Teal is the awareness color of ovarian cancer. Women of Teal is a play on the words "Man of Steel" used to describe Superman. I have found my fellow ovarian cancer survivors to be the strongest, most helpful women in the world. They are truly Women of Teal!
I wish all my readers a very Happy and Healthy New Year.
At the start of every year I always find it amazing that I am still here. In 2005 when I was diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian cancer I really wasn't sure I would make it to 2007 yet here I am. It may sound cliche but I feel very blessed.
As many of you know I do not make New Year Resolutions. Instead I make a list of things I aspire to do during the upcoming year.
In last year's list I wrote:
I aspire to consistently attend yoga class.
I signed up for a yoga class at a local studio called One Yoga and a friend who was training to be a yoga instructor ( she just got certified) also invited me to her house for a few sessions. I found taking yoga was beneficial to me - better breathing, less stress and much better posture. I wish that I had started it sooner. The owner of the yoga studio I attend shared her message for 2020 and in it she said to be open to good energy, focus on the positive and keep what is good. Pretty good advice I would say .
What else do I aspire to do in 2020? When I looked over last year's list I see a few things that have been on my list for many years. I'll just keep them here and keep trying to make them happen.
I aspire to continue to support women diagnosed with
ovarian cancer through this blog and the #gyncsm community, to share my story as an ovarian cancer survivor and to
promote ovarian cancer research. (I have had this aspiration for 5+ years)
I aspire to travel to Maine in 2019. ( This has been on my list since 2016. But I'll keep trying .)
I aspire to build an even better bond with my dog Amber so we can improve our work at the masters level in agility. (This one has also been on my list for years and as long as we have fun doing agility it will stay here.)
I aspire to go kayaking.
I aspire to spend more time doing watercolor paintings. I tried pastels, it was one of the things I aspired to last year, and enjoyed it but I am going to change this one up a bit. This year I will concentrate my watercolor painting. My son and daughter-in-law gave me water color brushes for Christmas so I am psyched to give them a try.
I aspire to step away from social media for a period of time each week and make connections in person - call or visit. MaryAnne, Florence and Linda I promise to reach out soon.
This post will be my last one of 2019 and it marks my twelfth year writing this blog. This blog has opened doors to so many other advocacy activities and I am grateful for those opportunities.
I had some wonderful advocacy opportunities this year.
I continued to blog for Globeathon. My latest post was advice on Holidays Past .
I have become more active as an ASCO member, too. In June, I spoke with Dr Elizabeth Dickson at the ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago on the needs of gynecologic cancer patients (http://womenofteal.blogspot.com/2019/06/asco-reporting.html). And in late September, I traveled with other ASCO members to ask Congress for support of three bills that could impact the lives of people diagnosed with cancer (http://womenofteal.blogspot.com/2019/10/asco-advocacy-summit.html). I also became the patient representive on ASCO's Clinical Practice Guidelines Committee and the Social Media Workgroup.
I continue to serve on the Scientific Review Board at Rutgers Cancer Center of New Jersey and am also a patient advocate on the Community Advisory Council. In September, I presented my story as an ovarian cancer survivor at the Gynecologic Cancer Awareness event at RCINJ as well as to a class of social work students at Rutgers University.
Working with other Twitter Cancer Community leaders and social media experts, I helped author Organizing Online Health Content: Developing Hashtag Collections for Healthier Internet-Based People and Communities JCO Clinical Informatics https://ascopubs.org/doi/full/10.1200/CCI.18.00124
I also continued to co-moderate the #gyncsm Community on Twitter chats with Christina Lizaso and covered some really important topics such as Maintenance therapies, PARP inhibitors and the origination of high grade serous ovarian cancer. I look forward to seeing what 2020 will bring to my advocacy, this blog and the future of ovarian cancer research. Dee Every Day is a Blessing!
I want to wish my followers and friends the Happiests of Holidays. Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hannukah or Kwanzaa may this season be one of Peace, Love and Light.
