We found this yesterday on a good, health care/nutrition site called Elements4Health.com:
Chinese Medicine May Reduce Chemotherapy Side Effects in Cancer Patients
Chinese Herbs A centuries‑old traditional Chinese medicine may reduce the intestinal side effects of chemotherapy in cancer patients by stimulating gut cell division and reducing inflammation, a new study in mice suggests.
Peonies and a pretty purple flower called skullcap, together with licorice and fruit from a buckthorn tree form Huang Qin Tang (pronounced Hu-ang Chin Tong), an ancient herbal medicine used in China to treat intestinal disorders such as diarrhea, nausea and vomiting. Recently, a Western-style phase 1/2 trial confirmed that this drug reduces gut damage caused by chemotherapy in colon and rectal cancer patients.
In the new study, Yung- Chi Cheng and colleagues used a carefully prepared, lab formulation of this medicine (called PHY906) and show that the healing effects of this blend of plants arise from its ability to target numerous biological processes in mice.
"The reductionist approach to treating multiple side effects triggered by cancer chemotherapy or complicated disease may not be sufficient. Rigorous studies of the biology of traditional herbal medicines, which target multiple sites with multiple chemicals, could lead to the development of future medicines," said Cheng.
In the study, the researchers treated cancerous mice with chemotherapy, which shrank tumors but also caused massive destruction in the intestinal lining of the animals. After a few days of treatment with the herbal composition PHY906, the medicine restored the damaged intestinal linings in the mice. The team found that stem cell signaling molecules (known as Wnts) were present in higher than normal levels in the guts of the treated mice. Taking a closer look, the researchers discovered that PHY906 itself did not stimulate Wnt signaling, but that mixing PHY906 with a bacterial enzyme common in the gut triggered Wnt signaling, which drives the replacement of damaged intestinal stem cells with healthy ones.
In addition to replenishing healthy gut cells, the herbal medicine blocked the migration of inflammatory cells to the gut and reduced inflammation--effects that seem to be caused by multiple actions of PHY906. These results suggest that traditional Chinese medicine may be a model approach for drug developers, who are eagerly testing combinations of agents in the hope that they hope will work better than any one alone.
"We will continue to refine these processes to better study and understand the sophisticated nature of herbal medicines. Revisiting history may lead us to discovering future medicines," said Cheng.
PHY906 is currently only available for patients enrolled in a clinical trial. The authors caution that many herbal products claiming to be Huang Qin Tang may contain harmful or ineffective substitutes and should be avoided.
We like this site. A wide variety of helpful, easy to read articles.
Feel good and keep smiling! Pat & Pattie
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Monday, August 30, 2010
Growing Trend For Treating Many Cancers Includes Combining Chemotherapy Drugs & Using Lower Doses
Yesterday I posted an article about how "treatment with fewer cycles of chemotherapy and a reduced dose of radiation therapy may be as effective as, but less toxic than, more intensive treatment" in newly diagnosed Hodgkin's lymphoma patients.
This type of finding is not limited to lymphoma patients. One of the primary goals of a Phase 1 clinical trial is to test how much of drug patients can tolerate. Docs then start with that dose. At that point, no one knows if giving the max dose of chemotherapy is necessary. But without supporting data, giving a max dose only makes sense.
My wife Pattie completed treatment for ovarian cancer seven years ago--surgery, followed by six months of heavy chemotherapy. Taxol was the featured agent.
If Pattie was diagnosed today, docs would probably still use Taxol (in combination with one or more other anti-cancer drugs) but is a much lower dose--and most likely for only three or four cycles, not six.
Ovarian cancer patients undergoing this treatment now report fewer side-effects than my wife did. She would get really, really sick. Pattie was basically "out for the count," writhing in pain and horribly nauseous, for five or six days following her monthly IV.
Good news! But I must ask: Why are oncologists still using the same primary cancer drug for ovarian cancer seven years later? There have been three or four new, effective anti-myeloma drugs developed and approved by the FDA over the last five years. Get with the program, researchers!
Like taxol for ovarian cancer, myeloma specialists are learning max doses are rarely necessary to achieve positive results. In some cases--like the steroid dexamethasone--ongoing research has determined higher doses actually reduce the drug's effectiveness.
What does the future hold? In the short term: Smaller doses of several chemotherapy drugs, used in combination, often with reduced doses of maintenance chemo administered after the primary therapy is complete.
This trend started in the blood cancers (leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma), but is spreading to a number of other solid tumor applications.
Since it is unlikely scientists will find a cancer "cure" anytime soon, smaller, targeted doses, made up of combinations of different anti-cancer agents is the trend today.
Feel good, keep smiling and pray and root for the cancer researchers, staring at their test tubes, computer screens and microscopes. May today be the day one of them discovers a key to curing our cancer!
Pat
This type of finding is not limited to lymphoma patients. One of the primary goals of a Phase 1 clinical trial is to test how much of drug patients can tolerate. Docs then start with that dose. At that point, no one knows if giving the max dose of chemotherapy is necessary. But without supporting data, giving a max dose only makes sense.
My wife Pattie completed treatment for ovarian cancer seven years ago--surgery, followed by six months of heavy chemotherapy. Taxol was the featured agent.
If Pattie was diagnosed today, docs would probably still use Taxol (in combination with one or more other anti-cancer drugs) but is a much lower dose--and most likely for only three or four cycles, not six.
Ovarian cancer patients undergoing this treatment now report fewer side-effects than my wife did. She would get really, really sick. Pattie was basically "out for the count," writhing in pain and horribly nauseous, for five or six days following her monthly IV.
Good news! But I must ask: Why are oncologists still using the same primary cancer drug for ovarian cancer seven years later? There have been three or four new, effective anti-myeloma drugs developed and approved by the FDA over the last five years. Get with the program, researchers!
Like taxol for ovarian cancer, myeloma specialists are learning max doses are rarely necessary to achieve positive results. In some cases--like the steroid dexamethasone--ongoing research has determined higher doses actually reduce the drug's effectiveness.
What does the future hold? In the short term: Smaller doses of several chemotherapy drugs, used in combination, often with reduced doses of maintenance chemo administered after the primary therapy is complete.
This trend started in the blood cancers (leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma), but is spreading to a number of other solid tumor applications.
Since it is unlikely scientists will find a cancer "cure" anytime soon, smaller, targeted doses, made up of combinations of different anti-cancer agents is the trend today.
Feel good, keep smiling and pray and root for the cancer researchers, staring at their test tubes, computer screens and microscopes. May today be the day one of them discovers a key to curing our cancer!
Pat
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Reduced Dosing Still Effective For Patients In Early Stages Of Hodgkin's Lymphoma
Here is a noteworthy article we found on Caring4Cancer.com today. This is an important trend, because it doesn't only affect lymphoma patients. Lower dosing is a fortunate trend for patients fighting a number of different cancers:
Reduced-intensity Treatment May be Effective for Early Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
By CancerConsultants.com
Among patients with early-stage Hodgkin’s lymphoma and a favorable prognosis, it may be possible to reduce the number of chemotherapy cycles and the dose of radiation therapy without adversely affecting outcome. The results of this study were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Hodgkin’s lymphoma is a cancer of the lymph system and is diagnosed by the identification of a characteristic cell under the microscope (the Reed-Sternberg cell). Hodgkin’s lymphoma typically begins in the lymph nodes in one region of the body and then spreads through the lymph system in a predictable manner. It may spread outside the lymph system to other organs such as the lungs, liver, bone, and bone marrow.
Localized Hodgkin’s lymphoma can be treated with chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or the combination of these approaches. These treatments cure many patients, but the long-term side effects of treatment are an ongoing focus of research. The optimal therapy that cures the most patients with the least side effects is still being determined.
To evaluate treatment with fewer chemotherapy cycles and a reduced dose of radiation therapy, researchers conducted a study among 1370 patients with newly diagnosed Hodgkin’s lymphoma and a favorable prognosis. Patients were assigned to one of four treatment groups:
1.Four cycles of ABVD (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine) followed by 30 Gy of radiation therapy
2.Four cycles of ABVD followed by 20 Gy of radiation therapy
3.Two cycles of ABVD followed by 30 Gy of radiation therapy
4.Two cycles of ABVD followed by 20 Gy of radiation therapy
Freedom from treatment failure and overall survival were similar across treatment groups. Patients who received the most chemotherapy and the highest dose of radiation experienced the highest rate of adverse treatment effects.
These results suggest that treatment with fewer cycles of chemotherapy and a reduced dose of radiation therapy may be as effective as, but less toxic than, more intensive treatment. The researchers caution, however, that the long-term effects of these treatments have not been fully assessed.
Reference: Engert A, Plutschow A, Eich HT et al. Reduced treatment intensity in patients with early-stage Hodgkin’s lymphoma. New England Journal of Medicine. 2010;363:640-52.
Reasearchers are finding the same to be true with a number of anti-multiple myeloma medications: Less can be more!
More about this encouraging trend Monday. Feel good and keep smiling! Pat & Pattie
Reduced-intensity Treatment May be Effective for Early Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
By CancerConsultants.com
Among patients with early-stage Hodgkin’s lymphoma and a favorable prognosis, it may be possible to reduce the number of chemotherapy cycles and the dose of radiation therapy without adversely affecting outcome. The results of this study were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Hodgkin’s lymphoma is a cancer of the lymph system and is diagnosed by the identification of a characteristic cell under the microscope (the Reed-Sternberg cell). Hodgkin’s lymphoma typically begins in the lymph nodes in one region of the body and then spreads through the lymph system in a predictable manner. It may spread outside the lymph system to other organs such as the lungs, liver, bone, and bone marrow.
Localized Hodgkin’s lymphoma can be treated with chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or the combination of these approaches. These treatments cure many patients, but the long-term side effects of treatment are an ongoing focus of research. The optimal therapy that cures the most patients with the least side effects is still being determined.
To evaluate treatment with fewer chemotherapy cycles and a reduced dose of radiation therapy, researchers conducted a study among 1370 patients with newly diagnosed Hodgkin’s lymphoma and a favorable prognosis. Patients were assigned to one of four treatment groups:
1.Four cycles of ABVD (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine) followed by 30 Gy of radiation therapy
2.Four cycles of ABVD followed by 20 Gy of radiation therapy
3.Two cycles of ABVD followed by 30 Gy of radiation therapy
4.Two cycles of ABVD followed by 20 Gy of radiation therapy
Freedom from treatment failure and overall survival were similar across treatment groups. Patients who received the most chemotherapy and the highest dose of radiation experienced the highest rate of adverse treatment effects.
These results suggest that treatment with fewer cycles of chemotherapy and a reduced dose of radiation therapy may be as effective as, but less toxic than, more intensive treatment. The researchers caution, however, that the long-term effects of these treatments have not been fully assessed.
Reference: Engert A, Plutschow A, Eich HT et al. Reduced treatment intensity in patients with early-stage Hodgkin’s lymphoma. New England Journal of Medicine. 2010;363:640-52.
Reasearchers are finding the same to be true with a number of anti-multiple myeloma medications: Less can be more!
