Every hour someone dies from Melanoma in the U.S., including teens and adolescents. Sadly every death could have been prevented by early self-detection. The Melanoma Education Foundation has an award-winning program for educating teen students about early detection and prevention of Melanoma. Michael Brown, the saxophonist of the legendary rock group Sha Na Na and also the executive director for the Melanoma Education Foundation Nevada chapter, discusses melanoma with students at Valley High School in Las Vegas November 27.

NCC intern and MPH graduate student Charlotte Andreasen, working with the University of Nevada Center for Program Evaluation, is seeking women over the age of 40 with no personal history of cancer to take a brief survey. The 10-minute online questionnaire serves to assess women’s attitudes towards breast cancer screening and reasons why they may or may not have been screened.

According to the American Cancer Society, prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men (after skin cancer), and the National Cancer Institute estimates that nearly 240,000 new cases of prostate cancer in the U.S. just this year.

Ladies, it’s time to listen up. Pink ribbons and breasts come next month, but September is the time to think about the other cancers that all women are at risk for: gynecologic cancers.

In Nevada, hundreds of children are battling various types of cancer each day. The Northern Nevada Children’s Cancer Foundation estimates they’ll work with nearly 40 new families this year in addition to those already working with the foundation, and in Las Vegas the Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation and Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Foundation of Nevada will serve more than 600 families. These are numbers to keep in mind as we enter Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, observed throughout September.

Some quick facts about childhood cancer:

According to a new report, Nevada’s statewide cancer policies are falling behind in many areas. The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network’s annual “How Do You Measure Up?” report was released yesterday and compares Nevada to other states on a variety of cancer policy issues. Using a variety of metrics and rated on a “green,” “yellow,” or “red” scale, the report ranks the Silver State at yellow or red in many areas, indicating Nevada has a way to go in defeating cancer.

On Monday July 1, 2013 Nevada joined Vermont, California and Oregon in prohibiting minors under the age of 18 from indoor tanning.  In addition, the new law includes safety measures and education for adults who tan indoors.

Each day in the United States over 3,800 young people under 18 years of age smoke their first cigarette, and over 1,000 youth under age 18 become daily cigarette smokers. One of the most important - and widely cited - findings on smoking and health is that virtually all cigarette smoking and tobacco usage begins before adulthood. While the prevalence of tobacco usage among Nevada’s youth has dropped significantly in the past decade, our rate still remains at 17% and seems to be climbing again.

Gruen's Story:

Please join us on Friday, May 10, 2013 in Reno, Nevada at the Atlantis for the opportunity to explore the implications of a changing health environment on cancer prevention and control while sharing the newest innovations in research and practice across the cancer continuum.

Did you know that kids get cancer too? Cancer is the #1 cause of death for children and the fourth leading cause of death for teenagers - about 4 children die in our country every day from cancer. The two most common cancers in children are leukemias and brain tumors. The average length of treatment is 2 to 5 years for kids and it isn’t easy – it affects them both physically and emotionally. In Nevada, we expect 200 kids to be diagnosed with cancer in 2012.