Articles

Breast cancer survivors who are able to let go of old goals and set new ones experience an improvement in overall well-being, according to a new collaborative study published in Psycho-Oncology. Read More ›

In a survey of 1500 people, participants were asked to list the potential warning signs of lung cancer, the most common cause of cancer death. Poor survey results left the study authors astonished.

Results included the following statistics:

Although satisfied with their cancer treatment, most African-American breast cancer survivors were never offered clinical trials opportunities or support services during or after their treatment, according to a study published online in Advances in Breast Cancer Research in April.

The American Cancer Society recently reported that maintaining a healthy weight, getting adequate physical activity, and eating a healthy diet can decrease the chance of recurrence and increase the chance of disease-free survival after a cancer diagnosis. The new recommendations are published early online in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.

Increasing evidence shows that for many cancers, excess weight, lack of exercise, and poor nutrition increase the risk of cancer recurrence and reduce the likelihood of disease-free and overall survival for cancer patients.

Q: Is it safe for women at risk for breast cancer–related lymphedema to lift weights?

Sarah is a 59-year-old female referred by her OB/GYN provider for genetic counseling and cancer risk assessment. She has never had a diagnosis of cancer, colonic polyps, or benign tumors. Additionally, she has never undergone any risk-reducing surgeries, and no family members have undergone genetic testing. When making her appointment, she expresses concern about her risk of pancreatic cancer because 2 of her brothers died of it (per medical records adenocarcinoma of the pancreas). What else would you want to know? 

Spring is upon us, and with it comes the prospect of new beginnings with flowers blooming and trees, plants, and bushes budding with the fruits and vegetables of the season. The warm breeze of spring brings motivation to start the “spring cleaning” of our diets. There is no better way to shape up a diet than to start incorporating more cruciferous vegetables into the diet.

Imagine being newly diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), a neoplasm of hematopoietic stem cells caused by the Philadelphi chromosome t(9;22). In decades past, individuals diagnosed with CML were offered allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (allo-HSCT). Survival rates with allo- HSCT are lower compared with newer therapies mainly due to the risk of graft-versus-host disease and infectious complications. Read More ›

Throughout this series, we have evaluated various challenges and barriers to optimizing care for patients with cancer. While it is evident that we have a long way to go with regard to making cancer therapy logistically easy, better tolerated, and less emotionally exhausting, the past decade has arguably brought us closer to achieving these goals. New oral chemotherapy drugs have freed some patients from the restraints of treatment within a cancer center’s infusion suite. New targeted therapies have increased survival and treatment-related efficacy while reducing adverse events.

An increasing number of cancers are treated with self-administered oral medications either as the sole treatment or as a component of the patient’s cancer therapy. Most supportive and palliative medications (including antiemetics, pain relievers, and antidiarrheals) are oral, and proper adherence to these agents may be important in maximizing the patient’s quality of life. As healthcare providers, we may believe that given the gravity of the disease, patients will be especially compliant with their oral anticancer medications. Read More ›