Viruses, Infections & Disease, features and articles | Educational Science

May 30, 2013

Nail Salon Lamps Don't Raise Skin Cancer Risk

While the risk of developing skin cancer is known to be linked with exposure to ultraviolet light, it's been less clear whether the UV lamps used in nail salons might raise the risk of skin cancer. Now, a new study suggests these lamps don't increase skin cancer risk. In the...

May 30, 2013

Melanoma Patients Treated with Their Own Tumor-Fighting Cells

A man with metastatic melanoma, who was predicted to live four months, has lived for three years and is still in remission, following an experimental treatment for the deadly skin cancer, a new study reports. The findings suggest giving melanoma patients an extra dose of their own tumor-fighting cells may...

May 30, 2013

HPV May Increase Skin Cancer Risk

Some types of human papillomaviruses, or HPVs, may increase the risk of nonmelanoma skin cancers, a new study finds. A review of blood sample records in Norway and Sweden shows that people infected with a certain group of HPVs that make their home in skin cells were 30 percent more...

May 30, 2013

Doctors Urged to Tell Young Patients About Skin Cancer Danger

Fair-skinned children, teens and young adults should learn about ways to reduce their risk of skin cancer from their primary care doctors, a government-appointed panel of experts recommends. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force said today (May 8) that research shows such counseling from doctors can increase the use of...

May 30, 2013

Aspirin May Prevent Melanoma in Women

Aspirin may have another benefit in addition to relieving pain and preventing heart attacks. The common, over-the-counter tablet may also help reduce a woman's risk for melanoma, the most dangerous type of skin cancer, a new study suggests. Researchers found that postmenopausal women who used aspirin two or more times...

Jun 26, 2013

Melanoma Deaths More Likely in Young Men Than Women

Young men are more likely to die of the skin cancer melanoma than young women, regardless of the severity of the tumor, a new study found. This suggests there are fundamental biological differences between melanoma in men and women, the researchers said. Looking at melanoma cases among a population of...

Aug 1, 2013

Masked Melanoma: Cancerous Mole Hidden Behind Tattoo

When a 29-year-old man in Germany decided to get his tattoo removed, he also ended up removing a mole, hidden within the colorful designs, which turned out to be cancer, according to a report of his case. The tattoo covered both of the man's arms, and his chest. He'd had...

Aug 22, 2013

Why Redheads Are at Higher Risk for Melanoma

The same genetic mutation that leads to red hair and fair skin may put redheads at risk for skin cancer, a new study suggests. The results show mutations in a gene called MC1R — which cause red hair, fair skin and poor tanning ability — also set up skin cells...

Apr 1, 2014

Living Alone Linked with Higher Risk of Melanoma Death in Men

Men who live alone may have a higher risk of dying from the skin cancer melanoma compared with men who live with a partner, a new study from Sweden finds. Researchers looked at data on more than 27,000 people diagnosed with melanoma in Sweden between 1990 and 2007, and examined...

May 29, 2014

Severe Sunburns Early in Life Linked to Higher Melanoma Risk

Although too much sun exposure throughout life increases the risk of all types of skin cancer, melanoma — the least common, but deadliest type of skin cancer — seems particularly linked to sun exposure early in life, according to a new study. The researchers found that women who had experienced...

Jan 26, 2009

Masturbation May Increase Risk of Prostate Cancer

Editor's Note: This story was revised Jan. 28, 2008 after an email interview with the study's lead author Polyxeni Dimitropoulou to address concerns that this research produced markedly different results than some previous studies on the topic. A new study finds men who are sexually active in their 20s and...

Jun 1, 2010

Prostate Cancer Symptoms and Treatment

Prostate cancer is diagnosed in about 20 percent of men. It may be more prevalent, however, because some men never know they have it and die of other causes before the slow-growing cancer becomes a problem. Prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer found in American men, after...

Jun 17, 2010

Study: Dogs Can Detect Prostate Cancer

A study presented earlier this month at a meeting of the American Urological Association by a team of French researchers found that a particular dog breed, Belgian Malinois shepherd dogs, can be trained to detect prostate cancer. Doctors at Paris's Hospital Tenon trained the dogs to distinguish between the smell...

Jul 1, 2010

Prostate Cancer Diagnosed and Treated Too Much, Docs Say

Every year, millions of men undergo screening for prostate cancer. This disease, which strikes one out of every six men, is very curable in its early stages. But, say some doctors, early detection of prostate cancer is doing more harm than good. We're over-diagnosing it, and we're over-treating too many...

Jul 29, 2010

Prostate Cancer 'Cell of Origin' Identified

For researchers, a key to studying any cancer is finding its cell of origin. Now scientists at the University of California at Los Angeles say they've found just that -- a specific type of cell that gives rise to prostate cancer. For years doctors worked under the assumption that prostate...