It used to be that Mononucleosis was known as the Kissing Disease. We were warned not to play spin the bottle because we could end up missing school from mono, though that was a desirable prospect to some students and we were sure to make a full recovery in a few months. But these days, kissing can lead to so much more than just mono -- this article suggests that HPV can be transmitted simply by kissing, although it's more likely to be spread through oral sex, and this can lead to cancer. Another cause of the rising numbers of cancer? It's thought that smoking cannabis is to blame for some oral cancers, although this is unsubstantiated.

What do you think -- is HPV really a 'kissing' disease?

A study which aimed to examine sexual function in long-term female survivors of genital-tract cancer found that these women were pleased with their cancer care, but less satisfied with the emotional support they received regarding the effect of the disease and of the treatments on their sexuality. The study was performed at the University of Chicago and led by Stacy Lindau, MD.

While 74 percent of women in the survey believed that their doctor should have initiated discussion on their sexuality in relation to their cancer care, 62 percent of women said that their doctors never brought up a discussion of the effects of their treatment on their sexuality. Women who did not have such a discussion were three times as likely to suffer from multiple sexual problems.

"It seems unbelievable to me," said one respondent, "that a surgeon would remove one's sexual organs and never talk about sex."

The cancer survivors were just as likely to be married and in sexual relationships, but were four times as likely to have problems that interfered with sex, including pain, difficulty lubricating, surgical scars, bladder infections and incontinence after sex

This networking event called Let's Talk About Sex: Reclaiming Intimacy After Breast Cancer will focus on sexuality and intimacy after a breast cancer diagnosis.

Join Living Beyond Breast Cancer (LBBC) on Wednesday, May 30, 2007, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Philadelphia Marriott West in West Conschohocken, PA.

Featured speaker Kara Nakisbendi, MD will provide a candid and caring discussion about intimacy after a breast cancer diagnosis and how to reclaim sexuality to improve quality of life.

Sad news for the female cancer survivors out there with decreased libido. Topical testosterone creams do not seem to work. A decrease in libido is a common problem among female cancer survivors.

When is our Viagra going to come out?

Seriously though, its tough being in a position where chemotherapy wrecks havoc on our bodies and ruins our libido -- then we are told there is nothing we can do about it. I'm a breast cancer survivor with estrogen positive disease so it is not recommended that I use any supplemental estrogen.

Testosterone cream was tried out in a study, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, that included 150 post-menopausal breast cancer survivors. Half received the testosterone cream and the other half a placebo. The study found that there was no statistical difference in libido between the testosterone cream and placebo groups.

However, all women in the study did show some increase in sexual desire. What that means is that just thinking it might work made some women more horny -- this is known as the placebo effect.

British researchers have found a connection between inflammatory polyarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and cancer. The connection -- a 40 percent increase in cancer mortality in patients with both arthritis conditions.

This is a striking finding, say researchers, whose study is published in the March issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism.

"The results of this study demonstrated that five-year cancer survival in patients with IP is substantially reduced in comparison with that in the general population, even after adjusting for differences in age, sex, and cancer site, whereas the overall cancer incidence does not seem to be increased," says study leader Dr. Alan Silman, an epidemiologist with the University of Manchester.

Merck, maker of the cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil, is backing off its lobbying campaign following pressure from medical groups and parents who believe the vaccine should not be mandated as a school attendance requirement for adolescent girls.

The public outcry that caused Merck to announce its stop order on Tuesday stems from the fact that the vaccine protects against the sexually transmitted human papilloma virus (HPV), which causes cervical cancer. School-mandated vaccines are typically for diseases spread through casual contact, such as measles and mumps.

Merck's medical director for vaccines, Dr. Richard M. Haupt says, "We're concerned that our role in supporting school requirements is a distraction from that goal, and as such have suspended our lobbying efforts," adding that the company will continue providing information about the vaccine upon request.

