Study Strengthens Family History As Cancer Risk Factor

Having a family history of cancer raises your own risk of the disease -- even if it's not the exact same type, according to a new study.

European researchers found that family history increases the risk of not only concordant cancer -- which is the same cancer -- but also discordant cancer, or a different kind of cancer. The findings, published in the journal Annals of Oncology, held true even after taking into account other potential risk factors, such as alcohol or tobacco use.

"Our results point to several potential cancer syndromes that appear among close relatives and that indicate the presence of genetic factors influencing multiple cancer sites," study researcher Dr. Eva Negri, who is the head of the Laboratory of Epidemiologic Methods at the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research in Italy, said in a statement. "These findings may help researchers and clinicians to focus on the identification of additional genetic causes of selected cancers and on optimizing screening and diagnosis, particularly in people with a family history of cancer at a young age."

The study is based on data from 12,000 cancer cases that occurred between 1991 and 2009 in 13 different sites, including the kidneys, breast, ovaries, prostate, liver, colorectal, stomach, mouth and esophagus. Researchers compared these cases with 11,000 people who didn't have cancer, and specifically examined family history of cancer and lifestyle risk factors.

Researchers found associations between having a family history of cancer and having a higher risk of cancer yourself, even if the cancer is of a different type. For example, if a woman has a close relative with colorectal cancer, she has a 1.5-fold higher breast cancer risk.

And if a person has a first-degree relative with cancer of the larynx, he or she has a 3.3-fold increased risk of oral or pharyngeal cancer. If a woman had a first-degree relative with breast cancer, she has a 2.3-fold higher ovarian cancer risk.

For people with a first-degree relative with bladder cancer, their own risk of prostate cancer is 3.4-fold higher.

Researchers noted that some of this increased risk of cancer could come from shared environments, such as family smoking or drinking habits. But they also said there's evidence genetics seems to play some sort of role.

Sling Media Slingbox Pro & Family

Two TV buzz terms you might hear these days are ?time shifting? and ?place shifting.? Time shifting is what a TiVo does, recording something in the 8 pm slot that you watch later on. Place shifting is what a Slingbox does, giving you access to video stored up in one location—be it on DVD or recorded on a TiVo?s hard drive—from another place using an Internet-connected PC or mobile device.
Until now, Slingbox couldn?t get at the growing mass of high-definition programming available from cable or satellite providers. That was a problem in my house, since we record most primetime shows in HD using a cable company-rented Scientific Atlanta DVR set-top box. The new Slingbox Pro can stream any standard or HD show stored on my cable box, at a reduced quality, wherever I happen to be. Last Friday afternoon, I was racing out the door for the weekend, juggling bags of groceries, bags of clothes and two cats, each in its own carrier. At 4:11 pm I realized I had forgotten to setup the Slingbox Pro, so we could watch our home TV while out of town. Determined to set a record for Slingbox setup, I pulled out the quick-start guide and rolled up my sleeves. I connected wires for video, networking and power in a particular order. Then I powered everything on and popped the software disc into a PC laptop. (Alas, Slingbox doesn't work for Macs at the moment.) The software found the Slingbox, tested its video, then found my network router and automatically configured it to stream video over the open Internet, not just on my home network. There?s a ?do it yourself? mode, but take my advice, nerds, and let Sling?s software take the first crack ? it was very fast, and saved me from having to log into my router, let alone recalling frighteningly geeky concepts such as ?port forwarding.? On the screen flashed a message that everything was good to go. It was 4:23 pm. The following evening, my wife and I were telling our friends about Tina Fey?s hilarious new NBC sitcom, 30 Rock, but found we couldn?t do it justice. I suddenly realized that I could simply stream the pilot episode, via laptop, from my cable box at home. We gathered around the dining room table, and I launched the SlingPlayer, which produced a virtual remote control identical to the one sitting on my coffee table back home. Within seconds we were watching a show I had originally recorded in high-def. It may not have looked as good—the already scaled down signal degrades a bit over the internet—but it was just as funny. If you?re not yet into HDTV this may not sound like a big deal. In fact, aside from HBO and the networks, most of what I record airs only in standard definition: Comedy Central, Cartoon Network, Food Network and a great chunk of the Discovery Channel?s best shows. But there?s a profound psychological difference between having access to most of my shows and all of my shows. Best of all, the Slingbox connects directly to an HD cable box as easily as it connects to any other video source. It doesn?t require anything as elusive as a CableCard, an over-promised, under-delivered digital card offered (in low volume) by cable companies for use in specially built TVs and other devices. The Slingbox Pro is the new flagship in the Slingbox family, which also includes the Slingbox AV, which handles basic cable and any non-HD video from set-top boxes and other video sources, and the Slingbox Tuner, which doesn?t work with a set-top box, but rather connects directly to the cable sticking out of the wall for less mess, but also less flexibility. Both the Tuner and the Pro have pass-through capability so, in most cases, you can leave it connected to your setup without disrupting your at-home viewing. You must connect the Slingbox AV to a secondary video output, or in place of your TV when you?re heading out of town. The downside to the Pro is that to do the HD thing, you have to pay an extra $50 for the HD Connect cable—and you still might have to go to RadioShack for an extra cable or two. You may be wondering if place shifting can be anything more than a novelty; I?ve often wondered the same thing. But think about this: If you own or rent a vacation home and want to be connected to television to check news or a game, but not to watch all the time, you can skip the cable or satellite subscription altogether and use a Slingbox. Of course, if you want your place-shifted video to look good, your get-away-from-it-all home will need a broadband connection to the Internet.
As the Earth's population booms and cities grow ever larger, the spotlight on energy innovation becomes greater. TIME looks into the new energy sources powering our world and sustaining our future.


