Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog
From WritersBreak.com
Having survived a July, 2000 diagnosis of a stage I, left multi-focal invasive breast cancer, Cindy Papale decided to embark on writing a book to educate young women and men on the many facets of her often misunderstood disease. Within The Empty Cup Runneth Over (Dorrance Publishing Company, 2008), Papale chronicles her journey from diagnosis, treatment and beyond—discussing the many hurdles she faced and the lessons she learned along the way.What’s more–within the book–she and co-author Sabrina Hernandez, collaborate with a brilliant group of specialists who contribute special chapters that provide much professional insight into this illness, further demystifying a disease in which most Americans know little.We recently had the pleasure of speaking with Papale. Here’s what she told us.
Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs.
Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog
(Editor: Special Thanks to Kris Carr for the props in this piece!) Rather than surrendering to despair and impersonal medical treatments, growing numbers of cancer patients are empowering themselves with information and control over their therapies. The trend is finding acceptance in mainstream medicine and helping people with cancer lead healthier lives. Here are tips on managing the illness.
Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs.
Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog
A Tampa bride-to-be who defied doctors’ expectations after being told she had a year to live four years ago has celebrated another victory — she and her fiancee won a $100,000 dream wedding.
Courtney Dempsey, 33, and Gary Courtney, 37, were among 40,000 couples who entered US Magazine’s wedding contest. The prize includes a dress and honeymoon. “We’re beyond thrilled. We’re actually in a state of shock right now,” Dempsey said Tuesday.
Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs.
Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog
Medical advice can be frustratingly contradictory, especially when it comes to the issue of screening. Now, a new report questions the usefulness of breast self-exams, finding that the commonly recommended screening tool may not help save women’s lives — and may even do more harm than good.
According to a review by the Cochrane Collaboration, an international organization that evaluates medical research, there’s no evidence that self-exams actually reduce breast cancer deaths. In fact, the often-recommended monthly chore may even do more harm than good, according to the group’s analysis of a pair of studies of nearly 400,000 Chinese and Russian women
Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs.
Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog
The spiritual effects of a substance in “sacred mushrooms” can last more than a year, Johns Hopkins researchers claim. The scientists said their investigations may lead to new ways to help people with conditions such as cancer, depression and drug dependence.
Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs.
Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog.
Rock on, Leah!
Excerpt from her first post….
So this is the first blog entry for Insider. Although I’m not new to the blogosphere and have blogged for about two years, (if you call the year of myspace authentic) I am honored to have been asked by Insider to share with you a window into my life…after cancer. Wait…Routers redirect! (on the internet we don’t say stop the presses). Cancer? Yep…but I am here to tell you that there is an amazing life after the ‘big C’ and I’m living it.
Let’s just get this obligatory medical scoop out of the way. I was diagnosed with advanced thyroid cancer at 26. Then at 28 it was Hodgkins Lymphoma. I am now in remission from both.
So now let me go out on a limb and assume that you are thinking I am too young for cancer. Well, let’s just say I’ve said this a few times before probably littered with a few expletives. Yet I hope if there’s one thing you learn from reading my blog it’s that cancer is not an advanced age or life stage concern. After starting a support community of other young adult cancer survivors here in Rochester, I’ve opened my eyes to how many other young people in our community are affected.
This is also celebratory blog of sorts. Just this past Thursday I got the reassuring post-scan visit thumbs up. I am officially 18 months cancer free from Hodgkins. I graduated from full body scans every 90 days to scans every six months. And once again the pictures were clean. Woooohooo!
The parking garage at Wilmot is another story. Talk about an ordeal. Has anyone ever gotten lost in one? I have. But I think I have it down to a science now. My mom, who thankfully accompanies me to these nerve-racking appointments, parked the car while I checked in. Usually it takes an average of 5-10 minutes to find a spot. Finding the car can be a trial in itself, but it just so happens that the color coded level matched my shirt so we were all good to remember, even without those seemingly silly paper tickets. Actually, I highly advise these.
Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs.
Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog.
American swimmer Eric Shanteau, who qualified for the Beijing Games in the 200-metre breaststroke, has revealed he is battling testicular cancer.
Shanteau, 24, said he learned of the diagnosis just a week before the recent U.S. Olympic trials in Omaha, and that he was cleared to compete by doctors.
Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs.
Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog
Increasing numbers of young women continue to be diagnosed with the most dangerous form of skin cancer even as the rate has leveled off in young men, federal health officials reported today.
An analysis of government cancer statistics between 1973 and 2004 found that the rate of new melanoma cases in young women had jumped 50 percent since 1980, but had not increased for young men in that period.
“It’s worrying,” said Mark Purdue, a research fellow at the National Cancer Institute, who led the analysis published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology. “What we are seeing in young adults right now could foretell a much larger number of melanoma cases in older women.”
The new research did not examine the reasons for the trend, but Purdue said it could be due to such factors as women spending more time outdoors and indoor tanning. Young women are much more likely than young men to frequent tanning salons, Purdue and others said.
Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs.
Submitted by Dr.Kattlove’s Cancer Blog
Many things increase a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer. Some she can control, others she can’t. Uncontrollable items are, starting periods at a young age, ending them at a late age, having few or no babies and having them late in life. Of course, the biggest uncontrollable gorilla in the room is what a woman inherits from her parents, but I’m not going to talk about that this time.
High-risk items a woman can control are, whether if she has a baby she doesn’t nurse, whether she takes hormones after menopause, gets fat or drinks too much.
Another important question is, if a woman gets breast cancer, how these factors affect her chance of surviving the cancer. It turns out that most of these don’t hurt her chances and some my even help.
We know this because of research done by some British researchers that was published in this month’s Journal of Clinical Oncology. The Brits looked at the history of some 4500 women with breast cancer and matched them with some of the risk factors I mentioned above.
It turns out that survival in women with most of these risk factors is not affected. That is, if a woman who began her periods early, or ended them late, or took hormones developed breast cancer, she did as well as women without these issues. In fact, the women who took hormones may have fared better with their breast cancers than women who stayed away from them. This makes sense because these women tend to develop hormone sensitive breast cancers that are generally less aggressive and more easily treated – as long as they are caught early.
Big surprise was with alcohol. Although drinking increases a woman’s chance of developing breast cancer, women who drank had better outcomes – were less likely to die of their cancer - than women who kept away from the stuff. The researchers couldn’t explain this but weren’t recommending trips to the local pubs; they couldn’t be sure this finding would hold up if more studies were done. Still, there’s no harm in a drink or two and it might get a woman through some rough spots.
One risk factor was dangerous – obesity. The more overweight a woman was, the more likely she was to die of her breast cancer. So take this to heart and keep slim – even if you have to cut down on the booze.
In addition, women with any of these risk factors should be especially sure to get their mammograms. Even heavy drinking won’t help if the cancer is caught too late.
Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs.
Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog
NY TIMES Article: Cancer-Specific Products: An Unnecessary Balm?
For the last seven years that Kairol Rosenthal, 35, has battled thyroid cancer with hormone pills, radiation, surgery and grit, she has had to contend with 101-degree fevers, heart palpitations and a lack of appetite so pronounced she has to force herself to eat.The hormone therapy, designed to slow tumor growth, leaves red blotches on her face and bone-dry patches along her jaw line, said Ms. Rosenthal, a choreographer and writer in Chicago.“I have not yet made my peace with having skin that doesn’t look good,” said Ms. Rosenthal, who spends most of her free time hunting for news about thyroid cancer. “I want my skin to look good.”So Ms. Rosenthal was pleased when she heard an advertisement for Lindi Skin, a skincare line designed for cancer patients, on a radio program called “The Stupid Cancer Show.”“It’s great someone has cancer patients in mind,” said Ms. Rosenthal, who is writing a book about living with the disease, to be published by Wiley.
Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs.
Submitted by http://kattlovecancerblog.blogspot.com/
Recently, the FDA sent warning letters to a bunch of companies selling “cancer cures”, telling them to stop.
The products contain ingredients such as bloodroot, shark cartilage, coral calcium, cesium, ellagic acid, Cat’s Claw, an herbal tea called Essiac, and mushroom varieties such as Agaricus Blazeii, Shitake, Maitake, and Reishi. Some of the fraudulent claims were:
* “Treats all forms of cancer”
* “Causes cancer cells to commit suicide!”
