Tag Archives: Cancer

University of Washington #5 Cancer Hospital and More Genotyping Patients by Vanderbilt

A little more about cancer research and treatment….

Good news for us closer to home is that our own University of Washington Medical Center is # 5 on the leading list of cancer hospitals in the nation, according to US News and World Reports.

http://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/rankings/cancer

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“Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC) has launched its new Personalized Cancer Medicine Initiative, becoming the first cancer center in the Southeast and one of the first in the nation to offer cancer patients routine “genotyping” of their tumors at the DNA level….”

Meaning patients will receive personalized treatments based on their own body changes pushing the cancer growth.

…”Vanderbilt is further leading the nation in personalizing medicine by leveraging its sophisticated Electronic Medical Record (EMR) to use the genotype information in point-of-care decision-making.
“The EMR for each patient is automatically updated to contain the latest genome-based treatment information, so that all healthcare providers at Vanderbilt caring for the patient are fully informed and guided by the latest decision support on these advanced therapies,” said Dan Masys, M.D., chair of the Department of Biomedical Informatics.

“We know that genetic differences in humans at the molecular level not only contribute to the disease process, but can also significantly impact an individual’s ability to respond optimally to drug therapy,” said Jeff Balser, M.D., Ph.D., vice chancellor for Health Affairs and dean of the School of Medicine. “…Project, with highly personalized therapy for our patients.”

Vanderbilt’s Personalized Cancer Medicine Program is led by William Pao, M.D., Ph.D., Ingram Associate Professor of Cancer Research and an expert in lung cancer….”“…
“The Personalized Cancer Medicine Initiative is our commitment to providing the most cutting-edge treatment for our patients,” said Jennifer Pietenpol, Ph.D., director of Vanderbilt-Ingram and B.F. Byrd Professor of Oncology.
Jeffrey Sosman, M.D., professor of Medicine, noted that having the genotype information is also important to help patients avoid the side effects of traditional chemotherapy.

“We are starting to understand how each patient’s tumor may have specific mutations that cause the cancer, but some of those mutations may also make the cancer vulnerable to specific therapy,” said Sosman, who directs the center’s Melanoma Program. “Tumor genotyping allows us to personalize our approach. If a tumor is likely to respond to a targeted therapy then we can avoid the side effects of traditional chemotherapy.”

http://www.vicc.org/news/2010/08/personalized-cancer-therapy/

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Following are portions of a letter written by a woman to her parents during a time when her husband was dying of pancreatic cancer far off in another state – with her permission.

She once told me the timed painkillers he had available didn’t stop the pain for long and he would scream out to her with the pain and beg her to give him another shot early.

A concern of the hospital seemed to be that he would become addicted to the drugs.
I wondered then, as now – what different would it make if he became addicted to pain medications?
He was dying.

The good news about Vanderbilt’s Personalized Cancer Medicine Initiative is one more step in the battle against cancer.

‘Dated Monday, Nov 2 -87.
Dear Mom & Dad,

Received the money you sent me…thank you.
It helped a lot because his drugs he has to have are very costly.
Just his filled morphine shots I give him are $163.00 every two weeks, not counting his other medicine.
This is mixed with cocaine.

Brought him home Sat.
Got here about 1:30pm and so thankful to be home again.

The nerve blocks he went through have deadened many of his nerve endings leading to his cancer.
He knows he is dying.
His mind is still very alert.
Thank God.
He told the Dr while I was out of the room that he was afraid of dying.
God what suffering.

He is in God’s hands.
He is humble & has prayed so hard for God to take him.
His spirit will one day go back to the Lord who gave it & then his struggle & his pain will be over.
Cancer is a slow & painful death.

I wonder sometimes why humans have to suffer so much. There is no answer of course.

I’ll never forget the beautiful people at the hospital who gave me their support & hands & hearts that reached out to us, & before I left the hospital, I went around & thanked them all for giving me so much when God knows I needed it.

Two wonderful & beautiful Drs -Dr Stewart & Dr Wright, they cared too, what we are facing.

They are frustrated because they can’t stop this cancer.
There is no form of x-rays that will show the kind of cancer Kenneth has in the early stages, only after it’s too late.

