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Beating cancer is a huge feat, but how survivors live their lives afterwards also influences their longevity. A new study shows those who sit too much and are not physically active are much more likely to die early from cancer or any other cause than those who are more active.

Data on c...

For people newly diagnosed with advanced melanoma, a combination of two immunotherapy drugs can double the amount of time their cancer remains progression-free, a clinical trial has found.

The treatment combines two drugs known as immune checkpoint inhibitors. One, called nivolumab (Opdivo), is already standard for advanced melanoma; the other, relatlimab, is not yet approved.

But b...

For smokers, new research suggests it really is never too late to quit.

The study found that folks who kick their habit after a lung cancer diagnosis will likely live longer than those who continue lighting up.

Investigators from Italy concluded that lung cancer patients who stop smoking at or around the time of their diagnosis can look forward to survival times nearly a third (29%...

Cancer remains a major killer, with 10 million deaths reported worldwide in 2019.

More than 23 million new cases were documented globally in 2019, according to researchers at the University of Washington School of Medicine.

By comparison, in 2010 there were 8.29 million cancer deaths worldwide and fewer than 19 million new cases. Deaths were nearly 21% higher in 2019 than 2010, and...

For certain leukemia patients, some welcome findings: New research confirms long remissions after treatment with the drug ibrutinib and chemotherapy.

The study involved 85 patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). All were 65 or younger, and 46 had more aggressive, unmutated IGHV subtype of the d...

Women are two times more likely than men to die after receiving a combination of cancer immunotherapy drugs called checkpoint inhibitors, but it's not clear if that difference is due to side effects or because the treatment isn't working, researchers say.

This new class of highly targeted drugs -- which includes pembrolizumab (Keytruda), nivolumab (Opdivo) or ipilimumab (Yervoy) -- has re...

People who recovered from a severe case of COVID-19 may have more to worry about: New research finds that patients hospitalized with COVID are 2.5 times more likely to die within the year than people who never contracted the coronavirus.

They also are nearly twice as likely to die as people who had a mild case of COVID, researchers say.

The risk of death is even higher for hosp...

Lung cancer survival rates in the United States continue to rise, but certain racial groups are still hit hard by the disease, the American Lung Association reports.

Its fourth annual "State of Lung Cancer" report shows that the average five-year survival rate increased from 14.5% to nearly 24%, but it remains at 20% for people of color overall, and 18% for Black Americans.

"The rep...

Since 1971, when the U.S. government made defeating cancer a goal and put major funding behind it, death rates for many cancers have plummeted, but some are increasing, according to a new American Cancer Society report.

Death rates for all cancers combined have declined since passage of the National Cancer Act of 1971, according to the report. For example, in 2019, deaths from lung c...

Bypass surgery is slightly better overall than stenting to open blocked arteries in people with severe coronary artery disease, new research shows.

But decisions may still need to be made on a case-by-case basis: Stenting appeared more beneficial in some patients, particularly if they didn't have complex disease.

The findings should help guide decisions about which treatment is best...

Mike Smith is beating the odds.

Diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer back in 2016, the 56-year-old South Carolina resident says there are a lot of reasons to be optimistic as the "narrative of lung cancer changes from being a horrific, terminal disease to a chronic disease and, ultimately, to a cure."

Still, he remains clear-eyed about the challenges he faces.

"I'm at war," he s...

Younger patients with advanced colon cancer don't live longer than older patients, but it's unclear why, researchers say.

The authors of the new study said they were surprised by the findings, which come as colon cancer rates are on the rise among young Americans.

"As a group, younger patients are more physically active and have higher performance status and are better able to perfo...

Survivors of spinal cord injuries who develop resilience are able to adapt and thrive despite the challenges, according to a researcher who himself is a resilient survivor.

"For someone with a cord injury, your margin for surviving even small mistakes when it comes to your health is really thin," said James Krause, professor and associate dean for research in the Medical University of Sou...

Adult staff in schools are more likely than students to suffer sudden cardiac arrest, but automated external defibrillators (AEDs) are often used and improve the chances of survival, a new study finds.

AEDs are portable devices that deliver an electric shock to try and restart the heart. If appropriate action isn't taken immediately, cardiac arrest is often fatal.

"Most research on ...

Long-term symptoms of coronavirus infection, known as 'long COVID,' affects more than half of COVID-19 survivors, and health care systems should be prepared to treat them, researchers say.

So far, 236 million people worldwide have been diagnosed with COVID-19, and many have had lingering physical and mental health problems for six months or longer.

"The burden of poor health in COV...

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has hit minority groups in the United States hard, with significantly more deaths among Black and Hispanic Americans compared with white and Asian Americans, a new study finds.

According to the report, these disparities highlight the need to address ongoing inequities influencing health and longevity in the United States.

What's more, "focusing on CO...

Black kids and Hispanic kids with cancer fare worse than their white counterparts, a large, nationwide study finds.

"This study suggests that improving health insurance coverage and access to care for children, especially those with low [socioeconomic status], may reduce racial/ethnic survival disparities," Jingxuan Zhao, an associate scientist at the American Cancer Society in Atlanta, a...

The size and shape of the blood vessels in your brain may help predict your risk of an often-fatal type of stroke, called an aneurysm, a new study finds.

An aneurysm is a bulge in an artery wall.

"A subarachnoid hemorrhage is the most dangerous type of stroke and occurs when a brain aneurysm leaks or ruptures, causing bleeding into the brain, killing more than 50% of affected people...

If you have a cardiac arrest, your odds of survival are best in an airport or airplane, a new study finds.

That's because automated external defibrillators (AEDs) are readily available and so are people ready to help, researchers explained.

"Our findings emphasize that cardiac arrest in travelers is survivable and that early resuscitation interventions matter," said lead researcher ...

Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients diagnosed with colon cancer may have a greater risk of dying from cancer or other causes in the next six months to year than colon cancer patients without MS, a Canadian study finds.

"These results warrant further investigation to determine what factors may lead to shorter survival times," said study author Dr. Ruth Ann Marrie, a professor of neurology at ...

One out of every 500 U.S. residents has lost their lives to COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic last year, statistics show.

COVID has killed more than 664,500 people in the United States as of Wednesday, according to tracking data from Johns Hopkins University.

That's out of a total U.S. population of 331.4 million cited by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The risk of dying from C...

Older adults who are socially isolated are more likely to experience serious disability or die after a stay in the intensive care unit (ICU), new research reveals.

"This important research finding sheds light on a crucial health care issue that has become more dire during the COVID-19 pandemic," said Dr. E. Albert Reece, dean of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, in Baltimore....