Having had a cancer scare last year I know only too well how important it is to get the right diagnoses as fast as possible, because we know every moment counts when it comes to beating the disease. Technology has come a long way in a short amount of time and there are many new facilities in order to help detect cancer, but can using a smartphone app be one of them?

Well according to a recent study it seems as though the smartphone is not that well at detecting cancer as we were first led to believe. In the study performed by the University of Pittsburgh four smartphone applications were used to assess melanoma risk and three of them classified 30 percent of them incorrectly, which is very concerning when it comes to dealing with something that can risk a persons life.

Because timing is key here the research concluded that using an app that can often lead to incorrect results can have a harmful effect on the user and would never be able to substitute a medical consultation, which comes as no real surprise to us.

Those of you who do not know, the user can use their smartphone and app to take an image of a mole that you feel looks suspicious, the picture is then sent to a physician who for a fee will assess the mole. As you would imagine there is a process to go through here and can often lead to a delay, as well as the fact that lighting and other factors could cause a photo to look far different to the actual thing that you was taking an image of.

Would you ever risk using such an app when dealing with something as serious as cancer? Personally speaking I would not, then again some people never bother with a mole and if there is a chance that just a small percentage of people can get a diagnosis without seeing a physician then we guess there will be people willing to take that risk.

It’s not just application developers that are helping to spread the message about Breast Cancer; you’ll also find a number of different clip art pictures available that can be shared socially online. This page talks about the National Breast Cancer Awareness month and asks people to use their free clipart, and point to Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus and other media as ways to share and spread the message.

We’ve also seen some people asking for help from big brands, and they do not come much bigger than Google. This forum post has taken to the official channels looking for Google to help with Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and makes a point of asking for a Google Doodle. The post states that a lot of support can be given with just one Google Doodle, although we’d love to see a number of doodles used this month. At the time of writing we are not aware of any so far this month. Do you think this would be a good idea?

Google has a lot of reach when it comes to making people aware of topics, how do you think Google could help this great cause?

When it comes to melanoma research the survival rates have not changed over the years, there has been a huge effort to develop a treatment to cure this often-fatal skin cancer – so it will come as a huge relief to those suffering the condition that there is now a sign of hope.

The drug in question is called ipilimumab and targets the T-cell antibodies, there is even hope that this new drug can attack other forms of cancer as well. The past thirty years have been the worst when it comes to Melanoma, and those who have the advanced stage of the condition have little or no hope of treatment.

This is great to see that new technology that is made available to scientist makes it possible to develop drugs like these – there are those who fear technology but without it we would have much shorter lives. For more details on this new drug read Amanda Gardner’s report on Businessweek

It is no secret that the current system is confusing and that we never know how long we can stay in the sun for before the suns UVA rays begin to harm us. According to an article in Associated Press, most sunscreen labels tell us that they offer great UVA and UVB protection.

We know that there is a standard for UVB; this is more commonly known as the SPF rating – which advises you how much protection your product is offering. Currently there is no such system for UVA. This is why the FDA and cancer groups have been lobbying for the new labeling system.

The four-star UVA rating system that is expected in October will consist of low, medium, high and highest – one star is low with four-star being highest. For more details on this and tips on how you should apply sunscreen and tips on how long to stay in the sun, visit the source link above.

The EWG has studied 500 sunscreen products and recommends just 39 of them – that’s just 8 percent. There are many reasons why a number of these products failed the seal of approval from EWG, one of which is that the SPF 50 cannot be substantiated.

Ariel Schwartz’s article on Fast Company reports that retinyl palmitate, which is a form of vitamin A is found in sunscreens and when applied to the arms, back, chest, face and legs could increase skin cancer by 41 percent.

Some of the sunscreen products that are at risk include: Rocky Mountain Sunscreen High Exposure, shelter broad spectrum sunscreen, Rx Suncare Sport Sunblock and many more. For the complete list of sunscreen products good and bad can be found here.

According to Reuters, a new research study shows that cancer rates can vary by as much 25 times in certain countries – with lifestyles being the main cause. These include what we drink, as tea, coffee and soda all contain a number of substances that promote cancer. The report goes on to say that if you cut certain sugar-sweetened beverages from your diet then you can greatly reduce the risk of cancer.

More than 700,000 people have been studied over a 20-year period on their dietary habits, all this information was then used to formulate this study. We have to wonder if this is going too far, before long we will only be able to drink water and eat lettuce leaves.

Upon reading this study further there seems to be conflicting reports from other studies, so how do we know what one is true? I will stick to drinking my coffee; I do not smoke or drink alcohol, so coffee as my only pleasure.