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As a working mom who rarely has time to cook, figuring out what to have for dinner is hard enough without having to factor in the latest news about food and cancer.

When I feel tempted to eat foods that might be less than healthy, I think of this quote from Dr. Larry Norton, who heads the Evelyn H. Lauder Breast Center at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City: “God put more good things in an apple than I know about.”

Doesn’t get much simpler than that. Plus, there is lots of good science about foods that can cut your cancer risk and ones that can raise it. Here are a few:

What to Eat
Fish: Fatty fish like salmon, sardines, and herring are high in omega-3 fatty acids, a healthy fat that’s believed to have anticancer properties. Aim for two to three servings a week.

Cruciferous vegetables: Broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage are powerful cancer fighters and appear to contain chemicals that turn on your body’s natural detox enzymes. Eat them raw or slightly steamed (cooking breaks down the protective chemicals). Shoot for five servings a week.

Berries: The more colorful, the better! These fruits are rich in antioxidants, which protect cells from damage, and strawberries and raspberries contain ellagaic acid, which has been shown to protect against breast cancer in lab studies. Sneak these in wherever you can…toss some in your smoothie or even have some with dessert.

Whole grains: Lowfat sources of fiber, such as quinoa, unbuttered popcorn and cereals like All-Bran and Fiber One, may regulate your levels of estrogen and insulin, two hormones that both have been linked to breast cancer. Aim for 25 grams per day.

What to Watch
Red meat: You don’t have to forgo the occasional burger (thank goodness!), but eating more than 1.5 servings of red meat per day can nearly double the chances of developing breast cancer. Limit your intake to three servings of lean cuts (such as filet mignon, flank steak or sirloin) a week or fewer.

Alcohol: As few as two drinks a day may increase breast cancer risk by 20 percent, possibly by raising estrogen levels. There’s nothing wrong with having some wine with dinner, but it’s safest to average no more than one drink a day. (Savor it! I mix soda water in my white wine to make one glass last through dinner.)

So, when I hear about studies like the one published last summer in The Journal of the American Medical Association that a high intake of fruits and vegetables has no impact on breast cancer, I think: But fruits and vegetables are great for you, especially all those antioxidants.

So what gives? Well, it turns out the study was on survivors, and the one thing you can glean from it is that gorging on produce probably isn’t a big factor in recurrence.

What you can’t take away from it is that it’s OK to skip the salad. Believe me, I’d just as soon pack in and drive to the local greasy spoon. But despite findings like this, the truth is that a healthy diet never hurt anyone.

Lake Arrowhead may be close to Hollywood, but it’s light years away in its approach to family values. The stars come up here to enjoy the great natural scenery - and so do everyday small-town American families. Both groups feel right at home.

We were walking the waterfront trail in front of the Lake Arrowhead Resort and ran into one of the town fathers – a guy whose job it was to walk some 20 miles around the lake, checking to make sure the trails were not only passable, but pristine as any semi-exclusive enclave ought to be. He talked about the movie stars who live in Arrowhead as everyday, good people. He talked about his daughter winning the national water-ski championship, and how water-skiing was followed just as closely here as football or basketball might be followed in the Heartland.

Well, okay, Lake Arrowhead is not exactly Des Moines, Iowa. But it does have a small-town feel – in a Southern California kind of way.

We went to Lake Arrowhead to spend a weekend at the newly renovated Lake Arrowhead Resort, the biggest and best-located resort in the area that has just taken a quantum leap in its overall appeal to getaway travelers. Prior to the recent renovation, the resort was getting a little tired and starting to show its age. But it’s amazing the things you can do with $17 million — the resort’s undergone a total transformation.

All of the 173 guest rooms were re-done, along with the restaurant, bar and spa. The guest rooms exude a sense of luxury and class with special appointments like new swiveling plasma TV’s and walk-in showers. Some of the rooms have gorgeous views of the lake; others look out on the alpine forests. The new restaurant, BIN189, also is at least a notch or two better than its predecessor, partially due to the efforts of Stewart Redhead, the new executive chef who was trained in New Orleans before serving in the same city as Executive Chef of the W Hotel.

