"Poets understand that there is nothing of value without death. Without death there are no lessons, without death there is no dark for the diamond to shine from."
Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Ph.D., Women Who Run With the Wolves
In addition to being an artist, I am also a breast and lung cancer patient in complete remission (I never smoked.) Traditionally, within the healthcare setting, the physical body is the primary focus. During my experience as a patient, however, I have come to appreciate that much of what happens is within the subjective or non-physical realm. Doctors, nurses, and other staff are comfortable when addressing physical procedures and needs, but can be woefully inadequate in areas of the psyche. After my lung surgery, for example, I woke up with at least twelve tubes in various places. When my surgeon appeared to examine me and I made a rye comment about my situation. He didn't laugh, but instead checked my medication levels. Perhaps his assumption was that my light sarcasm was delusional, but it made me wonder what else he might be missing. More recently, a doctor overlooked my emotional shock at hearing the news of a potential cancer recurrence. Eager to get my signature on a form granting my permission to test tissue scheduled to be removed from my body, he failed to notice the ghost-like look on my face. I remind myself now, before going to every check up and procedure, that my doctors may not be attuned to my subjective experience and it will be up to me to defend myself. I try not to be concerned if I appear to be making too many emotional demands because I know that any denial of my feelings is really a form of refusal to engage with mortality.
"Comfort," a group art exhibition, is opening this month at inFUSION Gallery located within a chemotherapy outpatient facility in Brooklyn, NY. One of my works in the show, "La Chaise," is a painting from a recent narrative series, which refers to an image of a 17th century side chair from Versailles. (The other is a related video "100% Real Painting, Versailles" addressing a mother's wish for her daughter to live fearlessly.) While I'm pleased to have the gallery's audience for my work, based on my recent time in hospitals, I have a whiff of suspicion that the facility's curators might have selected the painting for the wrong reason. It contains the recognizable image of something French and decorative and I wonder if I should be concerned that I may be party to an institutional practice that I don't believe in: the artwork I've seen over the last two years in waiting and treatment rooms has been predominately painted or photographed images of trees and water or pink flowers - all things vaguely French Impressionistic. I correlate this work with healthcare service that treats the body, but sometimes ignores the whole person. Like the seemingly Xanax-inspired hospital artworks that abound, doctors who are unable to express empathy with the full spectrum of emotions elicited in their patients by a cancer diagnosis - especially facing down death - cannot provide real comfort to their patients.
What is lost in this emotionally numb approach to patient care? Getting a diagnosis of cancer causes disruption to every facet of one's life: physical, emotional, social and more. By denying a patient's most profound emotional response, key resources creating routes to important problem solving abilities are blocked. Montaigne wrote an essay called "To Philosophize is to Learn How to Die," which contemporary philosopher Havi Carel, interprets as showing that the benefit of trying to understand how we feel about death "...can help us live well by teaching us that life is finite and help us to cultivate appropriate attitudes toward our finitude." Fear and anxiety become forms of mental and emotional captivity. They impede our ability to tap into life enhancing forces such as curiosity and creativity and assert them to respond and adapt. Art that reflects the profound disruptions that come with illness can open possibilities for authentic audience responses. I have the highest ideal for the function of art in our lives; I am an artist, not because it is "relaxing" or "personally therapeutic" to make art, but because I believe art to be the keeper of our souls. Instead of avoiding the difficulty of life-threatening experience by hanging pictures of pink, sugar-coated cherry blossoms, artwork that "shows the diamonds against the black" will better serve patient's... just as will a doctor capable of taking into account a patients anxiety and fear. Ultimately, I know that despite its superficial similarities to generic hospital art, my painting "La Chaise" embodies a displaced physical presence intended to evoke not medicate.
Steven P. Jobs, the visionary co-founder of Apple who helped usher in the era of personal computers and then led a cultural transformation of the way that music, movies and mobile communications were experienced in the digital age, died Wednesday. He was 56. Apple, the company Mr. Jobs and his high school friend Stephen Wozniak started in 1976 in a suburban California garage, announced his death and released the following statement on their website: "Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of apple."
A friend of the family said that Mr. Jobs died of complications from his long battle with pancreatic cancer, with which he waged a long and public struggle, remaining the face of the company even as he underwent treatment. He continued to introduce new products for a global market in his trademark blue jeans even as he grew gaunt and frail. Tributes to Mr. Jobs flowed quickly on Wednesday evening, in formal statements and in the flow of social networks, with President Obama, technology industry leaders and legions of Apple fans weighing in. "For those of us lucky enough to get to work with Steve, it's been an insanely great honor," said Bill Gates, the Microsoft co-founder. "I will miss Steve immensely." His wife, Laurene Powell, survives him, as do his three children with Ms. Powell, his daughters Eve Jobs and Erin Sienna Jobs and a son, Reed; another daughter, Lisa Brennan-Jobs, from a relationship with Chrisann Brennan; and two sisters, Patti Jobs and Mona Simpson. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/business/steve-jobs-of-apple-dies-at-56.html?pagewanted=4
Mr. Jobs said once that, "it is by living with the awareness of our own death that frees us to be ourselves and give our gift to the world." He was truly on of the great innovators of our time. Our thoughts are with his family, and we are deeply saddened by the loss of yet another amazing life taken too early by cancer.
