I always enjoy stories of cancer treatments that come from unexpected places, so I thought I'd start this week's round-up off with this article from American Scientist in which scientists discuss using bacterial extracts to fight cancer. Their theory is that fever-inducing infections get the immune system working harder than it normally would - and in the process of fighting off infection, it can also fight off cancer. http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/id.5439,y.2009,no.1,content.true,page.2,css.print/issue.aspx
This article from CNN.com offers a dose of pragmatism in the face of President Obama's strong stance on cancer research. While it's great to finally get support from high places, the article points out that the President's goal to "cure" cancer may not be realistic. Instead, some experts say we should be focused on making cancer a manageable chronic illness, like diabetes or heart disease. http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/03/03/cure.cancer.obama/index.html
The medical community has always enjoyed a conflicted relationship with America's drug of choice, alcohol. One day they're telling us that a glass of red wine every day can stave off heart disease; the next they're telling us to avoid the stuff like it's poison. This week brings another black mark for alcohol's record: new research suggests that two alcoholic drinks a day boost your risk of developing dangerous pancreatic cancer by 22%. http://www.webmd.com/cancer/pancreatic-cancer/news/20090303/drink-up-boost-pancreatic-cancer-risk
Here's a useful resource for folks battling cancer, as well as their friends and families: 1-800-ACS-2345. It's the American Cancer Society's National Cancer Information Center hotline; the call center takes around a million calls a year, answering questions on everything from issues with paying for treatment to finding cheap transportation to chemo appointments. http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1883161,00.html
Prostate cancer is slow to spread and, in this day and age, often treatable. Sounds like good news all around, but these unique characteristics of the disease open up a world of questions. This week, the NYT's Well Blog gets some of those tough questions answered by an expert. Check it out. http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/04/more-answers-about-prostate-health/
There's currently a lot of controversy in the medical world about advanced imaging, like MRI and CT. The procedures are expensive and, in some cases, difficult to justify. But now researchers have shown that using MRI and PET/CT when planning cervical cancer treatment is a definitely plus, sparing some women with the disease long-term morbidity and unpleasant complications from surgery. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090304091233.htm
Finally, I loved this article on the healing power of one's home environment. As a person who's pretty finicky about her apartment, it intuitively makes sense to me that the right décor, to use a fussy word, can help revitalize the spirit. In this piece, patients turn to music, artwork and even lighting around the home to make a healing retreat out of their homes. "We have an innate awareness of our environment, and we seek out certain qualities that make us feel safe and physically comfortable as well as psychologically comfortable," said one proponent of the philosophy. http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/genevasun/lifestyles/1460041,2_5_AU05_HEALING_S1.article
That's all for this week, but check in next Thursday for a fresh round of news you can use!
I became part of the One Town . . . One Voice concert benefiting Stand Up 2 Cancer because of my mother and my best friend. My close friend Molly lost her dad last year to a brain tumor; it was so hard to watch her go through that and know that there was nothing I could do to bring him back. Also, my mom was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a blood cancer, when I was one year old and was given a three-year life expectancy. While she beat the odds, I decided that it was time to take a stand instead of letting cancer continue to hurt so many people.
With many families affected by cancer, our town decided to hold a concert for Stand Up 2 Cancer. I was glad we picked this charity because SU2C works with great celebrity connections to raise money specifically for cancer research.
My friends and I helped raise awareness of the concert. We publicized the event on our Facebook pages, we hung posters all around our school and in the town, and we communicated with our sports teams. We then decided to help raise money by selling "stars" in the school cafeteria. We sold them to our classmates for two dollars each and each person wrote the name of someone touched by cancer on their star. The outcome was amazing - so many people bought stars and dedicated them to someone they cared about. The stars ended up being displayed as part of the backdrop the night of the event.
The night of the concert, we set up the tables to sell tickets and stars and also placed donation envelopes under all of the chairs in the auditorium. We helped people understand Stand Up 2 Cancer and their mission. The concert involved 250 students from the public and private schools in town - from little ones to high schoolers. Over 500 family members attended to support them.
This event taught me responsibility and how much giving back does mean. I know that because of my town we have made a difference - the little town of New Canaan coming together helped to raise money and awareness for the huge problem of cancer.
