FDA approves first use of novel immune system drug for cancer

World No Tobacco Day is on May 31. Cancer survivor Vandana Gupta (VG), the founder of V Care, a support service for cancer patients and their families in India, talks about the urgent need to protect your kids and family members from the widespread scourge of tobacco use. Plus, what to say to kids who think smoking is cool.  PE: Your organisation, V Care, offers support to different types of cancer patients. What are the specific challenges pertaining to …

The risk was especially high among men who started using supplements before age 25, those who used multiple supplements, and those who used them for years. A new study links taking muscle-building supplements, such as pills and powders with creatine or androstenedione, with an increased risk of testicular cancer. Moreover, says study senior author Tongzhang Zheng, the associated testicular germ cell cancer risk was especially high among men who started using supplements before age 25,…

The idea of hospice care in my home overwhelmed me. I was very afraid of witnessing her physical deterioration and her death. At age 99, she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Because of her advanced age, there was little to do except make the last months of her life comfortable. Her doctor arranged for home hospice care. But part of me wanted to place her in a nursing home.  When would she no longer be able to bathe herself ? When would she be bedridden ? Incontinent. Read on about how…

1. Processed and Red Meat: contribute to colorectal cancer, the most common cancer in Singapore and one of the top 5 cancers in India as well as to stomach, breast, endometrium, oesophagus cancer. Regular consumption, even in small quantities increase your risk because of presence of nitrates and nitrites. 2. Cured and Salted Fish: Preserved fish are high in nitrates and nitrites and increase the risk of nasopharyngeal cancer.  Opt for oily fish like salmon, sardines and tuna which are…

He was diagnosed with colon cancer in his first year of junior college, which kept him away from school for four months. But that did not stop Hwa Chong Institution student Ng Yi Pin from catching up with his studies. He also managed to find the time and energy to tutor his older twin brother, Yi Yang, who studied in the same school. Yesterday, the 18-year-old scored eight As for his A levels. Yi Yang also made a marked improvement from his usual results. Yi Pin was in Secondary 4 when he…

Instead of poisoning a tumuor or destroying it with radiation, Dr. James P. Allison, chairman of the Immunology Department at the University of Texas, M.D Anderson Cancer Centre, Houston has pioneered ways to unleash the immune system to destroy a cancer He proposed to develop drugs that unleashed the T-Cells. T-Cells of the immune system which are attack cells, latch onto the cells infected with viruses and bacteria and ultimately kill them. The first drug developed was Yervoy against…

Chemotherapy and radiation failed to work on Erika Hurwitz's rare cancer of white blood cells. So her doctors offered her another option - a drug for melanoma. Within 4 weeks, her cancer was undetectable.  Mrs. Hurwitz is part of a new national effort in the United States to try and beat cancer basednot on what organ it startedin, but on what mutations drive its growth. There are now an increasing number of drugs that block mutations in cancer genes and can halt a tumour's growth. The…

Choo Mei Sze from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia surprised doctors with her condition and then even more with her fighting spirit. The TV host/columnist/blogger/emcee shares her tips for coming back stronger than ever.  Please tell us a bit about your condition. I had stage 1b/2 colon cancer. The tumour was 1/3 the size of my colon and I had to remove 2/3 of my rectum and 12 cm of my colon, total of 18 lymph nodes. I had complications during the surgery as I had low blood…

Oliver Sacks, professor of neurology at the New York University of Medicine. He had an ocular melanoma (a rare tumor of the eye), the treatment of which with lasers and radiations left him blind in that eye. On discovering that he had multiple metastases in the liver, he wrote this lovely piece.   "It is up to me now to choose how to live out the months that remain to me. I have to live in the richest, deepest, most productive way I can" "Above all, I have been a sentient being, a thinking…

On the occasion of World Cancer Day, Dr V Shanta, Chairperson of Adyar Cancer Institute, Chennai, a doyenne in her field, talks to PatientsEngage about the challenges of tackling cancer in India. “India has state of the art facilities but it does not reach everyone.”  PE: There are many differing views on how frequently one should have mammograms. You have said that annual mammograms are unnecessary.  Dr. Shanta: I believe that we do follow the general guidelines laid…