It’s no wonder that June Lockhart makes the Lake Arrowhead Resort her home when she visits her childhood haunt of Lake Arrowhead. Her friend Peter Henry is General Manager at the resort, the latest in a series of upscale lodgings where he has presided.

Aside from the obvious charms that come with a mountain lake plopped in the middle of a scenic forest, Lake Arrowhead has a fun business district called the Lake Arrowhead Village. Whatever you want, you’ll find at the Village: high-end boutiques, tourist shops, restaurants and even carnival rides. It’s a five-minute walk from Lake Arrowhead Resort to the village, where you can also find several different eateries and, in the warmer months, listen to live music in a fairly elaborate concert area. While we were there, the Rockit Scientists kept the crowd rocking as they swigged micro-brews just footsteps from the dance floor.

To get an even better view of the lake, visitors can board the Arrowhead Queen, a Louisiana-style paddle-wheeler that takes guests on a 50-minute tour of the lake. On a busy summer day, you’ll see lots of small boats, many of them towing water skiers. And, it’s fun to look at the expensive waterfront homes and imagine what it would be like to have a lake in your backyard.

There also are plenty of hiking trails in the Lake Arrowhead area – trips of various lengths and degrees of difficulty. The lake is at 5,100 feet elevation and is nestled in a forest of pine, cedar and dogwood that give way occasionally to excellent views of the San Bernardino Mountains. A very easy trail to start with is at the Heap’s Peak Arboretum, easily accessed on Highway 18. This half-mile interpretive trail identifies some of the 2,000 species of flora and nearly 400 species of fauna found in these picturesque mountains. You’ll enjoy views that offer a reminder of why the Lake Arrowhead area has been chosen as a backdrop for so many motion pictures. There also is a special kids trail that shows what various animal paw prints look like.

Of course there are still more trails just a few miles further into the mountains where the Big Bear Lake resort community offers many recreational activities of its own. There are dozens of lodging facilities in the area as well – many more than Lake Arrowhead – creating a different atmosphere and experience altogether. Big Bear has more activities and lodgings; Arrowhead is quieter, more residential and quite a bit easier to reach from Los Angeles.

While looking through the local magazines, we noticed an ad for a place called Wildhaven, a ranch devoted to the rehabilitation of sick or injured animals. It’s not the kind of place you can just drop in, pay your admission and see the animals. You have to call ahead of time and find out when they are scheduling their presentations and tours – which usually is on weekends.

Wildhaven is well worth this little bit of extra hassle. It’s just a three-mile drive from Lake Arrowhead Resort to Wildhaven and you’ll go through some “backwoods” residential areas, then through the forests and finally up some hills until you reach an area destroyed by fire in October 2003. It’s here on a hillside that Wildhaven directors Roger and Diane Williams saw their facility greatly damaged by the fire and have since rebuilt the 30-acre compound to house a variety of animals indigenous to the San Bernardino Mountains.

The Williams offer a complete presentation in a small theater where they bring out various small creatures and explain where they came from and how they are progressing in their rehabilitation. Most interesting are the personal details that Diane provides about how, as a little girl growing up in a troubled home, she found that animals helped give her solace and a reason for living. She knew then that caring for animals would be her life-long work.

Many of the animals at Wildhaven will not be able to re-enter the wild because they may have limited physical ability – such as a bird’s inability to fly – or because they have become too domesticated. During one demonstration, the resident mule deer was eating out of the trainer’s hand and showing no fear of the group of human onlookers. As Roger explained, “he wouldn’t last an hour during hunting season.”

Owls, raccoons, bobcats, coyotes, eagles – there were plenty of species to observe during our visit. Especially entertaining were the two black bears doing their tricks and playing in their bathtubs while visitors watched from just a few feet away outside their cage. All and all, this proved to be an ideal family activity that was both fun and informative.

