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Eating walnuts may reduce the risk of developing breast cancer, a study reports.

Research presented at the American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting found that mice eating the human equivalent of two ounces of the nuts every day developed fewer and smaller tumours than those on a normal diet.

Walnuts contain omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants and phytosterols, all of which may help reduce the risk of breast cancer.

Researcher Dr Elaine Hardman, of Marshall University School of Medicine, said putting these components together in one package - a walnut - provides very good cancer suppression.

"We know that a healthy diet overall prevents all manner of chronic diseases," she added. "It is clear that walnuts contribute to a healthy diet that can reduce breast cancer."

Previous research has shown that eating walnuts at the end of a meal can help protect the arteries from damage by fatty foods.

One in nine women will develop breast cancer at some point during their lives and the disease kills 12,300 women each year, according to Breast Cancer UK.

Asbestos in schools is putting children and teachers at risk of cancer and must be removed, said a teaching union.

In a survey of 5,000 teachers by union Nasuwt, almost one in five knew of asbestos in their school and it claimed that many local authorities are not taking their responsibility towards staff and pupils seriously.

Asbestos was widely used in building new schools between the 1940s and 1970s, but has since been found to cause mesothelioma – a form of cancer in the lungs.

Languages teacher Carole Hagedorn was diagnosed with mesothelioma after 30 years of teaching.

She said: "I am understandably unhappy that the lack of proper asbestos control will end my life prematurely, like some sort of collateral damage or natural wastage in the education game."

In total, 228 teachers died from asbestos-related disease from 1991 to 2005, according to figures from the Health and Safety Executive.

Chris Keates, general secretary Nasuwt, said that a long-term strategy for the complete removal of asbestos from all educational buildings must be the goal.

Almost 2,000 people a year are diagnosed with mesothelioma and exposure to asbestos is responsible for up to nine out of 10 cases, according to the charity Mesothelioma UK.

The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people living with cancer.

Experts at Cancer Research have revealed that binge tanning on sunbeds and foreign holidays is leading to a dramatic increase in cases of skin cancer in young women.

Malignant melanoma, the deadliest form of the disease, is now the most common form of cancer in women in their 20s, with twice as many cases in this age range as breast cancer.

Skin cancer is now set to become the fourth most common cancer overall by the year 2024.

Cancer Research UK’s director of health information Sara Hiom said it is extremely worrying to see so many young girls using sunbeds.

"Young skin is delicate and so easily damaged by the sun. Damage from UV builds up over time. Every time young people use a sunbed they are harming their skin and increasing their risk of skin cancer," she added.

Around 9,000 cases of malignant melanoma are diagnosed in the UK each year, 340 of which occur in women in their 20s.

The first sign of the disease is usually the appearance of a new mole, or a change in appearance to an existing mole.

A new test for cervical cancer halved deaths from the disease in women in India, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The test detects human papillomavirus (HPV), the virus that causes cervical cancer, and was found to be more effective at preventing death than the traditional Pap smear used to screen for the disease in the UK.

"This study clearly shows that HPV screening is more sensitive to picking up precancerous lesions than the other tests," said co-author Dr Rengaswamy Sankaranarayanan, a radiation oncologist at the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France.

He added that nearly all the women who tested negative for HPV infection at the outset were cancer free by the end of the study.

Women should visit the doctor for tests every three to five years for a smear test to detect pre-cancerous changes to the cells in the cervix, whereas the HPV test requires fewer visits.

These results strengthen the case for changing the cervical cancer screening process, particularly in developing countries where multiple doctor visits are too expensive for many women.

In autumn 2008, a programme was launched to vaccinate all UK schoolgirls against HPV to protect against cervical cancer in later life.

The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people living with cancer.

Fatty acids in oily fish have been found to reduce the size of tumours in mice in a new Egyptian study.

The omega-3 fatty acid, docosahexanoic acid (DHA) also increased the response of the tumour to chemotherapy, while reducing the harmful effects of the drug.

Professor AM El-Mowafy led a team of researchers from Mansoura University in Egypt who looked at the effect of DHA on tumour size and its interaction with the chemotherapy drug cisplatin, which is known to cause kidney damage in patients.

He said: "Our results suggest a new, fruitful drug regimen in the management of solid tumours based on combining cisplatin, and possibly other chemotherapeutics, with DHA."

DHA has previously been tentatively linked with protection against cardiovascular, neurological and neoplastic diseases.

It is thought that the fatty acid somehow limits certain processes linked with tumour growth at a molecular level.