Gardasil, launched in June and the first vaccine to prevent cervical cancer, has inspired controversy since day one. There's the cost -- $360 for three required shots -- and all sorts of insurance concerns and conservative groups who worry the vaccine encourages premarital sex and interferes with parental rights. Even those in support of the vaccine -- like the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Practitioners -- question Merck's quick push to market this drug, especially in light of the company's withdrawn painkiller Vioxx.

"I believe that their timing was a little bit premature so soon after (Gardasil's) release, before we have a picture of whether there are going to be any untoward side effects," says Dr. Anne Francis, who chairs an American Academy of Pediatrics committee.

Legislatures in 20 states have taken steps to mandate the vaccine for young girls. And with the exception of Texas governor Rick Perry's February 2 executive order requiring Texas girls entering the sixth grade in 2008 get vaccinated, nothing has been made official so far.

Come September 2008, 11 and 12-year-old girls in Texas entering the sixth grade will receive three shots of the Gardasil vaccine used to prevent cervical cancer.

Texas is the first state to require that young schoolgirls receive the cervical cancer vaccine, approved for use by the FDA in June and proven to protect against the most common strains of the human papilloma virus (HPV) -- the cause of most cervical cases cervical cancers.

Texas governor Rick Perry (R), who just signed an executive order making this mandate official, believes the high cost of treating diseases and ensuring the health and well-being of our population justifies the vaccine requirement.

Perry, who has been met with opposition from those concerned that HPV vaccination of young girls promotes premarital sex and interferes with parental rights, will allow parents to opt out of the vaccination requirement with documentation citing religious or philosophical reasons. But he hopes most will comply with the cervical cancer vaccine he believes is no different than immunization against diseases such as polio.

Gardasil drugmaker Merck stands to make billions if the vaccine is made mandatory across the country. The series of three necessary shots cost $360.

Perry, who received $6,000 from Merck's political action committee during his re-election campaign, has other ties to the company. His former chief of staff is one of Merck's three lobbyists in Texas, and his current chief of staff's mother-in-law is state director for Women in Government -- a group active in introducing bills across the country that affect women.

You're in luck if you like fruit, vegetables, and milk -- because Italian researchers say these items appear to reduce the likelihood of developing liver cancer.

Diet plays a significant role in the risk of liver cancer, says the lead researcher of this study who singles out fruits and vegetables as the foods with the most protective effect.

Subjects of this study -- published in the International Journal of Cancer -- were 185 patients with liver cancer and a comparison group of 412 controls without cancer. Participants responded to questions about diet, and their answers showed that as intake of certain foods went up, the risk of liver cancer went down. Factoring out other issues possibly contributing to this indication, researchers found that high intake of milk and yogurt cut the risk of developing liver cancer by 78 percent. High consumption of white meat lowered the risk by 56 percent, and when combined with high intake of fruit, this number dropped to 52 percent.

These finding are particularly important for patients with hepatitis B and hepatitis C (HCV) infection. But overall, experts say anyone wishing to ward off liver cancer should adopt a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, limit alcohol consumption, and avoid HCV infection by practicing safe sex and never sharing needles.

However unintentional she says it has all been when it comes to the sultry and seductive persona that oozes sexuality through the television screen during her cooking shows, How to be a Domestic Goddess author Nigella Lawson has made a career out of making food sexy and the act of food consumption sensual. It is part of her not-always-so-subtle coy kitchen charm.

But if we believe her life to be as silky smooth and decadent as warm cream flowing over a morning bowl of juicy plump strawberries, and equally as charmed as she is charming, we would be mistaken. Yes, she is remarried to multi-millionaire, ad man and art dealer Charles Saatchi, but she is also the widow of journalist and writer John Diamond, who died of tongue cancer five years ago, leaving her suddenly mother and father to their two children, Cosima and Bruno.

