Treatment

test

The Patient From Hell

Well maybe I should give the full title: The Patient from Hell: How I Worked with My Doctors to Get the Best of Modern Medicine and How You Can Too written by noted climatologist Stephen H. Schneider. Normally I dutifly read books by patients but as a whole they don't tend to hit the mark. In this book I'm happy to report: this is a book any lymphoma patient will want to read.

Cancer #2 Expunged

I had the basil cell carcinoma on my cheek removed today. Basil cell makes up 80% of skin cancers, sqaumous cell 16%, and melanoma 4%. To remove it, I opted for Mohs surgery, a special procedure in which the cancer is shaved off one layer at a time. Mohs surgery is performed only by specially trained physicians/dermatologists. Not wanting a scar, my doctor stitched it up to hide any scar left (yes, even after all the trauma of lymphoma, I'm still a bit vain). I only had to have one layer removed, a good finding that should translate to a good outcome.

ASTRO Opens Website On Radiotherapy

In a previous blog entry, I told you that ASTRO had new pamphlets out on radiotherapy for Hodgkin's and Non-Hodgkin's lymphomas. Today they announced opening a new website, http://www.rtanswers.org/ that has a wealth of information on radiotherapy including lymphomas.

Stanford Gets Grant for Lymphoma Vaccine Research

Stanford University researchers won a $6.25 million grant from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society today.

Prophylactic Antibiotic Use in Patients Undergoing Chemo

Two new double-blind, randomized clinical trials suggest that the prophylactic use of the antibacterial agent levofloxacin can reduce the risk of fever, bacterial infections, and hospitalizations in patients undergoing chemotherapy who are likely to develop neutropenia, a dangerously low white blood cell count. Both studies were published in the September 8 New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).

Controversy in England over Drug Approvals

A rash of articles in the UK today over the availability of certain cancer drugs in the UK in the country's National Health Service (NHS) vs. private doctors. One drug advocacy groups are targeting is MabThera, called Rituxan in the US, which has proven very effective against b-cell Hon-Hodgkin's lymphomas.

Lymphoma Survivor Has First Successful Ovarian Tissue Transplant

Ann Dauer played a major role in a medical advance. Her baby, due in the next few days, will mark the first successful birth after an ovarian tissue transplant in North America and only the second in the world. For the 33-year-old Dauer, the birth brings to a happy end a long journey during which she endured contradictory diagnoses, months of cancer treatment and the uncertainty of whether she and her husband, Greg, would enjoy a family.

Intravenous Vitamin C may Kill Lymphoma Cells

Now this is a story that could be twisted so you'll buy lots of vitamin supplements. Don't be fooled by anyone.

A study published this week by lab researchers at the US National Institutes of Health indicates that Vitamin C can promote the formation of Hydrogen Peroxide in the lab (and supposedly in the bloodstream) and that this may kill cancer cells like lymphoma. This could lead to some exciting new forms of treatment.

FDA panel backs new lymphoma drug

A Food and Drug Administration panel yesterday recommended the agency grant temporary approval to GlaxoSmithKline PLC's (GSK) proposed cancer drug to treat two rare types of leukemia and lymphoma in children and adults. GlaxoSmithKline is asking the FDA to approve the drug, known as Arranon, under the agency's so-called accelerated approval mechanism, which allows drugs to be granted approval based on less data than is normally required.

We'll see if the FDA accepts the panel's recommendation.

Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplant Effective for Refractory Cutaneous Lymphoma

According to a recent article published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, an allogeneic stem cell transplant appears effective in the treatment of cutaneous T-cell lymphomas that have stopped responding to standard therapies.