To add your own tribute note to Steve's star, please click here.
Dr. Ralph Steinman
When Dr. Ralph Steinman learned he had pancreatic cancer, the dogged immunologist put his life's work to the test. He launched a life-and-death experiment in the most personal of personalized medicine. By unlucky coincidence, he had been diagnosed with a disease that might benefit from the therapies he had spent his life researching. Usually, medical research proceeds at a glacial, thorough pace, but Steinman didn't have that kind of time. He did, however, have access to world-class facilities, cutting-edge technology, and some of the world's most brilliant medical minds, thanks to his position as a researcher at Rockefeller University.
Steinman decided to make his own body the ultimate experiment. He removed a piece of the tumor that would eventually kill him, and trained his immune cells to track down any hint of the tumor that might have escaped the surgery. Sadly, on September 30, 2011, four-and-a-half years after he was diagnosed with a disease that kills the vast majority of its victims in less than one, his experiment came to an end. Steinman died just three days before it was announced that he was selected to share the Nobel Prize for Medicine. He survived much longer than expected, and continued his research until the end. Sadly it was not enough time to save his life. But the research he pioneered continues - and the scientists who continue his work have an extraordinary example to follow. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15156342
SU2C is inspired by stories like these and millions of others. Cancer takes one person every minute and to wait for someone else to save our lives and the lives of those we love is no longer an option. At SU2C, we believe that together, we can end this disease by becoming one unstoppable movement. The end of cancer begins with you.
The Founder and Director of the National LGBT Cancer Network, on the importance of cancer care in the LGBT community.
What does the National LGBT Cancer Network Do? We try and make a difference in the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people with cancer and those who are at risk. We do that through educating the LGBT community about our increased cancer risks, training health care workers on how to provide safe and welcoming care, and by advocating nationally for LGBT survivors.
Why do you feel that the country needs a National LGBT Cancer Network?
As a group, we have increased risks coupled with lower screening rates, and poorer overall health post diagnosis. The increased risks can be traced to the stress of living as sexual and gender minorities - including increase in tobacco and alcohol use compared to the non-LGBT population. The LGBT community has some of the lowest percentages of insured individuals. Many are not vigilant about screening because they avoid the healthcare system due to the bias they experience.
How is the National LGBT Cancer Network advocating to make seeking healthcare a safer experience for the community?
One of the things we're doing is trying to create a national network of healthcare providers who are sensitive to the issues surrounding this community. Right now, we have that network in New York City. We just received funding to expand our directory to include LGBT-friendly free or low cost facilities across the country, and we're working to make sure that the doctors on the list have the proper cultural competence training.
What is the Cultural Competence Curriculum?
We've developed a training program to help healthcare providers give more respectful, welcoming, and knowledgeable care. We were selected by the NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation to train all 38,000 of their employees, and we've turned the curriculum into an out-of-the-box training program for any healthcare professional or hospital system.
What advice would you give to someone reading this article? Well, despite what people think, it's still very difficult to live as an LGBT person - even somewhere as progressive as NYC - and we all have to do our part to help each other. One thing you can do is encourage the LGBT person in your life to go get screened for cancer. If you are LGBT and seeking healthcare, my advice is don't give up on finding a health care provider that is right for you. If you have a problem, contact us and we'll help. That's why we're here. http://www.cancer-network.org/
Breast Cancer: Treatment is no longer one-size-fits-all
Tumors are discovered in the breasts of nearly 290,000 women in the U.S. each year, according to the American Cancer Society. Until 40 years ago, women were treated more or less uniformly, with radical mastectomy, radiation and some form of primitive hormone therapy, such as removal of the pituitary gland. However, as scientists have learned more about the molecular underpinnings of breast cancer, doctors have come to see it not as a single disease but as a family of ailments for which they can tailor therapies accordingly. This kind of increasingly detailed knowledge is transforming the way breast cancer is treated. "Breast cancer is a more complicated disease than we used to think," says Dr. Armando E. Giuliano, a surgical oncologist and co-director of the Breast Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. "By looking at the markers and molecular sub-types, we see major differences in how you might treat them." Now, some doctors are optimistic that by learning more about the molecular characteristics of breast cancers, they'll be able to classify them more narrowly and do a better job of matching tumors to treatments. They are hopeful this could help make certain types of breast cancer as manageable as chronic illnesses like diabetes one day. http://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-breast-cancer-treatment-20111001,0,1048617.story
New Evidence in the Connection Between HPV and Oral Cancer
Throat cancers caused by a virus transmitted during oral sex have increased significantly in the United States in recent years, researchers reported on Monday.