Add Wildhaven to the list of reasons why Lake Arrowhead makes a great destination for a family vacation. There is plenty of luxury and ambiance for the adults, but it’s also a chance to visit the Great Outdoors – and teach your kids a little bit about how it all got there.

AT A GLANCE

WHERE: Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear are located about two hours east of Los Angeles and reached by driving a scenic, albeit curvy, highway northeast out of San Bernardino.

WHAT: Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear share the same woodsy feel and plunging winter temperatures. Arrowhead is smaller, a bit quaint and is a quiet romantic getaway. Big Bear offers a larger city, but many more choices for dining and lodging. You’ll find a selection of shops and boutiques at both.

WHEN: Year-round. The shoulder seasons are less crowded, but both summer and winter are popular because of the area’s many outdoor activities.

WHY: A complete contrast from the Southern California climate and lifestyle, yet just an hour or so from balmy places like Palm Springs.

 A newly discovered Faberge egg made for a top banking dynasty is expected to fetch up to nine million pounds (13 million euros, 18 million dollars) when it is sold in London next month, auction house Christie’s said Thursday.

The egg was made for the Rothschild family in 1902 by Peter Carl Faberge and contains a diamond-encrusted cockerel which pops out every hour to flap its wings and nod its head while opening and shutting its beak and crowing.

One of only three known examples featuring a clock and a mechanical figure, it is unusually large and is enamelled in pink with gold detailing.

“The discovery of this masterpiece is the most exciting of my 40-year career,” said Anthony Philips, Christie’s international director of silver and Russian works of art.

With newsstands heavy on celebrity titles, consumers often devote mere seconds to each before making their selection. Will it be “Angelina’s Shrinking Waistline” or “Britney’s Gone Bald”? Or perhaps another “Jen’s Post-Pitt Hopeful” spread?

But who’s the best bet? Jennifer Aniston, according to Forbes’ first-ever analysis of the top-selling celebrity faces.

We looked at the newsstand sales of the six leading celebrity weeklies — People, Star, US Weekly, In Touch Weekly, Life & Style and OK! — over a six-month period ending June 30, as supplied by the Audit Bureau of Circulations. We eliminated all non-celebrity and collage covers as well as special issues with exceptionally large rate bases. Then we counted how many more — or less — issues the celebrity’s cover sold, as compared with the magazine’s average newsstand sales. Next, we factored in the number of full covers a celebrity graced. Finally, we ranked his or her consumer appeal using data from Encino, Calif.-based polling firm E-Poll Market Research to rule out flukes.

Aniston earned the top spot thanks to strong performances across the board. In addition to garnering a high appeal score of 36, making her the second-most-liked cover subject behind Sandra Bullock, she proved a success at the newsstand. Appearing on every title except In Touch at least once during the time period, her face collectively sold more than 5 million copies.

Just how important is a tabloid’s cover model?

Incredibly, says Candace Trunzo, who took over as editor in chief of Star magazine in April. “Brand loyalty isn’t what it used to be in terms of celebrity magazines,” she explains. “Each week, people decide on what they are or aren’t going to buy based on the cover, and if you don’t draw them in with it, you lose that undecided portion of your audience.”

Not to mention that publishers recoup up to 55% of a title’s newsstand sales, according to John Harrington, a circulation analyst. Back of the envelope, that means Trunzo’s Star earns about $1.27 million a week from single-copy sales. Each 10% bump over Star’s recent 726,000 newsstand average means an additional $139,000. For industry titan People, with its 1.4 million newsstand readers, the decision is even more crucial — and potentially lucrative.

LOS ANGELES (AP) - From one child star to another: Tatum O’Neal says Britney Spears needs to be in recovery and get her disease of addiction together so she can address being a mother. The 43-year-old actress shared her thoughts on the troubled pop star with “Entertainment Tonight” in an interview set to air Wednesday night.

“I relate to her and feel really sad for her,” O’Neal said, adding that she had similar experiences as a young mother. “I did everything … that she doesn’t want to do. I did the drug testing. … It was very humbling. … I wanted those kids in my life.”

