Your Immune System and Cancer Treatment - Cancer Support Community Free Progam

Research into developing  immunotherapy treatments for various cancer has increased dramatically over the past few years. Here is a link to an article on the immunotherapy treatments for advanced melanoma and cervical cancer that were highlighted at the 2014 ASCO Annual meeting. 

In an effort to inform patients about immunotherapy treatments a free workshop on your immune system and immunotherapy as a cancer treatment will be presented in NJ.

Thursday , April 16, 2015

6:00-8:00 PM 

Bridgewater Manor

1251 US 202/206 

Bridgewater NJ

Dinner will be served.

Registration is required . Please contact Cancer Support Community Central Jersey at (908)-658-5400 to register (www.cancersupportcnj.org) .

Please click on the image above for speaker information and sponsors of the event.

Dee
Every Day is a Blessing! 

2013 KOH Dinner and Supporting Research

Last Saturday, my husband and I attended the Kaleidoscope of Hope Foundation's (KOH)  Annual Dinner and Awards Ceremony at Doolan's in Spring Lake.

A few years ago I was a member of the  Board of Directors of KOH. This dinner gave me the opportunity to catch up with my KOH friends and gave me a chance to speak one-on-one with the researchers that KOH supported. This year KOH gave two research grant awards.

The first award went to George Preti, PhD who works at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia. The Center is a non-profit institute that conducts basic research on taste and smell. Dr Preti's research is titled " A Novel Aproach to Ovarian Cancer: Screening Using an Interdisciplinary Investigation of Its Volatile Signature". Dr Preti will collaborate with researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and the project will study the volatile chemical signature of blood from women with ovarian cancer and healthy women. Dr Preti was very willing to discuss his projects and invited me to visit his lab. I hope to provided a more detailed explanation of his research which includes dogs, a gas chromatograph to study head space above blood samples and nano technology.


The second grant award went to Britta Weigelt , PhD and Herbert Vargas, MD from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Their research is " Benchmarking Intra-Tumor Heterogeneity in Ovarian Cancer : Linking in-vivo Imaging Phenotypes with Histology and Genomics." I had a very interesting discussion with Dr Weigelt after the awards ceremony. She explained how there are DNA differences between ovarian cancer cells found in the same tumor. In other words even though a woman might have tumors with a pathology of epithelial ovarian cancer , the cells might be different genetically. I knew that there were various types of ovarian cancer but had not heard that the genetic makeup within a tumor could be different. This may explain why chemotherapy may work on some of the cells in a tumor but not others since their genetic makeup is different. And this may explain why some women recur quickly.

I am so happy that KOH continues to support OC research and that I can support KOH.

For more information on their research please see the awards page on the KOH website.

Dee
Every Day is a Blessing!

An Aid for Dealing with a Cancer Diagnosis

Recently I have thought more about the psycho-social effects of an ovarian cancer diagnosis especially dealing with recurrences and the fear of a recurrence. Many of my survivor friends, after years of no evidence of disease, are now in treatment for recurrences.

After reading some online reviews about books that offer psychosocial support for cancer patients I decided to order The Human Side of Cancer- Living with Hope, Coping with Uncertainty by Jimmie Holland  MD and Sheldon Lewis. I started reading it as soon as it arrived and finished a few days ago.

The book was published in 2001 but that does not mean that the advice offered is no longer relevant. As a matter of fact the numerous patient stories about their feelings of anger, sadness, uncertainty and hope and the advice given by Dr Holland are timeless.

I found the most interesting chapters to be:
Coping- which includes a great list of Do's and Don'ts about coping
The Human Side of Cancer Treatments- the psychological side effects of surgery and treatment
All Medicine doesn't Come in a Bottle- mind-body techniques and counseling
The Goal is Control- living with a chronic illness

The book is very useful for survivors but also includes advice for caregivers and will allow a caregiver to understand some of the cancer survivor's reactions to different aspects of their cancer journey. So I recommend that you borrow it from the library. Or if you are like me,  and doggy-ear pages or underline helpful parts,  buy yourself a paperback copy of the book.

This book offers hope for all stages of a cancer diagnosis.


Dee
Every Day is a Blessing!

OC risk and hormone replacement

I learned about this information in a pretty circuitous way. A friend, Sandy posted a link on her blog to an entry in the blog written by Margaret Polaneczky, MD The Blog That Ate Manhattan titled- "HRT Worries- This Time Its Ovarian Cancer again..." which peaked my interest in reading more about the study and effects of hormone replacement on the risk of ovarian cancer.

To summarize , at the recent American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention research meeting in Philadelphia an interesting poster on hormone replacement was presented based on the results from the European Prospective Investigation in Cancer and Nutrition Project (EPIC). Key findings to date of EPIC can be found here. The study was based on over 125,000 women and results were presented in the poster session named "Menopausal hormone therapy and risk of ovarian cancer in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition." Click here and scroll down read abstract #B101.The conclusion was "Our results are compatible with an increased risk of ovarian cancer for HT use, especially for women using estrogen-only therapy".

Dr. Polaneczky does an excellent job in her entry to analyze the HRT study in laywomen's terms. I strongly suggest you jump over to her blog and read it. Thanks Dr P.

Small amounts of things can help.Too much of things that can help can cause problems. So things should be done in moderation- including the use of hormone replacement therapies.

Dee

Every Day is a Blessing!Thanks Dr P.

Free Workshop for OC Survivors

The Wellness Community of Central NJ(TWC-CNJ) will host a free workshop for Ovarian Cancer survivors entitled: The Patient Active Guide to Living with Ovarian Cancer. The program will explore means to improve the quality of life during and after treatment by discussing ways to empower women to take a proactive approach to fighting the disease. The free workshop will take place on Wednesday September 23,2009 from 11am to 12:30 pm at the Wellness Community of Central NJ , 3 Crossroads Drive in Bedminster.

The workshop will feature Darlene Gibbon, MD Director of Gynecological Oncology , CINJ; Assistant Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences , UMDNJ-RWJUH. Advanced registration is preferred, but walk-ins are welcome. To register, please call 908-658-5400.

"This in depth view of ovarian cancer and its treatments will help women (and their families) be an active partner with their health care team"states Ellen Levine, MSW,LCSW,OSW-C, and Program Director of TWC-CNJ.

The Patient Active Guide to Living with Ovarian Cancer is part of a series of national cancer-related programs created by the Wellness Community . The Patient Active Guide to Living with Ovarian Cancer was made possible through an unrestricted educational grant from GlaxoSmithKline Oncology.


I attend the gynecological networking group regularly and have participated in a number of Wellness Community programs. This program should be very informative and helpful.

Dee

Every Day is a Blessing!