Robert Novak Diagnosed with Brain Tumor

Fiery columnist bonds with Kennedy, explains hit-and-run accident

(NEWSER) - Although Robert Novak has antagonized many in Washington, that hasn’t stopped the political columnist's targets from encouraging him as he battles brain cancer. “I have had few good things to say about Teddy Kennedy since I first met him,” Novak admits in a syndicated column distributed today, yet his fellow cancer patient and his wife "have treated me like a close friend." More»

(NEWSER) - Robert Novak says his prognosis is "dire," and the longtime political columnist will retire immediately, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. "The details are being worked out with the doctors this week, but the tentative plan is for radiation and chemotherapy,” said Novak, who was diagnosed with a brain tumor last month. More»

Study focused on 1960s, when more radiation used in X-rays than today

(NEWSER) - Dental X-rays have been linked to meningioma, the most common type of brain tumor, according to a new study by the American Cancer Society. The biggest correlation was found with bitewing X-rays, in which a patient bites on the film while an image is taken; according to the study, people with meningioma were more than twice as likely to have had at least one bitewing X-ray, reports the Washington Post . More»

Biggest study of its kind can't find a link

(NEWSER) - If you've been living with the nagging fear that your beloved cellphone is probably giving you a brain tumor, you can relax now; a new Danish study published yesterday has concluded that there's no link between cellphones and cancer. The study is the largest ever conducted on the subject, with 358,403 participants, the AP reports. Researchers found that decade-long cellphone users weren't any more likely to get cancer, or to develop tumors near where they typically hold their phones. More»

And kids should theoretically be most vulnerable

(NEWSER) - Go ahead and get the family plan, because cell phones don’t increase the risk of brain tumors in kids or adolescents—the groups that should theoretically be most vulnerable—according to a new study. The European study, which involved nearly 1,000 participants, was prompted by fears that kids' developing nervous system could be harmed by cellphone emissions, the Wall Street Journal explains. More»