More about this encouraging trend Monday. Feel good and keep smiling! Pat & Pattie
Saturday, August 28, 2010
A Must Read: Health Care Gap May Raise Rates of Colorectal Cancer Death in Blacks
Here is another unfortunate example of racial and economic inequities in our health care system:
Health Care Gap May Raise Rates of Colorectal Cancer Death in Blacks
WEDNESDAY, Aug. 25 (HealthDay News) -- Unequal health care may explain why black colorectal cancer patients have a much higher death rate than white patients, a new U.S. study suggests.
Researchers analyzed national colorectal cancer death rates between 1960 and 2005. During that time, there was a 54 percent reduction in deaths among white women and only a 14 percent reduction among black women.
The disparity was even more striking among men. While the death rate for white men decreased 39 percent, the death rate for black men increased 28 percent, the researchers reported.
This HealthdayNews article I found on CancerCompass.com is short, but says a lot. Read the rest at Health Care Gap.
The "ever-widening racial gaps in overall and stage-specific survival" among colon cancer patients is disturbing. When will the "haves" in our country, who don't think our health care system needs an overhaul, wake up and help out--ideally without government intervention. Our fellow American's lives depend on it!
Feel good and keep smiling! Pat
Health Care Gap May Raise Rates of Colorectal Cancer Death in Blacks
WEDNESDAY, Aug. 25 (HealthDay News) -- Unequal health care may explain why black colorectal cancer patients have a much higher death rate than white patients, a new U.S. study suggests.
Researchers analyzed national colorectal cancer death rates between 1960 and 2005. During that time, there was a 54 percent reduction in deaths among white women and only a 14 percent reduction among black women.
The disparity was even more striking among men. While the death rate for white men decreased 39 percent, the death rate for black men increased 28 percent, the researchers reported.
This HealthdayNews article I found on CancerCompass.com is short, but says a lot. Read the rest at Health Care Gap.
The "ever-widening racial gaps in overall and stage-specific survival" among colon cancer patients is disturbing. When will the "haves" in our country, who don't think our health care system needs an overhaul, wake up and help out--ideally without government intervention. Our fellow American's lives depend on it!
Feel good and keep smiling! Pat
Friday, August 27, 2010
Sugar Feeds Cancer Evidence Continues To Mount: More About Fructose
I was a bit skeptical of Dr. Mercola's post about how your mattress may attract dangerous electric impulses earlier this week.
He redeems himself today by releasing this story about how cancer uses sugar to thrive and survive:
Cancer's Favorite Food - Found in Everything You Eat?
Posted By Dr. Mercola | August 27 2010
Here is an excerpt:
Pancreatic tumor cells use fructose to divide and proliferate, according to a study that challenges the notion that all sugars are the same.
Tumor cells fed both glucose and fructose used the two sugars in two different ways. This could explain why other studies have previously linked fructose intake with pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest cancer types.
According to MSNBC:
"Americans take in large amounts of fructose, mainly in high fructose corn syrup, a mix of fructose and glucose that is used in soft drinks, bread and a range of other foods. Politicians, regulators, health experts and the industry have debated whether high fructose corn syrup and other ingredients have been helping make Americans fatter and less healthy."...
Are all sugars equal in terms of the health effects they produce?
Sooner or later, science will put this debate to rest once and for all. It's already been conclusively shown that fructose, most commonly consumed in the form of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), is FAR more hazardous to your health than regular sugar, but the corn industry still vehemently denies such claims.
Read more of Dr. Mercola's comments by going to: Fructose Warning
I'm not convinced there is much difference between types of sugar... It is hard for me to say, but it is probably best to avoid all forms of sugar whenever possible. I'm a low carb diet guy, so I try and limit carbs, including sugar, of course. I will admit I ingest too much artificial sweetener as a substitute. No one is perfect, right?
Feel good and keep smiling! Pat
He redeems himself today by releasing this story about how cancer uses sugar to thrive and survive:
Cancer's Favorite Food - Found in Everything You Eat?
Posted By Dr. Mercola | August 27 2010
Here is an excerpt:
Pancreatic tumor cells use fructose to divide and proliferate, according to a study that challenges the notion that all sugars are the same.
Tumor cells fed both glucose and fructose used the two sugars in two different ways. This could explain why other studies have previously linked fructose intake with pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest cancer types.
According to MSNBC:
"Americans take in large amounts of fructose, mainly in high fructose corn syrup, a mix of fructose and glucose that is used in soft drinks, bread and a range of other foods. Politicians, regulators, health experts and the industry have debated whether high fructose corn syrup and other ingredients have been helping make Americans fatter and less healthy."...
Are all sugars equal in terms of the health effects they produce?
Sooner or later, science will put this debate to rest once and for all. It's already been conclusively shown that fructose, most commonly consumed in the form of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), is FAR more hazardous to your health than regular sugar, but the corn industry still vehemently denies such claims.
Read more of Dr. Mercola's comments by going to: Fructose Warning
I'm not convinced there is much difference between types of sugar... It is hard for me to say, but it is probably best to avoid all forms of sugar whenever possible. I'm a low carb diet guy, so I try and limit carbs, including sugar, of course. I will admit I ingest too much artificial sweetener as a substitute. No one is perfect, right?
Feel good and keep smiling! Pat
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Another New, Experimental Anti-Cancer Drug Shrinks Advanced Melanoma Tumors In 81% Of Patients
Did you see the story about another new melanoma wonder drug this morning on NBC's The Today Show? Here is the introduction to a companion Reuters story running on MSNBC.com:
BOSTON — An experimental targeted cancer drug shrank advanced melanoma tumors in 81 percent of patients with the deadly and hard-to-treat cancer, doctors said Wednesday.
The findings were part of an early phase study used to determine the best dose of the experimental drug PLX4032, now in late-stage clinical trials. It is designed to target tumor cells with a mutation in a gene called BRAF. The drug is made by Roche and privately held Plexxikon.
In two patients, tumors went away completely. In 24 others, the tumors shrank by more than 30 percent, the team reported in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The team said 81 percent of 32 patients with a BRAF mutation showed complete or partial shrinkage of their tumors.
"We can see the improvement in patients and it's happening quite rapidly, within a week or two of starting treatment," Dr. Keith Flaherty of the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston said in a telephone interview.
"For patients without symptoms, the hope is that it delays the time it takes for them to develop symptoms, and we have some belief that that is happening as we speak," said Flaherty, who worked on the study.
But the effect appears to be fleeting.
In all but two cases, where the cancer has stayed away for at least a year, the benefits have been temporary, typically lasting about six months, Flaherty said.
Go to: New hope for melanoma patients to read the article.
NBC ran a similarly exciting story about another new, anti-melanoma drug, Ipilimumab, in June.
Here is the link to that story: New Melanoma Drug, Ipilimumab Big News Here In Chicago At ASCO
Feel good and keep smiling! Pat
BOSTON — An experimental targeted cancer drug shrank advanced melanoma tumors in 81 percent of patients with the deadly and hard-to-treat cancer, doctors said Wednesday.
The findings were part of an early phase study used to determine the best dose of the experimental drug PLX4032, now in late-stage clinical trials. It is designed to target tumor cells with a mutation in a gene called BRAF. The drug is made by Roche and privately held Plexxikon.
In two patients, tumors went away completely. In 24 others, the tumors shrank by more than 30 percent, the team reported in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The team said 81 percent of 32 patients with a BRAF mutation showed complete or partial shrinkage of their tumors.
"We can see the improvement in patients and it's happening quite rapidly, within a week or two of starting treatment," Dr. Keith Flaherty of the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston said in a telephone interview.
"For patients without symptoms, the hope is that it delays the time it takes for them to develop symptoms, and we have some belief that that is happening as we speak," said Flaherty, who worked on the study.
But the effect appears to be fleeting.
In all but two cases, where the cancer has stayed away for at least a year, the benefits have been temporary, typically lasting about six months, Flaherty said.
Go to: New hope for melanoma patients to read the article.
NBC ran a similarly exciting story about another new, anti-melanoma drug, Ipilimumab, in June.
Here is the link to that story: New Melanoma Drug, Ipilimumab Big News Here In Chicago At ASCO
Feel good and keep smiling! Pat
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Ten Foods Every Cancer Patient & Survivor Should Eat
Here is a link to an article from EverydayHealth.com about nine important foods we all should eat: Eat Your Way to a Longer Life
No surprises, but the article is much more detailed than most (11 pages), complete with photo's and prep advice.
The list includes salmon, blueberries, green tea, dark chocolate, cooked tomatoes, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, spinach and yogurt. We can't argue with any of these--except maybe green tea for those of us on blood thinners. But what about raw walnuts and red peppers?
Feel good, keep smiling and eat lots of raw veggies everyday! Pat & Pattie
No surprises, but the article is much more detailed than most (11 pages), complete with photo's and prep advice.
The list includes salmon, blueberries, green tea, dark chocolate, cooked tomatoes, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, spinach and yogurt. We can't argue with any of these--except maybe green tea for those of us on blood thinners. But what about raw walnuts and red peppers?
Feel good, keep smiling and eat lots of raw veggies everyday! Pat & Pattie
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Learn More About Why Chemotherapy Changes The Way A Cancer Patient Tastes Food
Weight loss during cancer therapy is a very common problem. Here is part of an article, Taste Disorders in Cancer Patients on Chemotherapy,
by Linda Fugate, about how and why things taste differently during treatment:
Chemotherapy agents kill many types of rapidly growing cells, possibly including the taste buds. In addition, drugs in the bloodstream may permeate saliva or diffuse from blood to the taste receptors. Changes in taste are commonly associated with the following chemotherapeutic drugs:
1. Cisplatin
2. Carboplatin
3. Cyclophosphamide
4. Doxorubicin
5. 5-fluorouracil
6. Methotrexate
To quantify what's happening, a research team in Mexico City performed a taste test for sweet (sucrose), bitter (urea), and savory or umami (sodium glutamate) flavors on 30 chemotherapy patients and 30 control subjects without cancer. They found that cancer patients have a higher detection threshold for sweet taste, and a higher recognition threshold for bitter. There was no difference for the sodium glutamate.
Thus, patients on chemotherapy need more sugar in foods before they can recognize a sweet taste, and have trouble distinguishing between bitter and other flavors.
Pat experienced a change in how and what he could taste toward the end of his radiation therapy, before he had even started chemo. He loves to eat and eats a lot! But his appetite fell off during radiation, then plunged when he first started chemotherapy--and he wasn't even using one of the drugs listed above.
I was heavily dosed with Cisplatin over a six month period. Seven years later and my ability to taste and smell still hasn't fully recovered! Go to: EmpowHer.com/Chemo Caused Taste Disorders to read more.
