I take vitamins. I’ve read that about half of Americans also take them. Why not? Can’t hurt and may help, right? Maybe not. A few years ago, doctors thought that smokers taking beta carotene, a vitamin A-like chemical might be protected from...

I once had an elderly patient with colon cancer that had spread to her liver; she had lived for five years on chemotherapy. In fact, about one year after starting treatment, the CT scans of her liver could no longer spot her cancer. She felt well on...

This week a panel of outside experts, commissioned by the United States Preventive Services Task Force, concluded that mammography should not be routinely recommended for women under age 50 and those over age 50 probably only need mammography every 2...

Almost exactly 10 years ago, I was attending my first meeting of the American Society of Hematology as an employee of the American Cancer Society. But, instead of attending meetings, I spent much of my time on the phone with reporters. It was at that...

Another review, this time of nearly 14,000 cancer patients has found that treatment with erythropoietin (EPO, Epogen, Procrit, Arensp) may be harmful to your health. Erythropoietin is a naturally occurring hormone that we all have. Its role is to help...