This week a judge ordered Spears, 25, to temporarily surrender custody of her sons, Sean Preston, 2, and Jayden James, 1, to ex-husband Kevin Federline. She was also ordered to undergo random drug and alcohol testing and take parenting classes as part of her ongoing custody dispute with Federline.

Spears needs treatment and she needs to shield her children from media attention, O’Neal said.

O’Neal won an Oscar at age 10 after co-starring with her father, Ryan O’Neal, in “Paper Moon” in 1973.

She has three children from her marriage to John McEnroe.

Aker American Shipping ASA and Overseas Shipholding Group, Inc. (OSG) report that they have signed an agreement under which Aker Philadelphia Shipyard, a subsidiary of Aker American Shipping, will construct two additional Veteran Class MT-46 Jones Act Product Tankers and transfer them to another subsidiary, American Shipping Corporation, which will bareboat charter the vessels to subsidiaries of OSG for initial terms of 10 years.

For Aker American Shipping the full transaction is valued in excess of $240 million (before profit sharing).

In fact. the agreement looks to be a scaling back of the parties’ earlier ambitions.

Back in February, Aker American Shipping ASA and OSG announced an agreement in principle under which Aker Philadelphia Shipyard would construct up to six additional Jones Act Product Tankers (three fixed, plus three options) that would be bareboat chartered to subsidiaries of OSG for initial terms of 10-15 years. For Aker American Shipping the deal was valued in excess of $700 million.

Now, as part of the new two ship agreement, “the February 7th 2007 Agreement in Principle for three fixed plus three option vessels has expired.”

The two ship order brings the number of Jones Act tankers OSG has committed to charter from Aker to twelve, with delivery dates through 2011.

OSG has already taken delivery of two of the initial 10 tankers, the Overseas Houston and the Overseas Long Beach. The third tanker in the series, Hull 007 (to be named the Overseas Los Angeles), is expected to deliver before the end of 2007.

Aker American Shipping President and CEO Dave Meehan stated, “We are proud to be expanding our fleet from 10 to 12 tankers, and excited for the opportunity to continue exhibiting our expertise in constructing quality merchant vessels. These modern ships are vital to the U.S. Jones Act and we are eager to deliver them to an expanding market in need of quality, double-hulled vessels.”

The Major League Baseball team based in Chicago, Illinois is called The Chicago Cubs. Owned by the Tribune Company and managed by Lou Piniella, it is also the charter member of its league. John McDonough is team’s President and Jim Hendry is the General Manager.

The minor explosion of openly professional teams happened in 1870 due to success of Cincinnati Red Stockings. Now everyone wanted to defeat them to make their own presence felt. The National Association formed as the first professional league in 1871 to take care of it all. A color had to be chosen so Chicago adopted white. Pitcher Albert Spalding of the Boston Red Stockings, and first baseman Adrian “Cap” Anson of the Philadelphia Athletics joined Chicago after the 1875 season.

The White Stockings cruised through the National League’s inaugural season of 1876 with its beefed-up squad. Chicago Cubs had some great seasons in the 1880s as they won 67, lost 17, for an all-time record .798 winning percentage. Chicago Cubs won the pennant in 1885 and Clarkson had a fair year. In spite of some good seasons, the Chicago Cubs have failed to win a World Series championship since 1908. They had a substantial lead in August, 1969 with Hall Of Famers Ernie Banks, Ferguson Jenkins and Billy Williams but all the confidence wilted under pressure. Chicago Cubs lost key games against New York Mets and staggered a shot at the postseason by 8 games (92-70).

They did very well as the 1984 NLCS started and Chicago Cubs needed to win only one game of the next three planned to be played in San Diego. Everything sort of crumbled after this and a critical error by Leon Durham helped the San Diego Padres win the game and head to the World Series. In 1989 Chicago Cubs again were in the NLCS, this time with the San Francisco Giants. They also managed to hold the lead at some point in their games but bullpen and managerial blunders ultimately led to three straight losses and the team’s exit from the postseason.

