Mass. Sen. Ted Kennedy died of brain cancer last night at the age of 77. During his last days, he asked that a replacement be chosen as quickly as possible. However, unlike most states, Massachusetts requires a special election in these cases.

Bernard Madoff is dying of cancer. At least that is what the world's biggest ponzi schemer is telling his fellow inmates at the Butner Federal Correctional Complex in North Carolina where Bernard Madoff is serving his 150 year prison sentence for perpetrating a massive mult-billion dollar ponzi scheme that United States District Judge Denny Chin called an "extraordinary evil" during sentencing.

Ironic, isn't it? While studies have shown popcorn fumes cause lung cancer, a new study shows that popcorn, which has high levels of antioxidants called polyphenols. Polyphenols reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer and other diseases.

A research team led by U of T Mississauga scientists has developed a new way to split up a dangerous pair of cancer proteins, a finding that could ultimately lead to chemotherapy that is more effective and has fewer side effects.

One of the biggest challenges in scientists' quest to develop new and better treatments for cancer is gaining a better understanding of how and why cancer spreads. Recent breakthroughs have uncovered how different cellular proteins are turned 'on' or 'off' at the molecular level, but much remains to be understood about how protein signaling influences cell behavior.

Using tiny crystals called quantum dots, Johns Hopkins researchers have developed a highly sensitive test to look for DNA attachments that often are early warning signs of cancer. This test, which detects both the presence and the quantity of certain DNA changes, could alert people who are at risk of developing the disease and could tell doctors how well a particular cancer treatment is working.

Researchers expect 37,000 cases of thyroid cancer this year, a significant increase from the 18,000 cases in 2000.

The number of cancer deaths has declined steadily in the last three decades. Although younger people have experienced the steepest declines, all age groups have shown some improvement, according to a recent report in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Researchers report that aspirin may not only reduce the risk of getting colorectal cancer, but it also could lower the odds of dying once you have it. According to the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance, hundreds of thousands of Americans who are diagnosed annually with cancer, do survive.

The deadliest part of the cancer process, metastasis, appears to rely on help from macrophages, potent immune system cells that usually defend vigorously against disease, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University report.

The Stowers Institute's Conaway Lab has uncovered a previously unknown function of a gene product called Amplified in Liver Cancer 1 (Alc1), which may play a role in the onset of cancer. The work was published yesterday by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science Early Edition.

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have learned that some healthy people naturally developed an immune response against a protein that is made in excess levels in many cancers, including breast, lung, and head and neck cancers. The finding suggests that a vaccine against the protein might prevent malignancies in high-risk individuals.