MsC1210

Eni123 I am so sorry about your mom. Please accept my heartfelt sympathies and condolences. Prayers to you and your family, Chris

Amy I have no words of advice but wanted to let you know you and your family are in my thoughts and prayers. Chris

Miss Piggy you have gotten some very good info about the site. Please feel free to visit any and all of the other forums and post there as you did here. You can also use the PM (private message) feature to contact any of the members in that manner. Glad you are having a look around, and please do not hesitate to ask if we can help you further. Chris

Hello Mary V and welcome. I am so sorry about your mother but glad you have found this site. You are so correct about the support system here. Although I have no answers for your questions, I can assure you that the others will be along to offer you some wonderful suggestions and advice. Please keep us posted along the way and let us know how we can help. Check out the LC Survivors forum as well as the Good News forum and read about the survivors and their successes. There is always hope. Sending you prayers and positive thoughts, Chris

Not sure this belongs here or in alternative but it is intriguing. Please feel free to move it if it does not belong here? Thanks Chris Fungus' Potential Cancer Fighter Churned Out By New Lab Technique 28 Aug 2006 For the first time, researchers have developed a way to synthesize a cancer-killing compound called rasfonin in enough quantity to learn how it works. Derived from a fungus discovered clinging to the walls of a New Zealand cave, the chemical tricks certain cancer cells into suicide while leaving healthy cells untouched. "In 2000, scientists in Japan discovered that this compound might have some tremendous potential as a prototype anticancer agent, but no one has been able to study or develop it because it's so hard to get enough of it from natural sources," says Robert K. Boeckman, professor of chemistry. "You either grow the fungus that makes it, or you go through a complicated chemical synthesis process that still yields only a minute amount," he says. "Now, after five years of effort, we've worked out a process that lets researchers finally produce enough rasfonin to really start investigating how it functions, and how we might harness it to fight cancer." In 2000, researchers from Chiba University in Japan and the University of Tokyo simultaneously discovered a compound in certain fungi that selectively destroyed cells depending upon a gene called ras--one of the first known cancer-causing genes. They had found rasfonin, a compound that seemed tailor-made to knock out ras-dependent cancers like pancreatic cancer. After six years, however, rasfonin's secrets remain a mystery because researchers can't make enough of it to carry out tests. To bring about a new drug, organic chemists must produce a new chemical in enough quantity to test it under many different circumstances to tease out its modus operandi. Until now, no method existed to generate rasfonin, aside from growing more fungus--a time-consuming and terribly inefficient method. Boeckman, the Marshall D. Gates, Jr. Professor of Chemistry at the University of Rochester, has now revealed a process that produces 67 times more rasfonin than any previous method. For the first time, scientists can obtain enough rasfonin to conduct proper biological tests on it. "At a guess, I'd say that rasfonin itself will not be the final compound that might come to market," says Boeckman. "But we need to figure out how it works, how it triggers the cancer cell to shut itself down. The key is to find exactly what buttons rasfonin is pushing, and then figure out if there's a way we can safely and more simply push those same buttons. But we couldn't do that until we have enough to test." Even Boeckman's simplified process is notably complex, employing sophisticated organic reactions. Instead of the original method's 23 steps, Boeckman's has just 16--but finding them took five years of his team's hard work, skill and intuition. Boeckman's paper, published in the Aug. 30 issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society, outlines the sequence of steps showing how Boeckman's group inserted, removed, or altered the three-dimensional and chemical structure of their compound until they produced complete rasfonin. Diagrams of the complete process are available on the Web at http://pubs.acs.org/. "Very soon, researchers should be able to scale up this process rather easily to whatever volume they need," says Boeckman. "It may be a long road to a possible treatment, but at least we're now past the first hurdle." ### This research was funded by the National Science Foundation. Contact: Jonathan Sherwood University of Rochester Article URL: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medical ... wsid=50439

