December 12th 2008
News from SABCS: Aromatase inhibitors are more effective than tamoxifen.
A brief look at how micrometasteses of the breast are being treated and the results from the MIRROR study which looked at whether or not micrometastases are predictive of recurrence.
CURE Editor-in-Chief Debu Tripathy, MD, blogs on medical issues from SABCS.
A brief summary of the role estrogen plays in helping treat breast cancer patients who are initially resistant to aromatase inhibitors.
Advocate Joan Venticinque blogs about patient advocacy.
December 11th 2008
The American Association of Cancer Research has joined the Cancer Therapy Research Center at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, and the Baylor College of Medicine in putting on this year's San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
Patient advocates lend a strong voice to this year’s San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
A synopsis of last year's San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium updates.
A look at the Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation’s roots and how the organization plans to expand their presence by funding necessary research and demanding that triple-negative breast cancer does not go unnoticed.
December 10th 2008
CURE publisher Susan McClure blogs from a survivor's perspective.
Overview of education sessions during opening of SABCS.
November 1st 2008
Help for caregivers after patient death—emotional support, depression, grief, normal feelings, family support, and time to recover.
October 24th 2008
A guide and resources for how caregivers can set up a support team to organize help from family and friends, delegate responsibilities, ask for and accept support and favors during their caregiving role through the cancer journey.
Take it from a chronically disorganized caregiver: You want your cancer information organized and accessible.
Avastin is one of a new class of drugs that works by targeting the newly formed blood vessels that develop around tumors, a process called antiangiogenesis—recent studies have seen positive survival results in colon cancer and now lung cancer.
Ovarian cancer, also known as “the silent killer,” may soon be detected earlier, giving women improved survival rates, with the recognition of specific early warning signs which including abdominal pain, abdominal bloating, urinary urgency or frequency, pelvic and lower back pressure, loss of appetite or feeling full quickly and abnormal vaginal bleeding.
October 23rd 2008
Bladder cancer has one of the highest recurrence rates, but there are many tests and ways to monitor for early detection including, urine cytology, cystoscopy, BladderChek, UroVysion, FISH and ImmunoCyt Bladder Cancer Monitoring Test.
Research focusing on early detection and prevention of prostate cancer with chemoprevention drugs such as Proscar and Avodart and dietary prevention with vitamins and supplements such as vitamin E and selenium.
The STAR (Study of Tamoxifen and Raloxifene) trial, one of the largest breast cancer prevention trials ever conducted, showed that five years of Evista is as effective as tamoxifen in lowering risk of developing breast cancer, giving high-risk women a new option for prevention
Many people, especially young adults and teens, are unaware of the dangers of indoor tanning beds and that they give off UV light, just like the sun, and can cause skin cancer.
Many cancer patients who undergo radiation therapy or chemotherapy experience moderate to severe treatment-related fatigue—tiredness, feeling drained, low energy, shortness of breath, concentration difficulty—and although the specific cause is unknown, there are ways to manage cancer fatigue including exercise, meditation, stress reduction, energy conservation and certain medications.
Choosing which cancer treatment is right for you is tough, but it is important to weigh the risks and benefits of each option and consider getting a second opinion, and studies show that most men diagnosed with prostate cancer base treatment decisions on preconceived ideas and fears or stories heard from other patients rather than logical evaluation of each treatment option—chemotherapy, radiation, surgery—and information from doctors.
Oncologists are increasingly focusing on treatment-related infertility.
With research focused on targeted therapies that are less toxic, patients with advanced and rare cancers once considered incurable are being diagnosed earlier with better screening and diagnostic tests and living longer with new treatments like Xeloda for advanced or metastatic colorectal cancer.
Women with hormone-negative breast cancers may not be able to benefit from tamoxifen and aromatase inhibitors, but a subset of patients with HER2-positive breast cancer are able to take advantage of advances such as Herceptin and Tykerb. For women with hormone- and HER2-negative cancers, or triple negative, new research into what drives these cancers and prevent recurrence may increase treatment options and benefit this population.
With the Food and Drug Administration requesting more information about the efficacy of Provenge, an investigational vaccine for hormone-refractory prostate cancer and what many expected to be the first vaccine approved to treat cancer, one may wonder when a therapeutic vaccine will finally reach patients outside clinical trials. But as researchers learn more about the immune system, develop better vaccines, and find how best to study their effects on cancer, vaccines are still expected to be an important player in the future of cancer therapy.
October 22nd 2008
A guide for caregivers after treatment ends—what to expect, how to return to normal, accepting a new role, coping with grief and finding emotional support.
Cancer Causes Me to Live Life With Uncertainty
A Ray of Sunshine on the Oncology Ward
During Cancer, I Find My Inner Goddess With Dinosaurs and Old Movies
Mike Peters of The Alarm Faces Cancer With Rock Optimism on New Album