Cancer

World Lymphoma Awareness Day 2016 Vandana Gupta, a Lymphoma cancer survivor, decided to put her difficult phase in life to bring help and support to good use when she founded V Care, a support group for Cancer patients in Mumbai. Here, for Lymphoma Awareness Day she addresses questions by PatientsEngage: What are the barriers to receiving the right treatment for lymphoma?   A lack of awareness of the symptoms for Lymphoma often gets it confused with TB. On top of that, there are not too…

Endoscopy guru and leading gastroenterologist Dr Vipulroy Rathod’s comprehensive interview on gastrointestinal diseases and cancers makes for an enlightening and interesting read. What is Gastroenterology? Gastroenterology is the branch of medicine focused on the digestive system and its disorders. Diseases affecting the gastrointestinal tract, which include the organs from mouth to anus, along the alimentary canal, are the focus of this specialty. Physicians practicing in this field are called…

Shivaji Lande was shocked when he was diagnosed with cancer of the oesophagus, an uncommon but serious type of malignancy that affects the food pipe and makes swallowing difficult. Read about his struggle to survive and how he dealt with his worries. I was 34 years, happily married and working for an engineering company in Bangalore, when my world turned hellish. This happened in October 2014. One night, while having dinner I suddenly noticed difficulty swallowing and began coughing while…

Smoking is known to cause and effect many systems in our body with adverse consequences, but how does it affect fertility in women? Dr Sarita Bhalerao, an established OBGYN from Mumbai helps us understand the subject in more detail. 1. Is smoking a growing concern for infertility in women? Smoking and consumption of tobacco have in general been a growing concern for women all over the world. It is a major health problem affecting developing countries especially amongst the youth…

Texan Chuck Dandridge became the first adult in the U.S. to receive a newly modified stem cell transplant that uses genetically engineered blood cells from a family member. This was announced by researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center’s Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center where the procedure was performed. PatientsEngage interviewed Dr. Madhuri Vusirikala, Director of UT Southwestern’s National Marrow Donor Program, part of the stem cell transplant program.    1.…

Moyna Sen, our editor reviews cancer survivor Geetha Paniker's book "When I Fell in Love with Life". Even as you read this beautiful review, you will feel emotional and want to read the book.    Geetha Paniker does not come across as a Cancer survivor. She, on the other hand, seems like someone who has not only conquered the dreaded ailment, but has, also, in the process, learnt the prized art of celebrating life. Even though she calls Cancer the Emperor of Maladies as…

Cancer patients are prone to infections and the home environment must be kept clean. Precautions to follow if they are on chemotherapy or radiotherapy treatment. Dr. Shital Raval shares practical tips for cancer patients and their caregivers to follow with cancer at home.  SELF: Keep a pair of gloves handy at home and wear them to clean any spills, cleansing surfaces or disposing trash. Remember to wash hands with soap before and after wearing gloves! Use antibacterial or bleaching…

B V Lakshmi, who has put up a courageous fight against cancer three times, appreciates life profoundly and says the mind has miraculous power to even change the effect of the DNA. My mother was milking the cow when she had her pains and I was delivered right there in the cow shed in a huge family mansion house in Madurai! That’s why people used to say “Thavuttukku vaangeena pullai”, meaning bought from the cows! I grew up amidst a large family in Chennai. My mother had 16…

FDA approves drug for bladder cancer, Reliance launches Biosimilar of Roche's Avastin The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Tecentriq (atezolizumab) to treat the most common type of bladder cancer, called urothelial carcinoma. This is the first product in its class (PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors) approved to treat this type of cancer. The FDA granted the Tecentriq application breakthrough therapy designation,priority review status and accelerated approval for…

Rajalakshmi Siva, caregiver of a person with cancer and co-author of 'When Thoughts Invade the Cancer Conqueror’, recounts her days of a caregiver and how she coped with it right through the ordeal. What started the journey to hell and back was a pool of blood with a few drops of urine trailing him all the way up the driveway, to the parking lot, into the lift, and into the house and thence to the washroom. It was reminiscent of a silent scream that seemed to reverberate: Hell is empty and all…