Cancer

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…

However bad you thought smoking was, its much worse. A new study adds 5 more diseases to the existing 21 diseases and 60,000 more deaths to the existing toll of half million deaths attributed to tobacco in United States alone. Death rates of smokers are 2-3 times higher than those who have never smoked and they die a decade earlier than smokers. Stopping smoking helps reduce risk over time. In addition to existing hazards of lung cancer, artery disease, heart attacks, chronic lung disease…

Dr Shital Patel answers all that you want to know about oral contraceptives, how they work, when you should use them, side effects, do they increase the risk of cancer? What are Oral Contraceptives? Oral contraceptives are hormonal preparations that may contain progesterone or combination of oestrogen and progestin. The combination drug prevents pregnancy by inhibiting the release of the hormones - luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) from the pituitary…

The difference between conventional X-ray therapy and proton therapy – and why we are re-examining the way we treat left-side breast cancer.  The majority of breast cancer patients today are able to preserve their breasts as they undergo a lumpectomy followed by post-operative radiation. However, research shows that left-side breast cancer patients treated with radiation have an increased risk of radiation-induced heart problems. Here, Dr. Brian Chon writes about the connection…

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…

Broadcaster Jonathan Dimbleby – son of a BBC legend – tells Charlie Cooper how his father’s candour informed the family’s attitude to coping with illness Britain in 1965 was not a country that talked about cancer. So when one of the most recognisable men in Britain, the veteran broadcaster Richard Dimbleby, decided in October 1965 to go public with the fact that he was suffering from it, the announcement stunned the country. “The newspapers, when he said: ‘I have got cancer’, responded…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today granted accelerated approval to Ibrance (palbociclib) to treat advanced (metastatic) breast cancer. Breast cancer in women is one of the three common cancers in most countries.  The drug, whose chemical name is palbociclib, was approved for previously untreated postmenopausal women whose cancer cells have receptors to the female hormone estrogen and who do not have mutations in the HER2 gene that can contribute to uncontrolled growth of breast…

Girls who frequently consume sugary drinks tend to start their menstrual periods earlier than girls who do not, according to new research published online Jan 28 in Human Reproduction. This effect was independent of the girls' body mass index (BMI), height, total food intake and other lifestyle factors such as physical activity. The findings are important not only because of the growing problem of childhood obesity in a number of developed countries, but also because starting periods earlier is…

Driven by the evidence, not by rhetoric or anecdote, we describe what the reality of research actually shows to be true. Myth 1: Cancer is a man-made, modern disease While it’s certainly true that global lifestyle-related diseases like cancer are on the rise, the biggest risk factor for cancer is age. Myth 2: Superfoods prevent cancer Blueberries, beetroot, broccoli, garlic, green tea… the list goes on. Despite thousands of websites claiming otherwise, there’s no such thing…