They became Dr’s to help heal their patients & in Kenneth’s case, it’s too late but they both did everything medically possible to ease him.

They are both so kind.
They wished they could tell me that it wasn’t too late.

Both of them would meet me in the hallway & be on the way to surgery but they always took the time to stop & take my hand & talk to me.

Thank God, for the wonderful & beautiful people left in this world.
There will always be a dawn because of the beauty of their souls & it rubbed off on me.

I’ll never forget any of them. Everyone at the hospital knew me & put their arm around me & asked how I was; no matter where I was in the hospital, so many people came over to me.
God Bless them all.

I know God has a special place for them & I have in my heart.

Don’t worry about me, I’m all right.

God Bless my two parents that I so dearly love. I keep you close to my heart & the miles apart make no difference.
With lots of love, Karen”

More later… Sharon O’Hara

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Vanderbilt Takes Cancer Personally? Me too.

Sharon O'Hara

Meet Molly, Cancer Survivor.

Molly is my wonderful re-homed girl and my fourth dog to get cancer in ten years. The only difference is she is still alive. Molly recently had a second cancer surgery and is almost healed.
Most of you already know more than you ever wanted to know about cancer, many of you have have lost loved ones to it. The faces of cancer in my family pale compared to most of you, but let me show you a few glimpses and faces of cancer in my family.

You are welcome to share a cancer photo here with us. Send it to me and I’ll add it here with mine.

Fresh From aDip in Smelly Pond — Hold Still, Ashley, We Will Cool You Down-fresh swim from smelly pond.

Annie Cut Her Baby Teeth on that Bench — Annie - A Favorite Bench

All 164 lbs of him — Mr G''s Buddy, my Mom

MomDogsEaster2000 — Mr Green standing, Annie behind, their Mom Sonja and my mom.

A few years later, June 6, 2008 my mom died from Pancreatic cancer… twelve years earlier my dad died of Prostate cancer.

Cancer, cancer, go away. Don't come back any day. — Molly, Moving Easy at Home and Healing

A Good Healing — Cancer Caused Stitches, a second time around.

A new bamboo shoot emerges — What does a bamboo shoot from a seemingly dead bamboo plant and cancer have in common? Survivors and dedicated researchers.

The Queen Surveys Her World — Sonja Waits for Her Ride

Queen Sonja, Mr. Green and Ms. Annie — Chuck returns Queen Sonja, Mr. Green and Annie ashes home to Ivy St.

The following story is verbatim so that nothing is lost in the telling. Vanderbilt takes cancer personally. Yes.

“Vanderbilt takes cancer personally.

That’s what the dominant Page One headline in today’s Tennessean says. It’s a play on words because the story is about Vanderbilt’s newly announced Personalized Cancer Medicine Initiative. (You can read more in the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center’s News Center).

But it’s also true in its most literal sense. The nurse who takes calls about this new initiative in the morning and then goes to her own chemotherapy appointment in the afternoon takes it personally. The physician-scientist who can share with his lung cancer patients his own experience with lymphoma takes it personally. The breast cancer survivor whose good friend is now in treatment and who read about this initiative on VICC’s Facebook page this morning takes it personally. The 1 in 2 men and 1 in 3 women among us who will face a cancer diagnosis, well, they have or will take it very personally.

As someone who has been an observer of cancer science for more than 15 years, I can tell you that no one takes this disease more personally than the investigators at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center.

For months, Dr. William Pao, who directs the initiative, and his colleagues have focused on every detail, making sure the science was exactly right and the process of delivering on the promise of this discovery could go as smoothly as possible. Much time and energy has been spent in getting the announcement just right and making sure folks who might get questions from patients and families know what this means (and importantly what it doesn’t mean).

Whatever you take away from the coverage of this announcement, please know this. It’s a big deal, one in which everyone at Vanderbilt can and should take pride. No, we didn’t cure cancer this week. But we did demonstrate a leadership role in what many predict will be a sea change in how we diagnose and treat our patients, not only with cancer but with myriad other diseases as well.

So feel free to take it personally. I know I do.”

