Cancer treatment shows promise

Xiaoyang Qi, a research scientist in the Division of Human Genetics at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, has discovered the compound SapC-DOPS, that has potential for brain cancer tr

An experimental cancer treatment developed locally has the potential to revolutionize the way doctors treat the disease.
The compound, called SapC-DOPS, tricks cancer cells into committing suicide without harming healthy tissues - and with no apparent side effects - developers say.
Bexion Pharmaceuticals in Covington, which manufactures the compound, plans to begin the first phase of testing it on humans by mid-2011, said president and CEO Ray Takigiku."There's nothing like this kind of drug in anyone's pipeline," he said ...

Cancer Treatment Options

At UF Health Cancer Center at Orlando Health we offer several types of cancer treatment options from chemotherapy to surgery. We want to make sure that we offer every patient the most personalized cancer care possible. With the advances in cancer treatment and our multidisciplinary team approach, we are able to provide you with the best treatment plan for your specific diagnosis.

• Chemotherapy Treatment
• Radiation Therapy
• Surgery
• Palliative Care
• Clinical Trials

Menopause-Like Woes Hinder Breast Cancer Treatment: Study

FRIDAY, April 12 (HealthDay News) — Hot flashes and other unpleasant side effects are a major reason one-quarter of breast cancer patients do not start or do not complete their recommended hormone-blocking therapy, a new study finds.

Five years of daily pills — either tamoxifen or aromatase inhibitors — is recommended for many women whose breast cancer expresses the hormones estrogen or progesterone. The drugs have been shown to reduce the risk of cancer returning and to extend survival.

Despite such benefits, this study of more than 700 breast cancer patients in Detroit and Los Angeles who were eligible for hormone therapy found that about 11 percent never started treatment and 15 percent stopped it early.

Unpleasant, menopause-type side effects, such as vaginal dryness, hot flashes or joint pain, were the most common reasons women either stopped or never started the therapy.

“We need to develop better ways of supporting women through this therapy,” lead study author Christopher Friese, an assistant professor at the University of Michigan School of Nursing, said in a university news release.

Those most likely to complete their hormone therapy were patients who were most worried about their cancer returning and those who already took medication regularly, according to the study, which was published online March 31 in the journal Breast Cancer Research and Treatment.

Patients least likely to begin hormone therapy included those who received less information about hormone therapy, which suggests that doctors need to properly educate patients before treatment begins, the researchers said.

Women who saw a breast cancer surgeon instead of a medical oncologist as their primary follow-up also were less likely to begin hormone therapy.

“It was particularly interesting that greater fear of recurrence was associated in our patient sample with greater adherence to endocrine therapy,” study senior study author Dr. Jennifer Griggs, a professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School.

“We don’t want our patients living under a cloud of fear, so we need to develop creative ways to both reassure and motivate them,” said Griggs, a medical oncologist. “This means providing better education about the importance of staying on these medications and partnering with primary care and cancer doctors to help patients manage symptoms.”

More than 234,000 Americans will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year and more than 40,000 will die from the disease, the American Cancer Society estimates.

TA142 Anaemia (cancer-treatment induced) - erythropoietin (alfa and beta) and darbepoetin: understanding NICE guidance

The summary of the key recommendations on anaemia (cancer-treatment induced) - erythropoietin (alpha and beta) and darbepoetin. It is written for patients, carers and those with little medical knowledge and may be used in local patient information leaflets or any other suitable publication.

Tired after cancer treatment? Walking may help

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People who have been treated for cancer often have lingering fatigue, but a new analysis of more than three dozen studies suggests regular walking or cycling might help boost their energy.
Patients' long-lasting tiredness has been blamed both on the cancer itself, including cancer-related pain, and on the effects of treatments such as chemotherapy.
Prior studies point to talk therapy, nutrition counseling and acupuncture as possible ways to ease cancer-related fatigue during or after treatment (see Reuters Health story of October 29, 2012).
But light-to-moderate exercise has the advantage of being something people can do on their own time, for little or no cost.
"We're not expecting people to go out and be running a mile the next day," said Fiona Cramp, who worked on the analysis at the University of the West of England in Bristol.
"Some people will be well enough that they're able to go for a jog or go for a bike ride, and if they can, that's great. But we would encourage people to start with a low level of activity," she told Reuters Health - such as a 20-minute walk a couple of times each day.
Cramp and her colleague James Byron-Daniel pooled findings from 38 studies that directly compared more than 2,600 people with cancer-related fatigue who did or didn't go through an exercise program.
The majority of that research looked at women with breast cancer. The type of exercise program varied, from walking or biking to weight training or yoga. More than half of the studies included multiple exercises or allowed participants to choose their own type of physical activity.
The amount of prescribed exercise ranged from two times per week to daily workouts, lasting anywhere from ten minutes to two hours, depending on the study.
When they combined the results, the researchers found physical activity both during and after cancer treatment was tied to improved energy. In particular, aerobic exercise such as walking and cycling tended to reduce fatigue more than resistance training, they reported this week in the journal The Cochrane Library.
"What we do know is there will be an appreciable difference; the average patient will get a benefit from physical activity," Cramp said. "The actual amount of reduction in fatigue is going to vary according to the individual."
For example, the team saw exercise-related benefits for people with breast cancer and prostate cancer, although not for those with the blood and bone marrow cancers leukemia and lymphoma.
"Some of the hematologic patients may not have the reserves to always tolerate the aerobic exercise," said Carol Enderlin, who has studied fatigue and cancer at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock.
"They do not always have the oxygen carrying capacity, for instance," because the disease and treatment affect blood cell counts. For those people, non-aerobic exercise or exercise at a lower dose may be a better option, said Enderlin, who wasn't part of the research team.
Regular moderate exercise is one non-drug therapy recommended by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.
Although it might seem intuitive to deal with fatigue by getting lots of rest and avoiding extra activity, that could lead to more loss of muscle mass and fitness, according to Cramp and Byron-Daniel.
One cancer specialist not involved in the new study said that along with reducing fatigue, a combination of moderate exercise and nutrition therapy may help women with breast cancer in particular lower their risk of recurrence. Women being treated for breast cancer tend to gain weight, said Dr. Roanne Segal, from the University of Ottawa in Ontario, Canada.
"We are now pushing... lifestyle programs which incorporate diet and exercise to get you to either maintain your weight or reduce your weight," she told Reuters Health.
But the most appropriate exercise program, Segal added, will depend on where patients are with their treatment and the details of their particular cancer.
Cramp emphasized that people will have different goals and abilities when it comes to exercise, and that they should discuss those with their doctor. And although most patients will be able to do some kind of physical activity, fragile bones and anemia might hold others back.
"Cancer patients should of course first talk with their doctor to see if it's safe to exercise," Enderlin told Reuters Health. "If it's felt they are safe to exercise, they should maintain a level of at least comfortable activity in order to keep up their endurance, to keep up their strength (and) to promote function."

