Caring About Cancer Patients

Time for Hope for Pancreatic Cancer

08/01/2013 13:16:00

The Greater Chicago Southwest Suburban Affiliate of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network invites you to join friends and neighbors for an unforgettable day of food, drinks, raffles, silent auction and guest speakers at the 9th Annual Time for Hope on Sunday, October 6. We hope you can join us and help continue to advance research, support patients and create hope!

Attendees will have the option to purchase individual tickets, or a table for 10, 11, or 12 guests.

Click here to purchase individual tickets.

Click here to purchase a table.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CLICK HERE.

Everyday Is October Event

07/31/2013 13:21:00

The Joiner Foundation would like to invite you to the launch party of my talk show slated to air in October. The event will take place on Friday, August 9 at Gallery Guichard. There is no cover charge and your attendance and support is greatly appreciated.

Pancreatic Cancer Action Network

07/31/2013 13:05:00

The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network would like you to join them for a free educational webinar:

JOIN US FOR A FREE WEBINAR!

Surgical Advances for Pancreatic Cancer

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

2:30 – 3:30 p.m., Pacific Time

Please note time zone differences below:

3:30 - 4:30 MDT • 4:30 - 5:30 CDT • 5:30 - 6:30 EDT

This webinar will highlight common surgical procedures for treating pancreatic cancer as well as advances in the field.

Speaker:

Gagandeep Singh, MD, FACS

Chief, Division of Surgical Oncology

City of Hope National Comprehensive Cancer Center

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing a link to join the webinar. The email will also include instructions for the audio portion of the webinar.

National African American Breast Cancer Conference Tour

07/17/2013 21:11:00

This is a very important conference. Save the date for your city or make plans to travel to the conference city.

Follow "Memoirs of Cancer" on Twitter.

RECALCITRANT CANCER RESEARCH ACT SPURS IMMEDIATE ACTION

07/09/2013 15:40:00

In response to the Recalcitrant Cancer Research Act, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) held a meeting last October with a working group of leading research experts in the field of pancreatic cancer. Recently, the NCI issued a report from that meeting entitled “Pancreatic Cancer: Scanning the Horizon for Focused Interventions.” This meeting report will form the basis for the full report required by the Recalcitrant Cancer Research Act, which is expected to be presented to Congress later this year. We are thrilled that the NCI has taken the first step toward implementing a scientific framework called for in the Recalcitrant Cancer Research Act. As such, we issued a press statement congratulating NCI’s leadership in issuing this initial report and on taking an important step toward accelerating scientific advances for pancreatic cancer.

The release of this report, which includes the identification of priority research initiatives in pancreatic cancer, further emphasizes the importance of our continuous advocacy efforts. In June, the organization hosted our annual Advocacy Day in DC with over 550 survivors, family members, researchers and supporters to urge Congress to create a permanent fix to sequestration and provide sustained and adequate funding for the NIH and NCI. These efforts are more vital than ever to ensure that we are able to leverage the opportunities that come out of the Recalcitrant Cancer Research Act, like those identified in the recent report released by NCI.

As part of our advocacy efforts, we have asked each member of Congress to demonstrate their support of sustained adequate funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and NCI by delivering a floor speech asking their colleagues in Congress to address these issues and citing the growing threat of pancreatic cancer as an example of why Congress must act on this request.

For more info on this topic click here:http://www.pancan.org/section_about/pancreas_matters_articles/july/progress-bill-passage-july-2013.php#.UdxzHzvVDng

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON A CANCER EXPERIENCE CLICK HERE.

Need Legal Help for Cancer Case?

06/30/2013 14:35:00

American Medical Experts

American Medical Experts is the nation’s leading source of medical experts for case review and for testimony. They’ve been helping the legal profession for thirty years, assisting more than 50,000 plaintiff and defense attorneys.

In Brief: How To Send My Case To AME

JD MD Inc.

This company involves board-certified experts who are physicians and dentists, providing great perspectives on medical malpractice. They offer case evaluations, expert witnesses, and support services to plaintiff and defense attorneys throughout the U.S. and Canada.

In Brief: Was Your Injury the Fault of the Hospital?

Gerry Oginski’s NY Medical Malpractice Blog

Gerry is a medical malpractice and accident trial lawyer who understands that trust in an attorney is important. He provides information about his specialty in his blog and through his videos, Facebook, and Twitter.

In Brief: Actual Deposition Testimony of Doctors in Malpractice Cases

All these services and more can be found at the site below. The site is basically for nurses, but they have some useful information links that a cancer patient could use if needed. I recommend checking the site out.

http://onlinefnp.com/nursing-law/

FOR MEDICAL INFORMATION ON THE CANCER EXPERIENCE CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE THE BOOK "MEMOIRS OF CANCER," THIS BOOK IS LOADED WITH PERTINENT CANCER INFORMATION.

PurpleStride Chicago 2013!

06/18/2013 22:18:00

PurpleStride Chicago 2013 was a huge success and the weather could not have been better as we returned to our 2011 event venue, Lincoln Park! Over 3,200 participants and 250 teams showed up to turn Lincoln Park-Montrose Harbor purple. Raising nearly $490,000, PurpleStride Chicago well surpassed 2012's event total. It was a powerful and inspiring day!

Strike Out Pancreatic Cancer with the Joliet Slammers

Over 230 supporters came out dressed in purple to watch the Joliet Slammers take on the River City Rascals on August 13th! All of the survivors were invited down onto the mound and one was able to throw out the first pitch of the game. Thank you to everyone who attended and created awareness for pancreatic cancer and the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network!

LOCAL EVENTS

9th Annual Time for Hope Benefit - Save the date!

