On Friday, the FDA ruled that cancer drug Avastin should not be used to treat breast cancer because Avastin’s risky side-effects outweigh its benefits for breast cancer patients. "Women who take Avastin for metastatic breast cancer risk potentially life threatening or serious side-effects, such as heart attacks or heart failure, severe high blood pressure, bleeding or hemorrhaging," FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg said. 

Administering HPV vaccines for girls and young women has become a controversial topic, with some parents uncomfortable vaccinating children as young as 11 for a sexually transmitted disease. The vaccine has also become a hot topic among the GOP presidential candidates, with Rep. Michele Bachmann falsely claiming the vaccine caused a girl to become "mentally retarded." Doctors say there have been no proven cases of any harmful side-effects and that the vaccination is important in preventing several cancers, which HPV can lead to. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is now recommending that boys and young men take the vaccine to prevent throat and anal cancer, as well as the spread of HPV to women.

Hugo Chavez has returned to his home country of Venezuela just in time for the 200th anniversary of his country’s independence from Spain celebrated with parades and parties today. Chavez had been in Cuba receiving treatment for stomach cancer and his arrival was somewhat unexpected. Yesterday he gave a speech from the balcony of the presidential palace to excited crowds in Caracas. 

After an emotional and tense two-day hearing in Silver Springs, Maryland, federal advisers voted to revoke the approval of the world’s top-selling cancer drug Avastin as a treatment for women with advanced breast cancer. The Food and Drug Administration’s Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee heard from patients who say Avastin is a miracle drug, and from cancer advocates who point to adverse side-effects in other users. Finally, the committee concluded that research showed that the drug, which costs $88,000 a year per patient, failed to significantly extend patients’ lives or their quality of life. 

The documentary "How to Die in Oregon" premieres tonight on HBO. The film follows a woman named Cody Curtis as she suffers from liver cancer and, ultimately, makes the decision to end her life. It’s a difficult subject. Yet critics have described this documentary as “uplifting” and even “life-affirming.” Peter Richardson is the director of "How to Die in Oregon." He and Stan Curtis, the husband of the woman portrayed in the film, talk about the process of making the film and why the story needed to be told.

New findings published in the Journal of the American Medical Association yesterday report that a long accepted but invasive protocol for treating breast cancer may not be necessary in some 20 percent of patients. 

Scientists are working on what would be a profoundly useful new tool in early cancer detection, if successful. Johnson & Johnson announced a partnership with Massachusetts General Hospital to develop a blood test that could pinpoint a single cancer cell amongst billions of healthy ones: a life-changing needle in a massive haystack. 

On Monday morning, with much of the east coast of the U.S. under a thick blanket of snow, we asked our listeners for their weather stories. Rebecca Poston Creel, from South Carolina, wrote in with her family's story, and we thought it was one worth sharing with our listeners. This is what she said: 

My brother in law is terminally ill and we are afraid that this may be our last Christmas together. We celebrated the holiday on Sunday and all woke up to a blanket of snow!  In South Carolina it's a very uncommon event. It was so wonderful to play with our brother, his three-year-old daughter and the rest of the family, in the snow for the holiday. It may have been the best Christmas of our lives!  It was without a doubt a Christmas miracle for our family.

We’re considering the life and death of Elizabeth Edwards, today. She was the author of two books, “Resilience” and “Saving Graces.”  She was also a student of literature and politics, a fierce advocate for health care reform, and the former wife of former Senator John Edwards. Over the course of her life she became an increasingly public figure, who surrounded herself with family and friends in the last weeks of her life.

Elizabeth Edwards died of breast cancer yesterday at the age of 61. Whether it was on the campaign trail, during her cancer treatments or on book tours, Edwards connected with a large number of people — even as she split from husband and former Senator John Edwards. 

For over four thousand years cancer has been an increasingly common scourge of our species; indiscriminately afflicting the very strong, the very weak, the very young and the very old among us. Yet in all that time, we have come to know relatively little about the disease itself.

We speak with oncologist and author Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee, who has been researching and fighting cancer for over a decade. In his new book “The Emperor of All Maladies,” he gives the disease, its various treatments and future prospects a much-needed “biography.”