I'll open this week with an article on that perennial question in the medical world: does cancer screening do more harm than good? The piece looks at both breast cancer and prostate cancer screening, profiling patients who wound up undergoing unnecessary treatment because of the ambiguous results of screening exams. The article points out that screening tests often catch small, harmless cancers, but can miss fast-growing, deadly versions of the disease. But no one's arguing that screening isn't necessary, so it's just one more thing to worry about, I guess. http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/29642490/
Did you know March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month? Unfortunately, it seems like the folks on Capitol Hill didn't get the memo, as Medicare dealt a big blow to colorectal cancer screening in denying payment for virtual colonography. Virtual colonography is less invasive than optical colonoscopy and, according to many high-profile studies, more accurate. But it's also more expensive, utilizing pricy CT scans, and therein lies the problem. http://abcnews.go.com/Health/CancerPreventionAndTreatment/story?id=7050417&page=1
A new study in the New England Journal of Medicine indicates that a decrease in the popularity of hormone replacement therapy has led to a drop in breast cancer rates. "This is very strong evidence that estrogen plus progestin causes breast cancer," said one of the researchers. "You start women on hormones and within five years their risk of breast cancer is clearly elevated. You stop the hormones and within one year their risk is essentially back to normal. It's reasonably convincing cause-and-effect data." I guess this means we ladies will have to suffer through menopause without estrogen and progesterone. Maybe with a strong martini? http://www.naturalnews.com/025832.html
Meanwhile, there's a new treatment on the block for prostate cancer - the "male lumpectomy." The new technique involves freezing part of the prostate, destroying only the part of the gland that is cancerous and resulting in fewer side effects than surgery or radiation therapy. Good news for guys, since the side effects of prostate cancer treatment, including incontinence and impotence, can be pretty demoralizing. http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/healthday/2009/03/10/male-lumpectomy-may-help-some-with-prostate-cancer.html
Finally, I loved this article out of Arizona, where the classmates of nine-year-old cancer patient either shaved their heads or dyed their hair crazy colors in a show of support for their friend. "I wanted to support him and raise money for him,'' said the patient's best friend. "He's funny, and we always play soccer together. He can still play soccer in his wheelchair." http://ktar.com/?nid=6&sid=1101205
That's all I've got for this week, but I'll be back next Thursday with more!
In 2008, SU2C asked you to stand up and join us, and you did. Within months, more than $100 million was raised for research tailored very specifically to get new treatments out of the lab to the patients who need them -- from the "bench to the bedside" -- in an accelerated timeframe.
While the SU2C Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) received 237 submissions to the Dream Team "call for ideas," that number represents the input of literally thousands of scientists, since the teams are required to have members from multiple institutions. The SAC analyzed all of these responses in the Fall, selecting eight finalists. Each group then developed a comprehensive proposal, with the two team leaders from each appearing before the SAC in person to make their case.
As scientific review processes go, this is an extremely novel approach, and we are happy to report that the finalist team leaders found it invigorating! The SAC is closing in on its recommendations as to which Dream Teams to fund, and the potential benefit to patients is central to their evaluation.
The Committee is also beginning its review of the approximately 400 proposals received for Innovative Research Grants, which will be awarded to individual scientists who are at a relatively early point in their careers. Their creative ideas would likely be considered too high-risk by conventional funding sources, but have the potential for high-reward in terms of translating into new treatments. We are on track to announce the first round of Dream Team grant recipients in the Spring, and the Innovative ones later in the year.
This is an exciting time at Stand Up To Cancer, and you, our donors, made it happen. Thank you again for standing with us. We'll provide another update soon.
SU2C needs your help in the SXSW Charity Smackdown, where celebrities compete and charities win. The contest, which runs from March 16th to March 26th, teams up celebrities and bloggers in raising as much money as possible for different charities. SU2C's team is headed by none other than Corbin Bleu of High School Musical. Go Team Corbin!
Donate to Team Corbin between March 16th and March 26th and help SU2C's team win the Smackdown. Not only will your generous donations help support groundbreaking cancer research, but if SU2C wins, Smackdown partner PayPal will throw in an additional $5,000 to help even more. Contributing is easy - just visit the Smackdown site to make a donation via PayPal, and remember, even a dollar helps when every dollar counts!
