Olympic Swimmer Has Cancer

41-year-old won three silvers in pain during Beijing Olympics

(NEWSER) - Dara Torres will finally get some relief after swimming to three silver medals with a damaged shoulder, CNN reports. The 41-year-old is scheduled today for a surgery she put off before the Olympics. Torres went to Beijing armed with anti-inflammatories, but started having intense pain while there. She plans to be back in the pool within 10 days of the operation. More»

Specialists await full results of 12-year study

(NEWSER) - Cancer experts are nervously awaiting the publication of a new study that may revolutionize the treatment of prostate cancer, the Independent reports. First revealed at a urology conference in February, the 12-year study of 731 men showed that standard prostate cancer surgery did nothing to prolong life. "The only rational response to these results is, when presented with a patient with prostate cancer, to do nothing," says a British specialist. More»

Alex Rodriguez prefers hospice care at home with his family

(NEWSER) - Five years of surgery, chemo, and rehabilitation have convinced a 12-year-old cancer patient to halt his treatments, ABC News reports. Alex Rodriguez of Shelbyville, Tenn., chose hospice care at home with his family over going to Texas for experimental treatments. “He is a very courageous young man to have a very mature adult outlook on life," a doctor says. "It’s amazing as a 12-year old he is really able to face the opportunities and challenges that he has in his remaining time.” More»

Woman has phobia of hospitals, needles

(NEWSER) - A court's decision to force a woman to have life-saving cancer surgery against her will has triggered a fierce debate on medical ethics in Britain. Doctors will be allowed to forcibly sedate the 55-year-old, who has learning difficulties and a phobia of hospitals and needles, in order to bring her to hospital and operate on her cancer of the uterus. The judge in the case ruled that the woman was incapable of making a rational decision about her care or of fully understanding the consequences of not having surgery. More»

(NEWSER) - Trouble at nuclear reactors that produce two-thirds of the world’s medical isotopes have created massive testing delays in the US, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. The isotopes, created in Canada and the Netherlands, are used for presurgery stress tests and to locate some cancers; doctors are limping along with older, less effective ones. The Canadian reactor is offline indefinitely because of a leak, and the iffy Dutch one is scheduled for 6 months of maintenance next year. More»