Melanoma that has spread to other areas of the body is a very difficult cancer to treat successfully. It usually does not respond well to chemotherapy. Sadly, those diagnosed with metastatic melanoma survive only about a year after diagnosis.

The combination of Taxol (paclitaxel) with carboplatin, added to an agent that prevents the growth of blood vessels called bevacizumab has been shown to significantly delay the spread of tumors in patients with advanced melanoma. A Phase II clinical trial showed that tumor growth was delayed by almost six months; typically these cancers begin to start spreading again in about eight weeks.

Dr. Domingo Perez, M.D., the lead author of the study says "The clinical benefit may seem small, but in the world of melanoma where there is very little progress, this is certainly a strong indication that the combination of chemotherapy with an antiangiogenic agent may be a valid treatment strategy for these patients."

A new study shows certain genes may make some lung cancer patients more sensitive to chemotherapy. This is a good thing -- increased sensitivity in this case means lower doses of drug therapy work as good or better than higher doses.

Researchers looked at more than 21,000 genes in cells common to non-small-cell lung cancer, the most common type of the disease. Of these genes, 87 came up with heightened sensitivity to the chemotherapy drug Taxol. To be exact, the genes were 1,000 times more sensitive when exposed to the drug for 48 hours.

Chemotherapy is a very blunt instrument, says one researcher. Locating genes that make chemotherapy drugs more potent at lower doses is a critical step toward tailoring treatment and minimizing side effects for patients.

Two other drugs -- Navelbine and Gemzar -- were tested on six of the Taxol-sensitive genes. The genes did not respond to these drugs.

My gut hasn't always guided me through life's most difficult decisions and dilemmas. It wasn't until I felt a lump in my breast more than two years ago that my gut kicked into gear and told me something very important.

"It's cancer," my insides told me one week before the surgeon who did my biopsy called.

"It's cancer," the surgeon said. I didn't tell him, but I thought it: "I know."

I also knew prior to surgery that my cancer had not spread to my lymph nodes. My gut told me this too. It also told me the chemotherapy drug Taxol was not right for me -- since my cancer had not spread -- despite the urging of one oncologist that I accept this treatment. I would have gone on gut instinct alone in my rejection of this medication but another doctor weighed in and agreed with my gut, so I had solid backing on this decision.

Many have dismissed hunches like these and have written off those who believe in them as screwballs, says writer Chip Brown in the March 2007 issue of The Oprah Magazine. But as Brown shares after peering into the world of gut instinct, there are 100 million nerve cells in the gut. They run on autopilot, regulate digestion, play a critical role in the body's immune system, and control mood-altering neurotransmitters identical to those in the brain.

The gut is essentially a second brain. It was a "gut feeling" that led Fred Smith, founder of Federal Express, to begin exploring the possibilities of overnight delivery and Howard Schultz, founder of Starbucks, to begin mass marketing coffee. Wall Street professionals make millions on their gut feelings, sportscasters make startling predictions based on gut guidance, and entrepreneurs launch thriving businesses because of the inklings that rumble in their tummies.

You may or may not be a gut thinker yourself. But I've stumbled upon a gut exercise -- thanks to psychotherapist Nancy Napier --and I'd like for you to consider it the next time you find yourself stuck at a crossroads, unsure of where to turn. You never know, the direction you seek may be swirling around in your midsection, just waiting for a call to action.

Think about this:

You are wavering between two choices. Find yourself a quiet, serene place where there will be no disruptions. Now sit down. Take a moment to settle and focus on the issue you want to explore. Then choose one side. Think about this side and notice what happens in your gut. Do you feel a tightening and gripping or a softening and warming? Are the sensations pleasant or uncomfortable? Notice your thoughts. Are they positive or negative? Give yourself some time to feel your gut and your mind responding.

Now shift to the other side. Think about the previous questions, and try to chart what your body gut is saying.

While you may not get a gut answer at first, if you come back with the question several times, you'll likely hear just what your gut wants you to know.

