Lung cancer, even after quitting
Since Barbara Rosen quit smoking 42 years ago, she didn't worry about her lungs.

When she saw a story about a new chest cat scan; she decided to get one to check her heart out.

After the scan doctors told her that there was nothing wrong with her heart, but there was something wrong in her lung.

The scan showed a tiny spot on the edge of the lung, so she consulted with Dr. Robert McKenna of Cedars Sinai.

"I certainly have plenty of patients, who got a body scan, who found out that they had a very early stage lung cancer. We cut it out, and they've been cured,” says thoracic surgeon, Dr. Robert McKenna.

She wisely got regular tests and when the CAT scan showed it enlarging, they knew she needed surgery a surgery that saved her life all because of a test that took just a few minutes.

Secondhand smoke studies
If you think just because you are not a smoker that means your lungs are perfectly fine think again.

Breathing in secondhand smoke may make you cough and gag and now new research shows it really appears to damage your lungs.

Scientists studied the effect of secondhand smoke using a new MRI technique in which the patient inhaled a specially prepared helium gas before the test, giving researchers a different view of the lungs.

About a third of non-smokers who were exposed to high levels of secondhand smoke showed early lung damage.

Prostate cancer treatment may need imporovements
New research from Massachusetts General Hospital finds more than a third of men with prostate cancer might not be getting the treatment that's best for them.

Standard treatments for prostate cancer include external radiation, surgery, and a procedure called brachytherapy in which tiny radioactive seeds are implanted into the prostate gland.

Each carries some kind of risk for side effects either may affect urinary, bowel or sexual function.

For patients who already have problems in these areas, researchers say the wrong type of therapy could make their problem worse.