Barb73

Dear Sharon, Keep that positive thinking going. That is key. Without it, we have negativity, which can compromise the immune system. Just to put my imprimater on my statement, I can develop a cold sore on my lip when under stress, and/or shingles when under severe stress. We know this inately, but we are human, and fall prey to doubts. Yes, they are there, but not being given too much headway. We are LIVING with lung cancer. Those prayers are so very appreciated. There is power in that - lots of power, and we need them. We will keep doing what we are doing. This week it's getting up every morning to get over to the cancer center for Bill's Neupogen injection. Today following that, we made a swing over to our son's house to give him his birthday present, and then on home to feed the cats (two), and complete some errands. We are being strong. Many blessings are wished for you, Sharon, Barbara

Hello Linda, I am so glad that you are able to reply and work the message board. You need the support as I know I do. Receiving answers and suggestions during this is crucial. It is the connection to others who have walked this walk that helps immeasurably. Please keep posting, Linda, and letting others know the remarkable journey you have experienced, and it is truly remarkable. Thank you for giving me a "hello." I appreciate your thoughtfulness. It gave me a smile. Love you, Barbara

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120700289277678397.html Article: . . . . . . . . . How to Support a Loved One Reeling From Cancer Diagnosis By ELIZABETH BERNSTEIN April 1, 2008; Page D1 A few years ago, my sister called to tell me my mother had just been diagnosed with leukemia. After we hung up and I prepared to call my mom, I realized I had absolutely no idea what to say to her. It took me four hours to make the call. I learned a lasting lesson that day: There isn't anything correct to say to someone reeling from the shock of a cancer diagnosis. But in helping my mom through her illness, I also discovered that some ways of showing support are better than others. And while there's no right approach, there may indeed be wrong things to say or do. Even as the medical community has gotten better at detecting and treating cancer early -- allowing many patients to live longer -- people are understandably overwhelmed by the devastating news of a diagnosis. So family and friends grapple with how to best offer comfort. Not every cancer patient wants the same type of support. Some want to talk about their illness and accept help willingly. Others struggle to preserve their independence and behave, at least outwardly, as if nothing is wrong. So how do you know how best to offer assistance to someone struggling with a serious illness? I posed this question to oncologists, psychologists and patients. "Loved ones don't know what to do, and they don't want to make a terrible error," says Marisa Weiss, an oncologist and founder of Breastcancer.org, a nonprofit organization. "This fear keeps people from doing anything." While that's the worst mistake you can make, experts say, there are a number of other slip-ups. Well-meaning friends and family members often ask inappropriate questions, such as the patient's prognosis. They offer theories on why their loved one got sick, give unsolicited advice or insist that "everything is going to be just fine." When Lori Hope was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2002, she says many people asked her if she had been a smoker. Some told her of people they knew who had died of cancer. One friend asked why she was going on vacation since she would probably worry the whole time. "People tend to rush in without thinking," she says. In response, Ms. Hope wrote a book, "Help Me Live: 20 Things People with Cancer Want You to Know." Her advice: Admit you don't know what to say. Apologize in advance for doing or saying anything upsetting. Then be sure to tell your friend you will be there for her. "Bumbling is OK," says Susan Brace, a psychologist in Evergreen, Colo., whose specialty is treating terminally ill patients. "You're in a situation you've never been in before, so you make up the rules as you go along." In general, experts say, you should take your lead from the person who is sick. If she wants to talk about her illness, then listen. Don't be afraid of emotions. "Being there, listening and being supportive is a powerful role," Dr. Weiss says. "If the person feels comfortable crying in front of you, be honored, because you fulfilled a really important need." It's critical not to treat your friend just as a patient. So remember to ask about other aspects of her life, such as her children. Ask her permission before you share news of her illness with others. Don't recommend books or treatments without first inquiring if she'd like to hear about them. You should also ask exactly what type of help your loved one needs. You can offer to pick up groceries, provide transportation or return phone calls. And don't be deterred if your offer of help is declined. People who are diagnosed with a major illness often don't know what they will need at first. In addition, accepting help can be frightening for people accustomed to being independent. Keep offering help. And if your friend, co-worker or family member isn't returning calls, don't take it personally. She may not have the energy or time to call you back. Stay in touch anyway. As cancer awareness has grown in recent years, so have the resources to help people offer support to patients. Web sites for the American Cancer Society (www.cancer.org) and the National Cancer Institute (www.cancer.gov) offer information for caregivers, family and friends. There are books, too: "Help Me Live," by Ms. Hope; "What Can I Do to Help," by Deborah Hutton; "Cancer Etiquette," by Rosanne Kalick; "The Etiquette of Illness," by Susan P. Halpern. In short, there is help for people who want to help their friends and loved ones. "You should be there for your friends," says Howard Leventhal, professor of psychology at Rutgers University and director of the Center for the Study of Health Beliefs and Behavior. "And being there doesn't require much more than enduring their pain and trying to be useful." . . . . . . . . . (WSJ, Health Journal, Elizabeth Bernstein, April 1, 2008) Disclaimer: The information contained in these articles may or may not be in agreement with my own opinions. They are not posted as medical advice of any kind.

