Death Toll from Breast Cancer Drops

Before Cristie Kerr flies off to Illinois to pour everything she has into playing for the red, white and blue in the Solheim Cup on Aug. 21-23, she'll focus on another golf tournament that is near and dear to her heart.

The LPGA tour's leading money winner this year and the 2007 U.S. Women's Open champion is holding a charity golf event Aug. 14 for her foundation, Birdies for Breast Cancer, at Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City , USA Today reports.

However, the outlook for the 250,000 or so people who have cancer diagnosed every year in the UK has never been better. The death toll from the big three — cancer of the lung, bowel and breast — has dropped to its lowest level for almost 40 years despite more people developing the disease as our life expectancy increases. But there is still room for improvement. Our best cancer centres may rival those of any country in the world, but the standard of provision across the UK as a whole still lags behind America and much of Europe , Times Online reports.

Meanwhile, Of 11 studies of quality of life -- measured by factors like physical functioning, emotional well-being and social life -- seven found no differences, on average, between women who had reconstruction and those who did not.

Similarly, nine of 16 studies on body image showed no clear differences -- including each of the three studies the researchers deemed to be "higher-quality." , ABC News reports.