Breast Cancer Blog

Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog

A research program designed to enhance spiritual awareness for persons with a cancer diagnosis is accepting volunteer participants at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore. The program consists of a brief counseling intervention, including medical screening, rapport-building appointments, two all-day sessions that include psilocybin administration (psychodelic mushrooms), and appointments to facilitate initial integration and application of insights gained. More detailed information is available here.

Conducted by Drs/ Roland Griffiths, William Richards and colleagues, this program is designed to help cancer patients who are suffering with some degree of psychological distress to become less anxious and depressed, and to become more fully engaged with life again.

Psilocybin, the psychoactive ingredient in the “sacred mushrooms” that have been used in religious ceremonies by indigenous people in Mesoamerica for approximately two thousand years, is employed to facilitate the resolution of personal conflicts and to occasion states of consciousness that for some may be indistinguishable from visions and mystical experiences recorded in the history of religions. Psilocybin has not been found to be toxic or addictive, and is considered reasonably safe for persons without a history of serious mental illness, when administered in accordance with the safety guidelines published by the Hopkins researchers. Additional information on safety and the unique contributions this intervention may make to human personal and spiritual well-being, may be found here. The research is FDA approved and is open to persons between 21 and 70. Confidentiality is maintained for all applicants and participants.

i[2]y’er Leah Shearer’s battle with cancer has caused her career to take an alternative route. But the young professional did not let her illness rob her of a future.

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Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog.

i[2]y’er Leah Shearer’s battle with cancer has caused her career to take an alternative route. But the young professional did not let her illness rob her of a future.

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Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog

(Editor: “When the doctor says ‘you’re cured, go home’, that is *never* the end of the story.)

As young survivors of the modern era of cancer treatment enter their third and fourth decades, they find themselves poster children for the hope of medical progress – and also for the toll taken by cancer’s toxic treatments.

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Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog

Christina Applegate is treated for breast cancer, as confirmed by her rep.

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Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog.

Hooray!

Frito-Lay and two other potato chip companies have agreed to reduce the levels of a cancer-causing chemical in their products in a settlement of a state lawsuit, Attorney General Jerry Brown said Friday.

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Submitted by Dr.Kattlove’s Cancer Blog

Yes we can! If you read these blogs very often, you will have learned that my experience as a practicing oncologist taught me that the old phrase “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is doubly true when it comes to cancer. Stopping smoking, eating properly, keeping slim, can lower our cancer rate by as much as one-half.

Now doctors from Japan have come up with a way for blocking our chances of getting stomach cancer. It may surprise you to know that some infections can cause cancer. We know, for example, that infections with the HSV virus cause cancer of the cervix and sometimes of the mouth. Infections with hepatitis B or C viruses can lead to liver cancer. And, stomach cancer is usually seen in people infected with the bacteria called h. pylori.

Preventing stomach cancer has not interested U.S. researchers because it seems to be slowly disappearing from our country. Since 1975 the rate of Americans getting this cancer has dropped by 40%. But still it hits about 20,000 people a year and about 10,000 die from this cancer. So anything we can do to prevent this cancer and the deaths would be worthwhile.

Many countries have a much higher rate of stomach cancer. Many of them are in South America and Asia. Japan has always had a rate of this cancer, very much higher than the U.S. For that reason, Japanese doctors screen patients for this cancer and often catch them early. In fact they often catch the cancers so early that they don’t have to remove the stomach to treat them. Instead they can just cut out the tumor and leave the stomach intact.

But there is a problem with this approach. A new cancer can develop in the stomach after the first cancer has been removed. Researchers from Japan wondered if they could prevent this by giving patients antibiotics to knock out the h. pylori infection. They studied 544 patients who had cancers removed without losing much of their stomach. Half (272) were given h. pylori-killing antibiotics and half were not. The whole group was watched for the development of new cancers. At the end of 3 years, 24 patients out of the 272 who did not receive antibiotics developed a new cancer while in those who got the drugs, only 9 did. That means a reduction in new stomach cancers of over 60%.

The big question for the world and us is whether all of us should get these antibiotics. Perhaps the reason the rate of stomach cancer in the U.S. is dropping is that most of us may have received antibiotics often enough during out highly overmedicated lives that we may have killed off any h. pylori infection.

But, in countries like Japan where stomach cancer is a bigger problem, it is something to think about.

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Submitted by Dr.Kattlove’s Cancer Blog

The other day, newspapers carried the story about James Levine having surgery for kidney cancer. Mr. Levine is the highly regarded conductor of both the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra as well as the Boston Symphony. He is also fat. I have never seen him in person, but on the tube, he looks pretty rotund.

At one time his rotundity would have startled people because it would have been so unusual. Not now. Mr. Levine looks like a lot of Americans (except for his huge mane of curly hair).

Fortunately, Mr. Levine’s cancer seems to have been caught early and was quite small. This almost certainly assures that he will survive his disease and be back on the podium in fine fettle in the fall.

