i was treated aggressively for cervical cancer nineteen months ago,and have been cancer free since.i get regular check ups;scans;and have no signs of anything yet.i have medical insurance through my job;but want to open my own business,but do not want to be uncovered;what are my options for affordable coverage,and can i get any at all????please help my lob is killing me,and i so want to open my own hair salon!!!!!!!!!i live in louisiana if that makes any difference.

My father was admitted to the hospital (last week) the day after we received medical insurance. I know medical insurance can drop you if you didn’t list a previous (diagnosed) illness in the history report. We just found out last week, my father has cancer. Here’s a little history: About a year and a half ago, my father lost a lot of blood in his stool. He went to the doctor and the doctor said he had hemorrhoids. With that being said, my dad went on with his life. About two months ago he started having pain in his abdomen and lost 20-30 pounds within those two months without reason. He went to the doctor again. The doctor felt his abdomen and suggested he be admitted to the hospital right away. He thought it was cancer and it was (later we found out). No one had any idea he had cancer. With all of this being said, can medical insurance drop him from his plan?

People who eat a lot of red meat and processed meats have a higher risk of several types of cancer, including lung cancer and colorectal cancer, U.S. researchers reported on Monday.

The work is the first big study to show a link between meat and lung cancer. It also shows that people who eat a lot of meat have a higher risk of liver and esophageal cancer and that men raise their risk of pancreatic cancer by eating red meat.

A decrease in the consumption of red and processed meat could reduce the incidence of cancer at multiple sites, Dr. Amanda Cross and colleagues at the U.S. National Cancer Institute wrote in their report, published in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS Medicine.

The researchers studied 500,000 people aged 50 to 71 who took part in a diet and health study done in conjunction with the AARP, formerly the American Association for Retired Persons.

After eight years, 53,396 cases of cancer were diagnosed.

Statistically significant elevated risks (ranging from 20 percent to 60 percent) were evident for esophageal, colorectal, liver, and lung cancer, comparing individuals in the highest with those in the lowest quintile of red meat intake, the researchers wrote.

The people in the top 20 percent of eating processed meat had a 20 percent higher risk of colorectal cancer — mostly rectal cancer — and a 16 percent higher risk for lung cancer.

Furthermore, red meat intake was associated with an elevated risk for cancers of the esophagus and liver, the researchers wrote.

These differences held even when smoking was accounted for.

Red meat intake was not associated with gastric or bladder cancer, leukemia, lymphoma, or melanoma, added the researchers, whose study is freely available on the Internet at http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0040325.

Red meat was defined as all types of beef, pork and lamb. Processed meat included bacon, red meat sausage, poultry sausage, luncheon meats, cold cuts, ham and most types of hot dogs including turkey dogs.

Meats can cause cancer by several routes, the researchers noted. For example, they are both sources of saturated fat and iron, which have independently been associated with carcinogenesis, the researchers wrote.

Meat is also a source of several chemicals known to cause DNA mutations, including N-nitroso compounds (NOCs), heterocyclic amines (HCAs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).

Jeanine Genkinger of Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and Anita Koushik of the University of Montreal said the findings fit in with other research.

Meat consumption in relation to cancer risk has been reported in over a hundred epidemiological studies from many countries with diverse diets, they wrote in a commentary.

I have a form of lymphoma cancer and have been paying for my own insurance while laid off. My new employer offers medical insurance, but I am afraid to cancel my existing insurance until I know for sure that I will not be denied by my new employer. I live in Michigan (if it matters).