Cancer Research

(Newser) - Artificially reducing cholesterol to very low levels may slightly increase the risk of cancer, but that doesn't mean heart patients should go off their meds. One extra cancer case occurred in each 1,000 patients using statin drugs in an analysis of 23 different trials, Reuters reports; researchers hastened to caution that that doesn't mean the drugs caused the increase. More »

(Newser) - So much for the grapefruit diet, staple of starlets, socialites and other figure-conscious  women throughout the seventies and eighties. Consuming as little as a quarter of a grapefruit daily increases risk of breast cancer in post-menopausal women by as much as 30%, a new study shows. More »

(Newser) - Women who carry one of the two known breast-cancer-causing genes—BRCA1 and BRCA2—are more likely to  be diagnosed with the disease before 50, but they're not more likely to die from it than other breast-cancer patients, a new study concludes. Tracking the 10-year survival rates of women in 22 hospitals in Israel, scientists found no significant difference between those with and without the gene. More »

(Newser) - Tomatoes and lycopene, the pigment that gives them their color, do not prevent cancer, the FDA says, contradicting preliminary research. Researchers analyzed 145 studies of lycopene, tomatoes, and cancer risk and found "no credible evidence" that the vegetable wards off lung, colorectal, breast, cervical or uterine cancers, according to a report released yesterday. More »

(Newser) - Two studies have linked a specific genetic variant to an increased risk of  colon cancer, the BBC reports. About half the population has the permutation, which was linked to a 20% increased risk of developing colon cancer and accounts for 1 of  ten cases. But the risk isn't significant enough to warrant developing a genetic test for the variant, researchers concluded. More »

(Newser) - Prepubescent girls with cancer do not have to give up the prospect of parenthood because of the effects of chemotherapy. Cancer patients as young as 5 can have their eggs removed and frozen before treatment, preserving their fertility, according to research by Israeli scientists. With childhood cancer survival rates climbing, that's good news for a growing number of patients. More »

(Newser) - Half of congenital breast cancer victims inherit the disease from their fathers, not their mothers, according to a new study. And unless dad has female relatives with the affliction, the responsible gene may go undiscovered. The study in JAMA warns doctors, increasingly screening family trees for cancer, not to overlook the paternal genetic danger of the devastating disease. More »