Chicago Cubs made it into the playoffs as a wild card team in 1998. This was a 60+ HR season for them and it all happened due to Sammy Sosa and Kerry Wood’s Rookie of the Year pitching performance. Atlanta Braves became their playoff opponent. The Chicago Cubs scored only four runs and the Braves easily swept them in 3 straight games. After 14 years, their first division title win came in 2003. It was also the team’s first postseason series win since 1908. They beat Atlanta Braves and then took 3 games to 1 lead over the Florida Marlins. It seemed highly likely now that they would reach the World Series for the first time in 58 seasons.

In 2006, the Chicago Cubs came out of the gate hot but All-Star first baseman Derrek Lee’s injury sent the team into a tailspin of historic proportions. This time they managed to set a franchise record for offensive futility by scoring only 13 runs in 11 games.

For more information visit http://www.ticketmayor.com/sports-tickets/Chicago-Cubs.php
Saim is the lover of sports concerts and theaters. He expresses his passion through writing. He works for TicketMayor ( www.ticketmayor.com ) also host www.ticketscollection.com .

 Two centuries after rats first landed on a remote Aleutian island from a shipwreck, wildlife managers in Alaska are plotting how to evict the non-native rodent from the island that bears their name.

Rat Island, like many other treeless, volcanic islands in the 1,000-mile (1,609-km) long Aleutian chain, is infested with rats that have proved devastating to wild birds that build nests in the earth or in rocky cliffs.

“They pretty much made the island worthless for a lot of wildlife,” said Art Sowls, a biologist with the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, which sprawls across the Aleutians and other Alaska islands.

Rodents have reigned at Rat Island at the western end of the Aleutians since the 1780 shipwreck of a Japanese sailing ship, wreaking havoc on millions of seabirds with no natural defenses against land predators.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which manages the Maritime refuge, is drawing up plans to wipe out Rat Island’s rats. A formal proposal is expected in about a month, according to Sowls.

The agency is trying to find an effective way to wipe out rat populations without harming other wildlife. Rat Island is a good starting point, according to biologists, for a removal program because it is small without much other wildlife.

Rats are a problem shared by remote islands all around the world. Biologists said successful rat removal programs have taken place in more than 250 islands including Campbell Island south of New Zealand and Langara Island in British Columbia.

“A lot of people go, ‘Oh they’re just rats, what’s the big deal?’,” said Ron Clarke, assistant wildlife conservation director at the Department of Fish and Game.

Once informed about the environmental destruction wrought by rats, citizens are generally determined to avoid them. Rats are blamed for causing about half the extinctions of various species worldwide since the 1600s and are persistent nuisances once established, said Clarke.

“They’re very good swimmers. They’ll eat anything. They’re just very good at surviving,” Clarke said.

SWEEPING RAT MANDATES

Alaska state officials have issued sweeping new regulations that slap rat-prevention mandates on Alaska ports and harbors that have served as entry points for invading rodents. The removal plan and new state regulations are extensions of previous anti-rat policies in Alaska.

Since the early 1990s, wildlife refuge managers have maintained a “rat-spill” program — in which emergency responders prevent the spread of rats from shipwrecks — similar to oil-spill contingency plans maintained by state and federal agencies.

“It’s entirely possible that in a shipwreck situation, the environmental damage created by the introduction of rats into the environment would be even worse than that of a major oil spill,” Sowls said.

He cited the situation on the Aleutian island of Kiska, which still holds a colony of millions of auklets, a small seabird, but where introduced rats are decimating that natural population.

Researchers commonly find vast stretches on Kiska with no live birds, only rotting bodies stuffed into burrows.

“A lot of the birds you find, the only parts the rats eat are the eyeballs and the brains,” Sowls said. “It looks like, unless something is done in the next 20 to 40 years, that the rats will probably eliminate that colony.”

October 4th, 2007. For some reason, the latest Civil Trial post has dropped off the front pages of searches. This link below goes to my post with all the links to articles and information.. Click here for the Louise Ogborn Civil Trial Updates and links.

