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For more than a century, we have used military terms — such as wars, battles, survivors and victims — to discuss our relationship with cancer. But some critics are bothered by the implicit suggestion that those who die might not have fought heroically enough. When the Obama administration launched its anti-cancer effort earlier this year, “moonshot” rhetoric came to the fore, but that, too, drew dissent. Some say it suggests that curing cancer involves a massive engineering effort rather than a multitude of new insights into the biology of hundreds of different diseases. (McGinley, 12/9)

It’s been one year since the Food and Drug Administration approved the first cooling cap system to help cancer patients in the U.S. preserve their hair during chemotherapy treatments. A new clinical trial strengthens the case that cooling caps really do reduce the risk of hair loss. Among 95 breast cancer patients who were randomly assigned to test a cooling cap, 48 — or 51% — still had a good amount of hair after four cycles of chemotherapy. Meanwhile, among 47 control patients who did not use a cooling cap, none had hair after four rounds of chemotherapy. (Kaplan, 12/9)

Having an optimistic outlook on life could help you live longer, according to a new study. Researchers at Harvard University found that among a group of 70,000 female nurses, the 25% who were most optimistic had a 31% reduced risk of mortality while they were being tracked compared with the 25% who were least optimistic. (Netburn, 12/9)