The virus is the same one that causes many cases of cervical cancer: human papillomavirus (HPV) Type 16. Researchers tested tumor samples from 271 patients with certain types of throat cancer diagnosed from 1984 to 2004. The virus was found in only 16 percent of the samples from the 1980s--but in 72 percent of those collected after 2000. The researchers estimated that over all, throat cancers caused by the virus have increased to 2.6 per 100,000 people in 2004 from 0.8 cases per 100,000 people in 1988. If the trend continues by 2020 the virus will be causing more throat cancer than cervical cancer. Doctors in the U.S. and other countries had already noticed increases in throat cancers caused by HPV, but this study offers the first definitive evidence. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/04/health/research/04hpv.html?_r=1&scp=6&sq=cancer&st=cse
Men May Need Screening for Colon Cancer Earlier than Women do
New research from the Medical University of Vienna in Austria suggests that men may need to begin colon cancer screening earlier than women. The study, published in the September 28 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that men were far more likely to have potentially precancerous lesions (also called polyps or adenomas) in their colon -- 24.9 percent of men compared to 14.8 percent of women -- and to have them at an earlier age. However, at least one U.S. expert says that screening guidelines don't need to be changed based on these findings alone. "There were very few people under 50 in this study, and all of those were referred because they have a high risk of colon cancer," said Dr. David Bernstein, chief of the division of gastroenterology at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, N.Y. He noted that all of these people would have been referred for screening in the United States because they were already high risk. He also added that while the issue might warrant further investigation, he doesn't see any need to make gender-based screening recommendations for colorectal cancer as of yet. Current colorectal cancer screening guidelines recommend that both men and women begin colonoscopy screening at age 50 unless they are told by a physician that they may have a higher risk of developing it. http://yourlife.usatoday.com/health/medical/menshealth/story/2011-10-01/Study-Men-may-need-colon-cancer-screening-earlier-than-women-do/50619690/1
The Cancer Kiss Off: Getting Dumped After Diagnosis
Getting diagnosed with breast cancer is bad enough. But getting dumped by your significant other right afterwards is sort of like finding a piece of spoiled lettuce on your crap sandwich. Interestingly enough, people have actually studied this phenomenon and discovered that a woman is six times more likely to be separated of divorced shortly after diagnosis of cancer or multiple sclerosis than a man diagnosed with the same diseases. Researchers from three medical centers looked at 515 patients with various types of cancer and multiple sclerosis. Almost half of the patients were women. "The results were similar across all three cohorts," says Dr. Marc Chamberlain, chief neuro-oncology at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance and co-author of the 2009 study entitled, "Gender Disparity in the Rate of Partner Abandonment in Patients with Serious Medical Illness." "We did find women who had abandoned male partners, but the differences were striking. There (were) a disproportionate number of partner abandonments in female patients." http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/44709926/ns/today-today_health/t/cancer-kiss-off-getting-dumped-after-diagnosis/
Since our inception in May 2008, Stand Up To Cancer has been driven by our mission to fund groundbreaking cancer research through innovation and collaboration, and to accelerate translational research to get new targeted treatments to patients faster. Our goal is to change the way research is done, and ultimately bring an end to cancer.
Through your generous donations, SU2C proudly launched its first five Scientific Dream Teams. These incredible scientists are leaders across disciplines, institutions and specialties, working together to move their research from bench to bedside to benefit patients more quickly. Combined, these five dream teams have already launched 34 new clinical trials for patients.
In a new video series, we invite you to see where your money goes and to hear about the incredible progress our Dream Teams are making. Your donations are the reason for this progress and it remains SU2C's goal to let you know exactly how your money is contributing to the end of cancer.
Click on the highlighted SU2C Dream Teams below to view their latest progress report videos.
Dream Team Leader Lewis C. Cantley, Ph.D., and Co-Leaders Charles L. Sawyers, M.D. and Gordon B. Mills, M.D., Ph.D.
The PI3K Dream Team is developing clinical techniques that may lead to therapeutic combinations able to hit multiple targets in the complex pathways that contribute to cancer cell growth in a variety of women's cancers, such as breast, ovarian, and endometrial.
In August 2011 the scientists on SU2C's PI3K Dream Team made a significant research finding that was recently published in the online edition of Nature Medicine (Nature Medicine 2011; 17: 1116-1120). These findings could accelerate the development of targeted therapies for treatment-resistant breast cancer.
Dream Team Leader Daniel A. Haber, M.D., Ph. D. and Co-Leader Mehmet Toner, Ph. D.
The CTC-Chip Dream Team is using a radically different approach to detecting and isolating Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs), pursuing revolutionary diagnostic and treatment strategy tools. The fundamental technology involved takes advantage of microscopic fluid dynamics to construct a chip with 100 times greater sensitivity than existing technology.
