A common diabetes medication — metformin — is proving itself to be multi-talented. It’s an inexpensive, highly effective medicine that does more than lower blood sugar levels. Metformin is becoming something of a star in the cancer world.

Bone marrow transplants are a possible treatment for chronic lymphocytic leukemia, a type of blood cancer, when it cannot be controlled by chemotherapy.

Here’s an interesting fact. Epilepsy is fairly common in Denmark. About 1.5 percent of the Danish population has this brain disorder that causes seizures. A recent study looked at cancer risks associated with the disease and its treatment.

For years, people have heard they should not eat saturated fat. This kind of fat is found in butter, cheese, meats and other heavier foods. But the wisdom of that advice may be changing.

There’s nothing like a cancer diagnosis to make a person sit up and take notice of how they’ve been taking care of themselves. So do breast cancer survivors engage in healthier habits after treatment?

Vitamins and minerals tend to go through popularity stages. Fish oil has been all the rage. Now it’s being called into question. Vitamin E has had a similar fate. Scientists recently focused on vitamin D and breast cancer prevention.

Lymph nodes appear throughout the body to help fend off invaders. When cancer cells enter lymph nodes, lymph vessels can carry the cancer to other parts of the body. That’s why doctors examine the lymph nodes closest to the tumor — the sentinel lymph nodes — to check for the presence of cancer.

From a health perspective, we’re learning that sugar isn’t all that sweet for the body. In addition to obesity, sugary foods and drinks are associated with a number of diseases, with cancer now being one of them.

Figuring out the best course for cancer treatment can be complicated. In addition to dealing with the cancer itself, the long-term impacts of treatment need to be considered. Longer life is obviously a key goal.

Very little is more unnerving for a woman than to be called back for more tests after a mammogram.  Fear — maybe even panic — sets in.  A new technology may cut down on these recalls and the anxiety they cause.