors, insurance companies and policy makers. The new recommendations reverse longstanding guidelines and are aimed at reducing harm from overtreatment, the group says. It also says women age 50 to 74 should have mammograms less frequently — every two years, rather than every year. And it said doctors should stop teaching women to examine their breasts on a regular basis. The new report conflicts with advice from groups like the American Cancer...

NEW YORK – Most women don't need a mammogram in their 40s and should get one every two years starting at 50, a government task force said Monday. It's a major reversal that conflicts with the American Cancer Society's long-standing position. Also, the task force said breast self-exams do no good and women shouldn't be taught to do them. For most of the past two decades, the cancer society has been recommending annual mammograms beginning at 40. But the government panel of doctors and scientists concluded that getting screened for breast cancer so early and so often leads to too...

Most women should start regular breast cancer screening at age 50, not 40, according to new guidelines released Monday by an influential group that provides guidance to doctors, insurance companies and policy makers. The new recommendations reverse longstanding guidelines and are aimed at reducing harm from overtreatment, the group says. It also says women age 50 to 74 should have mammograms less frequently — every two years, rather than every year. And it said doctors should stop teaching women to examine their breasts on a regular basis.

Research: Women in China See 17% Higher Breast Cancer Risk From Abortion Beijing, China -- Chinese researchers have issued a new study indicating women who have had abortions face a 17 percent higher chance of contracting breast cancer than women who carried their pregnancy to term. One leading American scientist says he believes the increased risk is even higher. http://www.LifeNews.com/int1379.html

DAYTON — After her best childhood friend died from breast cancer, Ruth Deddens began researching the causes of the dreaded disease. The Oakwood woman’s investigation eventually led her to Angela Lanfranchi, a clinical assistant professor of surgery at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey and president of the Breast Cancer Prevention Institute. Deddens, active in the “40 Days for Life” movement, decided to bring Lanfranchi to town as part of this year’s local pro-life campaign. Lanfranchi — who insists there are proven links between breast cancer, abortion and birth control pills — was the featured speaker at...

The American Cancer Society, which has long been a staunch defender of most cancer screening, is now saying that the benefits of detecting many cancers, especially breast and prostate, have been overstated. It is quietly working on a message, to put on its Web site early next year, to emphasize that screening for breast and prostate cancer and certain other cancers can come with a real risk of overtreating many small cancers while missing cancers that are deadly... --snip-- The new analysis — by Dr. Laura Esserman, a professor of surgery and radiology at the University of California, San Francisco,...

Breast cancer awareness month makes many Alaskans think about woman in their lives who have battled the disease. One percent of breast cancer patients, however, are in fact men. UAA's College of Business and Public Policy Interim Dean Bear Baker seems to live up to his Alaska themed name. "Does it bother me," Baker says. "No. I'm a pretty vocal SOB." Baker is not talking about his name though, but being an Alaskan man whom, like his wife, proudly survived breast cancer. "I felt a lump under my left nipple in the shower in late May of 2005," Baker says....

Despite the perception of many oncologists that tamoxifen is an inferior drug, and should be substituted by an aromatase inhibitor in post-menopausal women, the current evidence strongly supports the view that AIs should be used 2–3 years after tamoxifen to achieve the maximal overall survival (OS) advantage. The last year has been an interesting time for oncologists interested in the adjuvant hormonal treatment of post-menopausal women with receptor-positive early breast cancer. Three important new pieces of clinical research were presented at the 2008 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium: a meta-analysis of the Aromatase Inhibitor (AI) trials (Ingle et al, 2008b)...

Komen for the Cure Races as Research Shows Abortion-Breast Cancer Link Washington, DC -- With October as breast cancer awareness month, Komen for the Cure is sponsoring races and events across the country to raise awareness of the potentially fatal disease. However, Komen isn't providing women with information on a way to help prevent breast cancer by not having an abortion. http://www.lifenews.com/nat5550.html

Metformin Kills Breast Cancer Stem Cells, May Fight Many Cancers Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD The next breakthrough breast cancer treatment may be a diabetes drug already on the shelves of nearly every pharmacy. The drug is metformin, available generically and under brand names such as Glucophage and Fortamet. A growing body of evidence suggests that diabetes patients taking metformin are less likely to get cancer, and have better outcomes if they do get cancer, than those not taking the drug. Now Harvard researcher Kevin Struhl, PhD, and colleagues find that metformin can kill breast cancer stem cells, thought to...

