If you ask the average American for the best advice you can give your friends and family when it comes to cancer, you will almost certainly hear that screening and early detection are the best tools we have. And for the longest time, that’s what we’ve heard from our doctors and the media. But the times, they are a-changin’, and The American Cancer Society is reversing its long-supported position that frequent screenings will lead to fewer cancer deaths, especially in breast and prostate cancer.

Tumor growth is actually relatively common; however, most tumors are benign, and do not invasively grow further outward or take up residence in other locations. That process, known as metastasis, is the true killer in cancer, as the body becomes unable to fight off the multiple new tumors that begin to disrupt normal body function.

The ACS is now telling patients that we may be over-treating the less-threatening tumors, and in the process missing more-threatening cases.‚  Since advocating screening, the ACS acknowledges that cancer diagnoses have increased. However, for frequent screenings to actually prove beneficial to the public health, there should have been a corresponding decrease in cancer deaths. Instead, widespread screening has only led to an increase in the discovery and treatment of tumors that would have remained harmless and wouldn’t have required any intervention.

While screening has resulted in fewer late-stage cancer cases for colon and cervical cancers, unfortunately there’s no data to show that we’ve seen fewer deaths in breast and prostate cancers, and doctors are now worried that the public has been over-promised on the benefits of some cancer screens.

However, Colin Begg, a biostatistician at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York told The Times that he’s worried that the message will confuse the public who will assume that all cancer screenings are unnecessary. “I am concerned that the complex view of a changing landscape will be distilled by the public into yet another “Ëœscreening does not work’ headline. The fact that population screening is no panacea does not mean that it is useless” he said.

For now, it will just take time for doctors and researchers to determine which tumors should be treated, and which, counter intuitively should be left alone. In the mean time, follow the advice of your doctor, whatever that might be.

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If the trailer for Warner Bros.’s newest frightfest “Orphan” wasn’t enough to have you crawling out of your skin, than your nerves are far stronger than mine are. Nothing says “Happy July” than a pre-screening to what’s sure to be one of the scariest movies of 2009, and Blast is more than happy to get you some passes.

We have 15 passes to give away for a late-night screening of the film next Tuesday, July 21 — but there’s a little catch. Record a video of your best horror movie scream, post it to YouTube and leave a link to it as a comment below, and we will give passes to the first 15 who post.

Plus, the best five screamers will win a prize pack full of summer goodies like shot glasses, frisbees, t-shirts, official movie poster and beach balls, to mix a little fear into your summer fun.

This giveaway ends Friday, July 17. “Orphan” hits theaters July 24.

Robert Langdon will return to the thrilling study of symbols twice this year; first in the big screen adaptation of Dan Brown’s “Angels & Demons” which hits theaters May 15, and second in the long anticipated novel follow-up to “The Da Vinci Code” called “The Lost Symbol” slated to hit book stores September 15.

“The Lost Symbol” has been in a five year stasis during which time Brown has researched yet another intriguing combination of history and secret codes for main character Langdon to research. Originally titled “The Solomon Key” “The Lost Symbol” is the third installment of Brown’s Robert Langdon series which began with “Angels & Demons” in 2000 and was followed by the controversial “The Da Vinci Code” in 2003.

The novel follows Langdon over a 12 hour period of time.

“This novel has been a strange and wonderful journey,” said Brown in a press release. “Weaving five years of research into the story’s twelve-hour timeframe was an exhilarating challenge. Robert Langdon’s life clearly moves a lot faster than mine.”

The April 20th announcement of the books release date coincides with the upcoming release of “Angels & Demons” starring Tom Hanks as Langdon. “Angels & Demons” follows Langdon as he investigates a series of murders in Vatican City.

“The Lost Symbol” can be reserved on Amazon.com.

So what do you think, Blast readers? Are you going to reserve your copy of “The Lost Symbol” and see “Angels & Demons” the day it comes out? Or do you think Dan Brown is past his prime in the world of thriller novels? Give us your feedback, and the first 10 commenters will receive an exclusive pass to a pre-screening of “Angels & Demons” in Boston as well as a free promotional movie poster.