NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Higher levels of vitamin D in the blood may help protect both men and women from cancers of the colon and rectum, confirm results of the largest study ever conducted on the topic. Among more than 1200 people who developed colorectal cancer and an equal number who did not, researchers found that those with the highest ...

High levels of vitamin D are linked with a lower risk of colon cancer, according to a comparison of more than half a million Europeans, published online Friday by the British Medical Journal (BMJ). Patients with the highest levels of vitamin D in their blood had a nearly 40 percent lower risk of colorectal cancer compared to those with the ...

Smokers diagnosed with lung cancer should not assume they have been handed a death sentence, as quitting tobacco even at this stage can greatly boost their survival chances, doctors said on Friday. Among those smokers who quit swiftly after diagnosis, 63-70 percent were still alive after five years, a benchmark of survival in cancer research, compared with only 29-33 percent ...

Experts question the effectiveness of antiviral drug Tamiflu commonly used against the swine flu virus spreading across the globe, according to a study reported in Britain Tuesday. An investigation by the British Medical Journal and Channel 4 News acknowledges that the drug oseltamivir, which trades as Tamiflu, has "a modest effect in reducing flu symptoms and infectivity in otherwise healthy ...