A decade earlier, Lawson's mother had died of liver cancer. Her sister Thomasina died in her 30s of breast cancer. Cancer changes people. It is unavoidable, and the change can take many forms. For Nigella, who in the public eye has taken criticism for her ample figure and lack of concern for the fat content of food, has an almost unreasonable fear about thinness. After watching three family members waste away and die from cancer, she sees thin as a sign of illness.

"So even though I mind it when I put on weight I have a visual memory of seeing those people become skin and bone, and that gives me a slight reality check," explains Lawson. In watching her cooking show Nigella Bites, she came through as warm, down-to-earth, without a care for pretentious protocol or rules for the sake of rules. It is the way she cooks, and I get the feeling it is the way she lives. Cancer changes every person it touches and shapes perspectives about what is truly important in life. Being comfortable and enjoying yourself, including the food you eat, is a good recipe for life. A recipe Nigella seems to dish up with ease.

Nigella Lawson is Food Network's newest host in Nigella Feasts. On January 7, the theme of the show will be Feel Good Food featuring Smoked Salmon, Avocado and Pumpkin Seed Salad, a Vietnamese Prawn and Glass Noodle Salad, a colorful Antioxidant Fruit Salad, and a Syllabubbed Yogurt. Yum.

Who and what was the most googled in 2006? The Year-End Google Zeitgeist top ten lists for general and news searches on the Internet this year include Paris Hilton and Bebo -- and cancer.

Of the celebrities most searched for, Paris Hilton outranked Orlando Bloom and the social networking site Bebo outranked MySpace. In the news category, cancer ranked as the third most searched for topic, before podcasting, autism, Hurricane Katrina, and bankruptcy.

The top ten Google searches were, in this order: Bebo, MySpace, World Cup, Metacafe, Radioblog, Wikipedia, Video, Rebelde, Mininova and Wiki. The top ten Google news searches were, in this order: Paris Hilton, Orlando Bloom, cancer, podcasting, Hurricane Katrina, bankruptcy, Martina Hingis, autism, the 2006 NFL Draft and Celebrity Big Brother.

Surprised to see Paris Hilton topping the list of news searches? Sadly, me neither. Personally, I am not certain that she has ever done anything newsworthy, other than having proven a supreme talent for the uniquely cunning ability to stay in the headlines for no particularly meaningful reason.

It is substantially interesting that cancer was the third most searched for news topic this year. I know that those whose lives have been touched by cancer can feel very alone, and if this proves anything, we are certainly not alone in trying to sort through the many issues linked to cancer.

Strip, Search and Save spokesperson and former surfer girl Kathy Lette shared a story of how her melanoma came to be named Bruce in the Village Voice It's Time to get Naked feature as part of an effort to raise skin cancer awareness.

A self-confessed slathered in baby oil bake in the sun tanner, Lette told the reporter, "I would say my boyfriend used to get me to cut his name out of paper and sticky-tape it to my stomach so that I would get a tan tattoo in his name. The joke was, if I ever get cancer I'll have a melanoma called Bruce.''

It was a not-so-funny joke when Lette had skin cancer surgically removed from her neck earlier this year. It was then that she remembered, in a bit of irony, the suntan tattoo joke she had told years ago.

As a skin cancer survivor, Lette has joined the Cancer Council's Strip, Search and Save campaign. The premise of the campaign is that couples sans clothing and visually check each other's body for unusual changes. With a nudge and a wink, Lette said, "Not only is it important that they do it, but it could be fun," suggesting that this exam might add spice to the couple's sex lives.

Who said cancer awareness and prevention cannot be fun? Lette certainly is not taking the stodgy position that the attitude and approach need be dreary.

In addition to the Strip, Search and Save campaign, Puberty Blues author Lette's latest novel is called How To Kill Your Husband – and other handy household hints. Of course, as she says, if you are still fond of your spouse (and I would say most of us are quite fond of our spouse) have him join you in scanning each other's skin. "The peeling is mutual," states Lette. To learn more about skin cancer and how to prevent and detect melanoma, visit Lette's Strip, Search and Save section at the Cancer Council of Australia.