In January 2011 the CTC Chip Team announced that the research underlying their SU2C project became one step closer to being available to the public. This promising new "liquid biopsy" can find a single cancer cell amid one billion in a teaspoon of blood and has the potential to significantly aid in both diagnosis and treatment of cancer.
Dream Team Leaders Craig B. Thompson, M.D. and Daniel D. Von Hoff, M.D
The Pancreatic Dream Team is attacking the lethal problem of pancreatic cancer with a dual approach: exploring advanced imaging techniques to determine what nutrients pancreatic cancers require to grow and survive; using the results of these tests to design individualized treatment combinations that will cut off the fuel supply to pancreatic tumors with the hope of increasing survival and quality of life for pancreatic cancer patients.
Thus far, the Pancreatic Dream Team has four major clinical trials up and running using several new combination therapy regimens. Results from a previously completed clinical trial showed survival rates of patients with advanced metastatic stage IV pancreatic cancer doubled from 6 months to 12 months.
Dream Team Leaders Joe W. Gray, Ph.D. and Dennis Slamon M.D., Ph. D
The Breast Cancer Dream Team has created a fully integrated translational research approach which is rapidly moving toward more effective, less toxic therapies for the three major breast cancer subtypes.
In August 2011, scientists supported in part by the SU2C Breast Cancer Dream Team were able to identify many weak points in breast tumor cells. This new research is now published in Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, and has been seen as a starting point for the development of new therapies for breast cancer patients.
Dream Team Leaders Stephen B. Baylin, M.D. and Peter A. Jones, Ph. D., D.Sc
The Epigenetics Dream Team is delivering on the promise of epigenetic therapy in clinical practice. The team is developing biomarkers that can predict and monitor the efficacy of epigenetic therapies, and conducting clinical trials that will bring epigenetic therapy to the forefront of cancer management.
SU2C's Epigenetics Dream Team has completed the first phase II epigenetic therapy trial in lung cancer. Results from this trial were promising resulting in an improved response rate in patients receiving this treatment. These observations suggest that epigenetic therapy could prime cancers for response to cytotoxic therapy. Trials for both breast and colon cancer patients are underway as well.
New therapies are within our reach, but we need your help to continue to make progress. Let's stand together, and make a difference for the ones we love.
The Cost of Cancer
Continuing advances in cancer treatment are a double-edged sword for many cancer patients. New drugs, surgical techniques and other innovations help them battle their disease, but better health and longer lives may come at a hefty cost, even for people with health insurance. Recent research spells out what patients are facing. A study by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality estimated that between 2001 and 2008, 13.4 percent of adults younger than 65 who had cancer spent more than 20 percent of their income on health care, including premiums. That compared with 9.7 percent of people with other chronic conditions and just 4.4 percent of those with no chronic conditions. Researchers from the Duke University Medical Center and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute examined the cancer spending of 216 patients, most with breast cancer, and found their out-of-pocket costs averaged $712 a month. The biggest chunk of that outlay, apart from insurance premiums, went to prescription drugs, at $174. Long term, cancer treatment costs can also have a devastating effect on people's financial stability. A study by researchers at Seattle's Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center found that in western Washington State, 0.5 percent of cancer patients declared bankruptcy in the first year after their diagnosis. Five years following diagnosis, the percentage was 1.9. By comparison, just 0.28 percent of the general population in that region declared bankruptcy over a 10-year period. http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/cancer-treatment-costs-can-be-prohibitive-even-with-insurance/2011/10/06/gIQA8iBfaL_story.html
The New Front in Breast Cancer: After Treatment Ends
The mastectomy, chemotherapy, radiation and hormone treatments are behind them. Now, the growing ranks of breast cancer survivors face long-term issues that are often overlooked. Despite all the pink ribbons and billions spent on breast-cancer research, there is surprisingly little data on issues that linger or emerge for the 10, 15 or more years after treatment ends. Although the odds of relapse fall with time, they never completely disappear. Some patients who had treatments years ago are encountering delayed side effects such as heart problems, nerve damage, osteoporosis and secondary cancers. Survivors say some of the toughest issues are social and emotional, according to a survey of 1,043 breast-cancer patients released Tuesday by the nonprofit Cancer Support Community with funding from Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Nearly 90% of respondents said they had at least one physical, psychological or social problem that was moderate to severe. Mentioned most frequently were fatigue, sexual dysfunction and sleep issues. What's more, 24% of those surveyed (almost all women, with an average age of 55 and averaging 5.6 years since diagnosis) reported being depressed--about twice the national rate. The survey also highlighted the need to give survivors better guidance for the years ahead. Only 10% of respondents had received a "survivorship care plan" summarizing what past tests and treatments they had, what side effects to expect, what lifestyle changes to make and where to obtain follow-up care--even though 96% said they wanted one. "Patients feel like they are walking out of active treatment and walking off a cliff," says Kim Thiboldeaux, president and CEO of the Cancer Support Community. "They're wondering, 'Am I coming back to you or to my primary-care doctor? When is my next mammogram? What kind of chemo did I have? How often do I need to get blood work?' " Having all that written down and portable can help manage some of the concerns that people have, she says. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203499704576622873279960148.html