A friend of mine with breast cancer just sent out an update e-mail to friends and family. She began her message with an apology for her recent lack of communication. But she assured us all that she's been out of the loop not because she's felt sick or tired. It's because she's been too busy with normal life. And that's a good thing, she says.

This friend wasn't so sure how she would fare -- both physically and emotionally -- when she was first diagnosed with cancer. But she seems to have done a champion's job of rolling with the punches. Sure, she's had ups and downs. But she is overwhelmingly positive and hopeful. And jumping off my computer screen as I read her e-mail were at least seven bits of hope that tell me she is doing just fine despite all that is unbelievably hard about breast cancer.

My friend just had her first infusion of Taxol. A breeze, she calls it. One. So easy on her body -- two -- that she headed right out and took her daughter communion dress shopping. Her little love looked beautiful, she wrote. Like a mini-bride. The mother of the mini-bride then -- three -- turned a sad moment into a comforting one when her daughter asked, "Mommy, who do you think will bring me wedding dress shopping?"

Canadian researchers have made an unexpected discovery in a molecule that appears to drastically boost the ability of standard drugs to kill breast cancer cells. Currently, the discovery has been confined to the lab -- but researchers hope the power of this molecule, the ANK peptide, can one day be used to counter drug resistance for many women with breast cancer.

Scientists from Queen's University say the ANK peptide, not a drug by itself, gives drugs like taxol and nocodazole more than triple the ability to kill breast cancer cells. One scientist says the process of enhancing drug effectiveness is much like adding flavor to coffee to make it taste better.

This is exciting news, but the results -- published Monday in the journal Cancer Research -- only apply to lab experiments at this point. Researchers must now proceed with testing the peptide-drug combination in lab mice. If successful, they will move on to human testing. The whole process could take years. But early results are so promising that application for a U.S. patent on the peptide has already been made.

According the medical experts, breast cancer patients can become resistant to some drugs depending on duration of treatment, dose of medication, and genetic makeup.

"This peptide would be able to give them another chance," said a researcher from this study. "For those who respond reasonably well, they will do even better; for those who don't respond to this drug treatment ... we greatly hope this will make the current drug more useful by extending its impact to a wider range of people, particularly those with a resistance problem."

Myocet is in its last clinical trial phase prior to FDA review. The trial is enrolling patients to evaluate the investigative chemotherapy agent Myocet (liposomal encapsulated doxorubicin) in addition to standard therapy for HER2-positive breast cancer.

Myocet is a chemotherapy agent that contains the active form of doxorubicin, you might better know it as Adriamycin. This chemotherapy drug is formulated to reduce the side effects associated with Adriamycin. Myocet allows for more of the active drug to be delivered directly to cancer cells, sparing healthy cells from being damaged.

This trial will directly compare the standard option of Herceptin and Taxol to the combination of Myocet, Herceptin and Taxol. Researchers are now enrolling patients with metastatic, HER2-positive breast cancer with a goal in mind to determine if the addition of Myocet to standard therapy can increase response to therapy or regression of cancer.

New approaches are needed to treat advanced melanoma. Melanoma is the type of skin cancer that can be deadly if it travels to distant parts of the body. Survival is usually only 6-9 months for patients with metastatic melanoma.

Synta Pharmaceuticals says that an agent called STA-4783 when added to Taxol can double the progression free survival compared with using Taxol alone. STA-4783 can enhance the cancer killing effects of the immune system.

Researchers from 21 clinical sites in the US recently conducted a clinical trial to evaluate the addition of STA-4783 to Taxol in patients with Stage IV melanoma. Anticancer responses occurred in 15 percent of patients treated with STA-4783 and Taxol and only 4 percent had anticancer response from the Taxol alone.

Patients should ask their physicians about the clinical trials that are available for STA-4783 plus Taxol.

Metastatic breast cancer patients who have stable disease following treatment of anthracycline plus Taxol (paclitaxel) might not be receiving any benefit if they are receiving maintenance Taxol after first-line treatment.