* “80% more effective than the world’s number one cancer drug”
* “Skin cancers disappear”
* “Target cancer cells while leaving healthy cells alone”
* “Shrinks malignant tumors”
* “Avoid painful surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, or other conventional treatments”
All nonsense. None of these products have ever been proven to help save anyone’s life from cancer.
I became convinced of the pure financial greed of people selling these products over 40 years ago. Then I was helping care for a patient with a less common form of lung cancer called small cell carcinoma. This form of lung cancer is usually fatal, but will temporarily shrink with chemotherapy much faster than the garden variety lung cancers we usually see.
But, he wanted none of our treatment and fled from L.A. where I was working, to a clinic in Mexico, where the drug Laetrile was standard therapy – or so I thought. Several months later, he reappeared and his chest x-ray showed the tumor had nearly disappeared. Wow, we thought. So several of my colleagues went to the clinic to find out what he was given. Chemotherapy. The Mexican doctors realized he had a treatable condition and followed their best ethical judgment and gave the man appropriate treatment. They knew the other stuff was worthless.
Still, every so often I would lose a patient to a Mexican clinic for Laetrile therapy. Most of these were patients who were getting worse in spite of conventional therapy and were desperate. I couldn’t blame them. Laetrile held out hope because it hadn’t failed them yet – but it would.
Then in the early 80’s, patients stopped heading for Mexico. Why? A clinical trial was performed by U.S. researchers and published in the New England Journal of Medicine, perhaps the world’s most prestigious medical journal. The trial showed that Laetrile did not help any patients and may have harmed some because the drug contains industrial strength amounts of cyanide.
So before answering one of the ads for a cancer cure, ask whether anyone has shown the stuff really helps and what is in these potions. Do they contain any harmful chemicals? The sellers won’t know. They are only interested in your credit card number.
Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs.
Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog
Jessup native Tina Jezuit was diagnosed with bone cancer in 1988 at the age of 11. As a result of the extensive chemotherapy, she also suffered heart failure when she was 24 and a stroke in February of 2007. Despite being unable to walk or talk after the stroke, she is almost fully recovered now. Thanks to her remarkably rapid recovery, the 31-year-old Valley View and University of Scranton graduate has been able to organize Cancerpalooza 20, a fundraising event at Montdale Country Club on Sunday, July 13 from 2-7 p.m.
The event, which will feature food, entertainment, games and more, celebrates her 20th cancer-versary, but more importantly, she says, will benefit cancer and heart health awareness organizations. Since the stroke, she has completely dedicated herself to helping raise awareness for those affected by cancer and heart problems. “My motto in life is I won’t do anything unless I do it 110 percent,” she says. Meet cancer and stroke survivor Tina Jezuit …
Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs.
Submitted by Dr.Kattlove’s Cancer Blog
What an enigma. Perhaps the best argument against intelligent design is a man’s prostate gland. It hardly serves any useful function. And it is likely to become cancerous (nearly half of elderly men have cancer in their prostate gland at autopsy). And treating the cancer often causes impotence and incontinence.
I’m 70 years old and get my PSA done yearly. It tends to hover in the 4-6 range (anything above 4 is considered suggestive of cancer) and when it hit 6 a couple of years ago, I had a biopsy (not a fun experience but not as bad as I anticipated). Fortunately, no cancer.
Before the result came in, I spent hours pondering my treatment if I had cancer. I could choose surgery or radiation or no treatment. The last choice would let me avoid the likely side effects of impotence and incontinence caused by either radiation or surgery. But what were the risks of no treatment?
Now I think I know the right answer. A recent article, in the May 15 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, described a 56 year old man whose PSA rose to 6. The biopsy showed a low grade cancer (Gleason score 6 – Gleason scores range from 6-10 and are a way the pathologist who examines the biopsy tells how serious the cancer is - 6 is slow growing and 10 is fast growing). The man chose surgery, but at the last moment pulled out and decided on the no treatment option. 10 years later his PSA hasn’t budged and he is fine. So why did he do so well?
In 2006 British researchers published their calculations on how likely prostate cancer was to kill a man who wasn’t treated. Using published data and some complicated math, they figured that for this 56 year old guy, the chance of dying from prostate cancer in 15 years without treatment and with a Gleason 6 cancer was 0. A Gleason 6 seems like a kind of benign “cancer”. If the Gleason were 7, then his chances of dying of prostate cancer in 15 years without treatment would be 31 percent and if the Gleason score were higher, it would be 72 percent. Because he had a low Gleason score, he did well. If it had been higher, avoiding treatment, which would have cut his chance of dying from the cancer nearly in half, would have been a big mistake.