Understanding the Roots of Dramatic Black-White Cancer Disparities in the Nation's Capital

cross the nation, cancer is the leading cause of death among men and women under the age of 85. However, the burden of cancer is not experienced equally across the population: Nationwide, black Americans have higher rates of death from cancer than white Americans. Nowhere has this disparity been more apparent than in the nation's capital.
Black residents of the District of Columbia were 90 percent more likely to die from cancer in 2008 than white District residents (mortality rate of 237.4 per 100,000 among black residents vs. 125.1 among white residents). While rates of death attributable to cancer are lower among white District residents than whites nationally, they are greater among black District residents compared to blacks nationally.
In a RAND report commissioned by the DC Cancer Consortium, my colleagues and I brought together data from a range of sources to examine factors that may contribute to these disparities, including cancer risk behaviors (like smoking), cancer prevention behaviors (like exercise and screening), cancer treatment, and health care access.
We find, for example, that black District residents are more likely to smoke and less likely to exercise than white residents (placing them at higher risk of the most common cancers) and that black residents are less likely to report having been screened for colorectal cancer compared to white residents. However, black and white residents report very similar—and relatively high—rates of screening for breast and cervical cancers. This likely in part reflects efforts to make screening more accessible and affordable in the District through programs that provide free screening and/or support patients with dedicated health care "navigators"
Although we find some differences in cancer risk and prevention behaviors among black and white District residents, their scope and magnitude suggest that other differences in the continuum of cancer prevention and treatment may be important to explaining observed disparities. For instance, disparities may reflect differences in access to treatment for cancer and differences in quality of care for black and white residents. Data from the National Cancer Database show that, once diagnosed with cancer, black patients in the District are more likely to begin treatment at a later stage compared to white patients. However, richer data on the trajectory of care among cancer patients in the District are lacking.
Further investigations of cancer treatment access and quality, as well as regular, sustained monitoring of cancer outcomes among District residents, are critical to efforts to address racial disparities in cancer outcomes. Eliminating these disparities has the potential to substantially decrease the burden of cancer in the District of Columbia.

Valerie Harper says she's no longer dying of cancer

Here's another reminder that doctors aren't always right and even "terminal" cancer isn't always a death sentence: Beloved TV actress Valerie Harper, who last year announced she had only months to live, now says she is "cancer-free."
"I'm now the poster child for not believing everything I'm told," Harper told Closer Weekly.
No kidding. In March of last year, when she was 73, friends and fans were shocked to learn Harper's diagnosis of a type of brain cancer, which she discussed freely in an emotional round of interviews in print and on TV. She was upbeat, saying she didn't think about dying, she thought about living for the moment.
Tests revealed she has leptomeningeal carcinomatosis, a rare condition that occurs when cancer cells spread into the fluid-filled membrane surrounding the brain. Harper opted for chemotherapy treatment but her doctors told her she could have a little as three months left to live.

Valerie Harper, seen here in January, tells 'Closer Weekly' she's now cancer-free.(Photo: Frederick M. Brown Getty Images)

A year later, "I'm absolutely cancer-free!" says Harper, now 74 and best known for her role on Rhoda. "My last scans have been positive, and my doctors are very happy. (The oncologist) looked at the scans and said, 'Oh my God, Valerie, this is very encouraging!' "
In the last year, Harper also went back to work, cast in a new TV movie in August.
So what happened? Doctors rely on experience, she says, and they know that most people with this cancer die.
Is she in remission? "My doctor doesn't use that term. He likes to say, 'I give you a treatment, and it's either responsive or non-responsive — and you are having a phenomenal response.'"
She takes a lot of pills, all at once and once a week in what's called a "pulse dose."
"They can be difficult, but I try to sleep them off," she says. But she only has to see her doctor every eight weeks.
"There may come a time when I'm not feeling good," she told the magazine. "But then again, that time may never come!"
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