Note: The contents of this blog are for informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice or substitute for professional care. For medical emergencies, dial 911!
Experience Project is launching a new online cancer support network , The Cancer Support Project, on October 1st, 2007.
Experience Project is built around dynamic groups of users who come onto the platform, share narratives and personal stories about their life experiences, and then connect with others who are going through the same experiences. Experience Project will never ask for your name; you can keep your identity completely private while meeting new friends who can understand you.
The central goal of The Cancer Support Project is to provide a hub for emotional and psychological support for all experiences involving cancer, including experiences as a survivor or a caregiver, something that is not currently widely addressed as many sites focus on sharing information regarding therapies. The Experience Project will also be launching a Facebook application within The Cancer Support Project to enable people to show their support and raise cancer awareness via Facebook, MySpace, blogs and web pages.
The Cancer Support Projectwill be launching on October 1st, but you can check it out now. I know I will be checking it out for sure!The Cancer Support Project is located here.
Luciano Pavarotti, possibly the most famous classical singer on earth, received a final sendoff this past weekend in his hometown of Modena, Italy. Pavarotti died last week of pancreatic cancer. More than 100,000 people filed through the cathedral and plaza, more than 700 guests attended the funeral mass and millions watched the live broadcast on television.
Pavarotti underwent surgery for a malignant pancreatic mass in July 2006. A month later, after his surgery, Pavarotti told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, "I was a fortunate and happy man. After that, this blow arrived. And now I am paying the penalty for this fortune and happiness."
One could not be surprised that Pavarotti felt this way. Pancreatic cancer is one of the most deadly cancers, with a five-year survival rate here in the U.S. of less than 5%, although surgery can improve survival greatly. Pancreatic cancer is also one of the most underfunded research areas in cancer. For more information about what you can do to increase funding for pancreatic cancer research and raise awareness of this deadly disease, please see PanCAN's action page.
Millions of people around the world die in severe pain due to bans of morphine, reportsThe New York Times. While poverty plays a role, doctors also fear law enforcement of morphine bans.
The World Health Organization estimates that 4.8 million people around the world suffer with moderate to severe cancer pain in addition to millions who suffer needless from late-state AIDS pain. At pain conferences, doctors from Africa describe patients whose pain is so bad that they throw themselves in front of trucks.
In another related article, the newspaper examines the slow movement of the Japanese culture away from the fear of painkillers.
According to an article in CANCER, mental illness and emotional distress in patients with advanced cancer is often overlooked by oncologists, but proper management can improve a patient's quality of life.
The review article was written by Dr. Michael Miovic and Dr. Susan Block from the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.
Miovic and Block found that 50 percent or more of patients with advanced or terminal cancer suffer from at least one of three major disorders: adjustment disorders, anxiety disorders and depressive disorders. Medical management of cancer has improved in the last decade, but management of mental health issues has lagged, according to the authors. Studies show that depressive symptoms can even impact patients' lives even more than pain.
The authors recommend listening as the most important screening tool in the oncologist's toolkit.
According to researchers at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, congestive heart failure rarely occurs among leukemia patients who take Gleevec (imatinib).
The study was led by Dr. Jorge Cortes who said that there is no need for routine cardio-specific monitoring of all patients taking imatinib, although those with cardiac history should be close monitored. In a separate paper lasat year, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania reported that imatinib may be cardio-toxic in humans.
Imatinib targets two members of the tyrosine kinase class of enzymes and a hybrid tyrosine kinase known to cause chronic myologenous leukemia (CML) and Ph-postive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Before imatinib, only about half of CML patients survived five years. Now the five year survival rate is 95 percent.
Postmenopausal women who consume two or more alcoholic drinks a day may double their risk of endometrial cancer, according to a new study published by Veronica Wendy Setiawan and colleagues at the University of Southern California.
Endometrial cancer is the most common cancer of the female reproductive system and accounts for six percent of all cancers in women, according to the NCI.
According to Setiawan, previous studies have shown that alcohol consumption has been associated with higher estrogen levels in postmenopausal women, which could be the mechanism that increases the risk of endometrial cancer.
A new study from researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine shows that yoga can benefit ethnic minority breast cancer survivors, particularly African-Americans and Hispanics, as well as those from under-served communities.
During the 12 week study, researchers compared quality of life measures between two groups of women with early stage breast cancer; one group took a weekly yoga class and the other group didn't. More women in the non-yoga group experienced a worsening of social well-being compared to the yoga group. The yoga classes seemed to offer social support, which may have helped counteract loneliness and isolation, which is common after a cancer diagnosis.
The women in the yoga group participated in a gentle, seated form of yoga based on Integral Hatha Yoga, and classes were provided in both English and Spanish.
A mutation in the BRAF oncogene, BRAF V600E, has been linked to the most common type of tyroid cancer, conventional papillary thyroid cancer or PTC. A new study shows that this mutation is also significantly associated with cancer recurrence after treatment, according to Dr. Electron Kebebew at UCSF.
Most patients diagnosed wtih PTC have small, localized PTC, but may receive aggressive treatments becasue their risk of recurrence cannot be predicted before surgery.