UPDATED October 4th, 2007. Case goes to the jury. I’ve read all the trial coverage on the various sites and I have no idea how the jury will decide. Most observers feel that it will be as long as two weeks to make a decision. One thing that is clear from the testimony, is that McDonald’s has lied and covered up the truth since the beginning. In this case they have admitted to altering Louise’s time card in an effort to pass off her ‘alleged injuries’ as Workmen’s Comp. They admitted to fabricating a witnesses written statement when that witness is illiterate. They admitted to concealing evidence of prior strip search hoaxes in their restaurants and to concealing prior lawsuits against them. They admitted that they allowed the lawyers for the man charged with making the phone call to implicate Louise as being a willing partner in the hoax. They admitted finally, after three and a half years, that Louise was not at fault. They admitted through numerous management and security personal, that the information about the strip search hoaxes never made it to the front line staff. They admitted that it is not a corporate policy to protect employees. They admitted that they had no interest in tracking down the hoax caller nor in working with law enforcement. They admitted that in this case, they withheld information deliberately from the local police who were trying to solve the crime. They said that Louise has grown from her ordeal and therefore does not deserve any compensation from the company.

The question now becomes, should McDonald’s be held liable for what happened to Louise? That is up to the jury to decide. One last note about Donna Summers, the primary McDonald’s assistant manager who went along with the callers demands. Donna has changed and now accepts her role in this crime. Had she used even a small bit of common sense, she would have prevented this from happening to Louise. For years she denied any responsibility for her actions, but this trial has given her a second chance to make things right. She has testified strongly on Louise’s behalf and I believe that if the jury decides against Louise, it will be because they feel that the entire burden of what happened to Louise rests on Donna’s shoulders. If that in fact happens, if McDonald’s wins, then it sends a clear message that employers have no legal responsibility to provide a safe workplace environment. Trust is a fragile thing in the workplace.

This is Carol’s blog and this is the response I left to this post yesterday.

Brian said…
Morning Carol,I am shaking my head in amazement after yesterday’s testimony. Every single word McDonald’s utters digs themselves deeper and deeper. I sure hope someone in Kentucky takes legal action against the lawyers and others in the case. They should all be brought up on charges and disbarred. To repeatedly lie under oath and then be exposed for the moral cowards and criminals there are. I have no words for the disgust and contempt I feel for the whole sorry lot of them. McDonald’s has shown themselves to be the worst kind of bullies and soulless creeps.I hope the jury is made of higher moral fiber than the defense in this case.Keep it up Carol. You’re doing a great job. Wanted to let you know that my post The Louise Ogborn Civil Trial” is up to page two on the search engines. 

Wed Sep 26, 06:35:00 AM 2007

Her response was not a comment, but this lengthy post. You can read the entire post by clicking the link, but I’ll repost the beginning few paragraphs here. (Italics mine.)

“Brian left a comment and rather than answering him in the comment section, I thought I’d just blog it. The great thing about Brian is that he started his blog after he saw Primetime in November 2005. He was so sickened by what he saw that he decided to write… Louise’s story inspired him to open up about his life as well. Brian has been 100% supportive of Louise and the amazing thing to me is that he has devoted so much of his blog to her without ever meeting her or talking to her… he simply cares about another human beings pain. He has no “dog in the fight” so to speak which makes his blog extraordinary… he saw something that offended his sensibilities and instead of looking the other way, he used the greatest weapon we have: our words.

I wish everyone who saw injustice and pain in this world would have the guts to speak out, even and especially when they don’t have bias such as mine in this case. If people would simply speak up instead of turning away… if people would stop being bystanders! What a difference we could make in this world… one voice does and can make a difference.

Brian- you said it better than I could.”

All the pertinent links and information are contained in my post called The Louise Ogborn Civil Trial.

Also want to thank the law students at The University Of Virgina for their interest in this case.