Follow me on Twitter @sajilpl

Ultimate Kids Summer Weekend: Modern Family Adventures

Coming on the heels of a busy workweek (even in the summer), Friday night is a difficult one to plan for with kids: Free your mind -- and theirs -- at Art Rebel (14382 Ventura Blvd.). On the first and third Friday nights of each summer month, you and your brood (ages 5 and up, $25 per person) can do glow-in-the-dark painting in a wacky, black-lit room, followed by a pizza dinner (provided), all under the watchful eye of Ponti, whose art is owned by the likes of Sean Penn.

SATURDAY

Start your day at the Annenberg Community Beach House (415 Pacific Coast Highway) with the 9 a.m. stand-up paddleboarding class (reserve the Friday before). Then splash the late morning away in the tide pools at Leo Carrillo State Park in Malibu, where you can call ahead to have a park ranger (Rick comes highly recommended) give you a guided tour (310-457-8185). Before you leave the area, grab corn on the cob at Cafe Habana Malibu (3939 Cross Creek Road), a favorite of Soleil Moon Frye (co-founder of children's clothing line The Little Seed) and her kids.

PHOTOS: Best of Hollywood: 28 Ways to Create a Perfect Summer Weekend

If you're loath to battle beach crowds, head north into the woods: Sarah Chalke, Amy Brenneman, Noah Wyle, Julian Sands and the late Huell Howser are among those who have chased down pixies at Griffith Park during A Faery Hunt, an interactive theater experience at 10:30 Saturday mornings. (Tickets are $15 to $25 a person and locations vary, so check the schedule; afaeryhunt.com.) Head west for lunch at Westwood's 800 Degrees Pizza (10889 Lindbrook Drive), an assembly-line create-your-own joint, then take your littlest beauty queen for a mommy-and-me manicure at Plush Beauty Bar (7879 Santa Monica Blvd.). Not only is the salon formaldehyde-free, but kids too young and restless to enjoy the pleasures of grooming can hang out in a toy area while you and a big kid get your digits polished (open Saturday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.).

If beauty's not your kids' bag, trot over to Will Rogers Polo Club in Will Rogers State Park (the club is free to the public from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays, following $12 parking -- bring cash; 1501 Will Rogers State Park Road), where kids can watch polo matches and play in the large picnic area. For a sweet afternoon snack, make your way to Ice Cream Lab (9461 S. Santa Monica Blvd.), Beverly Hills' science experiment/creamery. Beyond the calories, the spectacle is worth the trip. The ice cream is made in a liquid nitrogen display, and kids go crazy for it. Visitors include Jay Leno and Jessica Alba with her kids.