According to the researchers, this result shows that this particular mutation is a reliable indicator for recurrence likelihood and testing for the mutation may be useful for selecting the initial therapy.
September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness month. Advocates and researchers at the University of Michigan hope that increased awareness about ovarian cancer can save lives.
1. Symptoms do exist. Bloating, pelvic or abdominal pain, difficulty eating, feeling full quickly, and frequent or urgent urinating are have been shown to be related to a possible case of ovarian cancer and if they persist you should see your doctor. 2. There is no early detection screening test currently. 3. All women should get yearly pelvic exams. 4. Ovarian cancer is difficult to treat because it's often resistant to current treatments. 5. Survival rates are better at the early stage. 6. Most common in older white women. 7. A small number of ovarian cancers are hereditary, linked to the same genes that are linked to breast cancer, BRCA1 and BRCA2. 8. The best person to treat ovarian cancer is a gynecologic oncologist.
Rise to Action, a conference series that aims to help young adult survivors of childhood cancer explore topics relevant to their long-term health care and survivorship, is coming to New York City on October 6 - 7. The conference series is hosted by the Children's Cause for Cancer Advocacy (CCCA).
The Rise to Action conference will be held at the Harvard Club is is free for young adult survivors, age 18-25, and their families. The conference will feature sessions on issues such as health insurance, fertility concerns, employment challenges and education transitions, in addition to other topics.
For more information and to register see the Children's Cause website or email RTA-NY@childrenscause.org.
A new study which involved a review of more than 500 reports by an international panel from 10 universities and medical schools states that aspartame is safe. According to the study, there is no evidence that the sweetener causes cancer, neurological damage or other health problems in humans. Aspartame is sold under various brand names including Equal and NutraSweet and has few calories.
The panel used data from NHANES to determine the most current levels of aspartame consumption and found that at those levels, aspartame is safe for consumption, is not cancer-causing or capable of causing neurological damage.
I don't consume any aspartame because I don't like the taste, but this is good news for people who do use aspartame for various reasons.
A new study from Yale shows that 75 percent of physicians in training surveyed do not understand the statistics used in medical literature. The study surveyed internal medicine residents at 11 programs across the country.
The residents scored an average of 41% correct on the test and the senior residents scored worse than the junior residents, possibly reflecting a loss of knowledge over time.
Practically all of the residents surveyed agreed that it is necessary to know something about statistics in order to be able to read medical literature and 77 percent expressed an interest in learning more about the field.
According to the corresponding author, Dr. Donna M. Windish, "If physicians cannot detect appropriate statistical analyses and accurately understand their results, the risk of incorrect interpretation may lead to erroneous applications of clinical research."
According to a new study, older black people with renal cell cancer have significantly lower survival rates than older white patients. The study found that this disparity can be attributed to the lower rates of surgical removal of the kidney and higher rates of comorbid illnesses.
This study was conducted by Dr. Sonja I. Berndt from the NCI and was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Even among black patients who had surgery, the survival rates were lower when compared to whites who had their kidney removed. In contrast, black patients who did not have surgery had better survival rates than white patients who did not have surgery.
More than one-third of Canadian women believe that the human papillomavirus vaccine prevents ovarian cancer, according to a new survey by Ovarian Cancer Canada. Also, twenty-five percent believe that routine Pap smears can detect ovarian cancer. The HPV vaccine can prevent some HPV strains from causing infections that can lead to cervical cancer, and the Pap smear can detect early signs of cervical change.
Barbara Vanderhydren, of the University of Ottawa, says that she is concerned that many young women will believe that gynecological exams are not necessary if they have been vaccinated.
Let's hope that as this new vaccine takes off, physicians take the time to educate patients on what it can and can't protect against.
According to Thomas Sowell, in a recent Baltimore Sun opinion piece, the "biggest of the big lies in the health care hype is that a lack of insurance means a lack of medical care." Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, a Stanford think tank. He then mentions how he paid for his own broken arm and jaw when he didn't have insurance when he was young.
Sowell also writes that "few people show the slightest interest in what has happened in countries with government-controlled medical care." He cites waiting lists in such countries while people in America are just "picking up a phone and making an appointment."
Sowell is right. You can just pick up a phone and make a doctor's appointment here in the U.S.
Experience Project is launching a new online cancer support network , The Cancer Support Project, on October 1st, 2007.
Luciano Pavarotti, possibly the most famous classical singer on earth, 
Millions of people around the world die in severe pain due to bans of morphine, 
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Postmenopausal women who consume two or more alcoholic drinks a day may double their risk of endometrial cancer, according to a new 
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A mutation in the BRAF oncogene, BRAF V600E, has been linked to the most common type of tyroid cancer, conventional papillary thyroid cancer or PTC. A new 
September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness month. Advocates and researchers at the University of Michigan hope that increased awareness about ovarian cancer can save lives.
Rise to Action, a conference series that aims to help young adult survivors of childhood cancer explore topics relevant to their long-term health care and survivorship, is coming to New York City on October 6 - 7. The conference series is hosted by the Children's Cause for Cancer Advocacy (CCCA).
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More than one-third of Canadian women believe that the human papillomavirus vaccine prevents ovarian cancer, according to a new 
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