Hello Margot , I offer you a warm welcome. You have come to a very caring and informative community. All the best, Barbara

http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/p ... 006/news01 . . . . . . . . . Researchers find 'double whammy' gene tied to smoking dependency WASHINGTON (AP) -- Scientists have pinpointed a genetic link that makes people more prone to get hooked on tobacco, smoke more cigarettes longer, and develop deadly lung cancer. The discovery by three separate teams of scientists makes the strongest case so far for the biological underpinnings of the addiction of smoking and how genetics and cigarettes combine in cancer, experts said. And it may lay the groundwork for more tailored quit-smoking treatments. "This is kind of a double whammy gene," said Christopher Amos, a professor of epidemiology at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and author of one of the studies. "It also makes you more likely to be dependent on smoking and less likely to quit smoking." A smoker who inherits this genetic variation from both parents has an 80 percent greater chance of lung cancer than a smoker without the variants, the researchers reported. And that same smoker on average lights up two extra cigarettes a day and has a much harder time quitting than smokers who don't have these genetic differences. The three studies, funded by governments in the U.S. and Europe, is being published Thursday in the journals Nature and Nature Genetics. The scientists surveyed genetic markers in more than 35,000 people in Europe, Canada and the United States, zeroing in on the same set of genetic differences. They aren't quite sure if what they found is a set of variations on one gene or on three closely connected genes. But they said the result is the same: These genetic quirks increase the risk of addiction and lung cancer. The studies' authors disagreed on whether the set of variants directly increased the risk of lung cancer or did so indirectly by causing more smoking that led to the cancer. The genetic variations, which encode nicotine receptors on cells, could eventually help explain some of the mysteries of chain smoking, nicotine addiction and lung cancer that can't be chalked up to environmental factors, brain biology and statistics, experts said. These oddities include why there are 100-year-old smokers who don't get cancer and people who light up an occasional cigarette and don't get hooked. In the last 40 years, the rate of adult Americans smoking has been cut from 42 percent in 1965 to less than 21 percent now. The new studies point to surprising areas of the genes not associated with pleasure and addiction rewards. That may help explain why people have trouble quitting, said Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse in Bethesda, Md., which funded one of the studies. Eventual testing for the genetic variants could lead to custom treatments for quitting smoking. "This is really telling us that the vulnerability to smoking and how much you smoke is clearly biologically based," said psychiatry professor Dr. Laura Bierut, of Washington University in St. Louis, and a genetics and smoking expert who did not take part in the studies. She praised the research as "very intriguing." The studies mostly looked at smokers and ex-smokers -- although two of the studies also looked at several hundred nonsmokers. The research only involved white people of European descent. People of Asian and African descent will be studied soon and may yield quite different results, scientists said. Smoking-related diseases worldwide kill about one in 10 adults, according to the World Health Organization. The studies show on average the consequences of the set of variations in the alphabet of genetic code that people inherit from each parent: -- Smokers who get the set of variants from only one parent see a risk of lung cancer that is about one-third higher than people without any variants. They also smoke about one more cigarette a day on average than other smokers. This group makes up about 45 percent of the population studied. -- Smokers who inherit the variants from both parents have almost a one in four chance of developing lung cancer. Their risk is between 70 and 80 percent higher than the cancer risk of other smokers without the genetic variants. They smoke on average of two extra cigarettes a day, and have a 45 percent higher risk of peripheral artery disease. This group accounts for about one in nine people of European descent. -- Smokers who don't have the variants are still more than 10 times more likely to get lung cancer than nonsmokers. Smokers without the variant overall have about a 14 percent risk of getting lung cancer. By comparison the risk of lung cancer for people who have never smoked is less than 1 percent, said