Results tagged “surviving cancer” from Cancer

Survivors of pediatric cancer face nine times the normal risk for developing a sarcoma at least five years after treatment for the initial cancer, a new study reveals.

The risk for developing sarcoma -- a cancer of the connective or supportive tissue -- is particularly elevated among patients with a family history of cancer or whose primary childhood bout was a form of sarcoma, a bone tumor or Hodgkin lymphoma, the researchers found.

The use of radiation and certain kinds of chemotherapy drugs was also associated with higher sarcoma risk.

I invite you to explore Sylicon Valle Moms Blog.

Not only these women describe what's happening in their lives as many other people do nowdays, SV moms are touching some sensitive and important topics, such as how to deal with the tragic news like having a cancer.

Read the article - It Happens. It's true that it's tough to talk about cancer, but it happens. Sharing the experience is important. So, give this article a read.

In July 2005, Jeff Carenza and his girlfriend were enjoying a getaway weekend in Miami when food poisoning landed them both in the hospital. Blood tests showed that Dr. Carenza, then 29, had iron-deficiency anemia.

“It’s probably nothing,” the doctor told him. “But have it checked when you get home.”

This type of anemia can be caused by blood loss from the intestinal tract. So back in St. Louis, where Dr. Carenza was a radiology resident at Barnes Jewish Hospital, his doctor sent him to a gastroenterologist.

According to results presented at the 2006 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS), updated results continue to demonstrate better efficacy with dose-dense chemotherapy than with conventional chemotherapy in early breast cancer.

Dose-dense chemotherapy (chemotherapy with a shortened interval between doses), has demonstrated improvement in outcomes compared to conventional chemotherapy in patients with high-risk, early breast cancer. Due to concerns about side effects, however, studies continue to evaluate the long-term effects of dose-dense therapy.

To compare dose-dense chemotherapy to conventional chemotherapy in patients with high-risk early breast cancer, researchers in Germany conducted a Phase III clinical trial.

Yoga may help people with cancer face the fear and uncertainty of the disease, a growing body of research suggests.

Cancer treatment and defeating it often take precedence over addressing emotional needs, such as what the diagnosis means to a person's life and plans, family, retirement and future, said Linda Carlson, a psychologist who teaches yoga and studies it effects on patients.

Carlson says yoga participants tend to have less tension, sleep better and carry fewer stress hormones.

NEW YORK, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- Young adults with cancer can now seek support from a new U.S. online Web portal, the site's developers said Monday.

The site, designed for cancer survivors ages 15 to 39, offers support like online blogs, social networking and fertility education tailored to the group's unique demographic and lifestyle needs.

ImTooYoungForThis.org was founded by Steps For Living, a non-profit advocacy group, as part of a larger campaign featuring a CD release and support literature distributed to cancer treatment centers.

"Too often, adolescents and young adults are not aware of, and therefore do not access free services that are available to them," said Archie Bleyer, former chairman of the Children's Cancer Group.

source - UPI 

Beijing, Dec 11. (PTI) - Only 25 per cent of Chinese cancer patients can survive for five years, compared with Western countries' 68 per cent due to failure in timely diagnosis and treatment, a health expert has said.

China lags far behind developed countries on the key health indicator and 90 per cent of different types of cancer can be cured given that they are spotted and treated at an early stage, secretary-general of the China anti-cancer association, Zhang Zongwe said.

But lack of knowledge on cancer slows the public reaction to the disease. Over 80 per cent of Chinese cancer patients know they have the disease only after it evolves into the middle or later stage.

News Author: Laurie Barclay, MD
CME Author: Désirée Lie, MD, MSEd

December 8, 2006 — The American Cancer Society (ACS) has issued nutrition and physical activity guidelines for cancer survivors during phases of treatment and recovery and for others living with advanced cancer. The new recommendations appear in the November/December issue of CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.

"Cancer survivors are often highly motivated to seek information about food choices, physical activity, and dietary supplement use to improve their treatment outcomes, quality of life, and survival," write Ted Gansler, MD, MBA, of the 2006 Nutrition, Physical Activity and Cancer Survivorship Advisory Committee, and colleagues. "To address these concerns, the ACS convened a group of experts in nutrition, physical activity, and cancer to evaluate the scientific evidence and best clinical practices related to optimal nutrition and physical activity after the diagnosis of cancer. This report summarizes their findings and is intended to present health care providers with the best possible information from which to help cancer survivors and their families make informed choices related to nutrition and physical activity."

The founding family of cable operator Comcast Corp. will donate $15 million toward a new proton therapy center for treating cancer at the University of Pennsylvania, the company and school officials said Wednesday.

The $144 million Penn center would be one of six in the nation using proton therapy, which targets cancerous tumors precisely by using a beam of tiny particles accelerated to near light-speed.

The donation from Comcast Chief Executive Officer Brian L. Roberts and his wife, Aileen, and by Brian's mother and father, Suzanne and Ralph Roberts comes 11 days after Aileen Roberts completed radiation treatment for breast cancer. Comcast is the nation's biggest cable system operator.

To Megan Schanie, blueberries, broccoli and tuna steaks are no longer just foods -- they're weapons in her battle with breast cancer.

"How can food not affect me? I'm putting it into my body three times a day," said Megan, who has already fought the cancer with surgery and is undergoing chemotherapy. "Part of it is a control issue. It's something else I can do to prevent it from coming back."