It is hard to believe that it has been a month since I last posted. Life can certainly keep one busy.
As I prepare for the holidays, I thought about doing something for my readers.
Here is my virtual gift to you - my choices of the best, most useful, reliable and sound sources of information and support for women diagnosed with cancer.
Over the past few weeks many questions about PARP inhibitor use in the treatment ( front line, recurrent and maintenance) therapies for Ovarian Cancer were asked in many of the private online groups that I participate in. I can understand the questions and confusion because of the different PARPs available for women diagnosed with ovarian cancer - Olaparib ( Lynparza) , Niraparib ( Zejula) and Rucaparib (Rubraca) and their uses.
In this blog post I will describe what a PARP inhibitor is, and provide all the FDA approval information and a few articles that compare the different types.
Let's start with this definition provided by the NCI.
PARP inhibitor
"A substance that blocks an enzyme in cells called PARP. PARP helps
repair DNA when it becomes damaged. DNA damage may be caused by many
things, including exposure to UV light, radiation, certain anticancer
drugs, or other substances in the environment. In cancer treatment,
blocking PARP may help keep cancer cells from repairing their damaged
DNA, causing them to die. PARP inhibitors are a type of targeted
therapy. Also called poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitor."
I'm more a visual person so here is a video by Dana Farber that you might find helpful.
Now lets look at each PARP and when , who and why it was approved. The FDA pages include references to the clinical trials that the approval was based on. Remember there are still clinical trials enrolling that may use a PARP in combination with other treatments.
Olaparib:Lynparza
2014 FDA Approval Summary: Olaparib Monotherapy in Patients with
Deleterious Germline BRCA-Mutated Advanced Ovarian Cancer Treated with
Three or More Lines of Chemotherapy. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26187614
2017
On Aug. 17, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted regular
approval to olaparib tablets (Lynparza, AstraZeneca) for the maintenance
treatment of adult patients with recurrent epithelial ovarian,
fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer, who are in a complete or
partial response to platinum-based chemotherapy.
https://www.fda.gov/drugs/resources-information-approved-drugs/fda-approves-olaparib-tablets-maintenance-treatment-ovarian-cancer
2017
On March 27, 2017 , the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved
niraparib (ZEJULA, Tesaro, Inc.), a poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP)
inhibitor, for the maintenance treatment of adult patients with
recurrent epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal
cancer who are in complete or partial response to platinum-based
chemotherapy. https://www.fda.gov/drugs/resources-information-approved-drugs/niraparib-zejula
2019
On October 23, 2019,the Food and Drug Administration approved niraparib
(ZEJULA, Tesaro, Inc.) for patients with advanced ovarian, fallopian
tube, or primary peritoneal cancer treated with three or more prior
chemotherapy regimens and whose cancer is associated with homologous
recombination deficiency (HRD)-positive status. HRD is defined by either
a deleterious or suspected deleterious BRCA mutation, or
genomic instability in patients with disease progression greater than
six months after response to the last platinum-based chemotherapy. https://www.fda.gov/drugs/resources-information-approved-drugs/fda-approves-niraparib-hrd-positive-advanced-ovarian-cancer
Rucaparib: Rubraca
2016
On December 19, 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted
accelerated approval to rucaparib (RUBRACA, Clovis Oncology Inc.) for
treatment of patients with deleterious BRCA mutation (germline and/or
somatic) associated advanced ovarian cancer who have been treated with
two or more chemotherapies.
September came to an end at here we are at almost the midpoint of October. I had been thinking about this post for quite a long time now but was unsure of how to even begin.
In a book I was reading by Elizabeth Berg one of the characters stated she had a multitude of feelings and I thought to myself that is just what I need to call my post about September.
September brings a multitude of feelings to me. I love the Fall so the crisp cooler air is wonderful. The September of 2005 I was just getting my head around being diagnosed with stage 3b ovarian cancer. I was in 2nd / 3rd cycle of chemotherapy and I remember the windows being open and hearing kids outside playing while I rested.