another study author, Paul Brennan of the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France. Brennan and Amos, working on different teams, linked the genetic variation itself -- when triggered by smoking -- directly to lung cancer. Brennan said the nicotine receptors that the variants act on also can stimulate tumor growth. Brennan's study also found that lung cancer risk for nonsmokers with the variants was higher than for those without the variants. However, his small sample size of nonsmokers requires further study. Amos' study didn't find increased lung cancer risk for people with the set of variants who have never smoked. But Kari Stefansson, lead author of the largest of the three studies and chief executive of deCode Genetics of Iceland, said the increased lung cancer risk was indirect, and that the variant caused more addiction and more smoking. It was the extra cigarettes from increased daily smoking and the inability to quit that contributed to the higher cancer risk, Stefansson said. "It's very likely that in the end there's going to be a test and this is going to be folded into a panel of tests for the risk of cancers," said Stefansson, whose company already does prostate cancer genetic tests. The tests will lead to better treatments, but probably not prevention of smoking, he said. Stefansson and others emphasize that people without the variants should not take that genetic finding as a green light to smoke. There are other smoking-related diseases and they would still be at high risk of lung cancer. For Stefansson, the research hits home. His father, a smoker, died of lung cancer. And Stefansson, who doesn't smoke, frequently lectures his 23-year-old daughter "who smokes like a chimney." She acts like she is immortal and smoking can't kill her, Stefansson said. But his own research shows that her genes are probably stacked against her. . . . . . . . . . (CourierPostOnline.com, South Jersey, Seth Borenstein, AP, April 2, 2008) Disclaimer: The information contained in these articles may or may not be in agreement with my own opinions. They are not posted as medical advice of any kind.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/ ... 040108.php Boston University "Researchers develop new method to test for lung cancer Boston, MA--Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine have developed a new “clinicogenomic model” to accurately test for lung cancer. The model combines a specific gene expression for lung cancer as well as clinical risk factors. These findings currently appear on-line in the journal Cancer Prevention Research. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States and the world, with more than one million deaths worldwide annually. Eighty-five to 90 percent of subjects with lung cancer in the United States are current or former smokers with 10 to 20 percent of heavy smokers developing this disease. A previous study by the same researchers reported a gene expression biomarker capable of distinguishing cytologically normal large airway epithelial cells from smokers with and without lung cancer. However, the biomarker has limited sensitivity depending on the stage and the location of the cancer. Studying current and former smokers undergoing bronchoscopies for suspicion of lung cancer, the researchers compared the likelihood of the subjects having lung cancer using the biomarker, the clinical risk factors and a combination of the two -- clinicogenomic model. They found patients using the clinicogenomic model had increased sensitivity, specificity, positive value and negative predictive value of their cancer compared to the other methods. “Our data suggests that the clinicogenomic model might serve to identify patients who would benefit from further invasive testing, thereby expediting the diagnosis and treatment for their malignancy,” said senior author Avrum Spira, MD, an assistant professor of medicine and pathology at Boston University School of Medicine. According to the researchers, it is hoped this prediction model will expedite more invasive testing and appropriate therapies for smokers with lung cancer as well as reduce invasive diagnostic procedures for individuals without lung cancer. ### Funding for this study was provided by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and National Institutes of Health and National Cancer Institute grants. Spira is a pulmonary and critical care medicine physician at Boston Medical Center and is one of the founders of Allegro Diagnostics Inc., a molecular diagnostics company that plans to market the gene expression biomarker." (Eureka Alert, Press Release, April 1, 2008) Disclaimer: The information contained in these articles may or may not be in agreement with my own opinions. They are not posted as medical advice of any kind.