When night falls, get reserved seating at Eat See Hear, a weekly festival of outdoor movies, live music and food trucks. The lineup mostly is family-friendly -- crowd-pleasers like Big and Elf (yes, in July) -- but there's an occasional Boogie Nights thrown in, so check the schedule unless you're ready to field some uncomfortable questions from the backseat. (Locations vary; doors open at 5:30 p.m., live music at 7, movie at 8:30; $10 per reserved ticket, $8 for kids 12 and under -- free for kids under 5; eatseehear.com.)

PHOTOS: 26 of Summer's Most Anticipated Movies: 'Man of Steel,' 'Wolverine,' 'The Lone Ranger'

SUNDAY

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner have taken their clan to Duff's Cakemix (8302 Melrose Ave.), a bakery and DIY cake-decorating studio where cake artists re-create the venom and victory of an Ace of Cakes episode. Frye's family loves the Larchmont Village Farmers Market (10 a.m.-2 p.m., 209 N. Larchmont Blvd.) because of the great food and "homey vibe." While you're there, drop by BlueBird LA Kids (652 N. Larchmont Blvd.), an upscale used-clothing store that's a favorite of Alicia Silverstone.

If you're up for an afternoon drive -- car nap! -- take your kids to Santa Clarita's The Gentle Barn (Sundays only, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., $10 suggested donation; 15825 Sierra Highway), where they can interact with animals that have been rescued from abuse. Portia de Rossi visited recently. And once you make it to Sunday night, you deserve some carbs -- and a break. Cecconi's West Hollywood (8764 Melrose Ave.) provides a family-style Italian dinner plus a magician and babysitter to entertain your kids once they sit still and eat for two minutes.

See more perfect summer weekends below:

Shopping With Jewelry Designer Jennifer Meyer

Music With Breakout Star Skylar Grey

Art With Director Phil Lord

Food: From Seafood Craze to Farmer's Market Bounty

Outdoors: Fun in the SoCal Sun

Pampering: Spa, Aaah

Romance: Date Nights (and Days)

Classic L.A.: Historic Hot Spots

The 1 Percent: Live in Luxury

Follow me on Twitter @sajilpl

Family Ties creator dies aged 68

  Gary David Goldberg said Family Ties was an "autobiographical" show Gary David Goldberg, the creator of hit US sitcom Family Ties, which made Michael J Fox a star, has died at the age of 68, according to reports.

Brooklyn-born Goldberg, who based much of the show on his own life, died of brain cancer on 23 June at his California home, Hollywood Reporter and Variety said.

He went on to co-create the series Spin City, which also starred Fox.

The double Emmy-winner Goldberg also penned episodes of M*A*S*H.

He won one Emmy in 1987 for outstanding writing on Family Ties and the other for newsroom drama Lou Grant in 1979, for which he won an outstanding series award.

In total, Goldberg garnered seven Emmy nominations and he also wrote the critically-acclaimed Brooklyn Bridge, derived from his New York youth, in a noisy apartment building presided over by his matriarchal grandmother.

"She had the family's only telephone, television and car, thus consolidating her absolute power," he wrote in his official biography.
Fox (left) starred in both Family Ties and Spin City
The writer was also behind episodes of The Bob Newhart Show and he wrote and directed a couple of films - 1989 comedy-drama Dad starring Jack Lemmon and John Cusack romantic comedy Must Love Dogs (2005).

Family Ties, which he created in the 80s, centred around a liberal hippy couple, whose offspring were more in tune with the materialism of the Reagan era.

"That sharp right turn was embodied by Fox, a baby-faced Canadian who played 17-year-old, tie-wearing Alex P Keaton, the oldest kid of aging flower children played by Meredith Baxter-Birney and Michael Gross," said the Hollywood Reporter.

Goldberg was quoted as saying the show was "totally autobiographical in concept", describing himself and his wife Diana as "the parents", adding: "Our daughter Shana was as smart as Alex but could shop with Mallory."