Lung Cancer Treatment Advances, Anniversary Of Peter Jennings Death 28 Aug 2006 Advances in Lung Cancer Treatments: Non-Surgical Procedure Offers New Treatment Option for Patients with Lung Cancer WHEN: August 7 is the anniversary of Peter Jennings death from lung cancer. WHO: John Rundback, M.D.,FSIR, FAHA, FSVBM, Interventional Radiologist Director, Interventional Institute, Holy Name Hospital, Teaneck, New Jersey Associate Professor, Columbia and Holy Name Hospital Chair, Society of Interventional Radiology Foundation Clinical Trials Network WHAT: Dr. Rundback is available to discuss new treatment options for patients with lung cancer. Lung cancer is the leading cancer killer for men and women, claiming the lives of some 90,000 men and 73,000 women annually in the United States.1 -- By the time lung cancer is diagnosed, 85 percent of patients are inoperable, often due to serious coexisting health conditions or poor respiratory function. For these patients, minimally invasive Interventional Radiology procedures can provide effective treatment of the tumor with minimal discomfort and a maintained quality of life. -- During thermal ablation with RFA or Microwaves, the interventional radiologist uses imaging to guide a small needle through the skin into the tumor; energy is then transmitted to kill the tumor with heat or cold. According to a recent study, fifty-seven percent of lung cancer patients who were treated with thermal ablation survived an additional three years, two years beyond the average life expectancy.2 -- Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) offers a non-surgical, localized treatment that kills the tumor cells with heat, while sparing nearby healthy lung tissue. As a result, ablation is much easier on the patient than systemic therapy, and does not affect overall health. Most people can resume their usual activities in a few days after this outpatient treatment. -- Microwave ablation utilizes electromagnetic microwaves to agitate the water molecules in the tumor and surrounding tissue, ultimately reversing the cells' polarity. This change in polarity causes the cells to rotate back and forth, causing friction and heat which kills the cell (coagulation necrosis). 1. Scripps Howard News Service: Journal of the National Cancer Institute, May 7, 2006 2. Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology, July 2006 3975 Fair Ridge Dr., Ste 400 N. Fairfax, VA 22033 United States http://www.sirweb.org/news/pressRoom.shtml Article URL: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medical ... wsid=50599

Ann, I hope Ernesto just dries up and goes away! Sending prayers for you and those in your area for safety!! Chris

Lori Just sending love and prayers.. Chris

Hello All, I came across this article this morning and thought that the timing was perfect. With the first hurricane of the season having formed and the horrible storms of last year still fresh in everyones memory, better to be safe than sorry. Warm regards, Chris Tips for Cancer Patients: How to Prepare for Hurricane Season Preparing for Disaster When You Have Cancer If you live on the eastern coast of the Unites States, you know that June through November means hurricane season. While warnings and watches may be issued, the general public hurries to prepare for the worst. Cancer patients are no different, however they must take several extra precautions when preparing for hurricanes and other possible disasters. Before Disaster Strikes Talk to Your Doctor. If you live in an area affected by the hurricane season, talk to your doctor about the course of action if you need to evacuate. Your doctor may know of more appropriate places to evacuate if need be or organizations to get in contact with prior to evacuation for instructions. Keep a Brief Record of Your Medical History Ask your doctor to write down a brief medical history or do so yourself. Include information like current medications taken and dosage. Keep it in a waterproof bag like plastic zip bag and keep it on hand. Know and keep a record of your doctors and their phone numbers, addresses, and their alternate doctors. Write down the name of your doctor, the office address, phone numbers, and if possible, the doctor your doctor suggests when he is not available. Store this with your medical history. Get copies of your prescriptions. Your doctor may be able to give you copies of prescriptions that can be filled in emergent situations. In some cases, extra medication can be dispensed to the patient. If you have medical equipment leased to you, be sure to have written documentation that is belongs to you. Having written verification can make it easier for emergency healthcare providers to verify your equipment. This is also important in the case that you have lost your equipment and it has been located. You will need this verification to claim it. Write down the numbers of the American Cancer Society offices in your area and the area you are evacuating to. The American Cancer Society can be your ultimate resource for finding help. Keep this information with your medical records for reference. Verify insurance coverage in other areas beforehand. Call your insurance agency to find out what coverage you have in other areas and what doctors or hospitals you are available to use. This is especially helpful if you know what city you may evacuate to. Keep all medicines with you in a waterproof container. Keep all medications with you with your name and dosage clearly labeled. Label the bag they are store in with your name, address, and phone number as well. You will want to keep these with your medical history or include a copy of them with the meds. Updated: May 24, 2006