http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/539044/?sc=dwhn "Warning: FOR CLINICIANS AND PATIENTS Fasting before chemotherapy has unknown risks and benefits for humans, Longo cautioned. Only clinical trials can establish the effectiveness and safety of fasting before chemotherapy. “Don’t try and do this at home. We need to do the studies,” said Quinn, the USC Norris oncologist." ARTCLE: Contains Video. "Newswise — Fasting for two days protects healthy cells against chemotherapy, according to a study appearing online the week of Mar. 31 in PNAS Early Edition. Mice given a high dose of chemotherapy after fasting continued to thrive. The same dose killed half the normally fed mice and caused lasting weight and energy loss in the survivors. The chemotherapy worked as intended on cancer, extending the lifespan of mice injected with aggressive human tumors, reported a group led by Valter Longo of the University of Southern California. Test tube experiments with human cells confirmed the differential resistance of normal and cancer cells to chemotherapy after a short period of starvation. Making chemotherapy more selective has been a top cancer research goal for decades. Oncologists could control cancers much better, and even cure some, if chemotherapy were not so toxic to the rest of the body. Experts described the study as one of a kind. “This is a very important paper. It defines a novel concept in cancer biology,” said cancer researcher Pinchas Cohen, professor and chief of pediatric endocrinology at the University of California, Los Angeles. “In theory, it opens up new treatment approaches that will allow higher doses of chemotherapy. It’s a direction that’s worth pursuing in clinical trials in humans.” Felipe Sierra, director of the Biology of Aging Program at the National Institute on Aging, said: “This is not just one more anti-cancer treatment that attacks the cancer cells. To me, that’s an important conceptual difference.” Sierra was referring to decades of efforts by thousands of researchers working on “targeted delivery” of drugs to cancer cells. Study leader Longo focused instead on protecting all the other cells. Sierra added that progress in cancer care has made patients more resilient and able to tolerate fasting, should clinical trials confirm its usefulness. “We have passed the stage where patients arrive at the clinic in an emaciated state. Not eating for two days is not the end of the world,” Sierra said. “This could have applicability in maybe a majority of patients,” said David Quinn, a practicing oncologist and medical director of USC Norris Hospital and Clinics. He predicted that many oncology groups would be eager to test the Longo group’s findings, and advised patients to look for a clinical trial near home. Longo, an anti-aging researcher who holds joint appointments in gerontology and biological sciences at USC, said that the idea of protecting healthy cells from chemotherapy may have seemed impractical to cancer researchers, because the body has many different cells that respond differently to many drugs. “It was almost like an idea that was not even worth pursuing. In fact it had to come from the anti-aging field, because that’s what we focus on: protecting all cells at once,” Longo said. “What really was missing was a perspective of someone from the aging field to give this field a boost,” UCLA’s Cohen said. The idea for the study came from the Longo group’s previous research on aging in cellular systems, primarily lowly baker’s yeast. About five years ago, Longo was thinking about the genetic pathways involved both in the starvation response and in mammalian tumors. When the pathways are silenced, starved cells go into what Longo calls a maintenance mode characterized by extreme resistance to stresses. In essence the cells are waiting out the lean period, much like hibernating animals. But tumors by definition disobey orders to stop growing because the same genetic pathways are stuck in an “on” mode. That could mean, Longo realized, that the starvation response might differentiate normal and cancer cells by their stress resistance, and that healthy cells might withstand much more chemotherapy than cancer cells. The shield for healthy cells does not need to be perfect, Longo said. What matters is the difference in stress resistance between healthy and cancerous cells. During the study, conducted both at USC and in the laboratory of Lizzia Raffaghello at Gaslini Children’s Hospital in Genoa, Italy, the researchers found that current chemotherapy drugs kill as many healthy mammalian cells as cancer cells. “(But) we reached a two to five-fold difference between normal and cancer cells, including human cells in culture. More importantly, we consistently showed that mice were highly protected while cancer cells remained sensitive,” Longo said. If healthy human cells were just twice as resistant as cancer cells, oncologists could increase the dose or frequency of chemotherapy. “We were able to reach a 1,000-fold differential resistance using a tumor model in baker’s yeast. If we get to just a 10-20 fold differential toxicity with human metastatic cancers, all of a sudden it’s a completely different game against cancer,” Longo said. “Now we need to spend a lot of time talking to clinical oncologists to decide how to best proceed in the human studies.” Edith Gralla, a research professor of chemistry at UCLA, said: “It is the sort of opposite of the magic bullet. It’s the magic shield.” Funding from the study came from NIA (part of the National Institutes on Health), the USC Norris Cancer Center and the Associazione Italiana per la Lotta al Neuroblastoma. USC graduate student Changhan Lee and Gaslini’s Raffaghello performed key experiments. The other authors were Fernando Safdie, Min Wei and Federica Madia of USC, and Giovanna Bianchi of Gaslini. Longo has been studying aging at the cellular level for 15 years, and has published in the nation’s leading scientific journals. He is the Albert L. and Madelyne G. Hanson Family Trust Associate Professor in the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology with joint appointments as associate professor of biological sciences in the USC College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, and in the Norris Cancer Center." (NewsWise, Medical News, Source: University of Southern California, March 31, 2008) Disclaimer: The information contained in these articles may or may not be in agreement with my own opinions. They are not posted as medical advice of any kind.