California Takes a Stand: Minors No Longer Able to Use Tanning Beds
Minors in California will no longer be able to use tanning beds after Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation Sunday backed by healthcare groups warning of skin-cancer risks. The current law allows minors who are at least 14 years old to use an ultraviolet tanning device if they have written permission from their parents. But Sen. Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) said his bill was needed to protect those under 18 from the risk of adverse health effects, including skin cancer, that are possible from prolonged exposure to ultraviolet rays. "If everyone knew the true dangers of tanning beds, they'd be shocked," Lieu said. "Skin cancer is a rising epidemic and the leading cause of cancer death for women between 25 and 29." SB 746, will take effect Jan. 1, 2012. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/california-politics/2011/10/tanning-beds-minors-bill-signed.html
Osteoporosis Drug may Benefit Breast Cancer Patients
Breast cancer patients who take drugs called aromatase inhibitors can experience a decline in bone density. However, a new study shows that adding an osteoporosis drug to their medication regimen prevents the bone loss. mAromatase inhibitors halt estrogen production in postmenopausal women, which is good for stopping the growth of cancer cells. But the loss of estrogen harms bone health and these patients are at higher risk for bone loss and fractures. In the new study, from the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, women taking aromatase inhibitors were either prescribed the osteoporosis drug zoledronic acid (also known as Zometa) concurrently with cancer therapy or only after bone loss or a fracture occurred. The study, published online Monday in the journal Cancer, found that the women who toke zoledronic acid concurrently had significant increases in bone density. But those who took the medication only after a bone problem arose had steady declines in bone mass. Although giving zoledronic acid simultaneously with aromatase inhibitors builds bone health and is the "preferred treatment," according to the authors, even the women who received it later benefited from the osteoporosis medication and were able to reverse their bone loss.
Garrett Radcliffe
Nothing was more important to Garrett Radcliffe than playing football for Hereford High. So, midway through Garrett's eighth-grade year in 2008, he jumped at the opportunity to take the bus from Hereford Middle School to Hereford High to lift weights a couple of days per week in preparation for joining the Bulls' football program the following season. That summer, he participated in a Hereford High preseason conditioning camp. After just two practices, his football dreams came to an abrupt halt when Radcliffe began experiencing severe fatigue and extreme pain. He was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Over the next two years, Radcliffe underwent intense chemotherapy and radiation treatment for the first two tumors as well as a third one that was found in his sternum in March 2009. In July 2010, he underwent a bone marrow transplant that finally put him on the road to recovery -- and back to football. This fall, the 5-foot-9, 252-pound Radcliffe rejoined the Hereford program as a reserve defensive lineman and played in his first game against Woodlawn High on Sept. 9. The presence of Radcliffe, a senior, may have been more important to Hereford coach Steve Turnbaugh and his players than any game or victory. "It's pretty amazing he is here today," Turnbaugh said. "This young man has endured more than any person can endure in a lifetime. To put it in perspective, considering what he has been though, a football game is just a football game." http://www.baltimoresun.com/explore/baltimorecounty/sports/ph-nc-radcliffe-1013-20111013,0,319456.story
Darlene Varley
Darlene Varley, of Washington, is living proof that the key to beating cancer is research, and she has made it her mission to increase funding to battle the disease. In the early 1970s, Varley was in her mid-30s when her husband, Harry, was diagnosed with cancer. "We knew the prognosis was not good," she said. "He lived almost two years." One of the chemotherapy drugs he was given was just coming out of the experimental stage. Doctors figured it would give him a few more months but would ultimately be a cause of his death, so he went on the drug and it extended his life long enough to provide his family with a few more blessings. A quarter of a century later, Varley was diagnosed with breast cancer. When she talked to her doctor about the chemo drugs she would be given, one was the drug Harry had been administered -- and was listed on his death certificate as one of the causes of death. She told the doctor she had no interest in taking it. But during the 25 years between Harry's death and her diagnosis, research had improved the drug's use, and it played a huge role in her recovery. "It couldn't save Harry's life, but it did save mine," she said. "That's why I'm so passionate about research dollars." To help spread the word about the importance of research Varley stays involved with the American Cancer Society and the Cancer Action Network. Since 2006, she has traveled annually to Washington, D.C., to deliver her message to Capitol Hill. Just last week, she returned from her sixth trip to the nation's capital. While she was there, she let lawmakers know that this year, more than 35,000 people in Washington will be diagnosed with cancer, and almost 12,000 will die. Research, she preaches, can save lives -- just as it saved hers. http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/10/08/1856501/cancer-survivor-proof-that-research.html
