You’ve just had an x-ray and are discussing the results with your doctor. The air in the office fills with complicated words after you hear “lung cancer” from your physician. You don’t hear anything else. Not hearing or understanding anything else is part of the shock and a normal reaction. But when you can think or when you have...
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Sexual Health, Communication and Cancer
“I think sexual health is at the intersection of mind/body & relationship factors. When sexual health is disrupted, it’s really important to figure out all the pieces…often folks only hear bits and pieces like “use lube” or “use it or lose it” & “we need a holistic approach!”[1] Dr. Sharon L. Bober,...
Read MoreEver Heard of William Coley, MD?
Immunotherapy – the “new” treatment for cancers – actually began in 1891 with William B. Coley, a bone sarcoma surgeon. As a young doctor, Coley watched as a 17-year old girl (who had had her forearm amputated because of bone cancer) died of metastatic sarcoma ten weeks after her surgery. This tragedy started Coley on a quest to...
Read MoreNavigating Cancer: An Expert Speaks
Peggy Zuckerman has been trying to help others diagnosed with cancer but it’s not easy. “One of the hardest things is when patients get information that is old or might be incorrect. Things look far more grim than they need to be. It is important to get people to the right place quickly before they essentially despair.” When people...
Read MoreBench Scientists Discover a New T-cell
Something unusual happened when Professor Andrew Sewell and the T-Cell Modulation Group at the University of Cardiff put the blood of a healthy donor in a petri dish with some cancer cells. What grew in the blood was a T-cell that no one had seen before. This T-cell attacked the cancer cells and destroyed them. Sewell and his team did what all bench...
Read More“Count Me In”: Partnering with Patients Makes a Difference
It’s taken five years but the wait has been worth it with results from one of the “Count Me In” Projects showing breakthrough results. Here’s the story. Remember Corrie Painter? In July 2015, Medivizor introduced our readers to Corrie Painter, her work with angiosarcoma and with the Broad Institute. Being a patient herself, Corrie...
Read MoreNobel Prize in Medicine, Dr. James Allison and “Hope”
At a press briefing at the International Cancer Immunotherapy Conference in New York, held October 1 just after receiving notification from the Nobel committee, Dr. James Allison said that the prize “should give patients hope because we’ve got things that we know work. If this didn’t work, there would have been no prize.” This “work”...
Read More“Your Life Depends on Your Own Advocacy”
“Always trust your gut. Don’t leave your treatment in the hands of someone that you don’t trust or that does not seem like a team player. Yes, they are all smart—even brilliant—but read, read, read, and question them at every corner and challenge the standard of care. Exercise, healthy eating, learning the ropes of insurance, mediation/prayer...
Read MoreFrom Physician to Patient: Dr. Kelly Shanahan Part 1
Dr. Kelly Shanahan attended the University of Virginia Medical School, graduating in 1987. Her residency at Temple University in obstetrics and gynecology ending as a chief resident in 1991. After practicing for a short time in Pennsylvania, she moved to California spring of 1994 “seeking a more ‘laid back life.'” She set up a private...
Read MoreRight To Try: Needed Legislation or Snake Oil?
Thirty-eight states in the US have passed “Right To Try” laws. These are laws that are created to give terminally ill patients who have run out of options access to experimental drugs that have not completed the FDA approval process. There is an effort underway to pass this type of legislation on a federal level. On February 8, the #LCSM (Lung...
Read MoreTo Treat or Not To Treat Cancer: Medical Decision-making
Cherry Hughes** is an active, energetic 75 year old, still working in the marketing and public relations profession in Great Britain. Her life is filled with friends and fun. “I love cooking and eating out. I am deeply interested in politics. I love music …I go to jazz clubs. I love going to France …I have a little apartment...
Read MoreWhat is Neutropenia?
There are 1.6 million people diagnosed with cancer in the US each year. Of these, 650,000 receive chemotherapy. Did you know that 60,000 people a year are hospitalized for neutropenia, a common side effect of chemotherapy? One in fourteen die because of it. Of the 650,000 receiving chemotherapy, 104,000 are not aware of neutropenia and 52,000 don’t...
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