It went on to huge success, attracting US audiences of 28.2m at its peak, and casting a young Tom Hanks in a recurring role.

Running from 1982 to 1989, it notched up 180 episodes, 19 Emmy nominations and five wins. In the UK, it was broadcast on Channel 4.

Post 1980, all of Goldberg's shows were made via his own company, Ubu Productions, in partnership with Paramount.

All of the credits to his shows had a famous ending - a photograph of his black Labrador Retriever in front of the Louvre in Paris, with Goldberg saying: "Sit, Ubu, sit! Good dog," followed by a bark.

 

Gary David Goldberg's Death: Hollywood Mourns 'Family Ties' Creator

TV industry insiders are taking to Twitter to mourn the death of Family Ties creator Gary David Goldberg, who passed away Sunday at 68.

Goldberg died from brain cancer at his home in Montecito, Calif.

Goldberg re-teamed with Michael J. Fox on Spin City and co-created the critically acclaimed Brooklyn Bridge. He also wrote and directed Dad, starring Jack Lemmon, and the Diane Lane-John Cusack romantic comedy Must Love Dogs.

PHOTOS: Hollywood's Notable Deaths of 2013

The Brooklyn native also wrote episodes of The Bob Newhart Show and M*A*S*H in an illustrious career in which he collected seven Emmy nominations and two wins.

Goldberg's series credits famously ended with a photo of his beloved black Labrador retriever in front of the Louvre in Paris and Goldberg saying, “Sit, Ubu, sit! Good dog,” followed by a bark.

Among those paying tribute:

Everyone has a mentor (or two hopefully) that touches his/her life. Gary Goldberg passed away today. Wish I had thanked him more.

— Bill Lawrence (@VDOOZER) June 24, 2013

Lawrence was recruited by Goldberg to create Spin City.

RIP Gary David Goldberg. One of the greats in this business and in this world.

— Steve Levitan (@SteveLevitan) June 24, 2013

We have lost one of the greats, GARY DAVID GOLDBERG, gifted writer, dad, husband, family man and friend. We will miss his stories. R.I.P

— Frank Marshall (@LeDoctor) June 24, 2013

RIP Gary David Goldberg. The Keatons and the rest of us shed a tear. http://t.co/in0IAKqCoR

— Larry Salz (@larrysalz) June 24, 2013

"Family Ties" creator and "Spin City" co-creator Gary David Goldberg passed away yesterday. He will be missed. #RIP

— hulu (@hulu) June 24, 2013

RIP Gary David Goldberg. On Spin City he and @VDOOZER treated me amazingly and made me part of the family. Great, funny man.

— Mike Royce (@MikeRoyce) June 24, 2013

In Hallmark movies, 7 year old girls write Santa asking for future boyfriends. I wrote a letter at 7 to Gary David Goldberg asking for work.

— Jen Kirkman (@JenKirkman) December 25, 2012

Gary David Goldberg was a great man. I interned at "Spin City" in college. His generosity was legendary. Prayers to his family and friends.

— Mark Malkoff (@mmalkoff) June 24, 2013

 

Sling Media Slingbox Pro & Family

 

Two TV buzz terms you might hear these days are ?time shifting? and ?place shifting.? Time shifting is what a TiVo does, recording something in the 8 pm slot that you watch later on. Place shifting is what a Slingbox does, giving you access to video stored up in one location—be it on DVD or recorded on a TiVo?s hard drive—from another place using an Internet-connected PC or mobile device.
Until now, Slingbox couldn?t get at the growing mass of high-definition programming available from cable or satellite providers. That was a problem in my house, since we record most primetime shows in HD using a cable company-rented Scientific Atlanta DVR set-top box. The new Slingbox Pro can stream any standard or HD show stored on my cable box, at a reduced quality, wherever I happen to be.

