FDA approves first use of novel immune system drug for cancer

The delay in diagnosis changes the prognosis, treatment approach, and the cost associated with it, dramatically By Jame Abraham, M.D, FACP, Cleveland Clinic Arathi is a 47-year-old, highly successful systems engineer from Mumbai. About six months ago, she noticed some discomfort in her left breast. When she raised her arm above her head to comb her hair, she noticed some skin changes on the left breast. But she chose to ignore that, too. When she developed a constant nagging pain in her…

Says Dr V Shanta, cancer specialist and the Chairperson of Adyar Cancer Institute, Chennai. Lung cancer, which is related to smoking, is today the top cancer in the country. Within the year, 15.5% of 13 to 15-year-olds are going to start smoking. Don’t let your child be one of them. Plus, how smoking harms non-smokers, too.  1. How grave is the health problem posed by tobacco use in India? How much of it relates to smoking cigarettes, beedis and how much is it due to consumption of gutka,…

Why your child is at risk and what to say to him or her. By Dr Shital Raval Patel. When you think of a smoker, you don’t think of a 10-year-old. But 67% of smokers in India start the tobacco habit between the ages of 9 and 15. According to the Global Youth Tobacco Survey (2006), more than one third of students aged 13 to 15 years (36.8%) reported initiating tobacco use before the age of 10 (Sinha et al., 2008). This could be cigarettes, bidis (which have three times the amount of nicotine and…

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…