cancer
Big Screen
Patrick Swayze Is Now Dead. And It’s Sad.
11:06AM Andrew Belonsky | We’ve all known this was coming, but that doesn’t make it any easier to announce. Patrick Swayze, American actor and icon, has died and, at the tender age of 57, succumbed to pancreatic cancer. More »
Flotsam & Jetsam
Fact: Thinking Kills You, By Tanning
5:05AM Hamilton Nolan | Science is a “thinking man’s game.” And excessive tanning is a dumb man’s game. But now science itself has proven that thinking too much will kill you—by tanning. Uhh, Jersey wins! More »
Music
Beastie Boy Is Ill
2:30AM Hamilton Nolan | The Beastie Boys’ MCA, a.k.a. Adam Yauch, has cancer. The group is cancelling its upcoming tour. Yauch, a Buddhist, turns 45 on August 5. More »
5:45AM Defamer Hollywood | Party like it’s 1998! Julia Roberts made what E! is calling a “rare public appearance” yesterday, appearing onstage at the Stand Up for a Cure concert at Madison Square Garden. “Hello New York City!” she said to the audience. “I cannot tell you how excited I am to be in the greatest city in the world to introduce one of the greatest bands of the world.” Then, strangely, Dave Matthews Band came out. [E!] More »
Screw Shia’s Pinkie: Christina Applegate Had A Double Mastectomy
3:15AM Defamer Hollywood | Yesterday we brought you the news that Christina Applegate was free and clear of breast cancer, just a month after being diagnosed with an early form of the disease in one of her breasts. Today, during an interview with Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts, Applegate revealed that she beat the disease by having both of her breasts removed. Says People: More »This Just In: Alan Jones Has Prostate Cancer
12:14PM Jess McGuire | Shock jock Alan Jones has just announced to the media that he has prostate cancer.
The talkback king said he would take time off work to undergo surgery, but he would return to his breakfast slot on Sydney radio station 2GB when he had recovered.
Jones said he had been diagnosed with the cancer after undergoing a biopsy and would require an operation in coming weeks. He would be off air for several weeks while recovering, he said.
“The prospect of full recovery is very significant,” he told media gathered at the Macquarie Radio studios in Sydney.
Elderly bigots across Sydney will no doubt be relieved to hear that. In all seriousness though – cancer sucks so I wish him all the best during this difficult time.
“Cancer sucks”. Wow. Eloquent, huh? Why the Cancer Council haven’t asked me to join their marketing team is beyond my comprehension. Still, you know what I mean. Get well soon, Alan, so I can happily go back to bashing my head against a wall when listening to you on air! More » 
Cynthia Nixon Talks Openly About Her Recent Breast Cancer Scare On ‘GMA’
7:35AM Molly Friedman | Cynthia Nixon is living proof that bad things happen to good actresses. Speaking openly for the first time about her 2006 diagnosis with breast cancer on Good Morning America today, the happily outed actress demonstrated exactly how a public figure maintains grace under fire. And even after telling us how one goes about telling their kids they sorta have to undergo an operation, and how to deal with the public’s response to her coming out, one of the most intriguing lessons the Sex And The City star shared had to do with which half of a lesbian couple is called “Mom” and which is called “Mommy.” Nixon’s life lessons, after the jump. More »
Trisha Goddard Reveals She’s Fighting Breast Cancer
9:14AM Jess McGuire | Former Play School host and current queen of British daytime chat shows Trisha Goddard has just announced she’s been diagnosed with breast cancer.
The 50-year-old mother of two was diagnosed with the disease after a routine mammogram picked up a lump three weeks ago.
She immediately had surgery to have the tumour removed. Lymph nodes were also taken for analysis.
More » 
Sunrise Forget You’re Meant To Give Money To Charities, Not Take
2:39PM Clem Bastow | Channel Seven’s perma-smiling breakfast team on Sunrise like nothing more than being right on when it comes to promoting charities and national days of [insert cause here], so the latest skeleton to jump out of the Seven wardrobe closet is likely to have the lot of them in furious damage control.
It seems Sunrise asked a cancer charity to cough up the mad cash when the team realised there would be significant production costs involved in sending a reporter to cover a 21-day fund-raising trek through China.
Next Monday Olivia Newton-John and a host of local and international stars begin a 228km trek over 21 days to raise funds for the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre Appeal.
However the network has pulled the pin on a deal to send Sunrise reporter Monique Wright to cover the event after its demand was rejected, The Australian reported.
Seven’s sales director James Warburton told the charity it had to come up with the network’s production costs or Sunrise would withdraw from the walk.
Executives on the appeal’s board, based at Melbourne’s Austin Hospital, were angered by Seven’s request as it would be inappropriate for a charity to give money to a commercial concern, sources said.
It is the latest in a series of embarrassments for the show following the furore over the donning of Sunrise T-shirts by participants in a Kokoda Track walk, including Kevin Rudd, and attempts to hold a mock ANZAC dawn service in Vietnam.
Centre fundraising director Peter Dalton could not comment on Seven’s involvement.
Apparently the Appeal tried to find a sponsor to cover Wright’s costs but when they couldn’t secure one, her involvement was trashed.
Gee, we might be way off the mark here, but surely Kerry Stokes et al could bring themselves to pony up the chump change for Sunrise to cover the trek? Or what about one of the many companies Sunrise has “commercial agreements” with? More » 
Sam Newman: From The Hospital Bed To The Panel Desk In Record Time!
1:51PM Clem Bastow | If it feels like only yesterday that Footy Show alum and man about town Sam Newman was checking into hospital to treat his prostate cancer, well, it pretty much was – only three weeks after his surgery, Newman is heading back to the set of the Show.
We know it’s AFL season now, and that as much as we find it largely odious, the Footy Show is really all about the Sam/Eddie/Trevor dynamic, but three weeks? After major surgery? Dude!
Nine yesterday said Newman was feeling much better and ready to take centre stage after missing the first two shows for the year.
The network is confident Newman’s return will be long-term despite his need for follow-up treatment.
“He’s feeling better and is up and mobile,” a Nine spokeswoman said.
While we thought it was a bit naff that Newman was so omnipresent media-wise while undergoing treatment, we do hope that his plight encourages more blokes to be vigilant about getting their prostate checked, since it is such a huge problem in men’s health and since so many men are slack about check-ups.
Come on, lads, if you only ever let someone put two fingers up the bum once in your lifetime, do it now! More » 