The U.S. and other “developed” countries have seen the rate of kidney cancer double in the last 30 years. While we are seeing a drop in the risk of lung cancer, breast cancer, colorectal cancer, not true for cancer of the kidney. This year, 54,000 people are expected to be diagnosed with this cancer, which puts it in the top ten of new cancer diagnoses. Fortunately most of these kidney cancers, like Mr. Levine’s are caught at an early stage – perhaps due to all the CAT scans we get these days.

What is causing this near epidemic of kidney cancer? To answer this, all we have to do is look in the mirror. If we look like Mr. Levine, our risk of kidney cancer is double that of those whose body type more closely resemble, for example, Barack Obama’s.

A recent study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute nailed the relationship between obesity and kidney cancer. Being fat, they found doubles a person’s risk of kidney cancer. And it turns out that the weight gain that caused the most trouble happened before the age of 50. Usually it occurred between the ages of 18 and 50. High blood pressure increased the risk of the cancer, as well.

Why this happens isn’t known. One theory is that the cancer is caused by the obese body’s resistance to insulin – the same reason fat people get diabetes. To overcome this resistance caused by all that fat, the body secretes a lot of insulin. Sometimes this isn’t enough and diabetes ensues. But along with the insulin comes another hormone called Insulin Related Growth Factor. This molecule, as its name implies, causes cells to grow and has been vaguely linked to several cancers. Not a good enough explanation according to most scientists so the search for the link between obesity and cancer (lots of cancers other than kidney cancer are also related to obesity) continues.

But regardless of the mechanism, we know how to cut our risk for this cancer – so eat well but less.

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Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog

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Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog

(Editor: Fertile Hope gets a nod but it’s not enough)

The emerging field of oncofertility offers hope to patients who worried that they couldn’t conceive.

When Annie Dauer’s oncologist told her she’d need a stem-cell transplant to cure her non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Dauer’s first thought wasn’t about death but about life. “I asked what would happen to my fertility,” she says. Her oncologist dismissed the question: ” ‘Honey, you’re fighting for your life; forget the fertility at this point,’ she told me.” But Dauer, then 30 and newly married, pressed the subject until the oncologist referred her to a fertility specialist. Since Dauer’s chemotherapy regimen would most likely destroy her body’s egg supply, the specialist, in an experimental procedure, removed one of her ovaries, froze it and reimplanted it when Dauer recovered. Three years later, Dauer, now cancer-free, and her husband, Greg, have a 2-year-old daughter, Sienna, and a second baby on the way.

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Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog

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Special thanks to YOGABEAR and i[2]y’er Halle Tecco for being teh awesome!

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Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog

This is the band WideAwake who sing “LIVESTRONG”, which is the official theme song for Lance Armstrong Foundation. It would appear they’re “stupidcancerSTRONG” now with special thanks to i[2]y’er Matthew Lowney for making this happen!

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Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog

Reason TV has a story about a 17-year-old high school kid from California who got bone cancer and had to get his leg amputated. His medicine was making him feel worse, so his parents decided to try medical marijuana. The marijuana greatly helped Owen, easing his pain and nausea. Then the authorities put a stop to it.

Stupid cancer!

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Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog

From “The Morning Show” With Mike & Juliet….

Can this dangerous party drug help (LSD) extend the life of terminally ill patients?

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Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog

Personalized vaccine made of tobacco plants, which normally cause cancer, can be used to help people suffering from lymphoma in challenging the disease…

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Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog

In the throes of chemotherapy, two women who had never met were both thinking the same thing: “I’m too young for this.”

That thought led single mother Shari Falls, 33, of Canberra, and Newcastle university student Louise Mackay, 21, to meet online and form Australia’s only cancer support group for young adults.

Doctors estimated they had three months to live.

“I wanted to go on living rather than planning my funeral. I wrote a list of things to do before I died, and up high on that list was starting a support group to beat this stupid cancer,” Ms Falls said.

In her long fight against cancer, Ms Falls endured 11 years of chemotherapy, radiation and surgery. Despite being diagnosed infertile, she fell pregnant twice and had two more daughters.

“Back then I was ill-informed and felt like cancer was something old people got, not me, I couldn’t possibly have it. I was 23 and ready to party,” Ms Falls said.

Ms Mackay was 18 when she was told she had leukaemia: “All my friends were out partying and I was stuck worrying if I was going to wake up the next day.”

Ms Falls and Ms Mackay are nominated together in the Pride of Australia Medal for their courage.

I’m Too Young For This, also known as i(2)y, is the first survivor-led advocacy, support and research group for young adults. It began in February with seven members and now has more than 400.

“People need to understand the difference between the needs of a child, a young person and an older person with cancer,” Ms Mackay said.

