Triple-negative breast cancer means that the pathology report has shown the cancer to be estrogen receptor negative, progesterone receptor negative, and HER2 negative.

Results published in Clinical Cancer Research found that women with triple negative breast cancer have an increased risk of metastatic disease and death during the first few years after diagnoses, but not after that time period.

A study was conducted among 1,601 breast cancer patients. One hundred and eighty women (11.2%) had triple negative breast cancer.

The results of the study:

White House press secretary Tony Snow says his resignation has nothing to do with cancer and everything to do with money. According to sources from the Bush administration, he will step down from his position. Snow, however, is not making an announcement at this time.

"I'm not going to be able to go the distance, but that's primarily for financial reasons." Snow said. "I've told people when my money runs out, then I've got to go."

When my husband told me today that Merv Griffin had died, I was running on my treadmill, doing my part to pound out any chance that cancer will pay me a return visit. On my MP3 player the song Bad Day by Daniel Powter was blaring. Sweating, halfway through my second mile and feeling quite strong, I heard the words -- "Did you hear Merv Griffin died?"

No, I had not yet heard. All I was hearing were these lyrics:

You had a bad day
The camera don't lie
You're coming back down and you really don't mind
You had a bad day
You had a bad day

Merv Griffin, creator and producer of TV game shows Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune, announced in July that he'd been diagnosed once again with prostate cancer. Hospitalized after the cancer recurrence was detected during a routine examination, Griffin was reportedly doing fine. New reports indicate Griffin's prognosis is not so fine, although his reps won't confirm of deny this.

It is clear Griffin is still in the hospital. Sources close to him say he is putting all his strength into fighting this battle with cancer.

In lieu of sending him flowers, Griffin asks that well-wishers donate to the Young Musicians Foundation -- an organization he chairs. Also, messages can be sent here.

Researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston say exercise helps combat breast cancer. Not the first time we've heard this fact. But these same researchers have something new to say -- about the reason physical activity lowers the risk of breast cancer recurrence.

Jennifer Ligibel, MD, of Dana-Farber, reports that exercise lowers levels of the hormone insulin in the bloodstream. This is significant because there appears to be an association between relatively high levels of insulin, seen in obese and sedentary people, and an increased risk of breast cancer recurrence and breast cancer-related death.

"We know that women who are overweight at the time of breast cancer diagnosis have a higher risk of recurrence than lean women, but the reasons for this have not been clear," said Ligibel.

It was all about the bike for Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards this past Wednesday. Decked out in spandex bike shorts, he pedaled with champion cyclist and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong on the Register's Annual Great Bike Race Across Iowa (RAGBRAI). Riding at an easy pace of 10 to 12 mph from Hampton to Cedar Falls, Edwards chatted with riders about their pressing issues, including their concern for his wife Elizabeth who was diagnosed with a recurrence of breast cancer this year.

About his bike trek, Edwards commented, "This is an accident waiting to happen."

Why did he take on the challenge? "Lance has become a friend," Edwards said. " Proud of what he's doing, particularly on the cancer issue. It's obviously very important to us personally. And I've heard about this race -- err, race -- this ride, ever since I'd been coming to Iowa so I wanted to see what it looked like."

We all want an experienced surgeon, of course, but are you sure your surgeon is experienced enough?

In a recent article published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, patients with prostate cancer who have a prostatectomy performed by a more experienced surgeon tend to have better outcomes.

A prostatectomy involves removal of the prostate gland and surrounding tissue. A study was done to evaluate the total number of prostatectomies a surgeon has performed and if this indeed had influence on recurrence rates.

It seems so, patients who had a surgeon that performed less than 10 prior prostatectomies had a recurrence rate of 18 percent. Patients who had a surgeon that performed over 250 prostatectomies had recurrence rates of only 10 percent.

I think the take home message here is, no matter what kind of surgery you are getting -- ask your surgeon how many times they have done this specific procedure. If it seems very low you might want to consult another surgeon who has more experience.

Merv Griffin, inventor and producer of TV game shows Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune, has been hospitalized for a recurrence of prostate cancer. The cancer was discovered during a routine examination several weeks ago.

Now in Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, the 82-year-old Griffin says, "I'd rather play Jeopardy! than live it. I was ready for a vacation; however, this wasn't the destination I had in mind."

Griffin's son, Tony, said his father is getting great care. His medical team wants to monitor his progress in a controlled setting, he said, and that's why he's in the hospital.

According to TV Squad, Griffin has another game show in the works. Let's Play Crosswords will premiere in syndication across the country this fall.

I'm always skeptical about the connection between certain foods and cancer. There's just so much back and forth -- the lycopene found in tomatoes prevents cancer and then it doesn't, for example -- that I don't base any life decisions solely on so-called cancer prevention foods. I simply do what is best for my health. If it happens to keep cancer at bay, then I consider it a bonus.

I eat fruits and vegetables because I know they're good for me. It was nice, while it lasted, to think I was also cutting my risk of cancer recurrence but when it comes down to it, fruits and veggies are better than sweets and candies and junky carbohydrates. So they'll remain a staple in my life -- even though a large, seven-year study published in today's Journal of American Medical Association dashes all hopes that a diet low in fat and jam-packed with fruits and vegetables prevents the return of breast cancer.