More later… Sharon O’Hara

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What WW11 Bullets and Prejudice Could not, CANCER Did. Vernon Baker is Dead.

Sharon O'Hara

I’m adding this because it is important and I’m working on a cancer blog.

The Spokesman-Review
Vernon Baker, the only living black World War II veteran to receive the Medal of Honor – the nation’s highest commendation for battlefield valor – died at his home south of St. Maries, Idaho, Tuesday. He was 90.

Baker died after a long battle with cancer, family members said.

“I loved him. For me, he was the hero in my life,” said Baker’s stepdaughter, Alexandra Pawlik. “I named my son after him.”

Baker will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery, said family friend Lil Shanks, a spokeswoman for the family.

Follow the latest news at http://www.spokesman.com

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Cancer Survivors? Yes. COPD Survivors? No.

Sharon O'Hara

A government controlled Health Care System is Shudder Worthy and may have inspired the recent letter to the editor from a breast cancer survivor and doctor objecting to the cut back on mammograms for women. Their letter prompted mine and I am posting it again here.

People may not be aware of the real life discrepancies between medical conditions and one is not better or worse than another. They are all challenging to the patient and her/his medical team.
The difference is in the research and patient education.
Perhaps one day a patient can say, “I am a COPD survivor.”
For now, there are no COPD survivors.
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“Debbie Belew-Nyquist, Ed.D., Bremerton and Joseph L. Johnson, M.D., Silverdale should be applauded for speaking up for their belief.

My sincere congratulation to all cancer survivors, especially lung cancer survivors.
The lung cancer patients have a higher fatality rate, I understand, due to lack of reliable early detection testing. By the time its detected, the disease is advanced.

That said: COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) kills more people per year than breast and lung cancer combined.
It is the 4th leading cause of death in the U.S., 5th in the world.

A simple and inexpensive Spirometry test done in any doctor’s office offers early detection of a disease that generally takes twenty years before a patient develops symptoms bothersome enough to mention the shortness of breath to their doctor. By then, they have already lost about 50% of their lungs.

The Spirometry test is inexpensive and offers the patient knowledge they have COPD. Early warning testing gives most patients the opportunity to stop the disease from developing further.

The glitch is many doctors will not use it, I’ve been told, because they do not believe the patient will make life style changes to stop the disease.

I think they sell us short – the Spirometry early detection, nay-saying docs do not give us the opportunity to make decisions.
They most certainly have not given us the opportunity to make the changes.

The Spirometry test shouldn’t cost more than $100.
If the simple test shows that further testing is needed that is more costly, but far less so than allowing the disease to develop further. COPD gets ugly and a slow smother to death.
Worse, the non-rolling stone COPD gathers moss.
The medical ‘moss’ of COPD acts as a magnet for the other disease stuff. Some of it is really unpleasant.

Cancer detection and research development has been alive and well.

COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) has little to no research and most of our drugs were developed for asthma, not us…quite a different disease.

“We have come too far than to start going backwards with health care.”

COPD is already backwards. It is time to bring it into the present.”

Read more: http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2009/dec/20/my-turn-the-real-cost-of-limiting-cancer/#ixzz0bFFMSOk9

More later… Sharon O’Hara
Happy Holidays to all!

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Public Health Department Continues to Spurn Spirometry Testing

Sharon O'Hara

Following are a few comments – in part – I had written in response to an article in the Kitsap Sun. that will help explain the importance of early detection Spirometry testing.

You be the judge – are the following comments still valid today, as I believe they are? Sharon

Posted by familien1 on November 9, 2008 at 4:53 p.m. (……

The Washington State Department of Health lists the following diseases of interest to them.

Chronic Disease (Section Overview)
Coronary Heart Disease
Stroke
Asthma
Female Breast Cancer
Invasive Cervical Cancer
Colorectal Cancer
Lung Cancer
Melanoma of the Skin
Diabetes

Note that COPD, the 4th leading cause of death in the U.S., 5th leading killer in the world, is not on the list.

Cancer is of interest to the Department of Health KNOWING COPD KILLS more people per year than Lung Cancer and Breast Cancer combined â€“main cause – smoking.

Cancer caused by smoking is important to public health – COPD is not.