Looking for another way to get involved? We know times are tight, so why not pitch in by spreading the word? Just add the PayPal Fundraising Widget to your blog, website or MySpace page. And don't forget to tell your friends!
Thanks, as always, for your generosity and help, and go Team Corbin!
I always love it when a new cancer treatment comes from an unexpected place, so I thought I'd kick off this week's roundup with a study out of Oklahoma, where researchers have discovered that frankincense - you know, as in frankincense and myrrh - may be helpful in treating bladder cancer. For the curious, frankincense is a tree oil that smells great when you burn it. And, as it turns out, it suppresses cancer growth as well, differentiating between bladder cancer cells and healthy cells to induce cancer cell death. http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,25209160-38200,00.html?from=public_rss
In other good news, it turns out Gleevec, a drug currently used to treat adult leukemia, is also effective at preventing the recurrence of gastrointestinal cancer. In a trial including over 700 patients, the drug was shown to be most potent when the tumor removed was larger than 10 cm. But doctors caution that more research is needed before Gleevec can be cleared for this use. http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/healthday/2009/03/19/gleevec-prevents-return-of-intestinal-cancer.html
USA Today has the results of a fascinating new study indicating that cancer patients of faith are three times more likely to wind up undergoing intensive medical procedures than their non-believing peers. Patients who used "positive" religious coping were more likely to encourage their doctors to do everything possible to keep them alive; on the opposite side of the coin, however, they also made fewer preparations for death. http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-03-17-cancer-coping_N.htm
It seems like new genetic markers for cancer are identified every week - just one of the many reasons to be encouraged by the current scientific progress against the disease. This week, docs at Albert Einstein College of Medicine have found genetic markers that indicate poor outcomes for patients with head and neck cancer. "Our next steps are to confirm these results in a new patient population and to find additional markers that would allow us to develop a reproducible and accurate prognostic test," said one of the researchers involved in the study. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090318113608.htm
Well, it just wouldn't be the Weekly Links without an update on the latest news in cancer-fighting foods, and this week's hot tickets are green tea and mushrooms. A study out of China indicates that these foods may decrease the risk of developing breast cancer in both pre- and post-menopausal women. So put the kettle on and pass the portabellas, please! http://www.foodproductdesign.com/hotnews/mushrooms--green-tea-lower-breast-cancer-risk.html
And according to a new study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, vegetarians have a much lower risk of developing cancer than people who eat meat. (Don't panic quite yet: the study's results indicate that fish is OK.) In an analysis of 52,700 people on various diets, including meat eaters, fish eaters, vegans and vegetarians, the vegetarians and fish eaters fared best. However, one big surprise was that the vegetarians involved in the study did have higher rates of colorectal cancer than the meat eaters. The authors say further research is needed. http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/health/2009/march/Eat-Only-Veggies-and-Avoid-Cancer--Says-New-Study.html
That's all for this week, but I'll be back next Thursday with more!
On June 1st, 2008, our daughter Kristen passed away after a year-long battle with cervical cancer. The only symptom she had was six weeks after graduating from college, her right foot swelled up. Eleven months later, we sprinkled Florida beach sand and sea shells on her coffin before lowering it into the ground.
During that year I learned new words and phrases like HPV, cisplatin chemo, stage IIIC, PET scan, internal radiation and lymphedema, and was haunted by inoperable and pain control. I learned how to put 13 medications on an Excel spreadsheet so my wife, Brenda, and I could keep Kristen's dosage regimes straight. I learned how to build a wooden wheelchair ramp, and later, to recycle the wood to make a sandbox for little Jacob, who Kristen loved like a son. I learned how caring friends, family members, our church family and the medical community can rally to support and care for us.
The toughest lesson I learned was how to say goodbye to a princess. www.kristeneve.org is my goodbye.
Thankfully, unbeknownst to me, Kristen was a prolific and very creative writer, leaving 17 journals behind packed with her life experiences and wisdom. Two of the journals were filled with poetry and song lyrics, and two she penned during her last year. After reading these, a divinely inspired thought came to me . . . why not put her notes together with the e-mail updates we sent during her last year into a three-ring binder - and, later, a book - for little Jacob to read when he is older? He will be able to experience Kristen's faith, hope and miracles sprinkled with her courage and humor.