This month, like every October, a sea of pink ribbons washes over products from sneakers to snacks. While the effort raises research dollars, it leaves some breast cancer survivors feeling that companies are profiting from their pain.When KimZielinski was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007 at the age of 33, well-meaning friends inundated her with products bearing a little pink ribbon. Each product’s maker promised a cut of the sales price to a breast cancer charity, and these friends felt they were supporting the cause and, by association, Zielinski. A petite brunette who’s now 35, she was enormously grateful for...

British Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology Reveals Abortion Boosts Odds of Premature Births, Cerebral Palsy and Breast Cancer Researcher Brent Rooney says, "Since the British Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology is very prestigious, its abortion-preemie revelation is HUGE." On Sept. 16, 2009 Dr. Prakesh Shah (U. Toronto) had his abortion-preemie 'study of studies' published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Using data from 37 prior studies, Dr. Shah reported that 1 prior induced abortion boosted relative odds of a premature birth by 35% ...

Dear Friends: Some people will be celebrating the birth control pill's 50th birthday next year, but they probably won't be cancer patients and survivors whose health was damaged by the pill. The Sun-Times News Group is kicking off the celebration early with a story by Jeanne Millsap that contains many inaccuracies. Her story is entitled, "The pill's versatility." Millsap quotes obstetrician/gynecologist Dr. Mary Fitzgibbon of Provena St. Joseph Medical Center who encourages teens to take the pill during the most cancer-susceptible time of their lives to treat acne, irregular menstrual periods and menstrual cramps. Irregular menstrual periods are beneficial in...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A prominent breast cancer surgeon and professor has written a new article for a medical publication saying that abortion increases a woman's risk of contracting breast cancer. On the other hand, miscarriage has no effect while a full-term pregnancy lowers the breast cancer risk.Dr. Angela Lanfranchi is a surgeon who deals with breast cancer and is also a Assistant Professor of Surgery at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and president of the Breast Cancer Prevention Institute.She published a paper this week in the medical journal Linacre Quarterly that shows how different pregnancy outcomes influence...

Surgeon: Abortion Ups Breast Cancer Risk, Pregnancy Helps Lower It Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A prominent breast cancer surgeon and professor has written a new article for a medical publication saying that abortion increases a woman's risk of contracting breast cancer. On the other hand, miscarriage has no effect while a full-term pregnancy lowers the breast cancer risk. http://www.LifeNews.com/nat5441.html

In the midst of their protracted fight over political corruption and allegations of ethical misdeeds, Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine and Republican contender Chris Christie are having another heated battle -- this time on health policy. While the issue seems one for the wonks, it's prompted a nasty volley of charges. Through news conferences and testimonials from breast cancer survivors, Corzine's supporters say Christie is indifferent to women's health issues because he proposed a low-cost insurance plan that excludes any legally mandated health benefits. Such a plan, Corzine's allies forcefully say, would undo a law enacted five years ago that requires...

Late last week, Conservative Member of the European Parliament, Daniel Hannan, appeared on Fox News. His statement that the US should not attempt to create a new health care system, based on the British model of the National Health Service (NHS), ignited a firestorm in England. On Friday morning, the British airwaves and print media, not to mention the blogosphere, went into overdrive with comments which amounted to a national self examination verging on a societal inquisition. Full marks to Steven Glover for his analysis in The Daily Mail. He wrote what most Brits would categorize as “the bleeding obvious.”...

In some patients, hormone typically seen as troublemaker can induce cancer cells to self-destruct In some breast cancer patients who have tried everything but chemotherapy, estrogen can stall tumor growth, a new study finds. The idea is counterintuitive since estrogen acts as a growth stimulant in most breast cancers. But using the hormone as an anticancer weapon is actually an old strategy that might offer a new treatment option, researchers report in the Aug. 19 Journal of the American Medical Association. They are cautiously optimistic because a screening test used in the new study can determine with considerable accuracy which...