Hello Bucky , Thank you for the very kind and positive welcome. As you may imagine, I am very happy to be here. I feel connected to support again. Being out there with no safety line, even for a little bit, was unsettling. Thanks again to you, and all for throwing me the lifesaver. Hugs to you, Bucky, Barbara

Dear Robbi, Please accept my condolences. You and your family are in my thoughts and my prayers. I am so very sorry for your loss. Barbara

http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/c ... ?show=74#3 FDA is alerting healthcare professionals about new safety warnings for Chantix (varenicline), a drug used to help people stop smoking. Chantix has been linked to serious neuropsychiatric problems, including changes in behavior, agitation, depressed mood, suicidal ideation and suicide. The drug can cause an existing psychiatric illness to worsen, or an old psychiatric illness to recur. The symptoms can occur even after the drug is discontinued. People who are trying to give up smoking often experience mood swings, irritability and other changes in behavior. But as the reports accumulate, it becomes clearer that there is a link with the drug. For example, some of the patients who experienced these psychiatric symptoms hadn't actually quit smoking. Physicians and patients have to make an informed decision about whether Chantix is suitable, but in order to do that, it's important that they exchange some important information. For example, physicians should inquire about past psychiatric illnesses before they prescribe Chantix, and patients should be educated to volunteer this information. The premarketing studies of Chantix did not include patients with serious psychiatric illnesses, so the safety of Chantix in these patients hasn't been established. It is also important for everyone involved in the patient's care (including family members and caregivers) to be vigilant about changes in mood and behavior during the treatment. Things to watch out for include anxiety, nervousness, depressed mood, vivid or unusual dreams, and thinking about or attempting suicide. These changes should be immediately reported to the physician. Patients should also know that the drug can impair their ability to drive or operate heavy machinery. To help educate patients about all of these issues, FDA is working with Pfizer, the manufacturer of Chantix, to develop a Medication Guide that will be dispensed with each prescription. (FDA Alert, April 2008) Additional Information: FDA MedWatch Safety Alert. Varenicline (marketed as Chantix). February 1, 2008. http://www.fda.gov/medwatch/safety/2008 ... arenicline FDA Press Release. FDA Issues Public Health Advisory on Chantix. February 1, 2008. http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2008/NEW01788.html Disclaimer: The information contained in these articles may or may not be in agreement with my own opinions. They are not posted as medical advice of any kind.

Kasey Dear, You have filled me with even more resolve through this most encouraging video. It has arrived at a moment in time when I needed it most. Thank you, Barbara

Dear All, This has been so interesting, and really good suggestions. I love this place! (It's where I need to be and am feeling the support.) Love to all of you guys. You are great. The "MY STORY" section will be my next stop. For today, it's infusion day, so pretty much filled in for "things to do." Thanks again. Barbara

This morning, Sunday, March 31, 2008, I edited all the extra signatures on each of Bill's profiles. It only took a "click" of the signature button on each. I realized when scrolling down, that all of Bill's profiles weren't needed on each and every post in an ongoing "conversation." This should make it easier for newcomers who arrive and wish to follow the conversation line. There won't be so much time spent scrolling my replies. I am learning. Barbara

Connie, Thank you for the information about the staging. and where to find it. That is extremely helpful. Just moving around this site, I can see that there are so many areas of expertise. It's truly a gold mine. This is a comfort to a re-"newbie" like me. Barbara