Guess it helps knowing there is a reason for the changes. Still doesn't make the food taste any better! Feel good and keep smiling! Pattie
by Linda Fugate, about how and why things taste differently during treatment:
Chemotherapy agents kill many types of rapidly growing cells, possibly including the taste buds. In addition, drugs in the bloodstream may permeate saliva or diffuse from blood to the taste receptors. Changes in taste are commonly associated with the following chemotherapeutic drugs:
1. Cisplatin
2. Carboplatin
3. Cyclophosphamide
4. Doxorubicin
5. 5-fluorouracil
6. Methotrexate
To quantify what's happening, a research team in Mexico City performed a taste test for sweet (sucrose), bitter (urea), and savory or umami (sodium glutamate) flavors on 30 chemotherapy patients and 30 control subjects without cancer. They found that cancer patients have a higher detection threshold for sweet taste, and a higher recognition threshold for bitter. There was no difference for the sodium glutamate.
Thus, patients on chemotherapy need more sugar in foods before they can recognize a sweet taste, and have trouble distinguishing between bitter and other flavors.
Pat experienced a change in how and what he could taste toward the end of his radiation therapy, before he had even started chemo. He loves to eat and eats a lot! But his appetite fell off during radiation, then plunged when he first started chemotherapy--and he wasn't even using one of the drugs listed above.
I was heavily dosed with Cisplatin over a six month period. Seven years later and my ability to taste and smell still hasn't fully recovered! Go to: EmpowHer.com/Chemo Caused Taste Disorders to read more.
Guess it helps knowing there is a reason for the changes. Still doesn't make the food taste any better! Feel good and keep smiling! Pattie
Monday, August 23, 2010
Mattresses Cause Cancer? Give Me A Break!
Are we really supposed to take a warning like this seriously?
Your Mattress Could be Acting as a Cancer-Causing Radiation Antenna
How to create a Sleeping Sanctuary
Posted by: Dr. Mercola | August 18 2010
I read Dr. Mercola's nutritional newsletter regularly. It can be "a bit out there," to say the least! Still it doesn't hurt to consider dissenting views, far from the mainstream.
I'm just not sure I'm prepared to rid my bedroom of all electronic devices and dump my mattress! See what you think, if nothing more than for comic relief:
Your Mattress – A Restorative Haven or a Disease-Promoting Zone?
In Western countries, the most common type of mattress is an elevated box spring that contains metal coils, while in Japan, people typically sleep on futon mattresses, which typically contain cotton or wool, placed directly on the floor.
According to researchers Hallberg and Johansson, a number of studies indicate that increasing rates of melanoma (the deadliest type of skin cancer) can be linked to immune-disrupting radiation from FM radio and TV transmission towers, adding that "geographical areas covered by several transmitters show higher incidences of melanoma than areas covered by one transmitter."
Studies have also linked radiation to brain tumors, and DNA damage that might precipitate a number of different diseases and health problems.
These connections are strengthened when you consider the researchers' explanation of how your box spring mattress actually acts like an antenna; attracting and amplifying whatever radiation might be zipping through your bedroom.
Better start sleeping on the floor! Feel good and keep smiling! Pat
Your Mattress Could be Acting as a Cancer-Causing Radiation Antenna
How to create a Sleeping Sanctuary
Posted by: Dr. Mercola | August 18 2010
I read Dr. Mercola's nutritional newsletter regularly. It can be "a bit out there," to say the least! Still it doesn't hurt to consider dissenting views, far from the mainstream.
I'm just not sure I'm prepared to rid my bedroom of all electronic devices and dump my mattress! See what you think, if nothing more than for comic relief:
Your Mattress – A Restorative Haven or a Disease-Promoting Zone?
In Western countries, the most common type of mattress is an elevated box spring that contains metal coils, while in Japan, people typically sleep on futon mattresses, which typically contain cotton or wool, placed directly on the floor.
According to researchers Hallberg and Johansson, a number of studies indicate that increasing rates of melanoma (the deadliest type of skin cancer) can be linked to immune-disrupting radiation from FM radio and TV transmission towers, adding that "geographical areas covered by several transmitters show higher incidences of melanoma than areas covered by one transmitter."
Studies have also linked radiation to brain tumors, and DNA damage that might precipitate a number of different diseases and health problems.
These connections are strengthened when you consider the researchers' explanation of how your box spring mattress actually acts like an antenna; attracting and amplifying whatever radiation might be zipping through your bedroom.
Better start sleeping on the floor! Feel good and keep smiling! Pat
Progress Continues To Be Made In Understanding How Genetic Abnormalities Of BRCA2 Can Cause Breast & Ovarian Cancers
More about BRCA2 and the gene's connection to breast and ovarian cancer by Amanda Gardner from HealthDay and U.S. News & World Report:
Inner Workings of Gene Tied to Breast, Ovarian Cancer Revealed
In 3 studies, scientists isolate & analyze protein produced by BRCA2
SUNDAY, Aug. 22 (HealthDay News) -- For the first time, scientists have succeeded in isolating the lengthy protein encoded by the BRCA2 gene.
Dysfunction of this gene can up the risk for both breast and ovarian cancer.
By separating the protein from the rest of the components of human cells, researchers were able to study it more closely and figure out exactly what it does in the body.
"Since BRCA2 is such a large protein, it has a lot of different domains and it has never really been clear how the different domains work together," explained Wolf-Dietrich Heyer, senior author of a paper appearing online in the journal Nature Structural & Molecular Biology and co-leader of the Molecular Oncology Program at the University of California, Davis, Cancer Center.
"With having the entire protein purified now, one has a chance to actually understand the whole protein," he said. "It's a huge protein. People were studying individual pieces but never got the full picture. Now we can really start to analyze its mechanisms."
That analysis should help illuminate the underpinnings of breast and ovarian cancers and point the way, someday, to better prevention and treatment.
This is only the introductory portion of Amanda's article. To read the rest and to learn more about BRCA2, go to: Gene Tied to Breast, Ovarian Cancer
The bottom line: Researchers hope better understanding of genes like BRCA2 will help them design treatments that target specific molecular abnormalities.
Feel good and keep smiling! Pat & Pattie
Inner Workings of Gene Tied to Breast, Ovarian Cancer Revealed
In 3 studies, scientists isolate & analyze protein produced by BRCA2
SUNDAY, Aug. 22 (HealthDay News) -- For the first time, scientists have succeeded in isolating the lengthy protein encoded by the BRCA2 gene.
Dysfunction of this gene can up the risk for both breast and ovarian cancer.
By separating the protein from the rest of the components of human cells, researchers were able to study it more closely and figure out exactly what it does in the body.
"Since BRCA2 is such a large protein, it has a lot of different domains and it has never really been clear how the different domains work together," explained Wolf-Dietrich Heyer, senior author of a paper appearing online in the journal Nature Structural & Molecular Biology and co-leader of the Molecular Oncology Program at the University of California, Davis, Cancer Center.
"With having the entire protein purified now, one has a chance to actually understand the whole protein," he said. "It's a huge protein. People were studying individual pieces but never got the full picture. Now we can really start to analyze its mechanisms."
That analysis should help illuminate the underpinnings of breast and ovarian cancers and point the way, someday, to better prevention and treatment.
This is only the introductory portion of Amanda's article. To read the rest and to learn more about BRCA2, go to: Gene Tied to Breast, Ovarian Cancer
The bottom line: Researchers hope better understanding of genes like BRCA2 will help them design treatments that target specific molecular abnormalities.
Feel good and keep smiling! Pat & Pattie
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Colorectal Cancer Patients Need Vitamin D
Vitamin D is the "in" or "designer" vitamin these days. Conventional physicians, as well as proponents of natural medicine, all seem to agree we need to take extra vitamin D. Here is another reason why:
Colorectal cancer patients with vitamin D deficiency see worse outcomes
By SHALMALI PAL
Investigators at Memorial-Sloan Kettering plan to tease out exactly how much vitamin D is enough to improve survival prospects.
Numerous epidemiological studies have strongly suggested that vitamin D has a protective effect against cancer, including breast, prostate, and colon. But the data for these studies were gathered before the cancer diagnosis (see Related Reading below). Researchers at New York's Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Center have, for the first time, documented levels at the time of cancer diagnosis.
Read all about it by going to:
Cancernetwork.com/colorectal cancer/vitamin D
Feel good, keep smiling and take some extra vitamin D each and every day! Pat & Pattie
Colorectal cancer patients with vitamin D deficiency see worse outcomes
By SHALMALI PAL
Investigators at Memorial-Sloan Kettering plan to tease out exactly how much vitamin D is enough to improve survival prospects.
Numerous epidemiological studies have strongly suggested that vitamin D has a protective effect against cancer, including breast, prostate, and colon. But the data for these studies were gathered before the cancer diagnosis (see Related Reading below). Researchers at New York's Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Center have, for the first time, documented levels at the time of cancer diagnosis.
Read all about it by going to:
Cancernetwork.com/colorectal cancer/vitamin D
Feel good, keep smiling and take some extra vitamin D each and every day! Pat & Pattie
Saturday, August 21, 2010
It's 2010 -- Why Are All Of These People Smoking?
Don't ask me why, but last night Pattie and I were watching HLN around 9 PM. Remember when Headline News covered actual news? Anyway, Nancy Grace was covering the Haleigh Cummings murder investigation. Five year old Haleigh was missing for months. They have since discovered her body.
Why mention any of this? Because I became irritated—then angry. Not so much about the poor girl's murder. I (we) have all become numb to this type of thing... Seems so unreal and far away. But what caught my attention was the smoking. Every family member connected with the murder smoked. They were all constantly smoking. Young, old, it didn't matter.
It's 2010 people! Why is everyone smoking?
I have noticed many more smokers here in Florida since we moved last year. What gives? Why does this make me so angry?
Because these smokers still have some control over their cancer futures! You and I work so hard to try and keep our cancer at bay. We exercise, eat right, take supplements, hope and pray. These people are making a choice—to get cancer! Or hypertension, or cardiac disease. And if they are smoking, you know darn well they aren't eating right—and few of them exercise much at all.
One of the reason Pattie and I moved down here was the weather—to have the option to exercise year round. Slipping on the ice is not an option for me, with all of the holes in my bones. And once the temps fall below 40 degrees, my bones and joints ache and stiffen.
But people down here hide in their homes like caves, using the warm weather (What did they expect—it's Florida!) They rarely venture out—except to go to the gas station to get more beer and cigarettes and lottery tickets. Heck, these people don't even make smart economic choices!
The American Cancer Society is constantly running “smoke free” promotions. I never pay any attention—smoking is so far from my reality. But is it? Last time I stopped at a convenience store, smoke was swirling all around me. Makes you stop and think—and makes me angry!
Feel good, keep smiling and please stop smoking! Pat
Why mention any of this? Because I became irritated—then angry. Not so much about the poor girl's murder. I (we) have all become numb to this type of thing... Seems so unreal and far away. But what caught my attention was the smoking. Every family member connected with the murder smoked. They were all constantly smoking. Young, old, it didn't matter.
It's 2010 people! Why is everyone smoking?
I have noticed many more smokers here in Florida since we moved last year. What gives? Why does this make me so angry?
Because these smokers still have some control over their cancer futures! You and I work so hard to try and keep our cancer at bay. We exercise, eat right, take supplements, hope and pray. These people are making a choice—to get cancer! Or hypertension, or cardiac disease. And if they are smoking, you know darn well they aren't eating right—and few of them exercise much at all.