The 31-year-old mother of two, who is sharing her story at courier-journal.com/megan, says she's always eaten pretty well. But before her cancer diagnosis, a routine doctor checkup showed she had high cholesterol. She started adding more fiber to her diet by switching to whole-grain breads and cereals. She lost a few pounds and felt better.

Skin cancer survivors could halve their chance of relapse by eating generous helpings of leafy green vegetables, new Australian research suggests.

Queensland scientists have investigated the impact of healthy dietary habits on skin cancer and discovered that green vegies can help guard against the disease.

They showed that spinach and silverbeet were linked with a reduction in the risk of skin cancer, particularly among those with a previous history of the disease.

Dr Jolieke van der Pols, from the Queensland Institute of Medical Research, said these vegetables contain a variety of vitamins, minerals and other bioactive substances that are known to have anti-cancer properties.

Though cancer can be a harrowing experience, a growing body of research suggests that the disease also changes many people's lives for the better.

Nearly two out of three cancer survivors and their families say something good has come out of their experience, according to a new poll from USA TODAY/Kaiser Family Foundation/Harvard School of Public Health. This part of the telephone survey, part of a larger study in August and September, included 751 adults who had cancer in the past five years or who have shared a household with a cancer patient who is still living. The margin of error for this part of the poll is plus or minus 4 percentage points.

About half of respondents say cancer fundamentally changed their outlook on life — almost always in a positive way, the survey shows.

Younger women with ovarian cancer have better survival rates than older patients, even if they have surgery to conserve their fertility, scientists say.

A new study shows that 59% of women diagnosed between the ages of 30 and 60 were still alive five years later, compared with only 35% of older women with the illness.

Although the improved survival of young women could be due in part to an earlier diagnosis and a lower grade of tumor, the researchers believe there may be other underlying factors. The study was published online ahead of print in the British Journal of Cancer.

source - Times Wire reports 

by Jacki Donaldson, The Cancer Blog, 27 Oct 2006

Living Beyond Breast Cancer (LBBC) -- a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering all women affected by breast cancer to live as long as possible with the best quality of life -- recently began offering a new resource for breast cancer survivors, for both the newly diagnosed and those with metastatic disease.

"The first few weeks after diagnosis can be extremely difficult emotionally, and women with advanced disease often do not get the support and resources they need," said Jean Sachs, LBBC executive director. "We want to give them an understanding of their choices to help them make informed decisions regarding their physical and emotional health."

TWINSBURG, Ohio - A cancer patient who was trying to raise awareness of the disease during a quest to visit every Major League Baseball park this season has died at his home near Cleveland.

Jeffrey Newbauer Jr., 22, died Wednesday night, according to the Web site that chronicled his journey: http://www.jeffsballparktour.com.

Donations helped Newbauer visit 26 of 30 ballparks over the last four months in what was called the "Cancer Sucks Ballpark Tour."

by Dalene Entenmann, The Cancer Blog, 20 Oct 2006

Grammy-award winning singer, songwriter, and breast cancer survivor Sheryl Crow was honored with the Breast Cancer Research Foundation's Humanitarian Award at the annual symposium and luncheon event at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City. Crow has joined the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) to promote breast cancer prevention and raise funds for research in finding a cure.

During her music tour with John Mayer, Crow donated 50 cents of every concert ticket sold to the breast cancer organization. She also offered a breast cancer t-shirt with her logo design for sale with 100 percent of the profits donated to BCRF. The t-shirt is now available on Crow's website.

In January of this year, 15 year-old Lisa Norris, from Girvan in Ayrshire, received massive overdoses of radiation while being treated for a brain tumor at the Beatson Oncology Centre in Glasgow. Determined to be caused by human error, the 17 overdoses caused severe pain with burns and blisters on the back of her head, neck and ears.

Lisa was initially diagnosed with a brain tumor in October last year. At the same time the staff told her of the overdosing error, they also told her that her tumor was gone. Extensive oxygen treatment was given to attempt to offset the damage done by the overdosing of radiation.

Indeed very sad results of the study... but not really unexpected.

The study was done by Dr. Wayne Kendal, a radiation oncologist at the Ottawa Hospital Regional Cancer Center, based on an analysis of 1.3 million cancer cases in the United States. His analysis showed that 19 out of every 1,000 males with cancer and four out of every 1,000 females with cancer take their own lives.

Cancer patients need support. Your Support.

There has been quite a lot of attention to the Breast Cancer. While I personally think that every cancer and cancer victims should get the same amount of awareness, it seems that there are some results. Many articles, news, studies, such as this one.

"We need to make sure our elected officials see the cancer threat in it's true perspective. For example, translating cancer deaths into terms deemed more newsworthy by the media, cancer deaths amount to three jumbo jets crashing each day! One bill in Congress is for $109 billion for Iraq and Katrina; that contrasts to $5.08 billion that cancer research and advocacy groups are convinced is a modest amount for the NIH's National Cancer Institute, the main engine for funding US cancer research"

Dealing with thinking and memory problems caused by cancer or cancer treatment can be frustrating. Find out more about chemobrain and how to cope.

For years people undergoing cancer treatment have described their minds as being in a fog — unable to concentrate and remember details about their everyday lives. Doctors and researchers knew something was wrong, but they couldn't pinpoint what it was.

Research now shows that what these people are experiencing is called mild cognitive impairment — the loss of the ability to remember certain things, learn new skills and complete certain tasks. The cause of mild cognitive impairment during cancer treatment still isn't clear, nor is it clear how often it happens or what may trigger it. Doctors aren't sure what they can do about it.