Microcapsules Open In Tumor Cells 26 Aug 2006 Medicines are most helpful when they directly affect the diseased organs or cells - for example, tumour cells. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam, Germany, and Ludwig-Maximilian-University in Munich, have come one step closer to that goal: they have intentionally released a substance in a tumour cell. The scientists placed the substance in a tiny capsule which gets channelled into cancer cells, and is then "unpacked" with a laser impulse. The laser light cracks its polymer shell by heating it up and the capsule'TMs contents are released. (Angewandte Chemie, July 2006). Treating malignant tumours is difficult. Doctors have to destroy the tumour, but healthy tissue needs to be preserved. Chemotherapy tends to kill diseased cells, at the same time causing great damage to the body in general. So scientists are looking for ways to destroy only the rampant tumour cells. One way to achieve this is to transport substances inside of microcapsules into the tumour cells and release them there. Researchers led by Andre Skirtach and Gleb Sukhorukov at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam, Germany, along with Wolfgang Parak at Ludwig-Maximilian-University in Munich, have now used a laser as a means of opening microcapsules inserted into a tumour cell. The capsules subsequently release their contents, a fluorescent test substance, into the cell. The scientists used a light microscope to monitor how the luminous materials distribute themselves within the cell. The vehicle that the researchers used was a polymer capsule only a few micrometres in diameter. The walls of the capsules were built from a number of layers of charged polymers, alternating positive and negative. In the laboratory, at least, this is an established way of producing transport containers for medicines, cosmetics, or nutrients, which can also pass through cell membranes. Andre Skirtach and his colleagues equipped the capsules with a kind of "open sesame". But it didn't require any magic - just nanoparticles made of gold or silver atoms. The scientists mixed together charged metal nanoparticles along with the polymers composing the walls of the vesicle. The tumour cells absorbed the microcapsules and then the scientists aimed an infrared laser at them. Metal nanoparticles are particularly good at absorbing the laser light and transmitting the heat further into their surroundings, heating up the walls. They became so hot that the bonds broke between the polymers and the shell and the capsules eventually opened. For the time being, the scientists have only been trying out their methods on isolated tumour cells. "In principle, however, active substances could be released into the body this way," says Helmuth Mohwald, director of the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, and one of the participating scientists. This has to (do) with the fact that infrared laser light can penetrate at least one centimetre deep into the tissue. The cells of the body heat up negligibly because laser light at this wavelength is insignificantly absorbed in the tissue. It is the metal particles in the walls of the microcapsules only that absorb the light - even when the microcapsules are in a cell, because the laser affects only them. Besides using a "thermal opener", the scientists have found another way of making the capsules more stable. They simply heat up the newly created microcapsules very slightly, so that the diameter of the hollow capsules becomes smaller. At the same time, the molecules in their shell are located closer to each other, thickening the capsule walls and better protecting their contents. There is still, however, a major problem to solve before scientists can use this technology to create medicines which squeeze microcapsules into tumour cells. There is still no way to "steer" the microcapsules. Helmuth Mohwald says, "we have to add some kind of feature to the capsules so that they only recognise the target cells." Only these cells would then allow microcapsules through their membrane. ### Original work: Andre G. Skirtach, Amudena Munoz Javier, Oliver Kreft, Karen Kohler, Alicia Piera Alberola, Helmuth Mohwald, Wolfgang J. Parak and Gleb B. Sukhorukov Laser-Induced Release of Encapsulated Materials inside Living Cells Angewandte Chemie (July 5, 2006) Contact: Dr. Andre Skirtach Max-Planck-Gesellschaft Article URL: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medical ... wsid=50395

Hello Mary and welcome, I am sorry you had reason to find us but very glad that you have. This is a wonderful site, full of caring and compassionate people who will be here for you to offer support and a shoulder to lean on. Please let us know how we can help, Chris