One of the reason Pattie and I moved down here was the weather—to have the option to exercise year round. Slipping on the ice is not an option for me, with all of the holes in my bones. And once the temps fall below 40 degrees, my bones and joints ache and stiffen.
But people down here hide in their homes like caves, using the warm weather (What did they expect—it's Florida!) They rarely venture out—except to go to the gas station to get more beer and cigarettes and lottery tickets. Heck, these people don't even make smart economic choices!
The American Cancer Society is constantly running “smoke free” promotions. I never pay any attention—smoking is so far from my reality. But is it? Last time I stopped at a convenience store, smoke was swirling all around me. Makes you stop and think—and makes me angry!
Feel good, keep smiling and please stop smoking! Pat
Friday, August 20, 2010
Japanese Doctors May Now Use Revlimid To Help Myelodysplastic syndromes(MDS) Patients
I have been taking an oral chemotherapy medication, Revlimid, for over three years. There is no question it is helping keep my bone marrow cancer, multiple myeloma, under control. This press release from Celgene, makers of Revlimid, highlights another use for their drug. Myelodysplastic syndromes(MDS), is a blood cancer which stops blood cells from developing fully.
Already approved for use against MDS in the United States, it is good to know Japanese MDS patients will now have access to Revlimid. This Celgene International release explains more about MDS and how Revlimid can help:
REVLIMID® APPROVED FOR TREATMENT OF DELETION 5Q MYELODYSPLASTIC SYNDROMES IN JAPAN
BOUDRY, SWITZERLAND - (August 20, 2010) – Celgene International SÃ rl (NASDAQ: CELG) announced that REVLIMID (lenalidomide) has been granted full marketing authorization by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) for the treatment of patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) associated with a deletion 5q cytogenic abnormality. REVLIMID was also approved in June 2010 in combination with dexamethasone, for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma who have received at least one prior standard therapy.
The approval of REVLIMID was based upon the safety and efficacy results of several international trials in patients with deletion 5q MDS, which have supported regulatory approval in 19 countries worldwide.
As a result of the approval, REVLIMID will be available through RevMate™, the company’s proprietary distribution program. Celgene is now registering physicians and medical centers throughout the country into RevMate as part of its strategic launch.
About REVLIMID
REVLIMID is an IMiDs® compound. REVLIMID and other IMiDs compounds continue to be evaluated in over 100 clinical trials. The IMiDs pipeline is covered by a comprehensive intellectual property estate of U.S. and foreign issued and pending patent applications including composition-of- matter and use patents.
REVLIMID® is approved in combination with dexamethasone for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least one prior therapy in more than 50 countries, encompassing Europe, the Americas, the Middle-East and Asia, and in Australia and New Zealand it is approved in combination with dexamethasone for the treatment of patients whose disease has progressed after one therapy.
REVLIMID is also approved in the United States, Canada and several Latin American countries, as well as Malaysia and Israel, Australia and New Zealand for patients with transfusion-dependent anemia due to Low- or Intermediate-1-risk MDS associated with a deletion 5q cytogenetic abnormality with or without additional cytogenetic abnormalities. Marketing Authorization Applications are currently being evaluated in a number of other countries.
About Myelodysplastic Syndromes
Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are a group of hematologic malignancies that affect approximately 300,000 people worldwide. Myelodysplastic syndromes occur when blood cells remain in an immature or “blast” stage within the bone marrow and never develop into mature cells capable of performing their necessary functions. Eventually, the bone marrow may be filled with blast cells suppressing normal cell development. MDS patients must often rely on blood transfusions to manage symptoms of anemia and fatigue and may develop life-threatening iron overload and/or toxicity from frequent transfusions, thus underscoring the critical need for new therapies targeting the cause of the condition rather than simply managing its symptoms.
About Deletion 5q Chromosomal Abnormality
Chromosomal (cytogenetic) abnormalities are detected in more than half of patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), and involve a deletion in all or part of one or more specific chromosomes. The most common cytogenetic abnormalities in MDS are deletions in the long arm of chromosomes 5, 7, and 20. Another common abnormality is an extra copy of chromosome 8. A deletion involving the 5q chromosome may be involved in 20 percent to 30 percent of all MDS patients. The World Health Organization has also recently identified a unique subset of MDS patients with a "5q- Syndrome" where the only chromosomal abnormality is a specific portion of the 5q chromosome.
Yesterday's post/link to a less than optimistic article about the lack of progress being made treating cancer, obviously wasn't considering the impressive and hopeful progress researches are making against blood and bone marrow cancers. Drugs like Revlimid are expensive--but at least they work for a large number of patients.
Feel good and keep smiling! Pat
Already approved for use against MDS in the United States, it is good to know Japanese MDS patients will now have access to Revlimid. This Celgene International release explains more about MDS and how Revlimid can help:
REVLIMID® APPROVED FOR TREATMENT OF DELETION 5Q MYELODYSPLASTIC SYNDROMES IN JAPAN
BOUDRY, SWITZERLAND - (August 20, 2010) – Celgene International SÃ rl (NASDAQ: CELG) announced that REVLIMID (lenalidomide) has been granted full marketing authorization by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) for the treatment of patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) associated with a deletion 5q cytogenic abnormality. REVLIMID was also approved in June 2010 in combination with dexamethasone, for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma who have received at least one prior standard therapy.
The approval of REVLIMID was based upon the safety and efficacy results of several international trials in patients with deletion 5q MDS, which have supported regulatory approval in 19 countries worldwide.
As a result of the approval, REVLIMID will be available through RevMate™, the company’s proprietary distribution program. Celgene is now registering physicians and medical centers throughout the country into RevMate as part of its strategic launch.
About REVLIMID
REVLIMID is an IMiDs® compound. REVLIMID and other IMiDs compounds continue to be evaluated in over 100 clinical trials. The IMiDs pipeline is covered by a comprehensive intellectual property estate of U.S. and foreign issued and pending patent applications including composition-of- matter and use patents.
REVLIMID® is approved in combination with dexamethasone for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least one prior therapy in more than 50 countries, encompassing Europe, the Americas, the Middle-East and Asia, and in Australia and New Zealand it is approved in combination with dexamethasone for the treatment of patients whose disease has progressed after one therapy.
REVLIMID is also approved in the United States, Canada and several Latin American countries, as well as Malaysia and Israel, Australia and New Zealand for patients with transfusion-dependent anemia due to Low- or Intermediate-1-risk MDS associated with a deletion 5q cytogenetic abnormality with or without additional cytogenetic abnormalities. Marketing Authorization Applications are currently being evaluated in a number of other countries.
About Myelodysplastic Syndromes
Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are a group of hematologic malignancies that affect approximately 300,000 people worldwide. Myelodysplastic syndromes occur when blood cells remain in an immature or “blast” stage within the bone marrow and never develop into mature cells capable of performing their necessary functions. Eventually, the bone marrow may be filled with blast cells suppressing normal cell development. MDS patients must often rely on blood transfusions to manage symptoms of anemia and fatigue and may develop life-threatening iron overload and/or toxicity from frequent transfusions, thus underscoring the critical need for new therapies targeting the cause of the condition rather than simply managing its symptoms.
About Deletion 5q Chromosomal Abnormality
Chromosomal (cytogenetic) abnormalities are detected in more than half of patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), and involve a deletion in all or part of one or more specific chromosomes. The most common cytogenetic abnormalities in MDS are deletions in the long arm of chromosomes 5, 7, and 20. Another common abnormality is an extra copy of chromosome 8. A deletion involving the 5q chromosome may be involved in 20 percent to 30 percent of all MDS patients. The World Health Organization has also recently identified a unique subset of MDS patients with a "5q- Syndrome" where the only chromosomal abnormality is a specific portion of the 5q chromosome.
Yesterday's post/link to a less than optimistic article about the lack of progress being made treating cancer, obviously wasn't considering the impressive and hopeful progress researches are making against blood and bone marrow cancers. Drugs like Revlimid are expensive--but at least they work for a large number of patients.
Feel good and keep smiling! Pat
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Gleevec Inventor: Why Aren’t There More Cancer Cures?
Good question! Here is a link to this fascinating article from Forbes.com, written by Robert Langreth: Why aren't there more cancer cures?
Feel good and keep smiling! Pat
Feel good and keep smiling! Pat
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Cancer Care Now World's Most Expensive Medical Cost
Not only does cancer kill a lot of people--it costs a lot, too! Here is a report from a "think tank" site called U.S. Global Health Policy:
Cancer Is World's Top 'Economic Killer,' Report Finds
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Cancer, expected to emerge as the leading cause of death worldwide this year, is also the world's top "economic killer," according to an American Cancer Society/LIVESTRONG report the groups will present during a global cancer conference in China this week, the Associated Press reports.
"Cancer costs more in productivity and lost life than AIDS, malaria, the flu and other diseases that spread person-to-person, the report concludes," the news service writes (Marchione, 8/16).
For the report, "researchers used computations taken from the World Health Organization that combine the death and disability dimensions of illness into a single summary, called a DALY (disability-adjusted life year), for 17 types of cancer as well as the 15 leading causes of death," according to an American Cancer Society/LIVESTRONG press release (8/16). "Cancer's economic toll was $895 billion in 2008 – equivalent to 1.5 percent of the world's gross domestic product, the report says," the AP continues (8/16).
"The economic toll from cancer … is nearly 20 percent higher than heart disease, the second leading cause of economic loss ($753 billion)," Press Trust of India/Business Standard reports, adding that researchers' tally of the economic toll of cancer did not include the costs associated with treating the disease. Cancers of the lung, bronchus and trachea together account for the largest economic toll, totaling nearly $180 billion worldwide, according to the news service (8/17).
The article is quite detailed and extensive. Go to: Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report to learn more.
My only thought: Cancer takes an incredibly high toll--both in human and economic terms. I can only imagine what it might be like, living in a third world country with little or no cancer care. Pattie and I would most likely be dead! That's a sobering thought.
Sorry if I darkened your day a bit. Now it's time to feel good and keep smiling! Pat
Cancer Is World's Top 'Economic Killer,' Report Finds
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Cancer, expected to emerge as the leading cause of death worldwide this year, is also the world's top "economic killer," according to an American Cancer Society/LIVESTRONG report the groups will present during a global cancer conference in China this week, the Associated Press reports.
"Cancer costs more in productivity and lost life than AIDS, malaria, the flu and other diseases that spread person-to-person, the report concludes," the news service writes (Marchione, 8/16).
For the report, "researchers used computations taken from the World Health Organization that combine the death and disability dimensions of illness into a single summary, called a DALY (disability-adjusted life year), for 17 types of cancer as well as the 15 leading causes of death," according to an American Cancer Society/LIVESTRONG press release (8/16). "Cancer's economic toll was $895 billion in 2008 – equivalent to 1.5 percent of the world's gross domestic product, the report says," the AP continues (8/16).
"The economic toll from cancer … is nearly 20 percent higher than heart disease, the second leading cause of economic loss ($753 billion)," Press Trust of India/Business Standard reports, adding that researchers' tally of the economic toll of cancer did not include the costs associated with treating the disease. Cancers of the lung, bronchus and trachea together account for the largest economic toll, totaling nearly $180 billion worldwide, according to the news service (8/17).