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Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog

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Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog

From WritersBreak.com

Having survived a July, 2000 diagnosis of a stage I, left multi-focal invasive breast cancer, Cindy Papale decided to embark on writing a book to educate young women and men on the many facets of her often misunderstood disease. Within The Empty Cup Runneth Over (Dorrance Publishing Company, 2008), Papale chronicles her journey from diagnosis, treatment and beyond—discussing the many hurdles she faced and the lessons she learned along the way.What’s more–within the book–she and co-author Sabrina Hernandez, collaborate with a brilliant group of specialists who contribute special chapters that provide much professional insight into this illness, further demystifying a disease in which most Americans know little.We recently had the pleasure of speaking with Papale. Here’s what she told us.

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Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog

(Editor: Special Thanks to Kris Carr for the props in this piece!) Rather than surrendering to despair and impersonal medical treatments, growing numbers of cancer patients are empowering themselves with information and control over their therapies. The trend is finding acceptance in mainstream medicine and helping people with cancer lead healthier lives. Here are tips on managing the illness.

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Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog

A Tampa bride-to-be who defied doctors’ expectations after being told she had a year to live four years ago has celebrated another victory — she and her fiancee won a $100,000 dream wedding.

Courtney Dempsey, 33, and Gary Courtney, 37, were among 40,000 couples who entered US Magazine’s wedding contest. The prize includes a dress and honeymoon. “We’re beyond thrilled. We’re actually in a state of shock right now,” Dempsey said Tuesday.

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Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog

Medical advice can be frustratingly contradictory, especially when it comes to the issue of screening. Now, a new report questions the usefulness of breast self-exams, finding that the commonly recommended screening tool may not help save women’s lives — and may even do more harm than good.

According to a review by the Cochrane Collaboration, an international organization that evaluates medical research, there’s no evidence that self-exams actually reduce breast cancer deaths. In fact, the often-recommended monthly chore may even do more harm than good, according to the group’s analysis of a pair of studies of nearly 400,000 Chinese and Russian women

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Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog

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Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog

Screw Chemo. Let’s Go ‘Shrooming

The spiritual effects of a substance in “sacred mushrooms” can last more than a year, Johns Hopkins researchers claim. The scientists said their investigations may lead to new ways to help people with conditions such as cancer, depression and drug dependence.

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Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog.

Rock on, Leah!

Excerpt from her first post….

So this is the first blog entry for Insider. Although I’m not new to the blogosphere and have blogged for about two years, (if you call the year of myspace authentic) I am honored to have been asked by Insider to share with you a window into my life…after cancer. Wait…Routers redirect! (on the internet we don’t say stop the presses). Cancer? Yep…but I am here to tell you that there is an amazing life after the ‘big C’ and I’m living it.

Let’s just get this obligatory medical scoop out of the way. I was diagnosed with advanced thyroid cancer at 26. Then at 28 it was Hodgkins Lymphoma. I am now in remission from both.

So now let me go out on a limb and assume that you are thinking I am too young for cancer. Well, let’s just say I’ve said this a few times before probably littered with a few expletives. Yet I hope if there’s one thing you learn from reading my blog it’s that cancer is not an advanced age or life stage concern. After starting a support community of other young adult cancer survivors here in Rochester, I’ve opened my eyes to how many other young people in our community are affected.

This is also celebratory blog of sorts. Just this past Thursday I got the reassuring post-scan visit thumbs up. I am officially 18 months cancer free from Hodgkins. I graduated from full body scans every 90 days to scans every six months. And once again the pictures were clean. Woooohooo!

The parking garage at Wilmot is another story. Talk about an ordeal. Has anyone ever gotten lost in one? I have. But I think I have it down to a science now. My mom, who thankfully accompanies me to these nerve-racking appointments, parked the car while I checked in. Usually it takes an average of 5-10 minutes to find a spot. Finding the car can be a trial in itself, but it just so happens that the color coded level matched my shirt so we were all good to remember, even without those seemingly silly paper tickets. Actually, I highly advise these.

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Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog.

American swimmer Eric Shanteau, who qualified for the Beijing Games in the 200-metre breaststroke, has revealed he is battling testicular cancer.

Shanteau, 24, said he learned of the diagnosis just a week before the recent U.S. Olympic trials in Omaha, and that he was cleared to compete by doctors.

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Submitted by The Stupid Cancer Blog

Increasing numbers of young women continue to be diagnosed with the most dangerous form of skin cancer even as the rate has leveled off in young men, federal health officials reported today.

An analysis of government cancer statistics between 1973 and 2004 found that the rate of new melanoma cases in young women had jumped 50 percent since 1980, but had not increased for young men in that period.

“It’s worrying,” said Mark Purdue, a research fellow at the National Cancer Institute, who led the analysis published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology. “What we are seeing in young adults right now could foretell a much larger number of melanoma cases in older women.”

The new research did not examine the reasons for the trend, but Purdue said it could be due to such factors as women spending more time outdoors and indoor tanning. Young women are much more likely than young men to frequent tanning salons, Purdue and others said.

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