Petraeus Secretly Treated for Cancer

Patients have 30% lower death rate

(NEWSER) - Doctors in London have stopped a cancer drug trial because it was so successful, the Telegraph reports. They said it would have been "unethical" to give any of the 922 participants a placebo for their prostate cancer. The drug in the trial targets tumors with alpha radiation, which the doctors say is effective because it damages tumors more than typical beta particles, and causes less harm to surrounding tissue. More»

C. sporogenes can activate drugs in cancer, leave body unharmed

(NEWSER) - A bacterium found in soil could be a useful tool in fighting many types of cancer, reports the BBC . The Clostridium sporogenes bacterium, a relative to botulism and tetanus, produces spores that only grow when there is no oxygen. The human body is full of oxygen, but solid cancer tumors, such as those in the brain, breast, and prostate, are oxygen-free, so researchers can make anti-cancer drugs that only activate in those tumors thanks to enzymes produced by those bacteria. More»

2008 diplomatic cable said president could die in '3 to 5 years'

(NEWSER) - WikiLeaks' latest spill is a 2008 US diplomatic cable that says Robert Mugabe has prostate cancer that's spread and "will cause his death in three to five years," Reuters reports. The 87-year-old longtime Zimbabwe leader was apparently advised at the time to resign the presidency; Mugabe last year denied cancer rumors and his office had no comment on the cable, written by the former US ambassador to Zimbabwe. More»

He'll have surgery tomorrow to remove prostate

(NEWSER) - Ready to feel bad for a disgraced ex-congressman ? Mark Foley has prostate cancer, he tells NewsMax . Foley, who now hosts a conservative radio show, revealed that he’ll undergo surgery tomorrow to remove his entire prostate. “Naturally, I have some reservations about the surgery. Nobody wants their plumbing messed with,” he said. “But I feel mostly good about it.” More»

(NEWSER) - The radiation emitted by airport body scanners is up to 20 times more powerful than previously believed, warns a scientist who says current calculations fail to take into account the concentration of scanner radiation in the skin. This would mean the potential cancer risk from scanners is also much higher. Given that 800 million people a year pass through airport scanners, "the population risk has the potential to be significant," Dr. David Brenner tells the Telegraph . More»