“I think all too often we underestimate the impact of a cancer diagnosis on the mental health and well-being of the individual, thus it goes unaddressed.” ~Stephanie Zimmerman, MSN Receiving a diagnosis of cancer can bring on feelings of worry, fear, dread, anger, uncertainty and loss.  Research indicates that, for some people, these symptoms of anxiety might actually be post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD. PTSD is a response to witnessing or experiencing a traumatic, life threatening event, like combat or an auto accident.  But more and more research indicates that a cancer diagnosis can cause PTSD, not only in patients[ Read More ]

It’s time to add another tick in the pro column for exercise and weight loss. SHAPE-2 Two studies provide support to the importance of physical activity and weight loss. In a study called SHAPE-2, researchers wanted to find out if there was a reason to lose weight and become physically active. Guess what? The answer is a definite yes! Investigators in the Netherlands assigned 243 post-menopausal, inactive, breast cancer survivors to three groups. All of these breast cancer survivors, average age of 60, had a body mass index (BMI) averaging about 29 which is considered overweight. Their average amount of[ Read More ]

Last summer we provided a series of posts on oncology basics.  Oncology Basics: Preparing for ASCO covered some of the history of oncology.  In Understanding Cells, we reviewed what is newly understood about cells--it's way beyond what you learned in high school biology.  DNA with lots of animated videos also explained some of the basics that have been uncovered and explains where mistakes happen that can cause cancer.  In Genes and Cancer Treatment, we began to explain how genes direct the production of proteins.  The pathways which cancer treatments target are explained.  Finally, we touched on Immunotherapy, a treatment modality which harnesses[ Read More ]

Please Don't Say This Facing mastectomy many breast cancer patients still hear something like this: “well at least you get a free boob job out of this.” Let’s straighten this out right now. Breast reconstruction following breast cancer surgery is not a boob job. A boob job, commonly done to augment or at times reduce the size of breasts, is a chosen act. Breast augmentation surgery involves using breast implants or fat, referred to as fat transfer breast augmentation, to increase the size of your breasts or restore breast volume that has been lost after weight reduction or pregnancy. It[ Read More ]

Prostate Cancer Impacts 1 in 6 Men in the US According to Kevin Loughlin, Urologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, “If prostate cancer survivors were a city, it would be the 4th largest in the US.” Alarming as this statement is, the lifetime risk of dying from prostate cancer is only 3%. That means that most men who are diagnosed with prostate cancer will usually not die of prostate cancer but of something else. Why is that? Slow Growth and A Sensitive Test Most prostate cancer grows slowly--it can take 10 to 30 years before a prostate tumor[ Read More ]

Being Informed For Vilma Aleida, neuropathy was a surprise. "Neuropathy appeared in 2011 during my 7th chemo....That 7th chemo was the infusion of two treatments (taxotere and trastuzumab). The result send me to the ER, the pain was only relieved with morphine. After that, I have been living with neuropathy in my legs, from my knees down. I wasn’t aware of this as a possible side effect. It was explained to me what it was after that ER incident, and that it was due to the high toxicity of the treatment. It was also explained that doing this procedure was[ Read More ]

When I think of vaccines, I think of the MMRV (measles, mumps, rubella and varicella) vaccines which help our bodies establish immunity against diseases that used to kill.  Now, there are vaccines being created for cancer. The rise of cancer vaccines According to Dr. Nora Disis, an oncologist and researcher in cancer vaccines at the University of Washington, cancer vaccines are needed because “when we [researchers] looked at the immune responses that patients had against their cancer, we found out that immunity was very, very minimal." In a recent interview on PBS, she explained, "If you look at an immune[ Read More ]

In It's All In Your Gut, A High Fiber Diet and the Immune System, we introduced the microbiome that lives in our body.  It helps with our digestion and makes the short-chained fatty acids (SCFAs) that are important to our immune system.  Now several recent studies are looking at bacteria in the bodies of people with cancer.   Specifically, these studies have compared the patients' responsiveness to chemotherapy in light of their microbiomes' composition (which bacteria and other flora live there). Microbiome and Immunotherapy Immunotherapy empowers the immune system to fight cancer.  In one study, researchers collected fecal samples, oral and gut[ Read More ]

"I'm barely 27 and if it were not for immunotherapy and cancer research, I would not have seen 25."  So starts Stefanie Joho speech at a 2017 Congressional Hearing called "Progress in Immunotherapy: Delivering Hope and Clinical Benefit to Cancer Patients." When Stefanie was 22, she was diagnosed with a very aggressive Stage II colon cancer.  Her cancer quickly metastasized to her abdominal cavity.  She underwent two surgeries and chemotherapy but at age 23 her oncologist deemed her inoperable and incurable...there was nothing he could do.  One of the best cancer hospitals in the world sent her home to New[ Read More ]

The study evaluated the effectiveness of aquatic therapeutic exercise in breast cancer survivors for improving symptoms and quality of life. The study found that aquatic therapeutic exercise effectively improved fatigue, pain, and quality of life in these patients.

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