Pamela Hinchee
Pamela Hinchee is a mother of two, who was diagnosed with five different types of cancer in less than five years. She's a fighter. Nearly six years ago, Hinchee was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Not long after that, her doctor diagnosed her with uterine cancer, then stomach cancer, Lymphoma and Leukemia. Anyone would think her outlook on life would be a grim, but instead she chose to face it with courage. "When you become a mom, there's no opt out button if you have cancer. My girls still needed me," she said. Hinchee's daughters helped her stay strong during those four and a half years of fighting. "I wanted to be around for important days in their lives. I just wasn't going to let cancer rob me of that," she said. Hinchee said her husband was also there through it all. "He knew he was getting a scrappy woman when he started. And I just proved that to him five times over," she said. "I would do this 50 more times if it meant that neither one of my children would know one minute of this disease," said Hinchee. She tells others who are fighting the fight not to give cancer more power than it should have. "Yeah, cancer is a big word, and it's a scary word. But if you give it more power, it will take over. I am living with, not dying of cancer. There is hope," she said. Today, Hinchee has been without cancer for 11 months, but she won't say she is cancer-free because she knows cancer is in her genetic make-up. Instead, Hinchee said she wakes up everyday and thanks God she doesn't have to battle cancer today. http://www.digtriad.com/news/article/194218/57/5-Time-Cancer-Survivor-Uses-Strength-To-Help-Others
SU2C is inspired by stories like these and millions of others. Cancer takes one person every minute and to wait for someone else to save our lives and the lives of those we love is no longer an option. At SU2C, we believe that together, we can end this disease by becoming one unstoppable movement. The end of cancer begins with you.
It has been an exciting year for Stand Up To Cancer's first major donor, Major League Baseball. After a long season of ups and downs, The St. Louis Cardinals will meet the The Texas Rangers, in the 2011 World Series. Baseball fans may remember this as a season of comebacks and surprises, but for Stand Up To Cancer, this MLB season will be remembered because of the amazing support we continue to receive from the combined efforts of Major League Baseball and MasterCard.
One of the most memorable moments for SU2C came this summer during the All-Star game festivities. As players in the 2011 All Star Fantasy Camp Experience, cancer survivors, patients and SU2C researchers were given the chance to experience the glory of becoming an MLB player for the week and live out their childhood dreams.
As Fantasy Camp participants, players were given the All-Star treatment. Upon arrival, each participant received standard MLB uniforms and was assigned one of four teams. They spent the next two days being coached by former MLB All-Stars: Steve Finley, Reggie Sanders, Greg Swindell and Tony Womack. The experience ended with a final game played on Chase Field and tickets for each participant to attend both the annual MLB Homerun Derby and All-Star game.
Among the players invited to participate were pancreatic cancer patient Gary Filan, pancreatic cancer survivor and SU2C advocate, Howard Young, and Dr. Mike Barrett, a member of SU2C's Pancreatic Dream Team. Together these three, along with 57 others, proved on the field what teamwork, collaboration, and the classic game of baseball could do for the human spirit. It was an experience none of them will soon forget. It was an experience that patient Gary Filan referred to as, "life changing." If you ask them about the heart of the event, they will all three tell you it had very little to do with the outcome of the final Fantasy Camp game.
Gary, who was still in the middle of his treatment for pancreatic cancer, was shocked when he was approached to participate as a member of the All-Star Fantasy Camp. "I said ok, but I was afraid of the weather in Arizona and that I wouldn't be able to do it," he admits. "But I did it, and at the end of the day it wasn't about baseball. It wasn't about winning. It was about creating awareness and coming together as a team. Steve Finley, a former MLB player, was our coach and he couldn't have been more down to earth. I could barely run, but no one said anything, they just cheered me on and encouraged me the entire time."
Howard Young traveled from his home in Atlanta to participate and enjoyed the opportunity to try his hand at baseball. But ask him what the most memorable part of the experience was and he'll tell you it was the camaraderie he experienced between both the patients and researchers. "There are not enough people like me who have survived pancreatic cancer, and I think it's up to us to help patients know that there is hope," he said. "It's great what Stand Up To Cancer is doing. I'm so thankful on a lot of fronts for what they are doing to inspire scientists to achieve a goal on a faster timetable, because people needed a cure yesterday, and having donors like MasterCard and MLB help raise funds and spread awareness is pretty incredible."
"By the end of camp I had a nice assortment of bruises and swollen fingers from foul balls," said Dr. Mike Barrett of his experience playing alongside patients and researchers. "But, to be able to look around and see researchers, doctors, and patients, all playing together - it was awesome. It reminded me how precious the ability to play and enjoy life really is."