As I researched HPV and cervical cancer, I learned that there is a vaccine available to fight both - yes, to prevent HPV and cervical cancer. Most of Kristen's friends knew little about the HPV vaccine and its tie to cancer. The lack of knowledge of the lifesaving series of three shots astounded me.
I had seen the Gardasil TV commercials, but never made the connection until we rolled Kristen's gurney onto the oncology wing at St. Vincent's Hospital and heard the diagnosis announced: Stage IIIC . . . Inoperable.
It seems like omega-3s are all over the news these days. And now we can add another health benefit to the "good fat" found in nuts and dark fish - new research indicates that a diet high in omega-3s can protect against advanced prostate cancer, even in men with a genetic predisposition to the disease. The study, which looked at 466 men with prostate cancer, found that an omega-3-rich diet reduced the risk of aggressive prostate cancer by a whopping 63%! http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE52O5XL20090325
Elsewhere, the results of a massive federal study on the long-term health impact of red meat are in, and unfortunately for steak lovers everywhere, the news ain't good. The ten-year analysis of 500,000 middle-aged and elderly Americans indicated that those who consumed the equivalent of a small hamburger every day were 30% more likely to die in the decade that followed, mostly from heart disease and cancer. On the other hand, routine consumption of white meat decreased the risk of death by a small amount. Turkey burger, anyone? http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-na-red-meat24-2009mar24,0,6623810.story
A team of 24 researchers from all over the world (a dream team, if you will) has engineered a new anti-cancer agent that is around 200 times as powerful at killing tumor cells than most drugs currently under evaluation. The drug inhibits the enzymes that feed cancer, but also currently binds itself to bone, reducing its efficacy. Still - it's a step in the right direction! http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090325132458.htm
There's a lot of back-and-forth in the medical community about the usefulness of cancer screening. There's no doubt that it saves lives, but in many cases it can also be an impediment to prompt diagnosis. It sounds counter-intuitive, but take the case of ovarian cancer. Early-stage ovarian cancers, the kind screening catches, tend to be slow-growing; meanwhile, aggressive forms of the disease are often not detected in time. "This highlights the potential challenges of developing a screening test for this disease, because earlier detection of aggressive cases is essential if screening is to reduce ovarian cancer deaths," noted the lead author of a new study on the disease. http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/healthday/2009/03/24/catching-ovarian-cancer-early-may-miss-aggressive.html
Early screening for prostate cancer also comes with risks. According to a recent New England Journal of Medicine study, screening has little to no effect on how many men die from the disease; instead, many men diagnosed with prostate cancer wind up getting tests and treatments they don't need, with side effects as severe as incontinence and impotence. http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-closer23-2009mar23,0,1042900.story
Finally, I loved this editorial by Sens Ted Kennedy and Kay Bailey Hutchison in the Houston Chronicle. The senators, who have both been strong advocates for increased federal funding for cancer research and other cancer-related programs, write, "The solution isn't easy, but there are steps we should take now if we hope to see the diagnosis rate decline substantially and the survival rate increase. To do so, we must identify and remove the numerous barriers that obstruct our progress in cancer research and treatment." Amen! http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/6342313.html
That's all for this week, but I'll be back next Thursday with more!
It's the last day of South By Southwest's first-ever Charity Smackdown, and SU2C has until 9 p.m. PST/midnight EST to carry the day and win the $5,000 prize from Smackdown partner PayPal. Check out SU2C team captain Corbin Bleu's message to his fans:
And for more Smackdown fun, here's Corbin talkin' smack with Sabrina Bryan:
Guys, we're almost there, trailing #1-ranked Team Alec by just a few hundred dollars! It's the home stretch. Keep those donations coming, and thank you, as always, for all of your help!
Thanks for reading the SU2C Blog. One of our contributors brought to our attention the fact that comments were not displaying online. We were able to uncover and rectify this technical oversight. All of your comments are important to us, and we will work to have all of the comments from the past month back online today at SU2C.org. We are grateful to the contributor who brought this to our attention and we want to thank all of our fans and commenters, as always, for being part of the SU2C community.