It seems that it might not do any good. A study was done that showed the two groups, one with the maintenance Taxol and the one without, having outcomes that had no differences. Neither group showed any difference in progression free survival.

The study was based on 255 women that had stable disease. It could be a good idea to mention this article that was in the Journal of Clinical Oncology to your oncologist if you are receiving maintenance Taxol for metastatic breast cancer.

A study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology says that continued treatment with Taxol (paclitaxel) for metastatic breast cancer does not improve progression-free survival.

Researchers from Italy conducted a clinical trial consisting of 215 patients. Each patient was initially treated with Ellence or Adriamycin plus Taxol. All patients had a response to the initial therapy.

Half of the patients were then given maintenance Taxol for eight cycles. There were no differences shown in the survival or progression-free survival of the two groups. After these initial results the trial was then closed.

This is good information to have if you are receiving treatment for metastatic breast cancer. Ask your doctor about this study if you are currently receiving maintenance Taxol for advanced breast cancer.

I love trees. They are mighty and mysterious. It's no wonder that we humans have found out that they contain a cancer-killing agent in their bark extract. The pacific yew tree, found in the Pacific Northwest coastal region of the United States, was found to have bark extract that tested positive for cytotoxicity (substance poisonous to cells). This discovery in the early sixties has led us to what we know today as Taxol and Taxotere.

Taxol comes from the pacific yew tree (Taxus brevifolia) and Taxotere comes from the European pacific yew tree (Taxus baccata). These drugs treat a variety of different cancers including breast, ovarian and lung cancers.

The pacific yew tree was considered worthless as lumber. Botanist Arthur S. Barclay, PHD, sent a specimen of bark to chemist Monroe Elliot Wall, PHD. The testing of the bark extract led to a drug that interferes with the development of cell duplication. This was a different way to attack a cancer cell. Some other chemotherapy treatments work to interfere with a cancer cell's DNA.

The Taxenes gave us a new angle to combat the fast growing cancer cells. Of course, most chemotherapy agents do that at a price. These drugs do have side effects since they can't tell the difference between fast growing cancer cells and other fast growing cells in our body.

What other untapped resources are out there in our forest and in nature that could help save lives? We already know of organisms in China, Japan, New Zealand, Africa, Madagascar and the Caribbean Sea that have yielded drugs to treat cancer.

This isn't exactly natural therapy but it feels much more natural when the treatment derives from tree bark.

I can't decide what to do about my port now that my breast cancer treatment is over. It's been an on-going internal battle. I don't know whether I should leave it in place -- tunneled underneath the skin on my collarbone where it is available and accessible should I ever need further infusions of cancer-fighting drugs -- or whether I should have it removed since there is no real purpose for it right now. There is the issue of superstition and safety -- leaving it right where it is allows for easy use if cancer returns and prevents another surgery to implant a new one. But there is also the issue of moving on -- and removing it because I don't need it, because I may never need it. One doctor told me recently that it should come out because if it remains in my body, I risk infection. And anything foreign in my body for an extended period of time is not completely safe. But a cancer survivor told me that she had hers removed immediately after treatment and had to get a new one because her cancer recurred three months later.

I am accustomed to wrestling matches like this one -- like my stand-off between treatment with Taxol or without Taxol, between anti-depressant or no anti-depressant, between vegan diets and traditional diets. Sometimes I can make a good call. Sometimes I just can't decide. Like right now.

Women with breast cancer live longer when Avastin is used in combination with standard chemotherapy treatment. Avastin is a drug that blocks the growth of new blood vessels needed for cancer to grow and spread beyond the original tumor. When Avastin is used with Taxol, women receiving the combination of drugs lived almost twice as long as women who were only administered Taxol.

"These results are good news for people with breast cancer," said Dr Robin Zon, of Michiana Hematology-Oncology, PC in South Bend, Indiana. "The next step will be introducing the new drug in patients whose breast cancer has not progressed to metastasis." Currently, Avastin is a drug in use for treatment of colorectal cancer and lung cancer.