The article is quite detailed and extensive. Go to: Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report to learn more.
My only thought: Cancer takes an incredibly high toll--both in human and economic terms. I can only imagine what it might be like, living in a third world country with little or no cancer care. Pattie and I would most likely be dead! That's a sobering thought.
Sorry if I darkened your day a bit. Now it's time to feel good and keep smiling! Pat
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Webinar Aug 25 on Nutrition and Cancer: The Pivotal Questions
Author Dr. Jack West will be hosting a Webinar August 25th on Nutrition and Cancer: The Pivotal Questions.
Ms. Kelay Trentham, MS, RD, CD, who is an Oncology Dietician at Multicare Regional Cancer Center in Tacoma, has been kind enough to volunteer to field some of our leading questions in an upcoming free webinar on Wednesday, August 25th, at 8 PM EDT/5 PM PDT. Here are several questions we’re planning to cover:
1) There is a widespread belief that sugar “feeds” cancer. How do you discuss this issue with people facing a cancer diagnosis, and does this lead you to recommend that patients avoid certain foods when they’re on treatment for cancer?
2) Are there foods or a particular diet that you recommend for patients that can significantly improve how patients do while on chemotherapy, radiation, or other cancer treatments?
3) What should a patient’s goals be with nutrition and cancer?
4) Is there a diet that patients who have undergone potentially curative therapy, or family members who want to do everything possible, might pursue in order to minimize their risk of a new cancer diagnosis?
5) Taste changes are very common with chemotherapy. What do your hear from patients, and what do you recommend for patients to maintain good nutrition despite taste changes?
6) When patients are losing weight on treatment because they have very little appetite, are there particular approaches you recommend to help them maintain weight?
7) Some people have advocated diets that alter the body chemistry, specifically to make it more alkaline. What are your thoughts and recommendations with regard to nutritional intake and acid-base balance in people fighting cancer?
Go to this site to register: Cancer and Nutrition. I will be listening.
Feel good and keep smiling! Pat
Ms. Kelay Trentham, MS, RD, CD, who is an Oncology Dietician at Multicare Regional Cancer Center in Tacoma, has been kind enough to volunteer to field some of our leading questions in an upcoming free webinar on Wednesday, August 25th, at 8 PM EDT/5 PM PDT. Here are several questions we’re planning to cover:
1) There is a widespread belief that sugar “feeds” cancer. How do you discuss this issue with people facing a cancer diagnosis, and does this lead you to recommend that patients avoid certain foods when they’re on treatment for cancer?
2) Are there foods or a particular diet that you recommend for patients that can significantly improve how patients do while on chemotherapy, radiation, or other cancer treatments?
3) What should a patient’s goals be with nutrition and cancer?
4) Is there a diet that patients who have undergone potentially curative therapy, or family members who want to do everything possible, might pursue in order to minimize their risk of a new cancer diagnosis?
5) Taste changes are very common with chemotherapy. What do your hear from patients, and what do you recommend for patients to maintain good nutrition despite taste changes?
6) When patients are losing weight on treatment because they have very little appetite, are there particular approaches you recommend to help them maintain weight?
7) Some people have advocated diets that alter the body chemistry, specifically to make it more alkaline. What are your thoughts and recommendations with regard to nutritional intake and acid-base balance in people fighting cancer?
Go to this site to register: Cancer and Nutrition. I will be listening.
Feel good and keep smiling! Pat
Monday, August 16, 2010
One Reader's Concern About How Food Is Produced In The U.S.
One of our readers, Sandy, forwarded us this video about toxins in our food--and how the influence of corporate farms and distributors negatively effect our food supply:
The Toxic Five: Why Are They Still in Our Food?
Posted By Dr. Mercola | August 14 2010
We read Dr. Mercola's e-newsletter regularly, but had not had time to view this week's edition. Thank's for the heads-up, Sandy! If you think it is important, so do we.
Feel good and keep smiling! Pat & Pattie
The Toxic Five: Why Are They Still in Our Food?
Posted By Dr. Mercola | August 14 2010
We read Dr. Mercola's e-newsletter regularly, but had not had time to view this week's edition. Thank's for the heads-up, Sandy! If you think it is important, so do we.
Feel good and keep smiling! Pat & Pattie
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Evidence Shows Children With Cancer Often Aren't Given Enough Pain Medication
We don't post about children's cancer issues very often. There are lots of kid's cancer sites out there--and we need to narrow the focus of our already expansive site.
But we couldn't ignore this alarming article about how young cancer patients are often under medicated for pain:
Acute Pain Management in Children Deemed 'Abysmal'
Elsevier Global Medical News. 2010 Aug 9, by P Wendling
MINNEAPOLIS (EGMN) - Clinicians consistently undertreat acute pain in hospitalized children, despite parents' expectations that everything possible is being done to relieve their children's suffering.
Fascinating, although disturbing article. Anyone with any interest in childhood cancers should read it. Go to: Data show that with the same procedure, adults are getting many more pain doses than children to read the article on OncologyStat.com.
Feel good and keep smiling! Pat & Pattie
But we couldn't ignore this alarming article about how young cancer patients are often under medicated for pain:
Acute Pain Management in Children Deemed 'Abysmal'
Elsevier Global Medical News. 2010 Aug 9, by P Wendling
MINNEAPOLIS (EGMN) - Clinicians consistently undertreat acute pain in hospitalized children, despite parents' expectations that everything possible is being done to relieve their children's suffering.
Fascinating, although disturbing article. Anyone with any interest in childhood cancers should read it. Go to: Data show that with the same procedure, adults are getting many more pain doses than children to read the article on OncologyStat.com.
Feel good and keep smiling! Pat & Pattie
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Who Knew? Antioxidant Super Food: Oregano
I read this in Ladies' Home Journal while waiting to see my oncologist last week:
Oregano, rosemary, thyme, bay leaves, basil, anise, garlic and pepper not only add Mediterranean flavor to your cooking, they also contain healthy antiocidants.
“Just half a teaspoon of dried oregano has as much antiocidants as 3 cups of spinach,” says dietician Wendy Basilian, Dr.P.H.,R.D.
The magazine goes on to recommend “using these herbs and spices liberally, to taste, at every meal.”
The oregano thing really surprised me! I already pile it on my pizza and spagetti. A little more can't hurt!
Feel good and keep smiling! Pat
Oregano, rosemary, thyme, bay leaves, basil, anise, garlic and pepper not only add Mediterranean flavor to your cooking, they also contain healthy antiocidants.
“Just half a teaspoon of dried oregano has as much antiocidants as 3 cups of spinach,” says dietician Wendy Basilian, Dr.P.H.,R.D.
The magazine goes on to recommend “using these herbs and spices liberally, to taste, at every meal.”
The oregano thing really surprised me! I already pile it on my pizza and spagetti. A little more can't hurt!
Feel good and keep smiling! Pat
Friday, August 13, 2010
Chemo Brain Part Two: What Can A Cancer Patients Do To Help Stop Chemo Brain?
Here is a helpful list from the American Cancer Society tp help patients sharpen their mental abilities and manage the problems that may come with chemo brain:
Use a detailed daily planner, keeping everything in one place – from appointments, to birthdays to phone numbers.
Exercise the brain. Take a class, do word or number puzzles, or learn a new language.
Exercise the body. Regular physical activity also improves mood, alertness, and stamina.
Get enough rest and sleep.
Eat lots of vegetables, which have been shown to help maintain brainpower.
Establish routines such as following the same daily schedule.
Establish a single spot for placing all commonly lost objects such as keys and glasses and put them there after each use.
Focus on one thing at a time; don’t try multi-tasking.
Track memory problems by keeping a diary of the time they are experienced and the events going on at that time. Keeping track like this can help you figure out what affects your memory. Tracking when the problems occur most can also help you plan around them – avoiding important conversations at those times, for example.
Try not to focus so much on the chemo brain symptoms, remembering that many people who’ve never had chemotherapy also struggle with memory issues.
Talk about it. Tell family, friends, and your health care team about the experience. Chemo brain sufferers are not stupid or crazy; they just have a side effect that they have to learn to manage. And telling others about it may relieve some of the frustration they are feeling.
Attend a support group where others with cancer may also be experiencing chemo brain. A support group can be a comfortable venue for talking with others who are feeling similar to you and more importantly, learning tips for managing it. Click here to learn more about helpful groups and services provided by your American Cancer Society.
Great list! Learn more about chemo brain and what researchers are doing to prevent it by going to: Tips for managing chemo brain - What is being done.
Feel good and keep smiling! Pat & Pattie
Use a detailed daily planner, keeping everything in one place – from appointments, to birthdays to phone numbers.
Exercise the brain. Take a class, do word or number puzzles, or learn a new language.
Exercise the body. Regular physical activity also improves mood, alertness, and stamina.
Get enough rest and sleep.
Eat lots of vegetables, which have been shown to help maintain brainpower.
Establish routines such as following the same daily schedule.
Establish a single spot for placing all commonly lost objects such as keys and glasses and put them there after each use.
Focus on one thing at a time; don’t try multi-tasking.
Track memory problems by keeping a diary of the time they are experienced and the events going on at that time. Keeping track like this can help you figure out what affects your memory. Tracking when the problems occur most can also help you plan around them – avoiding important conversations at those times, for example.
Try not to focus so much on the chemo brain symptoms, remembering that many people who’ve never had chemotherapy also struggle with memory issues.
Talk about it. Tell family, friends, and your health care team about the experience. Chemo brain sufferers are not stupid or crazy; they just have a side effect that they have to learn to manage. And telling others about it may relieve some of the frustration they are feeling.
Attend a support group where others with cancer may also be experiencing chemo brain. A support group can be a comfortable venue for talking with others who are feeling similar to you and more importantly, learning tips for managing it. Click here to learn more about helpful groups and services provided by your American Cancer Society.
Great list! Learn more about chemo brain and what researchers are doing to prevent it by going to: Tips for managing chemo brain - What is being done.
Feel good and keep smiling! Pat & Pattie
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Chemo Brain Can Be A Serious Chemotherapy Side-Effect
I am a true believer that the cancer treatment side-effect, known as chem brain, is real.
I know--I am living with it! You think more slowly, more deliberately. Your short term memory is trashed. Writing or during converstaion, you reach for a vocabulary word you have used hundreds of times before and--nothing! No recall. Your mind feels like it is working is slow motion.
The Amercian Cancer Society recently ran two part series about chemo brain in it's online newsletter, New Connections. Here is a link to the first installment, The “mental fog” called chemo brain is very real.
Check it out! Pat
I know--I am living with it! You think more slowly, more deliberately. Your short term memory is trashed. Writing or during converstaion, you reach for a vocabulary word you have used hundreds of times before and--nothing! No recall. Your mind feels like it is working is slow motion.
The Amercian Cancer Society recently ran two part series about chemo brain in it's online newsletter, New Connections. Here is a link to the first installment, The “mental fog” called chemo brain is very real.