Hello Lisa I am so happy to see you Lisa. This board has wonderful people. They, too understand our journey with lung cancer. They are very special in their replies and caring, as you will discover. As to how this site works: The menu on the home page on the left has categories. The one I usually hit immediately is the "message board." After that takes you to the next page, there are many choices, NSCLC, General, SCLC, Family Members/Caregivers, etc., to name a few. Just reading the posts will give you an idea of the way to reply (the little quote button in upper right corner of posting window). It will all come to you, Lisa. If I didn't explain well enough message me, and I'll be there. Thank you so much for the caring for Bill and me. I am feeling the good wishes. This morning April 2, 2008, I edited the correct place for the location of the quote button. (Had said upper left corner when it is actually the UPPER RIGHT corner. Love, Barbara

Randy, Last summer, Bill and I had a little "honey-colored" bunny come into our side yard, and looked toward our dining room picture window. We had seen this little guy before, and always worried about him. Fall arrived, and winter passed, and this spring (only last week), he appeared once again. Bill and I peeked at this little "sign of spring" through our venetian blinds, and both of us took it as a sign (of something beautiful). Right now, as I read your posting, I am crying. I don't even know why. Barbara

All I have ever heard concerning any diagnoses of lung cancer regarding chemotherapy, is that NSCLC Stage IA does not require chemotherapy, nor is any chemotherapy advised. However, Stage IB is in the mix for chemotherapy - depending. After that, I think if I were that person (your neighbor's sister) I would seek a second opinion from a reliable source regarding this. My only credentials are that I have been reading medical news for three plus years. I know, that is not a diploma, but still, if I were your neighbor's sister I would head for a second opinion forthwith. Barbara

Hello Michele, Glad "meet" you and that you have joined us in posting. Please, let us know how you and your mother are doing. We will be looking forward to your visits. Barbara

Yes, Randy, I forgot to put each link into each article. Didn't see the edit button after having sent them. Just saw where the edit button is up there on the right. I'll put them in to each post. The links are in my files. Thank you for letting me know. Barbara

Randy, Thank you for your words. You are very kind. When I posted this morning, I completely forgot to put the links in to each item. I discovered it later when I rechecked, and didn't know how to edit once it was completed. I will do better next time. Barbara

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/101941.php March 28, 2008 Becky Sasaki has the quick laugh and easy smile of a woman who continues to thrive despite her four-year wrestling match with lung cancer. She still works every day in the family business, heads out for Thai food with her husband and baby sits for her energetic grandchildren. This winter when the cancer, which had metastasized, appeared in her brain for the third time, her oncologist prescribed a new breed of targeted cancer drugs to shrink the tumor. But before she could even fill the prescription, her doctor dispatched her to the Cancer Skin Care Program at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University. The goal: save her skin so she can continue to enjoy her active life. The targeted cancer drug she was about to take can have such disfiguring dermatologic side effects, some patients are embarrassed to be seen in public and hide at home. Others can't bear the extreme skin problems, such as severe acne, and toss their pills. Mario Lacouture, M.D., founder and director of the pioneering Cancer Skin Care Program, waited patiently for Sasaki until 6:30 p.m., the soonest she could arrive from her appointment with the oncologist. Lacouture wanted to arm her with an arsenal of specially formulated lotions and drugs to head off potentially devastating skin problems. He launched the skin cancer program - the first in the country - about a year ago to parry the painful skin conditions caused by these drugs. "We are trying to help people keep their dignity and quality of life," said