September also brings out the teal ribbons and walks and other events to
raise awareness of ovarian cancer. I have seen an increase in the
number of buildings that turn teal so many times during September and that makes me happy.
At one event I to took part in I told a story about how the support group at my cancer center started and I felt proud to be a part of exactly the type of support other women diagnosed with ovarian cancer need. I was so happy to talk about my gyn oncs who spearheaded my advocacy work by pointing me toward the LiveSTRONG organization. But during the talk I also mentioned my sister who died from breast cancer in 1995. Right as I said those words I knew I was tearing up. I had to stop take a big deep breath and continue. Yes, all these years later I still miss picking up the phone and talking to her.
At the final KOH walk, while walking along the Jersey shore boardwalk I was overwhelmed by the fact that here it was 2019 and I was alive. I had beat the odds and in the 35% of women diagnosed with late stage ovarian cancer who lived 5 years. And I felt grateful for my family and friends and especially my "teal sisters" who walk this cancer journey with me. They understand how years later I can still be anxious and even scared when I need bloodwork or have a doctor visit. Sure I deal with neuropathy , digestive issues and chemo brain but gosh darn it I am still here!
I was glad going into the last event a fundraiser to support research in Ovarian Cancer at my cancer center. This one was run by my friends at Graceful Hope Foundation. Seeing the support and old friends was wonderful. But there is always that time during the dinner when we have to remember those women who died due to ovarian cancer . And they mentioned Dawn. And it hit me again I shook my head up and down and teared up as I thought we lost yet another wonderful mother , sister and friend . It is sad to think back to all the women brought together by this disease who were my friends - Gail, Lois, Patty, Sharon, Pam, Rita Kay, Carole, Janice, Corinne, Linda Ellen, Jayne and many more.
Even after so many years I experience a multitude of feelings in September.
I am a patient advocate member of ASCO and last week I joined oncologists and members of ASCO in Washington, DC as part of the ASCO Advocacy Summit. We had training sessions on Wednesday and on Thursday we visited our Senators and members of the House of Representatives.
ASCO On the Hill.
I was paired with Dr Charles Miller from Hawaii so we visited the offices of both NJ and Hawaii legislators.
Visiting with Congressman Case (Hawaii)
The bills we asked our legislators to support: HR 913 Clinical Treatment Act - We stressed the importance of participation by Medicaid patients in
clinical trials and the stumbling blocks to participation they currently
experience. Meidcaid insures one-fifth of the US population. Yet only 12 states currently allow Medicaid coverage of
clinical trial routine care. In those states that cover clinical trials there has been a minimal effect on overall care costs. We asked that patients on Medicaid receive coverage for routine care when enrolled in a clinical trial.
HR 3107 Improving Senior Timely Access to Care Act - Seniors on Medicare Advantage plans are experiencing delays in medically necessary
testing and treatment due to slow prior authorization policies. Denials are sent without explanations of the determination. We asked that a uniform e- authorization be created for Seniors on these plans and that an explanation of denial be provided so that timely access to care can take place.
HR 2279 / S 2546 Safe Step Act - Step therapy protocols requires patients to try and fail medications suggested by the payer before the medication prescribed by the doctor can be used Allowing this process in cancer care would delay access to the best treatment for cancer patients and also increase side effects and reduce quality of life. I was happy to learn that Rep Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ) has already co-sponsored the House Bill.
While I did not speak to Senators Booker, Menendez or Congresswoman Watson Coleman in person their aides were very interested in hearing how these bills would effect the people in New Jersey.
You may not be able to travel to DC to speak to your legislators but if any of these bills are important to you it is easy to reach out to your Senators or Congressmen via e-mail or phone and ask them to support the bills that are important to you.
Thank you ASCO for allowing me to be the voice of cancer patients in NJ.
