This time of year, a lot of us get flu shots to help our bodies fight off any signs of the flu. What if you could do the same for cancer? Doctors are already testing the idea in women who have ovarian cancer, and early results are promising. After being diagnosed with ovarian cancer, Christine Sable made good on a promise to travel, taking in destinations like Europe and the tropics - but nowhere as often as Buffalo, New York.

The Technion- Israel Institute of Technology have developed an innovative device for monitoring respiration, especially in premature babies. The non-invasive technology, which is being clinically tested at the Carmel Medical Center in Haifa, uses sensors to monitor lung activity. Existing equipment in intensive care units does not monitor for respiratory problems and up to six hours can elapse from when a problem occurs in lung ventilation until medical personnel detect it.

The San Francisco Chronicle on Wednesday profiled World Family — a Bay Area group that collects “outdated” hospital equipment in the U.S. and donates it to health clinics in Ethiopia in an attempt to combat HIV/AIDS and other diseases in the country.

House and Senate Democrats on Tuesday in a letter to HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt wrote that CMS does not have the authority to limit states’ ability to expand Medicaid coverage to more children, CQ HealthBeat reports (Carey, CQ HealthBeat, 1/15).

NitroMed has announced plans to end sales and promotional activities of the congestive heart failure medication BiDil, the first medication approved by FDA for use in a specific racial group, although the treatment will remain available to patients, the Wall Street Journal reports (Armstrong, Wall Street Journal, 1/16).

PeachCare, Georgia’s version of SCHIP, will receive enough federal funding in fiscal year 2008 to address a shortfall and to enroll an additional 40,000 children in the program, according to Department of Community Health Commissioner Rhonda Medows, the

The following highlights recent news of state actions on cancer screening-related legislation and proposals. California: Assembly member Sally Lieber (D) on Monday introduced legislation (

Human evolution has created enhancements in key genes connected to the p53 regulatory network - the so-called guardian of the genome - by creating additional safeguards in human genes to boost the network’s ability to guard against DNA damage that could cause cancer or a variety of genetic diseases, an international team of scientists led by Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center writes in the Jan. 22 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The Kansas City Star columnist Julius Karash on Monday examined PricewaterhouseCoopers Health Research Institute’s predictions for the top eight issues that will affect the health care industry in 2008. Summaries of the issues appear below.

Although “[p]ersauding teens to get tested for HIV/AIDS would be much easier if they could be sure their results would remain private,” there currently is “no guarantee” of privacy, a Chicago Sun-Times editorial says.According to the editorial, an Illinois law requires the