Check it out! Pat
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Value Of Cancer Nutrition Stressed In Two New Articles
Here is a link to an excellent, detailed article about cancer nutrition from the San Francisco Chronicle:
5 of nature's best cancer-preventing foods
Kathryn Roethel, San Francisco Chronicle August 9, 2010.
I also posted another cancer-related article today, specific to multiple myeloma on our other site: Nutrition For Multiple Myeloma Patients
Plenty of good info in both articles. Feel good and keep smiling! Pat
5 of nature's best cancer-preventing foods
Kathryn Roethel, San Francisco Chronicle August 9, 2010.
I also posted another cancer-related article today, specific to multiple myeloma on our other site: Nutrition For Multiple Myeloma Patients
Plenty of good info in both articles. Feel good and keep smiling! Pat
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Senate Retains Geraldine Ferraro Blood Cancer Education Program In 2011 Budget
Pattie and I just heard back from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS). Thanks to advocate help, the Senate has retained the Blood Cancer Education Program! Here is what they said:
Thanks in part to the support of LLS advocates, the Geraldine Ferraro Blood Cancer Education Program has been retained in the Senate's FY 2011 budget!
The program has allowed The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) and other patient organizations to support patients in their treatment and care -- especially the underserved -- and had been cut from the White House's budget proposal when it was sent to Congress at the beginning of the year. Fortunately, the program was spared when the Senate appropriators retained the program's funding. Without this assistance, LLS and other patient groups would have needed to cut assistance programs to the most vulnerable blood cancer patients.
Thank you to all of the advocates who took the time to write, call and visit their senators to express support of this important program; proof positive that your efforts can make a difference! LLS will continue to inform volunteers of the funding prospects of programs and institutions affecting blood cancer patients and researchers as the appropriations process continues.
Here is a link back to the LLS advocacy program if you would like to do or learn more: http://action.lls.org.
Feel good and keep smiling! Pat & Pattie
Thanks in part to the support of LLS advocates, the Geraldine Ferraro Blood Cancer Education Program has been retained in the Senate's FY 2011 budget!
The program has allowed The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) and other patient organizations to support patients in their treatment and care -- especially the underserved -- and had been cut from the White House's budget proposal when it was sent to Congress at the beginning of the year. Fortunately, the program was spared when the Senate appropriators retained the program's funding. Without this assistance, LLS and other patient groups would have needed to cut assistance programs to the most vulnerable blood cancer patients.
Thank you to all of the advocates who took the time to write, call and visit their senators to express support of this important program; proof positive that your efforts can make a difference! LLS will continue to inform volunteers of the funding prospects of programs and institutions affecting blood cancer patients and researchers as the appropriations process continues.
Here is a link back to the LLS advocacy program if you would like to do or learn more: http://action.lls.org.
Feel good and keep smiling! Pat & Pattie
Monday, August 9, 2010
Moffitt Diversity Program Helping Recruit Tampa Area Minority Patients & Staff
Three weeks ago I wrote several articles about Dr. Lee Green, Director Cathy Grant and the Moffitt Diversity Program in Tampa, Florida.
I thought about Lee and Cathy’s efforts to help make quality health care available to minority patients as I walked around Moffitt Cancer Center today between oncology appointments. Hispanics, African American and patients from the middle east were present in the infusion center waiting room.
The Moffitt Diversity Program goal can be summed up using the acronym ACCESS; Awareness and education, Community outreach, Cultural and linguistic Competence, Equity and inclusion, Support of other initiatives and Strong Partnerships.
As she described the program, I could tell Program Director, Cathy Grant, was proud that Moffitt Cancer Center was the only comprehensive cancer center with a minority participation certification in Florida. Professor Lee Green agreed. “Our facility is one of only forty cancer centers nationwide to actively promote minority participation among both patients and staff.”
Moffitt treats all forms of cancers, including a lot of patients with my cancer, multiple myeloma, as well as other blood cancers. They specialize in stem cell transplantation.
Considering African Americans are twice as likely to get multiple myeloma than Caucasians, it is good to know Moffitt is actively reaching out to include them.
Speaking of "reaching out," Moffitt Diversity is also heading up an initiative to serve Tampa area Latino and African American
communities, promoting breast and prostate cancer screening using a combination of special events and mobile community screening.
You can learn more about the program by going to: www.moffitt.org/diversity.
Feel good and keep smiling! Pat
I thought about Lee and Cathy’s efforts to help make quality health care available to minority patients as I walked around Moffitt Cancer Center today between oncology appointments. Hispanics, African American and patients from the middle east were present in the infusion center waiting room.
The Moffitt Diversity Program goal can be summed up using the acronym ACCESS; Awareness and education, Community outreach, Cultural and linguistic Competence, Equity and inclusion, Support of other initiatives and Strong Partnerships.
As she described the program, I could tell Program Director, Cathy Grant, was proud that Moffitt Cancer Center was the only comprehensive cancer center with a minority participation certification in Florida. Professor Lee Green agreed. “Our facility is one of only forty cancer centers nationwide to actively promote minority participation among both patients and staff.”
Moffitt treats all forms of cancers, including a lot of patients with my cancer, multiple myeloma, as well as other blood cancers. They specialize in stem cell transplantation.
Considering African Americans are twice as likely to get multiple myeloma than Caucasians, it is good to know Moffitt is actively reaching out to include them.
Speaking of "reaching out," Moffitt Diversity is also heading up an initiative to serve Tampa area Latino and African American
communities, promoting breast and prostate cancer screening using a combination of special events and mobile community screening.
You can learn more about the program by going to: www.moffitt.org/diversity.
Feel good and keep smiling! Pat
Sunday, August 8, 2010
FDA Sends Warning Letter To Drug Company About Misleading Facebook Marketing Of Leukemia Chemotherapy Drug, Tasigna
I am interested in this story for several reasons. One, keeping drug company claims and hipe under control is important. It is only human and corporate nature for pharmaceutical companies to get excited and push their products. But in the medical world, the FDA is very tough on over promising. You can understand why!
I travel around the country, telling my story and speaking to cancer support groups. Sometimes my expenses are paid for by Millennium, makers of one of the most important anti-myeloma drugs, Velcade. Even though I don't personally take Velcade, I am restricted in what I can say about my treatments or specific chemotherapy drugs by FDA guidelines when traveling on Millennium's dime.
Here is an article, featured on ExMaxHealth.com, about a Warning drug company, Novartis, just received from the FDA about marketing a leukemia drug called Tasigna:
Social Media Misstep Gets Novartis an FDA Action Letter
Submitted by Denise Reynolds RD on 2010-08-06
The Division of Drug Marketing, Advertising, and Communications (DDMAC) of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cited Novartis AG because of the use of a social media widget on its website for the leukemia drug Tasigna. The widget, called “Facebook Share”, allows users to make representations about the drug but fails to communicate any risk information associated with the drug.
In the letter issued July 29, author Karen Rulli, acting group leader of the DDMAC, also states that the use of the widget does not adequately specify Tasigna’s indication and it “implies superiority over other products.”
Novartis Tasigna and Misleading Information
The FDA also took issue with Novartis's description of Tasigna as a "next-generation" treatment in some of the Facebook-shared content. The FDA said it has previously sent written advisory comments to Novartis about the misleading implications of the phrase "next-generation" when referring to Tasigna.
Tasigna (nilotinib) is used to treat a certain type of leukemia, called Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia or Ph+ CML, in people whose disease could not be treated successfully with imatinib (Gleevec). The drug works by blocking the action of the abnormal protein that signals cancer cells to multiply. Tasigna carries a warning that it may cause an irregular heart rhythm that can lead to fainting, loss of consciousness, seizures, or sudden death.
The use of the Facebook Share widget allows web surfers to generate links to sites that they like and share those links with their Facebook friends. In generating the link, the widget adds a short description of the drug and a link back to the Tasigna website, but fails to provide important information to the public.
Drug-makers, like many companies, are using social media tools to help promote their products and services. However, some of these methods, such as Facebook and Twitter, cannot adequately supply all of the information the public needs for a well-informed decision about a product and also comply with the FDA’s marketing regulations.
This is the first time that the FDA has issued an enforcement letter over a Facebook widget, according to a statement by an FDA spokeswoman. But the takeaway message is that “the lessons of this enforcement action apply to all social media, not just Facebook.”
A Novartis spokeswoman has said that the company “takes the letter issued by the FDA very seriously and we have addressed its concerns by taking the direct and immediate action of taking down the widget referenced by the FDA.” The company will go over all its online materials in light of the FDA’s concerns, she wrote.
Technology is progressing so fast--I would hate to be an overworked and understaffed FDA investigator trying to keep up!
Feel good and keep smiling! Pat
I travel around the country, telling my story and speaking to cancer support groups. Sometimes my expenses are paid for by Millennium, makers of one of the most important anti-myeloma drugs, Velcade. Even though I don't personally take Velcade, I am restricted in what I can say about my treatments or specific chemotherapy drugs by FDA guidelines when traveling on Millennium's dime.
Here is an article, featured on ExMaxHealth.com, about a Warning drug company, Novartis, just received from the FDA about marketing a leukemia drug called Tasigna:
Social Media Misstep Gets Novartis an FDA Action Letter
Submitted by Denise Reynolds RD on 2010-08-06
The Division of Drug Marketing, Advertising, and Communications (DDMAC) of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cited Novartis AG because of the use of a social media widget on its website for the leukemia drug Tasigna. The widget, called “Facebook Share”, allows users to make representations about the drug but fails to communicate any risk information associated with the drug.
In the letter issued July 29, author Karen Rulli, acting group leader of the DDMAC, also states that the use of the widget does not adequately specify Tasigna’s indication and it “implies superiority over other products.”
Novartis Tasigna and Misleading Information
The FDA also took issue with Novartis's description of Tasigna as a "next-generation" treatment in some of the Facebook-shared content. The FDA said it has previously sent written advisory comments to Novartis about the misleading implications of the phrase "next-generation" when referring to Tasigna.
Tasigna (nilotinib) is used to treat a certain type of leukemia, called Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia or Ph+ CML, in people whose disease could not be treated successfully with imatinib (Gleevec). The drug works by blocking the action of the abnormal protein that signals cancer cells to multiply. Tasigna carries a warning that it may cause an irregular heart rhythm that can lead to fainting, loss of consciousness, seizures, or sudden death.
The use of the Facebook Share widget allows web surfers to generate links to sites that they like and share those links with their Facebook friends. In generating the link, the widget adds a short description of the drug and a link back to the Tasigna website, but fails to provide important information to the public.
Drug-makers, like many companies, are using social media tools to help promote their products and services. However, some of these methods, such as Facebook and Twitter, cannot adequately supply all of the information the public needs for a well-informed decision about a product and also comply with the FDA’s marketing regulations.
This is the first time that the FDA has issued an enforcement letter over a Facebook widget, according to a statement by an FDA spokeswoman. But the takeaway message is that “the lessons of this enforcement action apply to all social media, not just Facebook.”
A Novartis spokeswoman has said that the company “takes the letter issued by the FDA very seriously and we have addressed its concerns by taking the direct and immediate action of taking down the widget referenced by the FDA.” The company will go over all its online materials in light of the FDA’s concerns, she wrote.
