MONDAY, June 23 (HealthDay News) -- Low socioeconomic status increases a cancer patient's risk of dying, say U.S. researchers who analyzed data on almost 14,000 breast, prostate and colorectal patients in seven states.

The study found that cancer patients with low socioeconomic status had more advanced cancers at time of diagnosis, received less aggressive treatment, and had a higher risk of dying within five years of diagnosis.

For example:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Morbidly obese patients who undergo weight-loss surgery greatly reduce their risk of cancer, according to a study providing fresh evidence of health benefits from these increasingly common operations.

Researchers from McGill University in Montreal found that the people who underwent bariatric surgery saw reductions in particular in the risk for breast and colon cancer. Many people see dramatic weight loss after such surgery.

WEDNESDAY, June 11 (HealthDay News) -- The accuracy of mammography screening is affected by certain characteristics of the facility where it's performed, a U.S. study finds.

Researchers looked at data from 44 sites that performed 484,463 screening mammograms on 237,669 women between 1992 and 2002.

Of those women, 2,686 were diagnosed with breast cancer. On average, breast cancer was identified when it was present (sensitivity) in 79.6 percent of breast cancer cases that occurred within one year. Mammograms were correctly identified as cancer-free (specificity) 90.2 percent of the time.

ABC ran a pretty interesting story about women who are having their daughters tested for breast cancer if they have a history of the condition in their families. While many women are also opting out of the tests for their children, there is no shortage of controversy.

What are your thoughts? If you were a woman with a strong family history of breast cancer, would you want your young daughter tested? Would it cause unnecessary worry? Do you consider it proactive?

By TONI BRONZO
ABC News Medical Unit

For Ellyn Davidson, there was only one thing scarier than being diagnosed with breast cancer. It was the prospect that her 8-year-old daughter would one day receive the very same devastating news.

"At the time of my diagnosis, she definitely was one of my first thoughts, but it never occurred to me that I could be carrying the mutated BRCA gene," she recalls.

Read full story

I hear alot about Stage 1 Breast Cancer or Stag 2 breast cancer, but don't know what that means. Do you know anyone who can explain the differences?