Lacouture, an assistant professor of dermatology at Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine and a dermatologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. He often sees patients the same day they call for an appointment, an intentionally lightning-fast response. Generally, patients need to wait weeks or longer for an appointment with a dermatologist. "These people don't have that luxury of time," explained Lacouture. "If the side effects become severe, they are taken off the anticancer medicines." He keeps half of his weekly schedule open so he is always available for urgent, last minute appointments. And the clinic phone number is actually a pager to a nurse coordinator, so cancer patients receive a swift return call. When Lacouture met with Sasaki, he prescribed four specially formulated creams including sunscreen, a body moisturizing cream to ward off the severely dry and itchy "alligator" skin, a topical steroid ointment for her face and medicated shampoo. He also recommended an ophthalmologist for dry eyes -- another unpleasant side effect. "This has made a huge difference," said Sasaki, 57, a Chicago resident. "I can't even imagine what I would look like at this point without these medications. You don't want to go out and get stared at." As new skin problems erupt - like the recent painful, split skin on her fingers - Sasaki visits Lacouture for new potions. Cancer patients' skin problems erupted in 2004 with the emergence of a powerful new class of chemotherapy agents. These agents attack specific proteins in cancer cells rather than the "spray gun approach" of conventional chemotherapy that "basically shoots at everything and kills all kinds of cells," Lacouture said. The new agents minimize the side effects of traditional chemotherapy so patients lose less hair and don't suffer from plummeting white blood cell counts, which leave them vulnerable to infections. The new drugs work by destroying a protein called the EGFR, which naturally occurs in the skin, but also helps cancer cells thrive. In the top four deadliest cancers - lung, breast, colorectal and pancreatic - cancer cells start churning out huge amounts of EGFR to feed themselves and self propagate. The drugs that attack EGFR are prescribed for patients - about 100,00 so far - whose cancer has not responded to conventional chemotherapy. But EGFR, which the drugs so handily wipe out, also is critical for the normal function of skin. Thus, about 90 percent of patients who take it have skin problems so serious that they feel embarrassed by their appearance. "They get a rash that looks like acne that covers their entire face and chest and back. And it's itchy and tender," said Lacouture. "Acne in a 15 year old is not surprising, but when you're talking about severe acne in a 50 year old, that's not normal. So friends and acquaintances ask them, 'Hey, what's wrong with your face?' "So that person has to say, ' I have cancer.' Not everyone who has cancer likes to go out and tell everyone. And every time they look in the mirror they are reminded they have cancer. It heaps more misery on an already difficult situation." Lacouture said most physicians are not yet aware of how to treat these dermatologic side effects. He receives e-mails with questions from patients as far away as Australia, Europe and South Africa. Each patient responds differently to dermatological treatments. Lacouture is analyzing the outcomes of 150 of his patients to determine the most effective interventions for the acne rash. He also is testing the effectiveness of newer drugs against the acne rash in a new study. The Northwestern University program is a unique collaboration between oncologists, dermatologists and ophthalmologists in which there is a seamless treatment of these patients. The clinic is now being modeled in other places around the country. As for Becky Sasaki, she just hosted two of her grandchildren for a sleepover. "My skin looks good and my grandchildren still want to be near me. That means everything to me." ---------------------------- Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. ---------------------------- Source: Marla Paul Disclaimer: The information contained in these articles may or may not be in agreement with my own opinions. They are not posted as medical advice of any kind.