The most touching moment of All-Star week for most came in the 7th inning of the 2011 All-Star game when the players got the opportunity to stand with the crowd in honor of Stand Up To Cancer co-founder Laura Ziskin and the millions of others that have been affected by cancer. "The thing that pulled it all together for me was when I saw how many people stood up with their signs," remembers Gary. "It was truly shocking to see how many people have been affected by cancer, especially for people like myself who are struggling to stay alive. In a matter of moments the entire atmosphere of the stadium changed, to see everyone standing together was amazing. For me, that moment was life changing. It really gave me hope and motivated me to keep fighting. I had a smile on my face for weeks afterward."
When you go to a baseball game, most people think about the stats, the players, or how many runs their team needs to win it all. But chances are, the person in the stands next to you has been affected by cancer, and chances are you have been too. Because of donors like MLB and MasterCard, millions have been generously donated to help fund innovative research that gives cancer patients a chance at defeating this devastating disease. And by taking a moment to honor those we love and continuing to support cancer research we can change the world. As the World Series begins this week, we ask you to join SU2C, MLB and MasterCard by standing up in honor of a loved one affected by cancer and sharing it with your friends and family.
Cancer is personal: tell the world who you stand up for as you pledge to join the movement to end cancer as we know it.
To create your own I Stand Up For dedication in honor of a loved one, visit www.su2c.org/istandupfor
Tonight during game one of the 2011 Major League Baseball World Series, MasterCard will acknowledge the millions of consumers who helped contribute to their "Eat, Drink and Be Generous" and "Everyday Moments" campaigns that helped raise over $4 million to benefit Stand Up To Cancer's groundbreaking research. MasterCard will debut its "thank you" spot tonight during the game one broadcast on FOX. Major League Baseball legends John Kruk, Andy Pettitte, Ron Darling, Mitch Williams, Tony Gwynn, Reggie Sanders, and more, are featured in the spot.
Check out the behind the scenes footage from the shoot at the MLB Fan Cave to see why MLB and MasterCard are joining together to stand in honor of the ones they love that have been affected by cancer.
Be sure to tune in to watch Game One of the World Series tonight on FOX!
On Sunday night, with the support of MLB, Fox Sports, and the 50,000 plus fans that attended game four of the 2011 World Series, we took a moment to stand as one against cancer. The outpouring of support from the crowd was unbelievable; we truly are united against this terrible disease. Check out the ENTIRE stadium standing up to cancer and join them by pledging to stand in honor of a loved one at www.su2c.org/istandupfor.
Meghan Malley
As part of her mission to be cancer free, Megan Malley wants to help educate others along the way. She's networking, rallying and blogging publicly about her disease to bring attention to the times when breast cancer isn't a lump. In fact, for 5 percent to 10 percent of breast cancers, the warning signs may be a change in the feel of the breast or breast skin that becomes dimpled, puckered or reddened. During a monthly self-breast exam in January 2010, Malley sensed something different about her right breast. She had experienced some jolts of pain in the breast, and felt a difference in the density. After an ultrasound and mammogram, doctors said she had fibrocystic breasts, which can make breasts painful and lumpy in response to women's changing hormones, but isn't cancerous. A little over a year later, Malley underwent fertility treatments. She was still concerned about the changes she felt in her right breast and pressed her doctor for additional testing. On March 23 -- two days after her 29th birthday -- she learned that she had invasive stage 4 lobular breast cancer, which occurs in about 5 percent of breast cancer patients. She began treatment immediately. Now, a year and a half after her initial diagnosis, Malley has organized a support group meeting for young cancer survivors like herself at the Karmanos Institute's Weisberg Cancer Treatment Center in Farmington Hills, Mich., with Kathleen Hardy, an oncology social worker, as facilitator. She has also been blogging about her cancer experience since March at letsbeatthisthing.weebly.com. "I want women to know that breast cancer doesn't always begin with a lump," said 29-year-old Malley, whose hair has grown back pixie-cute after chemotherapy. "I want people to be aware that unfortunately you're never too young to get breast cancer.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/breastcancer/sc-health-1026-young-breast-cancer,0,318853.story
Jill Costello
UC Berkeley alumna Jill Costello, the beloved and inspirational coxswain for the Cal women's varsity crew team who died of lung cancer in June 2010 at the age of 22, is one of two winners of the 2011 Inspiration Award from the National College Athletic Association, the NCAA announced on Wednesday. The NCAA gives the award to a current coach or administrator, or to a current or former varsity student-athlete, "who, when confronted with a life-altering situation, used perseverance, dedication and determination to overcome the event and now serves as a role model to give hope and inspiration to others." This is the first time that this award has been given posthumously, according to the NCAA, and the first time a UC Berkeley student-athlete has received it. "As a team, we always talked about having a good attitude, and it's easy when it's a bright and sunny day and everything's going your way," said Dave O'Neill, head coach of Cal's women's crew team. "But to see how courageous Jill was during the most trying moments was one of the most incredible things I've ever seen.... She was so focused and courageous and committed to making the most of every day." At UC Berkeley, the women's rowing team's race with Stanford has been renamed "The Jill Row," and the new varsity eight boat was christened, Beat Lung Cancer. "Jill inspired so many people in the last 15 months. As a coach, I'm certainly inspired and amazed by her, and with the power of what sports can do," said O'Neill. "She would be very honored and proud of this NCAA Inspiration Award, and I'm sure she's looking down on us."