Technology is progressing so fast--I would hate to be an overworked and understaffed FDA investigator trying to keep up!
Feel good and keep smiling! Pat
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Hepatitis B Doubles Risk Of Developing Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma
Chicago's WLS TV's Website posted this short article about Hepatitis B raising the risk to lymphoma patients:
August 4, 2010 (WLS) -- People infected with hepatitis B are about twice as likely to develop non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, according to a study done in part by the U.S. National Cancer Institute.
Hepatitis B was already known to cause liver cancer. The new study, which is published in the Lancet Oncology, confirms it as a cause of lymphoma as well.
Researchers in the U.S. and South Korea analyzed 600,000 patients over a 14-year span for the study.
An estimated 350,000 people are infected with hepatitis B worldwide.
Here is a link to a more detailed look at the same issue:
Chronic HBV Raises Lymphoma Risk
By Nancy Walsh, Staff Writer, MedPage Today
Cancer patients are always curious about why we get cancer. Here is another definitive cancer trigger.
Feel good and keep smiling! Pat & Pattie
August 4, 2010 (WLS) -- People infected with hepatitis B are about twice as likely to develop non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, according to a study done in part by the U.S. National Cancer Institute.
Hepatitis B was already known to cause liver cancer. The new study, which is published in the Lancet Oncology, confirms it as a cause of lymphoma as well.
Researchers in the U.S. and South Korea analyzed 600,000 patients over a 14-year span for the study.
An estimated 350,000 people are infected with hepatitis B worldwide.
Here is a link to a more detailed look at the same issue:
Chronic HBV Raises Lymphoma Risk
By Nancy Walsh, Staff Writer, MedPage Today
Cancer patients are always curious about why we get cancer. Here is another definitive cancer trigger.
Feel good and keep smiling! Pat & Pattie
Friday, August 6, 2010
World-wide Snap-Shot Of Cancer News
Yesterday's prostate cancer story from Australia got us thinking: What is going on with cancer news outside of the United States? Let's take a quick trip around the world to help us get a better global perspective.
The Times of India reports a renewed focus on high fat diets, and tobacco as cancer triggers. The article reports:
According to Lalit Kumar, professor of medical oncology at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), three million cases of cancer globally are due to tobacco use alone, with lung cancer claiming half the victims.
A high fat content diet can lead to breast cancer. Women who do yoga or moderate exercise everyday have lower incidence of cancer as compared to women with sedentary lifestyles and high fat intake, Kumar said at a talk at the India International Centre Wednesday evening.
"A high fat diet also acts as a trigger for prostate cancer. Fried food and spicy food is linked to cancer of the esophagus. Preservatives in food and smoked food, which is eaten in some parts of northeast India, also act as triggers for cancer," he said, adding that high fat intake and low fibre intake can cause colon cancer.
Canada's CBC reports Pap screening in Ontario shows gaps.
Their conclusion: Nearly four of 10 urban women living in Ontario aren't getting regular Pap tests to screen for cervical cancer.
A Japanese news site reports on an American finding published in Reuters: Hepatitis B linked to lymphoma in study.
Finally, a U.K Website, Irish Central.com, features an article about a woman with leukemia facing deportation back to Nigeria in the article, Nigerian woman deported from Ireland may die.
Cancer doesn't repect geographic or political boundries. Good to know progress is being made world-wide.
Feel good and keep smiling! Pat & Pattie
The Times of India reports a renewed focus on high fat diets, and tobacco as cancer triggers. The article reports:
According to Lalit Kumar, professor of medical oncology at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), three million cases of cancer globally are due to tobacco use alone, with lung cancer claiming half the victims.
A high fat content diet can lead to breast cancer. Women who do yoga or moderate exercise everyday have lower incidence of cancer as compared to women with sedentary lifestyles and high fat intake, Kumar said at a talk at the India International Centre Wednesday evening.
"A high fat diet also acts as a trigger for prostate cancer. Fried food and spicy food is linked to cancer of the esophagus. Preservatives in food and smoked food, which is eaten in some parts of northeast India, also act as triggers for cancer," he said, adding that high fat intake and low fibre intake can cause colon cancer.
Canada's CBC reports Pap screening in Ontario shows gaps.
Their conclusion: Nearly four of 10 urban women living in Ontario aren't getting regular Pap tests to screen for cervical cancer.
A Japanese news site reports on an American finding published in Reuters: Hepatitis B linked to lymphoma in study.
Finally, a U.K Website, Irish Central.com, features an article about a woman with leukemia facing deportation back to Nigeria in the article, Nigerian woman deported from Ireland may die.
Cancer doesn't repect geographic or political boundries. Good to know progress is being made world-wide.
Feel good and keep smiling! Pat & Pattie
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Are Some Men's Prostate Cancer Treated Too Aggressively?
Australia's Oncology Update recently ran this story:
Prostate cancer overtreatment ‘concerning’
By Michael Slezak
Men in the US with low-risk
prostate cancers are undergoing
comparable rates of invasive
therapy as those with high-risk
cancers, a large study has found,
raising “concern of overtreatment”.
The study of more than 120,000
people found that 75% of men
with PSA levels lower than 4.0 ng/
mL received either radical prostatectomy
(RP) or radiation therapy
(RT), even though more than half of
them harboured low-risk disease.
Moreover, “66% of men aged
between 65 and 74 years with low
risk disease and a PSA value of 4.0
ng/mL or lower received one either
RP or RT,” the authors notedin
Archives of Internal Medicine.
“These findings suggest that
many contemporary men receiving
treatment for localised
prostate cancer are unlikely to
benefit from the intervention.”
They said that the recently
publicised European results do not
accurately represent the degree of
overtreatment in the US because
“in the US patients are in general
diagnosed at earlier stages
and are more likely to receive
attempted curative therapy”.
Speaking with Oncology Update,
Professor Bruce Armstrong, from
the University of Sydney, said that
it is possible that the overtreatment
of low-risk cancers may
be even worse in Australia.
“In practice, we look as if
we have a lower level of what
you might redescribe as ‘conservative
management’ in NSW
than there was in the US,”
said Professor Armstrong.
He said the US study suggested
“that practice is somewhat
dissonant with what the
evidence suggests is appropriate
care, and what many people
think is appropriate care.”
“The key message here is
that most low-risk people - for
who there is really no positive
indications that it is acceptable
to put them on no more
than active surveillance - end up
having early curative therapy.”
In an accompanying editorial,
two researchers said that the
findings “lead to the disconcerting
realisation that an important
legacy of the PSA era might be
the overdiagnosis and overtreatment
of low-risk cancers.”
Hard to know when to treat a cancer aggressively and when to wait, don't you think? Oncology docs are forced to do this with multiple myeloma all of the time. No reason prostate cancer shouldn't be treated any differently.
Feel good and keep smiling! Pat
Prostate cancer overtreatment ‘concerning’
By Michael Slezak
Men in the US with low-risk
prostate cancers are undergoing
comparable rates of invasive
therapy as those with high-risk
cancers, a large study has found,
raising “concern of overtreatment”.
The study of more than 120,000
people found that 75% of men
with PSA levels lower than 4.0 ng/
mL received either radical prostatectomy
(RP) or radiation therapy
(RT), even though more than half of
them harboured low-risk disease.
Moreover, “66% of men aged
between 65 and 74 years with low
risk disease and a PSA value of 4.0
ng/mL or lower received one either
RP or RT,” the authors notedin
Archives of Internal Medicine.
“These findings suggest that
many contemporary men receiving
treatment for localised
prostate cancer are unlikely to
benefit from the intervention.”
They said that the recently
publicised European results do not
accurately represent the degree of
overtreatment in the US because
“in the US patients are in general
diagnosed at earlier stages
and are more likely to receive
attempted curative therapy”.
Speaking with Oncology Update,
Professor Bruce Armstrong, from
the University of Sydney, said that
it is possible that the overtreatment
of low-risk cancers may
be even worse in Australia.
“In practice, we look as if
we have a lower level of what
you might redescribe as ‘conservative
management’ in NSW
than there was in the US,”
said Professor Armstrong.
He said the US study suggested
“that practice is somewhat
dissonant with what the
evidence suggests is appropriate
care, and what many people
think is appropriate care.”
“The key message here is
that most low-risk people - for
who there is really no positive
indications that it is acceptable
to put them on no more
than active surveillance - end up
having early curative therapy.”
In an accompanying editorial,
two researchers said that the
findings “lead to the disconcerting
realisation that an important
legacy of the PSA era might be
the overdiagnosis and overtreatment
of low-risk cancers.”
Hard to know when to treat a cancer aggressively and when to wait, don't you think? Oncology docs are forced to do this with multiple myeloma all of the time. No reason prostate cancer shouldn't be treated any differently.
Feel good and keep smiling! Pat
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Bladder Cancer Linked To Nitrates Found In Meat
Here is the third of three cancer related nutritional articles in a row. Monday stomach cancer. Yesterday pancreatic cancer. Today bladder cancer:
Study Links Processed Red Meat to Bladder Cancer
Preservatives in Processed Red Meat, Especially Nitrite, May Play a Role in Cancer Risk
By Katrina Woznicki
WebMD Health NewsReviewed by Laura J. Martin, MD - Aug. 2, 2010
Eating large amounts of processed red meats may raise the risk for developing bladder cancer, according to a new study.
Processed meats often contain the preservatives nitrate and nitrite. They are typically found in hot dogs, pepperoni, and deli cold cuts.
Researchers suspect that when processed meats are eaten regularly over time and in large quantities, these preservatives may interfere with the bladder’s lining when they are passed through the urine.
How the meat is prepared -- grilled, fried, microwaved, or broiled -- may also play a role in cancer risk.
Nitrite and Bladder Cancer
A team of researchers led by Amanda J. Cross, PhD, of the National Cancer Institute in Rockville, Md., followed 300,933 men and women aged 50 to 71 for more than seven years to evaluate the relationship between eating processed meat and the risk of developing bladder cancer. During the study, there were 854 cases (720 men and 134 women) of bladder cancer. The results are published in the online edition of the journal Cancer.
Participants filled out dietary questionnaires and provided information about their lifestyles, such as race/ethnicity, smoking, and education. Their total dietary nitrate and nitrite intakes were measured. The researchers also determined nitrite and nitrate content for 10 processed meats representing 90% of processed meats eaten in the U.S.
Researchers found a clear association between red meat cold cuts and bladder cancer risk. When they looked closer, they found a link between total dietary nitrite intake and bladder cancer risk but no clear link between total dietary nitrate intake and bladder cancer.
Bladder cancer was not associated with eating bacon, beef, hamburger, sausage, or steak, or white meat, such as chicken and turkey.
Those who ate the most red processed meats were more likely to be younger, less educated, less physically active, and eat fewer fruits, vegetables, and vitamins C and E. They were also more likely to be non-Hispanic whites, current smokers, and have a higher body mass index -- a measurement of height and weight.
"Our findings highlight the importance of studying meat-related compounds to better understand the association between meat and cancer risk," Cross says.