Lori I am just heartbroken for you and your family. Sending you and your family extra prayers, Hugs Chris

Larry, Part of the reason I found this site is because there is or was so little out there for Lung Cancer victims, families, etc. I had no idea how huge this issue was until my friend was diagnosed and in the end, lost to this beast. I am so very grateful to this site and to the people here for everything they do each day to make this hell more bearable. My mission or goal so to speak is to make a difference however I can and to make sure people know that LUNG CANCER IS NOT A PUNISHMENT IT IS A DISEASE THAT STRIKES WITHOUT DISCRIMINATION. Brad never in his life smoked, which made his diagnosis twice as shocking. He was young and healthy and just a vibrant and ALIVE man. In 3 short months this disease took him. It was and continues to be a painful lesson to me and my family. I made a promise last year that I would never give up trying to find a cure, an answer and along the way to do what I can to help others fighting this beast. I intend to keep that promise...... So I for one understand what you are saying, and I am proud to be a part of the effort to educate and help this fight however I can. Geesh this turned into a rant of sorts, I am sorry about that. Hugs Chris

Amanda I cannot offer more than the great advice and suggestions you have been given here. I do think a 2nd opinion is always a good bet. You and your family are in my thoughts and prayers. Please keep us posted... Chris

Becky What an awesome tattoo. The reasoning behind it is even more impressive. Thanks for sharing this. Chris

Lori, I cannot add to what the others have suggested, speak to the Hospice folks and see if there is a possibility of having the dosage of meds changed. I am so sorry this is happening. Sending you prayers and hugs Chris

Lynda I am so sorry you had the need to find this site but I am very glad you posted and shared your story with us. As the others have already pointed out, we do understand what you are going through and we will do whatever we can to help you along this journey. Please keep us posted on your mom and remember, we are here and we care... Sending prayers to you, your mom and your family, Chris

Denise, No words of advice, just hugs and continued prayers. I am very glad you and your dad have been able to forge a bond now. Out of the negative truly came a positive for you.. Chris

Wow~ what an amazing and uplifting story. Thank you for sharing this! Chris

Great news! Chris

Hi all I saw this and thought it was neat. Unfortunately I was not sure where to post it and I hope this forum is acceptable to share it in. Chris Famed Chicago 'cancer' fish, Bubba the Grouper, goes belly up at 24 Thu Aug 24, 11:29 AM CHICAGO (AP) - Bubba the Grouper, the first fish in history known to have received chemotherapy and bounce back from cancer, has died, the Shedd Aquarium said Wednesday. Shedd officials estimate Bubba, who became an instant celebrity and an inspiration to cancer patients when news of the chemotherapy was first announced, was an estimated 24 years old when he died Tuesday. The 69.3-kilogram "super grouper" was abandoned at the Chicago aquarium in 1987, left at the reception desk in a bucket. Shedd officials nursed the fish - then a she - to health and put her in a tank. Bubba changed gender in the mid-1990s, which is not uncommon for certain kinds of fish. Bubba was diagnosed with cancer in 2001, and two years later, Shedd officials took the unprecedented step of administering chemotherapy. Cancer survivors, particularly children, were inspired by Bubba's story of resilience, and he was a Shedd favourite, officials said. "Bubba overcame some incredible odds over the years, and that's what made him so special to us," said George Parsons, director of the Shedd's Fish department. "Every once in a while for the last three years we have been getting phone calls from kids with cancer or from their parents, wondering how he is doing," Parsons said. "It's going to be tough now, if I have to tell them he's no longer with us." A preliminary animal autopsy showed Bubba had some age-related health issues and several abnormal growths.

GREAT News!!!!!!!!!! Chris Love the "artifact" note, lol

http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/thin ... M/allpages This was a really informative site for CAM. I did a lot of research into various alternative therapies last year and this was one of the more informative links I found..

Brian and Joanie Continued prayers and positive thoughts! Hoping this will all be over and done soon for both of you. Chris

Debi Congrats on this latest milestone! Like the others, I will be waiting to hear the explanation from the bus driver. Chris