http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2011/10/26/former-cal-rower-jill-costello-receives-ncaas-inspiration-award/
Keith Williamson
Breast cancer survivor Keith Williamson doesn't begrudge pink, the omnipresent October color intended to represent breast cancer awareness. He would just like to see a little blue from time to time as a reminder that members of his sex can be diagnosed with the disease as well. "We're small in numbers, but we are a number," said Williamson, 55, a retired William Carey University telecommunications specialist. To change this Williamson is proposing a small aesthetic change to the universally known pink ribbon that would include a bit of blue. Certainly, the number is modest compared to the number of female breast cancer cases. But Williamson believes it's worth a mention or two. He's full of jokes about getting a mastectomy, but he's also a serious believer in the slogan to live every day like you're dying. After all, the disease brought him as close to death's door as you can get without crossing over. So while he laughs that one day he'll get a tattoo of a nipple to replace the right breast that he lost, he also passionately expresses his opinion that male breast cancer is not adequately understood. "I've read articles (about breast cancer) in health magazines - four pages long - with maybe one sentence about men with breast cancer, if that," Williamson said.
http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/article/20111021/NEWS01/110210319
Fit to Fight
A free exercise program in Missouri, entitled "Fit to Fight," has been created to help minimize side effects of cancer treatment and help local patients and survivors stay fit. "This program really allows a perfect opportunity for people to learn how to safely return to a fitness program in a supportive group and also stay healthy while they're fighting cancer," Physical Therapist and Fit to Fight Co-Founder Sam Schmidt explains. The Fit to Fight program welcomes cancer patients who want to exercise once a doctor releases them to do so. The specially designed exercises in the 8-week long program help terminal patients, those going through treatment and cancer survivors. "In the group setting, we do pretty basic exercises just because the fitness levels are so varied. So we do lots of stretching, some core work, some balance, breathing, relaxation," Fit to Fight Exercise Physiologist Sarah Rott said. "This program puts the spark back in ya," says Bob Albee, Lymphoma survivor. "This program here is to get back all that strength that you've lost, because you laid around for 6, 7 months just getting infused with chemo." Schmidt says research shows the right amount of exercise can help many people counter some side effects of cancer treatment. http://www.kpax.com/news/fit-to-fight-exercise-program-helps-cancer-patients-survivors/
SU2C is inspired by stories like these and millions of others. Cancer takes one person every minute and to wait for someone else to save our lives and the lives of those we love is no longer an option. At SU2C, we believe that together, we can end this disease by becoming one unstoppable movement. The end of cancer begins with you.
By 
The Founder and Director of the National LGBT Cancer Network, on the importance of cancer care in the LGBT community.
What is the Cultural Competence Curriculum?
Dream Team Leader Lewis C. Cantley, Ph.D., and Co-Leaders Charles L. Sawyers, M.D. and Gordon B. Mills, M.D., Ph.D.
Dream Team Leader Daniel A. Haber, M.D., Ph. D. and Co-Leader Mehmet Toner, Ph. D.
Dream Team Leaders Craig B. Thompson, M.D. and Daniel D. Von Hoff, M.D
Dream Team Leaders Joe W. Gray, Ph.D. and Dennis Slamon M.D., Ph. D
Dream Team Leaders Stephen B. Baylin, M.D. and Peter A. Jones, Ph. D., D.Sc
It has been an exciting year for Stand Up To Cancer's first major donor, Major League Baseball. After a long season of ups and downs, The St. Louis Cardinals will meet the The Texas Rangers, in the 2011 World Series. Baseball fans may remember this as a season of comebacks and surprises, but for Stand Up To Cancer, this MLB season will be remembered because of the amazing support we continue to receive from the combined efforts of Major League Baseball and MasterCard.
Tonight during game one of the 2011 Major League Baseball World Series, MasterCard will acknowledge the millions of consumers who helped contribute to their "Eat, Drink and Be Generous" and "Everyday Moments" campaigns that helped raise over $4 million to benefit Stand Up To Cancer's groundbreaking research. MasterCard will debut its "thank you" spot tonight during the game one broadcast on FOX. Major League Baseball legends John Kruk, Andy Pettitte, Ron Darling, Mitch Williams, Tony Gwynn, Reggie Sanders, and more, are featured in the spot.