Reform: If the world's most famous physicist, Stephen Hawking, is a shining example of British health care, how is it that others in the U.K. are repeatedly denied critical care and medicine?In commenting on efforts to overhaul American's health care system, we have tried to pull back the curtain and pay attention to those trying to clone the systems of Canada and Britain. But supporters of government-run health care frequently ignore some of the less-pleasant facts. Much has been made of this statement in one of our Aug. 3 editorials: "People such as scientist Stephen Hawking wouldn't have a chance...

Why do the British lag behind American survival rates? Screening standards are different. In the United States, internists recommend that men 50 and older get screened for colon cancer; in the National Health Service in the United Kingdom, screening begins at 75. And British patients wait much longer to see specialists. A Clinical Oncology study of British lung cancer treatment found in 2000 that 20% "of potentially curable patients became incurable on the waiting list." Novel drugs offered here often aren't available there; for instance, Avastin, a drug for advanced colon cancer, is prescribed more often in the U.S. than...

August 07, 2009, 0:00 a.m. Government Medicine KillsThe U.K. and Canada prove it. By Deroy Murdock Imagine that your two best friends are British and Canadian tobacco addicts. The Brit battles lung cancer. The Canadian endures emphysema and wheezes as he walks around with clanging oxygen canisters. You probably would not think: “Maybe I should pick up smoking.� The fact that America is even considering government medicine is equally wacky. The state guides health care for our two closest allies: Great Britain and Canada. Like us, these are prosperous, industrial, Anglophone democracies. Nevertheless, compared to America, they suffer higher...

Health Care: There might not be a "death panel," as Sarah Palin described it, but federal bureaucrats will be making end-of-life decisions. That's why state-run medicine is a leading cause of death in Britain and Canada.A post on the former Alaska governor's Facebook page has caused a stir by discussing openly what many privately fear and something we have written about. End-of-life counseling and efforts to measure cost-effectiveness of treatment will combine in a perfect storm to ration care in a way that lets the government decide who lives and who dies. "The America I know and love is not...

Poughkeepsie, N.Y., Jul 29, 2009 / 12:14 am (CNA).- A Turkish researcher has reported a statistically significant 66 percent increase in breast cancer risk among women who have had an abortion. Dr. Vahit Ozmen and his colleagues at the Istanbul Medical Faculty and Magee-Women's hospital conducted a retrospective study in breast cancer risk factors which discovered the connection. Their study was published in the World Journal of Surgical Oncology, an open access, peer reviewed online medical journal. The researchers also reviewed the contemporary literature on the possible abortion-breast cancer link, saying “the majority of the studies reported that induced abortion...

New Study Finds 66 Percent Increased Breast Cancer Risk After Abortion Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A new study done on women in Turkey who had abortions finds a 66 percent increased risk of contracting breast cancer as a result. The study is the latest to confirm that abortions cause significant adverse medical risks for women who have them, in addition to killing unborn children. Full story and link to study at http://www.LifeNews.com/int1278.html

Here is video of PGA Golfer Phil Mickelson talking recently about his wife's battle with breast cancer. He says his wife Amy is doing well, and he may be able to return to playing golf soon. Mickelson also talks about the importance of Tiger Woods to the game of golf, and how amazing it was for Tom Watson to nearly win the British Open. . . . . (Watch Video)

I was struck by the quotes that came from the President the other day on his health care agenda. He wants to make health care more "efficient." Sounds like a fine idea, but perhaps a word or two on how you plan to implement that plan? The only hint the President gave is that Obamacare would cease the practice of "paying for things that don't make you healthier." So the President is prepared to implement a litmus test of sorts.

Janet Gail was used to looking at mammograms and finding bad news. As a hospital technician in Pennsylvania, that was her job. But she was unprepared for what she found in her own mammogram when she did a routine screening at age 42. "I immediately recognized a suspicious area on the films," Gail -- who asked that her real name not be used because her children don't know her history -- says, "We returned to the X-ray room to take more specialized views, which only confirmed my suspicions. I knew at that moment that my life was forever changed. I...