How about for us elderly? Same thing. The chance of a Gleason 6 prostate cancer killing a 70-year old man in 15 years without treatment is 2 percent. At Gleason 7, the chances of dying from prostate cancer would be 9 percent and if it were greater than 7, it would be 28 percent. Treatment would cut these numbers in half. Why are the chances of dying of prostate cancer so low? Because something else might deal the fatal blow. According to U.S. Social Security life expectance tables, life expectancy at 70 is only 13 years. You can add 6 years to this if someone is in tip-top shape and cut it in half if there are serious problems.
Still, these numbers are only rough calculations and not the final answer. The good news is that there are two ongoing studies comparing treatment with surgery or radiation against no treatment. These will be much more definitive than the British report about what to do if you are diagnosed with prostate cancer. Unfortunately, because it takes so long for prostate cancer to cause trouble, we will need to wait several more years till the results of these studies come in.
The bottom line for now is that low-grade cancers in older men probably don’t need to be treated. But once the Gleason gets above 7, then we elderly are taking chances by avoiding treatment, especially if we are in great shape and expect to live longer than average.
Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs.
Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog
I am never one of those people who make grand gestural statements without realizing the accountability that comes with it should the random and rare opportunity present itself where I might need to stand corrected. An old boss once told me, “Don’t ever be too proud to crawl under a desk, get your hands and knees dirty and plug in your own damn computer.” And so, it is with a pleasant humility that I proudly assert – A CHANGE OF HEART.
Something happened. I don’t know if it was us, our movement, the viral pheom of the social media world or martians but the StandUp2Cancer campaign is now listing young adult organizations along with the mainstream groups!
Check it out for yourself – permalink
There’s Planet Cancer, The Ulman Cancer Fund For Young Adults, The Young Survival Coalition and… wait… no i[2]y. Maybe we rattled the cages too much. Or maybe we’re the reason this all happened and this is the price to pay for impugning the establishment perhaps a little too disruptively? Have we a mystery?
Note: All the money raised is going to the The American Association of Cancer Research so we, as young adults must hold them accountable that an appropriate portion of the proceeds be directed towards young adult organizations. Otherwise, it’s all moot. There’s only a handful of actual young adult cancer research going on out there and those folks need the money. Does cancer research also include survivorship programming? I sure hope so.
So thank you establishment for making the right decision, whether we had anything to do with it or not. Ya done right. Ya done good.
Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs.
Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog
Cuba approves lung cancer vaccine. Country’s health officials say drug has increased survival up to 5 months. Cigar makers celebrate in the streets. Altrea holds ticker tape parade. What? Only a 5 month life extension? I suppose that’s better than nothing. What? More lung cancer patients than ever are non-smokers? What? Well, if this is the first step towards smarter immunosomethings, then maybe we should lift that embargo? What will the right-wingers do if communists cure cancer? Was Marx right all along? Long live the proletariat!
Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs.
Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog
Editor: My friend and colleague is gone.
First Descents, a local nonprofit, aims to show young cancer survivors they can live full, happy, confident lives. Allan Goldberg, the group’s executive director, seemed to embody that message to a T.
Goldberg was an Ironman triathlete, a runner, an endurance racer and a Harvard graduate. He also was a cancer survivor by the time he was a teenager.And he spent his career making sure other cancer survivors didn’t let the disease hold them back, either.
Goldberg, 40, of Eagle-Vail, died Sunday of complications related to cancer. He passed away surrounded by his family in Maryland.
At age 12, he was diagnosed with rhabdomyoscarcoma, a cancer of the muscles. Despite a very small survival rate, he beat the disease.
In 2006, weeks after he started the job with First Descents, Goldberg was diagnosed with a different form of cancer. He suspected the aggressive radiation treatment he received as a child caused the disease to return.Goldberg continued to run about 20 miles a week as he underwent chemo.
“He refused to allow cancer to impact the quality of his life any more than it absolutely had to,” said Marc Slatkoff, a local doctor who is a member of the board of directors of First Descents. “He fought the cancer hard and continued to do the things that were important to him, continued to work hard at what he believed in, what we’re doing. And he was passionate about it.”
Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs.
Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog
This one is for EVERYONE who is a friend and fan of i[2]y to spread the word. This is why we exist. I has the privilege of meeting Katie Reider at The Stupid Cancer Gala NYC ‘08. She is one of the most inspirational, courageous and extraordinary young women I have ever met in my entire life – PLUS – she is an intensely gifted singer/songwriter.
However, just as she was reaching the peak of her career in January of 2006, she developed a tumor (MYOFIBROBLASTIC INFLAMMATION TUMOR) in her upper left jaw that progressed into her sinus, skull base and left eye orbit. Over the course of one year, this rare tumor has taken away her sight in one eye, her voice and most importantly, her ability to perform. Please check out her site, show your support and tell her she’s not alone!!!!!
Music Website: http://www.katiereider.com/
Survivor Website: http://www.500kin365.org/main.htm
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/500kin365
Press Release: http://www.bio-medicine.org
Rock on.
Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs.
Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog
Does Lance Armstrong’s life in the tabloids undermine the LIVESTRONG message? (Editor: I’ll just let this whole piece speak for itself although I’d pretty much do anything to ‘hang out’ with Kate Hudson. Let it be known that a brand cannot exist solely on the PR liability of one individual with the SOLE exception of the fashion industry. After all, it’s called “Manolo Blahnik” instead of “Really Nice Shoes”)
Best line evar…. “This guy has had more woman on his lap than a napkin,” wrote a typical commenter on ABC News’s Web site under a story entitled “Kate Hudson hops on the Tour de Lance.” “He is a serial dater and I’ve lost respect for him.”
Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs.
Submitted by Dr.Kattlove’s Cancer Blog
Chemobrain has always been an orphan of the side effects of chemotherapy. I never see it mentioned in the list of toxic reactions to a new drug program for cancer. One reason is that many oncologists doubt its existence. A second is that it is hard to measure, and finally, it’s a kind of vague symptom.
But it is real. In 2007, Hurricane Voices Breast Cancer Foundation did an online survey of people who had received chemotherapy, asking them about the effect of the chemotherapy on their thought processes. Most of the 470 respondents were women who received treatment for breast cancer. Almost all reported some problem. The most common problems were lack of concentration, short-term memory loss, trouble recalling words and problems with organizing daily tasks and multi-tasking.
And these weren’t small changes. They were often apparent to spouses and/or children or employers and led to many of the women losing responsibility for some tasks. At home, often husbands or children would take over the tasks. At work, some women had to cut back on their hours.
Quite a few studies have been done by researchers to verify these changes, and most, but not all have reported problems with thought processes in some people who have received chemotherapy. Usually the problems came on after months of treatment and would last for years. Still, the oncology community has been slow to pay attention to these issues, because of a widely held belief that chemotherapy didn’t penetrate into the brain and that brain cells were pretty resistant.
Now, these myths have been destroyed by some laboratory studies from researchers at the University of Rochester. First, they found that in tissue culture, many chemotherapy agents were very damaging to nerve cells. And, now they report that one, drug, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) gets into the nervous system and brain of mice and causes distinct damage.
The laboratory science is important. It’s hard to believe in any theory unless there is some biological basis for it. Now we have that and oncologists may perhaps pay more attention.
But, what can they do? The first thing needed is for the oncology community to measure the effects of drugs on their patients thinking so that if there is a choice of drugs, they can choose drugs with less effect on the brain.
Second, there may be help from certain drugs. Some studies have found that drugs like Ritalin and Adderal, used for attention deficit disorder, may help with “chemobrain”. But this hasn’t been systematically studied and needs to be verified. Finally, doctors and their patients need to talk about this side effect. Understanding this problem will help patients cope, even though it won’t eliminate the problem.
As always, try to prevent the cancer in the first place and try to get it discovered as early as possible. Chemotherapy can save lives, but it does cause problems.
Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs.
Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog
The Food and Drug Administration is cracking down on teas, supplements, creams and other products that falsely claim to cure, treat or prevent cancer even though they are not agency-approved drugs. All are available for sale on the Internet.
Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs.
Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog
Patrice-Anne Rutledge, bestselling author, successful freelance journalist, and online communications expert, profiles the I’m Too Young For This! Cancer Foundation.
Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs.