Post script: To top that off, on Friday September 28th, 2007, McDonald’s paid psychologist testifies that hoax helped victim grow. I have to say here, what arrogance! To state that Louise is fine and her strip search, beating and rape helped her grow as a person and that’s why she doesn’t deserve a settlement? What is wrong with these people? Have they sold their souls for the almighty dollar?

Oct. 3, 2007 – Flying through your colon in virtual reality, Perry Pickhardt, MD, says he can find early colon cancer at least as well as a gastroenterologist using a very real colonoscope.

A new study backs up this boast by comparing colon cancer screening with virtual colonoscopy to screening with real colonoscopy. The study, in healthy, low-risk patients, compared the results of 3,120 consecutive virtual colonoscopies to results from 3,163 real colonoscopies.

“We found slightly more advanced polyps than colonoscopy did, and without any complications,” Pickhardt tells WebMD. “The outcomes are not just good, but beyond our expectations. Nobody thought we would find more important things than did colonoscopy — the current gold standard — but we have.”

Pickhardt, associate professor of radiology at the University of Wisconsin, is a pioneer in the field of virtual colonoscopy. Virtual colonoscopy, more accurately known as CT colonography or CTC, uses special software to view CT scans of a patient’s colon. Experts using the technique can see colon polyps before they become deadly colon cancers.

“The reason we are able to find polyps so successfully is we find them on this 3-D reality fly-through,” Pickhardt tells WebMD.

Doctors now agree that the best way to find colon polyps is with a colonoscope. But Pickhardt says that’s going to change.

“Years from now we will be amazed we did such an invasive test for screening,” he says.

Virtual Colonoscopy vs. Real Colonoscopy
The study by Pickhardt, David H. Kim, MD, and colleagues is not a randomized clinical trial. Instead of being randomly assigned to virtual colonoscopy or real colonoscopy, patients chose the screening method they wanted.

But both groups of patients were referred by the same doctors. Most patients in each group had no symptoms of colon cancer and were only at average risk.

The two techniques detected colon cancer at nearly the same rate. They also detected polyps larger than 10 millimeters — a size considered dangerous — at the same rate. Colonoscopy found far more tiny polyps than did CTC. But such polyps only very rarely carry cancer cells.

Colonoscopy has one big advantage: Any polyps that are found are immediately removed. Patients who have suspicious polyps found by CTC must undergo colonoscopy to have them removed. This happened to 8% of the patients in the study. Some patients with smaller polyps, however, chose to undergo CTC surveillance to see whether the polyps really were growing into something dangerous.

Seven of the patients who underwent colonoscopy screening had a colon puncture. This happens in about one in 500 colonoscopies and often requires surgical repair. The puncture rate seen in the study was in the expected range. There were no punctures in the CTC group.

Virtual Colonoscopy: Ready for Prime Time?
If CTC works so well, with so little risk, why isn’t it now recommended for colon cancer screening? That’s what WebMD asked Durado Brooks, MD, MPH, director of prostate and colorectal cancers for the American Cancer Society.

“The big question is whether the larger community of radiologists can get the same sort of very encouraging results we see in this study,” Brooks tells WebMD. “These guys at Wisconsin have a great deal of experience using this technology in a setting where the technicians and everybody else is used to doing this. This is off the scale for community doctors who do CT scans.”

But Brooks says we’ll soon have an answer to this question. A large NCI-funded study is looking at how well CTC works when done by a large number of different radiologists. The study is completed and results should be available early next year.

“If these kinds of findings can be replicated, it would enhance the likelihood this would become another alternative for colorectal cancer screening,” Brooks says. “So CT colonography could be added to the American Cancer Society recommendations if research suggests it can be done efficiently, safely, and with consistent performance in a variety of settings.”

Pickhardt says an early look at the results of this CTC validation study are “very good” and “gratifying.”

“If the American Cancer Society recognizes this as a valid colon cancer screening test, then insurance companies will pay for it and it will take off,” he says. “This has been a long time coming, but now is an exciting time.”

Kim, Pickhardt, and colleagues report their findings in the Oct. 4 issue of TheNew England Journal of Medicine.