Why, unlike Angelina Jolie, I delayed having a preventive mastectomy
On discovering I had an 80% chance of ovarian or breast cancer, I decided to have my ovaries removed but not my breasts – and then learned I had breast cancer
Angelina Jolie has done something extraordinary
Hadley Freeman: In publicly discussing her double mastectomy, the actor has challenged the celebrity industry to rethink its bizarre values – and she has done all women a huge service
Cheers as Observer helps family win life insurance
Friends Life does U-turn on £100,000 life insurance payout to bereaved family of cancer sufferer
Victory for family denied cancer claim payout for father
Ombudsman ruling brings 'relief and joy' for widow and twins after insurer said victim did not disclose pins and needles
Lisa Lynch obituary
Writer who recounted her experience of cancer with engaging candour
Are sausages bad for you?
Felicity Cloake: New research says that people who eat processed meat have an increased risk of an early death. Does this mean we have to give up sausages – or will we be OK if we buy posh bangers and grill rather than fry them?
‘I had leukaemia, so I know how the patients must feel’
Dom Hurford's battle with childhood leukaemia has led to a life as a doctor on the wards where he was once treated
Teen fiction and the shadow of cancer
Mal Peet: From John Green's The Fault in our Stars to Jenny Downham's Before I Die, childhood cancer is becoming a taboo-busting subject for teen fiction
What doctors won’t do
From steroids to sleeping tablets, IVF to the flu jab – doctors reveal the treatments they would avoid
The antioxidant myth is too easy to swallow
Henry Scowcroft: People are hooked on the fallacy that 'antioxidant' is a byword for 'healthy' – perhaps because the truth is less appealing
Tumorous cigarettes – and the rest of the year in shockvertising
Arwa Mahdawi: A shocking ad may put us off our breakfast, but such tactics probably aren't the most effective way to change behaviour
Smokers face graphic ad campaign showing tumour growing on cigarette
£2.7m advertising campaign will warn smokers that just 15 cigarettes can lead to a cancerous tumour
The NHS failed my father
When her dad became seriously ill, Hannah Rose had to battle for a proper diagnosis and care. But worse, she says, was the lack of compassion
High blood pressure, smoking and alcohol are biggest health risks
IHME global study of health risks finds that high blood pressure caused 9.4m early deaths, while smoking was next biggest
My brain tumour blog
When she was told she had a brain tumour, Jennie Cohen began to record her thoughts online. Here's how she coped with the diagnosis and surgery