Last Friday afternoon, I was racing out the door for the weekend, juggling bags of groceries, bags of clothes and two cats, each in its own carrier. At 4:11 pm I realized I had forgotten to setup the Slingbox Pro, so we could watch our home TV while out of town. Determined to set a record for Slingbox setup, I pulled out the quick-start guide and rolled up my sleeves. I connected wires for video, networking and power in a particular order. Then I powered everything on and popped the software disc into a PC laptop. (Alas, Slingbox doesn't work for Macs at the moment.) The software found the Slingbox, tested its video, then found my network router and automatically configured it to stream video over the open Internet, not just on my home network. There?s a ?do it yourself? mode, but take my advice, nerds, and let Sling?s software take the first crack ? it was very fast, and saved me from having to log into my router, let alone recalling frighteningly geeky concepts such as ?port forwarding.? On the screen flashed a message that everything was good to go. It was 4:23 pm.

The following evening, my wife and I were telling our friends about Tina Fey?s hilarious new NBC sitcom, 30 Rock, but found we couldn?t do it justice. I suddenly realized that I could simply stream the pilot episode, via laptop, from my cable box at home. We gathered around the dining room table, and I launched the SlingPlayer, which produced a virtual remote control identical to the one sitting on my coffee table back home. Within seconds we were watching a show I had originally recorded in high-def. It may not have looked as good—the already scaled down signal degrades a bit over the internet—but it was just as funny.

If you?re not yet into HDTV this may not sound like a big deal. In fact, aside from HBO and the networks, most of what I record airs only in standard definition: Comedy Central, Cartoon Network, Food Network and a great chunk of the Discovery Channel?s best shows. But there?s a profound psychological difference between having access to most of my shows and all of my shows. Best of all, the Slingbox connects directly to an HD cable box as easily as it connects to any other video source. It doesn?t require anything as elusive as a CableCard, an over-promised, under-delivered digital card offered (in low volume) by cable companies for use in specially built TVs and other devices.

The Slingbox Pro is the new flagship in the Slingbox family, which also includes the Slingbox AV, which handles basic cable and any non-HD video from set-top boxes and other video sources, and the Slingbox Tuner, which doesn?t work with a set-top box, but rather connects directly to the cable sticking out of the wall for less mess, but also less flexibility. Both the Tuner and the Pro have pass-through capability so, in most cases, you can leave it connected to your setup without disrupting your at-home viewing. You must connect the Slingbox AV to a secondary video output, or in place of your TV when you?re heading out of town. The downside to the Pro is that to do the HD thing, you have to pay an extra $50 for the HD Connect cable—and you still might have to go to RadioShack for an extra cable or two.

You may be wondering if place shifting can be anything more than a novelty; I?ve often wondered the same thing. But think about this: If you own or rent a vacation home and want to be connected to television to check news or a game, but not to watch all the time, you can skip the cable or satellite subscription altogether and use a Slingbox. Of course, if you want your place-shifted video to look good, your get-away-from-it-all home will need a broadband connection to the Internet.

As the Earth's population booms and cities grow ever larger, the spotlight on energy innovation becomes greater. TIME looks into the new energy sources powering our world and sustaining our future.

 

 

 

Family Spokesman: James Gandolfini's Body to Return to U.S. on Monday

The family of James Gandolfini is planning on returning the actor's body to the U.S. on Monday.

"We are now looking at hopefully getting James Gandolfini's remains back to the States tomorrow," said Michael Kobold, Gandolfini family spokesman, in a statement released by HBO on Sunday. "The provisional plan is to depart Rome tomorrow afternoon and arrive in the U.S. in the evening."

PHOTOS: James Gandolfini's Life and Career in Pictures 

Kobold stated: "On behalf of the Gandolfini family, I would like to thank the Italian authorities for all the assistance they have rendered in expediting the formalities necessary to repatriate James Gandolfini's remains to the United States."

During a vacation to Italy, the 51-year-old actor died Wednesday night of a cardiac arrest, hospital officials confirmed. Gandolfini was said to have finished a tour of Rome with his family before returning to the hotel and suffering a heart attack.

Kobold also thanked Secretary of State John Kerry, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton for assistance.

"We would like to thank the United States government, especially Secretary Kerry and our friends at the State Department for helping us in this time of need," the family statement read. "Our expressed thanks to the people at the Italy desk at the State Department for working day and night on our behalf. We thank President Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for their kind support."

Gandolfini is survived by his wife, Deborah Lin, and two children.