My advice: Eat lots of different kinds of foods in moderation. This maximizes chance of injesting the widest variety of different beneficial nutriets, while limiting possible exposure to compounds linked to cancer and other health risks.
Feel good and keep smiling! Pat
Study Links Processed Red Meat to Bladder Cancer
Preservatives in Processed Red Meat, Especially Nitrite, May Play a Role in Cancer Risk
By Katrina Woznicki
WebMD Health NewsReviewed by Laura J. Martin, MD - Aug. 2, 2010
Eating large amounts of processed red meats may raise the risk for developing bladder cancer, according to a new study.
Processed meats often contain the preservatives nitrate and nitrite. They are typically found in hot dogs, pepperoni, and deli cold cuts.
Researchers suspect that when processed meats are eaten regularly over time and in large quantities, these preservatives may interfere with the bladder’s lining when they are passed through the urine.
How the meat is prepared -- grilled, fried, microwaved, or broiled -- may also play a role in cancer risk.
Nitrite and Bladder Cancer
A team of researchers led by Amanda J. Cross, PhD, of the National Cancer Institute in Rockville, Md., followed 300,933 men and women aged 50 to 71 for more than seven years to evaluate the relationship between eating processed meat and the risk of developing bladder cancer. During the study, there were 854 cases (720 men and 134 women) of bladder cancer. The results are published in the online edition of the journal Cancer.
Participants filled out dietary questionnaires and provided information about their lifestyles, such as race/ethnicity, smoking, and education. Their total dietary nitrate and nitrite intakes were measured. The researchers also determined nitrite and nitrate content for 10 processed meats representing 90% of processed meats eaten in the U.S.
Researchers found a clear association between red meat cold cuts and bladder cancer risk. When they looked closer, they found a link between total dietary nitrite intake and bladder cancer risk but no clear link between total dietary nitrate intake and bladder cancer.
Bladder cancer was not associated with eating bacon, beef, hamburger, sausage, or steak, or white meat, such as chicken and turkey.
Those who ate the most red processed meats were more likely to be younger, less educated, less physically active, and eat fewer fruits, vegetables, and vitamins C and E. They were also more likely to be non-Hispanic whites, current smokers, and have a higher body mass index -- a measurement of height and weight.
"Our findings highlight the importance of studying meat-related compounds to better understand the association between meat and cancer risk," Cross says.
My advice: Eat lots of different kinds of foods in moderation. This maximizes chance of injesting the widest variety of different beneficial nutriets, while limiting possible exposure to compounds linked to cancer and other health risks.
Feel good and keep smiling! Pat
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
New Study Supports Premise: Sugar Feeds Cancer
Cancer cells feed on fructose, study finds
Research shows refined sugar helps cancer cells proliferate
By Maggie Fox
This article appears on an msnbc.com from Reuters. Their copyright rules prohibit my reproducing content here. But I can link you back to msnbc.com. Go to: Cancer cells feed on fructose to read all about how pancreatic cancer cells use fructose to develop. Fascinating! Guess there is some truth to the old nutritional saying: "Sugar feeds cancer." Darn it! Bad news for all us cancer survivors with sweet tooths--both Pat and I fall into this group!
Feel good and keep smiling! Pattie
Research shows refined sugar helps cancer cells proliferate
By Maggie Fox
This article appears on an msnbc.com from Reuters. Their copyright rules prohibit my reproducing content here. But I can link you back to msnbc.com. Go to: Cancer cells feed on fructose to read all about how pancreatic cancer cells use fructose to develop. Fascinating! Guess there is some truth to the old nutritional saying: "Sugar feeds cancer." Darn it! Bad news for all us cancer survivors with sweet tooths--both Pat and I fall into this group!
Feel good and keep smiling! Pattie
Monday, August 2, 2010
Stomach Cancer Grows Slowly - Cases Decline
Here is a short review of stomach cancer symptoms and treatment from New Hope Medical Center:
Stomach cancer, also called gastric cancer, occurs in the wall and lining of the stomach. According to the American Cancer Society, about 21,500 new cases of stomach cancer were reported in 2008. Stomach cancer was once a leading cause of cancer deaths, but has recently become less common.
There is no specific reason for the decline in the number of new cases; however, doctors believe it may be linked to refrigeration use for storage of food. Before refrigeration, people preserved food by smoking, salting, or pickling. Large amounts of nitrates and nitrites are found in these types of preserved foods, and these nitrates and nitrites can be converted into cancer-causing compounds in the stomach. Humans infected with the bacteria known as Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) are at higher risk for developing stomach cancer as well. H. pylori lives in the stomach’s mucous layer and has only recently been linked to stomach cancer. Because of this, doctors are still studying the ways the bacteria are transmitted to humans as well as the reasons for its association with stomach cancer.
The development of stomach cancer tends to be slow, occurring over many years. Many early-stage symptoms go unnoticed and undetected. However, when the cancer is advanced, there are several signs and symptoms including:
- weakness and fatigue
- unintended weight loss
- lack of appetite
- general discomfort in the abdomen
- abdominal discomfort, especially after eating
- feeling full after meals, even when eating is normal
- nausea
- vomiting, with or without blood
There are different types of stomach cancer.
Adenocarcinomas account for 95 percent of all stomach cancers. It is found in the stomach’s innermost lining. Lymphoma is an aggressive stomach cancer found on the immune system tissues in the stomach wall. Carcinoid tumors account for a small percentage of stomach cancer and originate in the hormone-producing cells of the stomach. Gastrointestinal stromal tumors, also called GISTs, are rare tumors that can develop in other places besides the stomach; however, the most common location for GISTs is indeed the stomach.
In addition to surgery and/or chemotherapy, several alternative cancer treatment options are can be used in an overall stomach cancer treatment plan, including but not limited to changes in diet and nutrition, immune system enhancement, physical therapy, homeopathic medicines, acupuncture, ozone therapy, and stress management.
Stomach cancer is a rare example of a type of cancer which is becoming less common in our modern world.
Feel good and keep smiling! Pat & Pattie
Stomach cancer, also called gastric cancer, occurs in the wall and lining of the stomach. According to the American Cancer Society, about 21,500 new cases of stomach cancer were reported in 2008. Stomach cancer was once a leading cause of cancer deaths, but has recently become less common.
There is no specific reason for the decline in the number of new cases; however, doctors believe it may be linked to refrigeration use for storage of food. Before refrigeration, people preserved food by smoking, salting, or pickling. Large amounts of nitrates and nitrites are found in these types of preserved foods, and these nitrates and nitrites can be converted into cancer-causing compounds in the stomach. Humans infected with the bacteria known as Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) are at higher risk for developing stomach cancer as well. H. pylori lives in the stomach’s mucous layer and has only recently been linked to stomach cancer. Because of this, doctors are still studying the ways the bacteria are transmitted to humans as well as the reasons for its association with stomach cancer.
The development of stomach cancer tends to be slow, occurring over many years. Many early-stage symptoms go unnoticed and undetected. However, when the cancer is advanced, there are several signs and symptoms including:
- weakness and fatigue
- unintended weight loss
- lack of appetite
- general discomfort in the abdomen
- abdominal discomfort, especially after eating
- feeling full after meals, even when eating is normal
- nausea
- vomiting, with or without blood
There are different types of stomach cancer.
Adenocarcinomas account for 95 percent of all stomach cancers. It is found in the stomach’s innermost lining. Lymphoma is an aggressive stomach cancer found on the immune system tissues in the stomach wall. Carcinoid tumors account for a small percentage of stomach cancer and originate in the hormone-producing cells of the stomach. Gastrointestinal stromal tumors, also called GISTs, are rare tumors that can develop in other places besides the stomach; however, the most common location for GISTs is indeed the stomach.
In addition to surgery and/or chemotherapy, several alternative cancer treatment options are can be used in an overall stomach cancer treatment plan, including but not limited to changes in diet and nutrition, immune system enhancement, physical therapy, homeopathic medicines, acupuncture, ozone therapy, and stress management.
Stomach cancer is a rare example of a type of cancer which is becoming less common in our modern world.
Feel good and keep smiling! Pat & Pattie
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Article About How Lung Cancer Researchers Are Working Hard To Find A Method Of Early Detection
Pattie and I recently subscribed to the St. Petersburg Times. Having moved to Florida just over one year ago, we are still getting to know the area. We correctly determined a local area paper might help us acclimate. As much as I hate to contribute to the use of all of that paper, we do recycle. The cost of our one year daily subscription was only $29! How times (no pun intended) have changed.
Anyway, reading a real newspaper does give you some perspective--and you find some interesting articles you might not otherwise see. Here is an example from Thursday's papter. I provide you with a link to the online version at the end of the excerpt:
Researchers hunt for reliable early-detection test for lung cancer
By Irene Maher, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Thursday, July 29, 2010
It takes more lives in a year than colon, breast, liver, kidney, melanoma and prostate cancers combined. Yet there is still no definitive screening test to detect lung cancer early, when tumors are at their smallest and before the cancer has spread.
Scientists already know that chest X-rays and sputum tests don't work well for early detection. Doctors are awaiting results from a huge National Cancer Institute study to find out whether the answer might be spiral CT scans, in which images are made all around the patient's body, allowing a 3-D model of the lungs to be constructed.
But, so far, nothing has been proven to find lung cancer early enough to save a significant number of lives, the measure by which most medical screening tests are judged to be effective. Cigarette smoking dramatically increases the risk of lung cancer, but a significant number of people who have never smoked do get the disease.
Plus, about one-fourth of people with early lung cancer don't have symptoms. For many, the disease is diagnosed when they get a chest X-ray for some other reason, but by then the disease may be well advanced.
Read the rest of this St. Petersburg Times newspaper article by going to:
Still in the Dark.
It's worth taking a look. Feel good and keep smiling! Pat
Anyway, reading a real newspaper does give you some perspective--and you find some interesting articles you might not otherwise see. Here is an example from Thursday's papter. I provide you with a link to the online version at the end of the excerpt:
Researchers hunt for reliable early-detection test for lung cancer
By Irene Maher, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Thursday, July 29, 2010
It takes more lives in a year than colon, breast, liver, kidney, melanoma and prostate cancers combined. Yet there is still no definitive screening test to detect lung cancer early, when tumors are at their smallest and before the cancer has spread.
Scientists already know that chest X-rays and sputum tests don't work well for early detection. Doctors are awaiting results from a huge National Cancer Institute study to find out whether the answer might be spiral CT scans, in which images are made all around the patient's body, allowing a 3-D model of the lungs to be constructed.
But, so far, nothing has been proven to find lung cancer early enough to save a significant number of lives, the measure by which most medical screening tests are judged to be effective. Cigarette smoking dramatically increases the risk of lung cancer, but a significant number of people who have never smoked do get the disease.
Plus, about one-fourth of people with early lung cancer don't have symptoms. For many, the disease is diagnosed when they get a chest X-ray for some other reason, but by then the disease may be well advanced.
Read the rest of this St. Petersburg Times newspaper article by going to:
Still in the Dark.
It's worth taking a look. Feel good and keep smiling! Pat
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