We often hear about successful medical drug clinical trials, and assume that such trials frequently test "magic bullet" cures. Nearly every trial, however, requires a control group: people who are not given the new drugs and, thus, don't benefit from them if they are later proven to work.  Many doctors, researchers and patients are asking questions about the fairness of maintaining these control groups, once a given drug being tested has positive results.

After a huge amount of publicity and hype, “The Big C” premiered on Showtime last night. The show is a comedy about something a lot of people don't like to talk about, let alone laugh over: cancer.

Laura Linney plays a middle aged woman who’s just been diagnosed with Stage IV melanoma, and given about 18 months to live. In the first episode, Linney's character, Cathy, confides her diagnosis to just one entity: the neighbor’s dog.

"I'm living the dream!" she shouts. "I'm here all year! Performing at Stage 4! Oh come on, come on, you gotta give it up for me a little bit. It's kind of funny? Death comedy." She laughs. And then starts to cry. 

San Francisco wants to let consumers know about the radiation coming out of their cellphones. On Tuesday, the city's Board of Supervisors passed a measure requiring point-of-sale displays to provide information on the amount of radiation their devices emit.  Mayor Gavin Newsom is expected to sign the measure into law. But should consumers actually be worried?

Millions of American men are tested every year for prostate cancer, but the blood test used for screening isn’t completely reliable. Now, the American Cancer Society says there's a chance the screenings can do more harm than good. What are men at risk of prostate cancer supposed to do?

Last month the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force issued a recommendation saying that women should hold off on breast cancer screenings until they turn 50, not the previously recommended 40. The task force comprises doctors from across the country, and their recommendation is based on firm science; despite this, the finding has sparked a firestorm of controversy, with many women saying they are not willing to give up the screenings.

We talk with author Barbara Ehrenreich, whose most recent book is "Bright-sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America." She wrote a controversial op-ed for the Los Angeles Times in which she argues that the feminist movement has been hijacked by what she calls "pink ribbon brigades." She says the debate over breast cancer screenings has stolen the limelight from much more important issues, like abortion rights.

As the health care bill enters a critical phase and the Senate Finance Committee gets ready to vote on it as early as next week, we take a look at who might get left behind. We talk with Takeaway Washington correspondent, Todd Zwillich, and two ordinary Americans from the health care trenches: Dr. Harry Walker, director of MetroHealth Center for Community Health in Cleveland, Ohio; and Andre Singleton, a 23-year-old student and uninsured cancer survivor from Kansas City, Mo.

In May of 2008, Senator Ted Kennedy had a seizure and was rushed to the hospital. Just a few days later, he was diagnosed with malignant glioma. It's a particularly difficult type of brain cancer to treat. With us to talk more about the condition Kennedy faced is Dr. Eugene Flamm. He heads the department of neurosurgery at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City. We also talk to Dr. Sherwin Nuland, surgeon and professor of bioethics and medicine at Yale University School of Medicine. He is also the author of seveal books including, "How We Die: Reflections on Life's Final Chapter."

Three years ago, the Food and Drug Administration approved the vaccine Gardasil, which protects against human papillomaviruses (HPV).  The category includes around 100 sexually transmitted viruses that are the primary cause of cervical cancer. By the end of last year more than 23 million doses had been distributed – enough to vaccinate seven million girls.

A new government study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association has raised some concerns about side effects associated with the drug. Merck, the drug's manufacturer, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention maintain Gardasil is safe and effective, and that adequate warnings are provided. To find out more, we speak with Diane Harper, a physician and one of the lead researchers for Merck's Gardasil clinical trials. She has been speaking out in favor of more warnings. We also speak with Sheila Rothman, a professor at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. For one parent's point of view, we talk to Kenye Jones-Downing about whether she plans to give her daughter the vaccine.

Decide for yourself! Watch the ad below. Does it go too far? Or not far enough?

Last weekend, researchers announced details of a new cancer “vaccine” that keeps some cancers at bay for more than a year. The announcement came at an oncology conference in Florida that’s considered the world’s largest of its kind. But oncologist Len Lichtenfield, deputy chief medical officer at the American Cancer Society, says that other research that's just as ground-breaking never sees the light of day because of legal and financial barriers.