Can sex cause breast cancer and will the cervical cancer vaccine offer protection against breast cancer? The human papilloma virus (HPV) known to increase cervical cancer risk might also be responsible for increasing breast cancer risk, according to a small study conducted by University of New South Wales researchers. HPV was discovered in the DNA of breast cancer tumors in almost half of the 50 women who participated in the study.

Researchers went on to indicate that women affected by HPV were approximately eight years younger at the time of breast cancer diagnosis than women who were not affected by HPV. They went on to speculate that HPV is not only spread through sexual activity but can be spread while bathing as the virus can be transferred from the genital area to the breasts.

Professor James Lawson of the University of New South Wales explained that "We know that the virus explodes out of the cell and is spread by touch, so it's fairly obvious that it could be spread by sexual activity to the breast, you could also argue that it would be spread by washing and bathing."

Because the study was a small one, Australia's National Breast Cancer Centre director Dr. Helen Zorbas is hesitant to accept the study as conclusive in showing a link between HPV and breast cancer. "There are a lot of hypotheses into what may cause breast cancer and it's important that we do research to try to investigate them. But a study of 50 cases is very small."

The state of New Jersey outpaces the nation in survival of ovarian cancer -- but it lags behind when it comes to surviving endometrial, cervical, skin, mouth, and brain cancers.

New Jerseyans are still surviving cancer. But a report issued Tuesday reveals the state survival rate -- for some reason -- trails the national rate.

The difference between the state and national rates is not large -- about three percentage points separate the two -- but the racial disparity appears more significant. Survival rates for white men and women are about 10 percentage points higher than those for black men and women. This is similar to the national racial gap.

It's likely racial differences are due to later detection, later diagnosis, and less access to treatment and support services.

New Jersey survival rates also vary greatly by type of cancer, sex, and age.

Celebrities catch our attention. They cause us to pay attention too -- which is likely why the media uses celebrities and prominent people to send messages about all sorts of issues, like breast cancer.

It's not just the real-life survivor celebrity stories -- about Melissa Etheridge and Elizabeth Edwards and Sheryl Crow -- that make headlines and attract ratings. It's also the portrayal of cancer survivors on television that raises awareness about this disease. It's not a new trend -- it started long ago when All in the Family's Edith Bunker (Jean Stapleton) experienced a breast cancer scare, marking one of the first times the issue of breast cancer was discussed openly on TV.

Tough cop Mary Beth Lacey (Tyne Daly) of the TV show Cagney & Lacey traveled a breast cancer journey. Sisters eldest sister Alex (Swoosie Kurtz) was diagnosed with breast cancer and survived chemotherapy with family by her side. Beverly Hills, 90210 character Brenda Walsh (Shannen Doherty) found a lump in her breast and shed light on the fact that young women are not immune to breast cancer. Sex and the City's Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall) developed breast cancer and proudly pulled off her wig on television. The L Word's Dana Fairbanks (Erin Daniels) lost her battle with breast cancer. And on Angela's Eyes, FBI agent Angela Henson recently learned her mother once had breast cancer -- and that it has come back.

There are many others television story lines woven with the thread of breast cancer. They draw viewers and boost ratings. They also raise awareness -- because people pay attention to celebrities.

The power of positivity is subjective when it comes to cancer survival. There are those who argue that keeping up a positive attitude puts too much pressure on cancer patients. I think it depends on who you are at the time of cancer diagnosis, and what your individual personality style is in facing adversity, that is far more relevant to being a survivor.

Last Wednesday, when the news broke that Farrah Fawcett had been diagnosed with cancer, she asked that her privacy be respected. As is the case with most celebrities, it was not likely to happen. We have seen almost constant coverage in the details of her cancer diagnosis and treatment, and the paparazzi have captured in photographs her every movement.