Author, journalist and public intellectual Christopher Hitchens, made the announcement via a statement posted on Vanity Fair’s website, a publication for which he regularly contributes. He announced Wednesday that he will undergo treatment for cancer of the esophagus, thereby cutting short his current book tour.

“I have been advised by my physician that I must undergo a course of chemotherapy on my esophagus. This advice seems persuasive to me. I regret having had to cancel so many engagements at such short notice,” Hitchens said.

He is well-known for his prolific consumption of alcohol and cigarettes. It was reported that the chain-smoking Hitchens gave up smoking cigarettes in 2008, though a profile piece in the Washington Post earlier this month showed that he was still indulging in the habit. In 2003 he famously quipped that his daily intake of alcohol was enough “to kill or stun the average mule.”

Hitchens, once a darling of the left, famously underwent an ideological shift in recent years, especially after 9/11, that saw him support the Iraq war and lose the support of many of his former admirers.

Hitchens became an American citizen in 2007. He currently lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife Carol.

A comedy icon in the United Kingom, English actress Jennifer reportedly began treatment for breast cancer after finding a lump in October 2009. The 52-year-old decided to keep her diagnosis private. According to the BBC, Jennifer has now completed treatment and is in remission.

Funny lady Jennifer Saunders, most famous perhaps for her role as PR agent Edina Monsoon in ‘Absolutely Fabulous’ and for her comedy routines with partner Dawn French in ‘French & Saunders’, has been fighting breast cancer for the past eight months, it is being reported.

According to reports, Jennifer underwent a lumpectomy, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. A friend told the Daily Mail: “Jennifer’s treatment finished in June. She is very thankful that she has been given the all-clear and is feeling in very good spirits.”

News of the comedienne’s battle with breast cancer came as a shock to many as the news was only reported after Jennifer was seen public wearing a wig and a bandana. After speculation began to grow, Jennifer’s spokesperson confirmed the news. Jennifer does not, reportedly, want to discuss her battle with breast cancer in any public form.

Other celebrities who have been diagnosed with breast cancer include Christina Applegate, Kylie Minogue , Maura Tierney, ‘Sex and the City’ actress Cynthia Nixon and Sheryl Crow.

Singers Alicia Keys and Rihanna are calling on fans to register as bone marrow donors to help 11-year-old actress Shannon Tavarez find a match in her battle with cancer.

The actress, who played the young Nala onstage in the musical, The Lion King, was diagnosed with acute leukaemia in April and is in desperate need of a bone marrow transplant to survive, reports aceshowbiz.com.

Keys admits she has been touched by Tavarez’s story and is urging fans to sign up as potential donors, so the child and others like her can “grow up to live their dreams”.

Her emotional cancer fight has struck a chord with the two singers, and Keys paid a visit to Tavarez at Schneider Children’s Hospital to help lift the girl’s spirits.

“For her, the sky is the limit, but now she’s fighting for her life,” said Keys.

Rihanna has also asked her fans to help the cause before it’s too late.

Tavarez is currently receiving daily chemotherapy treatment at the Long Island medical centre in New York as she awaits a bone marrow transplant.

Recently Roche Holding said it has filed an application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for a novel cancer drug called trastuzumab-DM1, or T-DM1, the drug hoped could help the Swiss pharma giant replace its Herceptin cure for women with advanced breast cancer.

The drug is the first conjugated monoclonal antibody to be reviewed by the FDA and has realistic chances to be approved in some breast cancer patients by the regulator given the medicine’s strong trial results, analysts said.

T-DM1, which was developed by Roche’s unit Genentech and Immunogen Inc.,works differently from traditional cancer treatments as the medicine links a monoclonal antibody and a cytotoxic. This makes sure that only cancerous cells are destroyed, unlike in chemotherapy that also kills healthy cells.

Roche said that it has submitted a biologics licence application for the treatment of people with advanced HER2-positive breast cancer who have previously received multiple HER2-targeted medicines and chemotherapies.

The submission is based on phase II data which showed T-DM1 shrank tumours in one-third of women who had received on average seven prior medicines for advanced HER2-positive breast cancer. Roche is continuing with T-DM1 trials.

According to a new report published online in Lancet Oncology, recently. Individuals who are obese and overweight have a significant increased risk for cancer compared with the risk for person with normal weight. The study takes place in Asia-Pacific region.

Base on the study, the research found that people with BMI 18.5 kg/m2 and above there was a continuous and positive association between high BMI and all-cancer mortality. Compared with persons with a normal weight, the relative risk for cancer-related mortality was 1.06 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.00 – 1.12) for those who were overweight and 1.21 (95% CI, 1.09 – 1.36) among obese persons. Click here to read more »