Five daily servings of fruits and veggies are recommended in the United States. This is more than most Americans get yet still doesn't make a difference for those trying to minimize their chances of breast cancer recurrence.

I like to be in control sometimes -- not always, but sometimes. I don't ever wish to be the top boss in any work scenario. I prefer to have a job and do it well without the stress of managing a whole operation. But I do like to be in charge of my schedule, my kids, my thoughts and emotions, the way my life progresses. Cancer? I'd love to have direct supervision over this pesky subject. Sadly, I don't. So I do my best at controlling the factors that might increase my risk of cancer recurrence. I do it through exercise and diet.

Recently, I realized that controlling my diet is best done at home. I can buy the most nutritious foods at the grocery store, bring them home, prepare them in a healthy fashion, and concoct the perfect portion sizes. Take me out of this home element and I get a little scared.

The other night, my husband and I went to Red Lobster for dinner. We had a gift card and were eager for a night out. Before we escaped our crazy kid household, though, we went online to investigate the nutritional values of Red Lobster dishes. We were shopping for the healthiest options, and we were quite shocked to learn there aren't so many. Now we knew the all-fried fish platters would top the charts in calories, fat, and such. But fresh fish and veggies? Also fairly high in these same categories. We surmised it's the butter and oil used to cook our normally healthy fares that compromised these items and while we weren't so happy about the situation, we still went and did the best we could.

Young patients that are diagnosed with a form of leukemia called acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) are at an increased risk of relapse if they have a high body mass index at the time of diagnosis.

Dr. Anna M. Butturini, lead investigator of a study that reported the findings, said "Obesity is associated with lower probability of cure in pre-adolescents and teenagers with ALL. A current analysis suggests that the same is true for adults with the same disease".

Dr. Butturini thinks that there is a need for better understanding of why obese patients have an increased risk of relapse. If this is found out, then better therapies for these young patients could be potentially designed.

Shorter courses of radiation therapy may be in order for women with early-stage breast cancer. And the largest study to test this suggests the abbreviated treatment time in no way affects risk of recurrence.

Often, the greatest hassle of radiation is getting to and from appointments, every weekday, for many weeks. With less frequent visits, life could get a whole lot easier.

Dr. John Dewar of the University of Dundee in Scotland led a two-part study of nearly 4,500 women in the United Kingdom to test courses of radiation and found five years later that cancer recurrences were low -- about two to five percent -- for women who received both longer and shorter durations of therapy. There were so few recurrences -- 158 -- that doctors believe the treatments are equivalent. They just can't say this with certainty yet.

This is great news for patients traveling great distances to their treatment facilities. Other benefits of shorter radiation timelines are less swelling and shrinkage of breast tissue and less enlargement of blood vessels.

Now here's some good news for Tamoxifen-taking, hot-flash suffering women. A new study finds women who have lots of hot flashes during treatment with the breast cancer drug Tamoxifen have a lower risk of recurrence than women who don't suffer from the annoying waves of heat commonly associated with menopause.

"This study provides the first evidence that hot flashes may be an indicator of a better prognosis in women with early stage breast cancer," said study author John P. Pierce, Ph.D., from the University of California at San Diego. "Our data supports the possibility of a significant association between hot flashes and disease outcome."

More study is necessary to determine whether or not hot flashes -- which may predict better outcomes than severity of cancer, hormone receptor status, and age -- are associated with Tamoxifen and breast cancer progression.

Women with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer who have negative lymph nodes can take advantage of a test known as OncotypeDX. This test is used to estimate the risk of cancer recurrence in women diagnosed with early stage breast cancer. Results presented at the 2007 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology said that the test results changed the oncologist's treatment decisions in about 31 percent of cases.

The test is useful in determining which patients are likely to benefit from chemotherapy in addition to hormonal therapy. It can predict the risk of a patient experiencing a recurrence up to ten years following diagnosis. The patient receives a Recurrence Score that ranges from 0 to 100, the higher the score -- the greater risk of recurrence.

This a great way for oncologists to be able to give individualized treatment -- instead of one size fits all. It's important to get chemotherapy if needed but physicians don't want to over-treat and have the unnecessary risk of side effects from chemotherapy treatment if it's not warranted.

A late-breaking session at the 2007 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) says that "Patients with colorectal cancer whose cancer has spread to the liver have improved survival without cancer recurrences when they receive chemotherapy prior to and following surgery, compared to those treated with surgery only."

Adjuvant chemotherapy is when chemo is used after surgery. Neoadjuvant treatment is when chemotherapy is given to shrink the tumor to allow for better surgical removal.

The second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States is colorectal cancer. Liver metastasis is common among patients with advanced disease. A clinical trial was conducted to evaluate the use of chemotherapy before and after surgery compared to surgery alone. The trial included 364 patients who were divided into two treatment groups.

At nearly four years' followup, recurrence-free survival was 42.4 percent for patients receiving chemotherapy before and after surgery, compared with only 33.2 percent for those treated with surgery only.