Hello and a warm welcome to you, Hidilynn, I couldn't have chosen a place better than this. Its membership has knowledge, warmth, and support ("are there for you"). I think you will find it the same. Having your friend in your life is a great blessing for both of you, raising two children is also and amazing feat. All of our children are "forty-something." Our grandchildren are your children's ages. They keep us current. So very glad you came here, albeit not for the reason. Please continue posting about your journey so that we can get to know you better? We would love to see you here again. Barbara

When Bill was first diagnosed, the oncologist told us that he would be treating Bill's disease as a chronic. I asked him. "What happens if it "pops up" somewhere else?" He said, "Then we get it where it's at." I asked if there were any long-time survivors. He said, "They are out there, not in large numbers, but they are out there." He looked at Bill and said, "You may one day die of this." From that moment on, our attitude has been to give it hell. We are in the business of LIVING with lung cancer. Since no one knows what each person's response may be to various drugs/regimens, we cannot be apprised of the prognosis. Without belaboring the point, my mother was a 22-year survivor of colon cancer, Stage IV, mets to liver (diagnosed at age 53/died at age 75). She received surgery and no other treatment. They removed the main tumor, left in the mets, and we asked the doctor, "What is her prognosis?" He said, "I am not God." He was right. Barbara

http://www.cancer.org/docroot/NWS/conte ... ode=print& Hairdressers and Barbers May Be At Increased Cancer Risk Article date: 2008/03/26 Regular exposure to hair dyes, processing agents, and other chemicals used in hair salons and barbershops probably increases cancer risk, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a World Health Organization panel that maintains the world's most commonly-used system for classifying carcinogens. But there’s not enough evidence to say whether personal use of these products is linked to elevated risk, according to the report. The IARC has labeled these occupations as "probably carcinogenic to humans," a classification the agency reserves for those exposures backed by fairly strong evidence. In 1993, the IARC found that hairdressers and barbers were probably exposed to cancer-causing substances, but at that time, evidence of an increased cancer risk in this population was "inadequate." This week's report, published in the Lancet Oncology, is based on a review epidemiological studies published since that time. Some of the products used by hairdressers and barbers--such as dyes, pigments, rubber chemicals, and curing agents—have been found to cause tumors in rats in laboratory studies or have been known to cause bladder cancer in humans. In some studies, increased risk has been associated with permanent dyes and use of darker-colored hair dyes. IARC researchers found a small, but consistent, risk of bladder cancer among male hairdressers and barbers. However, according to the American Cancer Society's Michael Thun, MD, vice president, epidemiology and surveillance research, "it was unclear whether that was caused by past exposure to chemicals that are no longer used or continuing exposure to ingredients in contemporary products." Some coloring agents were discontinued in the 1970s because lab studies revealed they had cancer-causing properties. "IARC classifications are particularly important for regulatory agencies that have direct responsibility for workplace safety," says Dr. Thun. "Workers can reduce skin exposure to these products by wearing gloves." Some studies have looked at whether personal use of hair dyes is associated with an increased risk of bladder cancer, leukemia, multiple myeloma, Hodgkin disease, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, lung cancer, breast cancer, oral cancer, and cervical cancer, but according to the IARC, the evidence for a link thus far is "inadequate." The IARC's findings on this topic will be published as Volume 99 of the IARC Monographs. For more information on this topic, see the American Cancer Society documents, Known and Probable Carcinogens and Hair Dyes. (American Cancer Society, March 26, 2008) Disclaimer: The information contained in these articles may or may not be in agreement with my own opinions. They are not posted as medical advice of any kind.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 164437.htm ScienceDaily (Mar. 28, 2008) — Researchers at the National Sun Yat-Sen University and Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan have revealed a new mechanism by which nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) attenuate tumor invasion and metastasis. The research provides new insights for the understanding of the anti-cancer effects of NSAIDs. NSAIDs have been used for the suppression of pain and inflammation in the clinic for many years. The main targets of these drugs are cyclooxygenases (COXs) which play critical roles in maintaining physiological homeostasis, mediating inflammatory reactions and promoting tumorigenesis. However, COX-independent effects are also important for the inhibition of cancer development by NSAIDs. Indeed, NSAIDs are considered as a novel class of effective chemopreventive drugs. The research team, led by Wen-Chun Hung, Dean of College of Science, National Sun Yat-Sen University, and a recent doctorial graduate Mei-Ren Pan and two collaborators Hui-Chiu Chang and Lea-Yea Chuang of Kaohsiung Medical University found that NSAIDs up-regulated several anti-metastatic genes including secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine (SPARC), thrombospindin-1 (TSP-1), TSP-3 and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase-2 (TIMP-2) in human lung cancer cells. "Our functional assay suggested that increases of SPARC and other anti-metastatic genes were important for NSAIDs to inhibit tumor invasion and metastasis" said Wen-Chun Hung. "More importantly, we elucidated the underlying mechanism and demonstrated that up-regulation of SPARC in human lung cancer cells was mediated via inhibition of DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs) expression and promoter de-methylation. This is the first report to show that NSAIDs may inhibit the expression of DNMTs to reverse promoter methylation and to reactivate gene transcription." The researchers say that hypermethylation of tumor suppressor genes is frequently found in many types of human cancer and is a crucial step for tumorigenesis. Recently, a number of de-methylating agents have been reported to exhibit potent anti-cancer effects in vitro and in vivo. Therefore, these agents are considered to be useful for cancer therapy. As a matter of fact, two de-methylating drugs 5-Azacitidine and 5-Aza-2'-deoxycytidine (decitabine) have been approved for the treatment of myelodysplastic syndromes, a heterogenous group of hematopoietic stem cell disorders that are multifactorial in their etiology. Hung says "our results indicate that NSAIDs may function as de-methylating agents via inhibition of DNMTs and may provide a new strategy for the treatment or prevention of cancer". Dr. Steven R. Goodman, Editor-in-Chief of Experimental Biology and Medicine, agrees and said "These unique findings by Dr. Hung and colleagues suggest an entirely new function for non-steroidal anti-inflamatory drugs in cancer therapy. This is an exciting advance for the field of Cancer biology". This research is to be published in the April 2008 issue of Experimental Biology and Medicine. (Science Daily, Latest Research News, March 28, 2008) Disclaimer: The information contained in these articles may or may not be in agreement with my own opinions. They are not posted as medical advice of any kind.