Asthma kills an estimated 5000 people a year in the United States…

www.pulmonologychannel.com/asthma/index.shtml

COPD claims about 120000 deaths a year in the US. www.medscape.com/viewarticle/553196

Why is Asthma important while COPD killing 115,000 more people a year is not important to the Washington State Department of Health?

Diabetes is the 5th leading cause of death in the US, right behind COPD.

Why does public health care more about Diabetes patients than COPD patients?
…
“…OMG, I swear if I hear one more word about COPD from Sharon O’Hara I am going to scream.”

…until you people start caring and 120,000 people a year stop dying of COPD from … callous indifference, I will continue talking about COPD.

http://uwnews.org/article.asp?article…

Washington State Department of Health
101 Israel Rd SE, PO Box 47890
Olympia, WA 98504-7890
http://www.doh.wa.gov/HWS/CD2007.shtm

In 2005, the Washington Asthma Initiative adopted the Washington State Asthma Plan, 17 a
The Health of Washington State, 2007 updated: 12/07/2007
Washington State Department of Health

(Spirometry) Early detection of COPD might alter its course and progress. ¦ Avoiding tobacco smoke, home and workplace air pollutants, and respiratory infections are key to preventing the initial development of COPD.

Most primary doctors have failed to provide Spirometry testing for early detection of COPD…

COPDers, caregivers, friends and family – fight for your right to live! Fight for research! Fight for early detection and Spirometry testing!

Posted by familien1 on November 9, 2008 at 7:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)

(A blogger made the following comment and I responded to it.)

“There is currently no effective way to make COPD go away once it occurs, unlike other diseases.”

NO disease could ‘go away’ without the research and studies to bring them under control.

Early detection (Spirometry) can slow down or stop the disease from progressing.
COPD is slow developing.
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Oddly enough while the majority of COPDers were smokers, only about 20% smokers get COPD.

NO senior with or without disease would put their own life ahead of a child’s life. NONE. Would your own parents or grandparents?

Why it is okay …that older smoking caused Cancer patients deserve treatment and research while older COPD patients do not?

What are the odds that COPD is usually diagnosed later in life because doctors refuse to give patients a Spirometry test for early detection?

Latest studies show COPD is being diagnosed in younger people.

…Spirometry testing doesn’t matter to those older folks already diagnosed with COPD — they care about Spirometry testing because they don’t want their children and grandchildren – nor your children to get what they have.

Early detection could make the difference.
…
Environment plays a part in getting COPD – remember the firefighters at 9-11?

… Let the taxpayers pay for something worth lives…early detection Spirometry testing.

Sharon O’Hara
…LETTERS/Bremerton%20Sun%20Comments/HEALTH/Health%20District%20to%20Cut%20Staff,%20Programs%20%20%20Top%20Stories%20%20%20Kitsap%20Sun.htm

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Leg Veins Not Vain

Sharon O'Hara

Getting your lower leg veins checked is not vain and getting them checked free is a winner all the way around.
Lower leg ulcers are a condition when the skin opens in sores and yellow pus drains down the leg. It causes the worst pain I have encountered and in my case, it is chronic.
Swollen lower legs seem a common uneventful condition – do not ignore it as I did. Get your legs checked. If your doctor tells you to lay off salt and elevate your legs above your heart – do it. The future pain avoided is yours.
Pain pills are not an easy solution for a COPDer – they depress the respiratory system – the last thing we need.
Early detection and education is a key to healthy pain free legs
Today and the 4rth Saturday of every month the Kitsap Thoracic & Vascular clinic offers a FREE venous screening according to the Kitsap Sun’s latest jewel, “Better Healthy Living” magazine.
John S. Arthur M.D. F.A.C.S. is located on Wheaton Way #101, Bremerton. Dial 360-479-2400 or e-mail KTV101@msn.com for more information.
Harrison Medical Center touts two linear accelerators to fight cancer. It is a precision tool, image-guided radiation therapy…a tool developed through cancer research.
Someday COPD will have a research break-through. Someday.
In the meantime, a cheer for medical research and researchers for disease … research cuts through the ignorance barriers of disease.

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