Last month, scientists also found that regularly eating oily fish such as salmon or mackerel could reduce a man’s risk of getting prostate cancer by about two-thirds.

The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people living with cancer.

Eating one portion of mushrooms each day could protect women from developing breast cancer, according to new research.

The Chinese study showed that women who ate at least a third of an ounce of mushrooms every day were 64 per cent less likely to develop a tumour.

An even bigger reduction of 90 per cent was seen when women consumed green tea in addition to the mushrooms.

Lead researcher Dr Min Zhang, of the University of Western Australia in Perth, and her colleagues think that traditional diets, such as the one studied, may be at least partly responsible for this reduced risk.

This theory is reinforced by the rate of breast cancer in China, which is four-to-five-times lower than in other developed countries.

However, the scientists did not account for other risk factors such as weight, smoking history and exercise habits, which could have contributed to the incidence of breast cancer.

Doctors generally recommend maintaining a low-fat diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables to reduce the risk of getting breast cancer.

The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people living with cancer.

A laser microscope that could speed up skin cancer diagnosis and reduce the need for biopsies may soon become reality.

The hand-held microscope could help doctors decide if a biopsy is absolutely necessary, cutting down on the number carried out and streamlining the diagnostic process.

Chris Arrasmith, a researcher working on the development of the microscope at Montana State University, said: "Any combination of tools we can provide to enable early detection of any kind of disease is a good thing."

Diagnosis of skin cancer currently requires confirmation with a potentially painful biopsy, where doctors remove a sample of the suspected area of skin for analysis.

Unlike regular microscopes, the proposed device uses lasers to look at the cellular structure of a patient’s skin, allowing doctors to look for tell-tale chemical signs of cancer.

Approximately 1,500 people die each year in England and Wales from malignant melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer.

The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people living with cancer.

A typical Western diet, rich in meat and fats and low in complex carbohydrates, is a recipe for colon cancer, according to a leading professor.

Increasingly, evidence shows that the composition of diet directly affects the diversity of gut microbes, which may be important in protecting against colonic disease and colon cancer.

Colon cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related death in Western adults, said Professor Stephen O’Keefe, from the University of Pittsburgh, as he addressed the Society for General Microbiology in Harrogate today (March 31st).

"A diet rich in fibre and resistant starch encourages the growth of good bacteria and increases production of short chain fatty acids which lessen the risk of cancer, while a high meat and fat diet reduces the numbers of these good bacteria," he added.

Studies have shown that people with a healthy diet have significant populations of micro-organisms called Firmicutes in their digestive tracts.

It is thought that red meat could be turned into toxic products such as sulphur by these bacteria, which leads to the production of hydrogen sulphide and other possible carcinogens.

Several other stories linking red and processed meat to cancer and heart disease appeared in the news last week.

The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people living with cancer.

Scientists have discovered two new genes that alter a woman’s chances of developing breast cancer.

One of the genes actually lowers the risk of getting the disease by about four per cent with one faulty copy and by 11 per cent with two faulty copies, according to the study published in Nature Genetics.

The other gene increases the risk by 12 per cent for one faulty copy and 23 per cent for women who carry two copies.

A powerful genetic test for breast cancer could be a step closer following this discovery, said Dr Lesley Walker, director of cancer information at Cancer Research UK.

He added: "If we can identify women who are more likely to get the disease and if we can work out how high this risk is, doctors can make informed decisions about how to stop them getting breast cancer in the first place."

This new research could also be good news for women trying to obtain breast cancer insurance.

Women can reduce their risk of developing breast cancer by making lifestyle changes, such as stopping smoking, drinking less alcohol and taking more exercise.

The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people living with breast cancer.

Four out of five nurses believe the needs of people living with or after cancer are not being met by the NHS, according to a survey.

A lack of services and advice make it difficult for the majority of patients to get their lives back on track after treatment, said the nurses surveyed by Macmillan Cancer Support and the Nursing Times.

In addition, only 63 per cent of the nurses who had received training to help care for patients after a diagnosis said they had an adequate understanding and knowledge of the needs of cancer survivors.

Jessica Corner, chief clinician at Macmillan Cancer Support, said it is shocking that so many nurses believe the NHS is failing cancer survivors.

"Two million people are currently living with a cancer diagnosis and yet our survey shows not all nurses have access to training or can find the services to help these people, many of whom are in desperate need," she added.

Macmillan is a charity organisation offering practical, emotional and financial support to people suffering from cancer.

The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people living with cancer.