Sunday, Oct 6, 2013

Crystal Grand Banquets

12416 Archer Avenue

Lemont, IL 60439

Wrestling For a Cure II

Saturday, Nov 2, 2013

The State Theatre

214 ½ S. Michigan Street

South Bend, IN 46601

Detecting Breast Cancer: Komen-Funded Researcher Explores the Universe of Sound

06/13/2013 11:42:00

Mammography has been the gold standard for breast cancer screening over the last four

decades, but it is not foolproof. It misses some cancers (false negatives) and incorrectly

identifies some breast features as cancer (false positives), resulting in unnecessary

biopsies, exposure to additional X-ray radiation, and discomfort for some women during

the procedure(s). Many scientists have been working on improving breast cancer

screening, but Komen-funded researcher Dr. Neb Duric, Professor of Oncology at

Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit Michigan, decided to look to the stars for answers,

and he has come one step closer to a real solution.

Looking into Space and Seeing Within

Twelve years ago, the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Center invited non-medical

scientists to a think tank workshop and tasked them with applying their knowledge to

identify and improve a current medical issue. For Dr. Neb Duric, then Professor and

Astronomer in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of New

Mexico in Albuquerque, the area for improvement was clear: medical imaging. “I knew

there were things we used in [astronomy] imaging that could be used for diagnostics in

early breast cancer,” Dr. Duric recollected. Taking pictures of very distant objects, such

as stars, often results in blurry images. For that reason, there is a constant effort in astronomy to create and

optimize methods aimed at increasing the quality of these images. Dr. Duric was no stranger to such efforts.

With his imaging expertise and the opportunity at Karmanos to extend his know-how to medical challenges, Dr.

Duric began his research in ultrasound (US) imaging for detecting breast cance

The Imaging Dilemma

While mammography can successfully identify breast cancer in many

women, it is particularly inefficient for women with dense breasts

who are at increased risk for developing breast cancer. In these

women, false negatives could be as high as 50%. However,

alternative screening methods do exist. Magnetic Resonance Imaging

(MRI) can image the breast by using powerful magnets and radio

waves to create up to dozens of pictures with just one scan; and, it is

about 80% effective at imaging dense breasts, compared to

mammography’s 50%. But, the scan is slow – 45 minutes to one hour

– and because of the design of the machine – the patient must lie on

a narrow table, which slides into a large tunnel-shaped scanner – the

procedure can be uncomfortable for some women. In addition, the

technique requires the injection of a contrast agent, which can produce adverse reactions in some patients.

Even more, MRI is costly for the hospital and patients – up to $2,000 per test. Computed Tomography (CT

scan), another X-ray imaging technique like mammography, can better image dense breasts, but it still exposes

patients to radiation.

The Sound of Imaging

Dr. Duric has been exploring a lower-cost, innovative way of screening for breast cancer called ultrasound

tomography (UST), which combines the low-cost advantage of mammography with the superior imaging

performance of MRI. “The fact that mammography fails in [women with dense breasts] is the reason why

alternatives are needed” says Dr. Duric. And, “MRI is not a viable option for screening the general population,

from an economic perspective,” he adds. UST uses high frequency sound waves to measure differences in

breast tissue stiffness to generate images of the breast. However, US imaging is not new to medicine; it has

been routinely used for the last 30 years.

Breast density is a feature that reflects

the ratio between dense tissue and fat

in the breast. Breasts that contain

more dense tissue than fat are referred

as dense. In a mammogram, dense

breast tissue can look white or light

gray, which is also how cancerous

tissue looks and is identified.

Ultrasound can do a better job

imaging tumors in dense tissue.

Dr. Neb Duric,

Professor of Oncology

at Karmanos Cancer

Institute in Detroit

Michigan.Stories of Discovery

Breast cancer – a rare, but possible diagnosis for men

06/13/2013 11:16:00

Although breast cancer in men is rare, it does happen. In the United States, about one percent of all breast cancers occur in men.1

We still have much to learn about breast cancer in men because the diagnosis is so rare. Most of what we know about breast cancer is related to breast cancer in women. While there are some similarities between breast cancer in women and men, there appear to be some differences. Here, we give a brief overview. This summary may be helpful if you or a man you know (or love) has been diagnosed with breast cancer.

What are the numbers?

In 2013, it is estimated that among U.S. men there will be:2

2,240 new cases of breast cancer (compared to 232,340 among women)

410 breast cancer deaths (compared to 39,620 among women)

Breast cancer rates in men have remained stable over the past 30 years.

The male breast

Boys and girls begin life with similar breast tissue. Over time, however, men do not have the same complex breast growth and development as women. At puberty, high testosterone and low estrogen levels stop breast development in males.

In adult women, breast tissue is a complex network of lobules and ducts in a pattern that looks like bunches of grapes (see image). Lobules are small round sacs that produce milk and ducts are the canals that carry milk from the lobules to the nipple openings during breastfeeding. In men, some milk ducts exist, but they remain undeveloped. Lobules are most often absent.

Types of breast cancer

For men (and women), most breast cancers begin in the milk ducts of the breast (invasive ductal carcinomas). Fewer than five percent of male breast cancers begin in the lobules (invasive lobular carcinoma).3-4 In rare cases, men can be diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer, ductal carcinoma in situ (a non-invasive breast cancer) or Paget disease of the breast (Paget disease of the nipple).5-6

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS TOPIC CLICK HERE.

Don't Let Cancer Ruin Your Love Life

05/29/2013 22:49:00

CANCER PATIENTS NEED ROMANTIC ATTENTION, AROMATHERAPY, AND MASSAGE THERAPY. LOVE IS ONGOING BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER CANCER. KEEP THE LOVE GOING. BUY FOR THEM AND YOU TODAY. Click here for more information.