A new study conducted by researchers at Columbia University reports millions of Americans are receiving unnecessary computed tomography (CT) scans which could increase their risk of developing cancer later in life.
Approximately 62 million diagnostic CT scans were performed in the United States last year including more than 4 million involving children. Each CT scan [...]

A study conducted at St Jude Children’s Research Hospital has identified mature nerve cells which can cause retinoblastoma, a form of eye cancer that normally strikes children under three years of age.
The St Jude research team, led by Michael Dyer, PhD, arrived at their discovery by testing different populations of mice whose retinas lacked one [...]

While cancer survival rates in children and older Americans have dramatically improved in recent years, studies show survival statistics for teens and young adults remain virtually unchanged.
Why is there such a disparity?
The August 31, 2007, edition of Science Magazine Podcast discusses possible reasons why recent advancements have not helped this particular age group and steps [...]

Scientists from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the international Pediatric Preclinical Testing Program have been busy trying to unlock the healing secrets of an unusual bacteria discovered in soil samples taken from the volcanic regions of Easter Island.
The bacteria produced a substance known as rapamycin, which was initially shown to be an effective [...]

Senate and House members remain divided about federal funding for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, otherwise known as S-CHIP.
Here’s a cross-section of some of the coverage:
NEWS: ABC; CBS; FOX; MSNBC
GOVERNMENT: The White House; Senate Finance Committee
EDITORIALS: The Boston Globe; The Heritage Foundation
INDUSTRY/PROFESSIONAL PUBLICATIONS: Insurance News Net; American Medical Association
BLOGS: Consumer Healthcare; Working For Change
You’re encouraged [...]

Are chemotherapy treatments or hospital stays keeping you from enjoying story hour with the kids?
Storynory to the rescue!
Storynory’s fabulous site has been offering free audio downloads of classic fairy tales since November 2005. You can download the stories you choose on a computer or iPod and the little ones can listen to the stories [...]

A twelve year study carried out by the Children’s Cancer and Leukaemia Group at the University of Nottingham has shown that chemotherapy may be a better choice than radiation therapy for treating young children with a rare form of brain cancer known as ependymoma.
Results of the research revealed that using chemotherapy rather than radiotherapy [...]

Fertility research being done in Israel is giving new hope to young cancer patients who hope to have children one day. For the first time, doctors have extracted eggs from young female cancer patients and successfully matured them in a laboratory.
Once the removed eggs completed the hormone-induced maturation process in the lab, [...]

Researchers at St Jude Children’s Research Hospital are starting to understand how certain genes may play an important role in preventing the brain cancer medulloblastoma, a cancer of the cerebellum which accounts for approximately 20 percent of childhood brain tumors.
Their study demonstrated how the Brca2 gene performs critical functions in developing nervous systems [...]