The Group Room, a national cancer talk radio program, will feature gastrointestinal cancers on its July 13th show.  Following up on the recent American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Chicago, Selma Schimmel will interview two leading researchers in colorectal and pancreatic cancer and take telephone questions. Read the rest of this entry »

Researchers at the University of California at San Diego targeted tumor blood vessels with chemotherapy carried by microscopic-sized nanoparticles. Although primary tumors were not affected, blood vessels were destroyed, keeping the tumors from spreading throughout the bodies of experimental mice.

The technique allows much lower doses of chemotherapy to be effective, eliminating toxic side effects and avoiding healthy tissue. Read the rest of this entry »

Leroy Sievers will appear with Elizabeth Edwards on National Public Radio’s Talk of the Nation on Wednesday, July 9th in the 3 to 4 p.m. section of the show.  Ted Koppel, who worked with Sievers for 14 years on Nightline will host the program. Read the rest of this entry »

Hypomagnesemia, or reduced magnesium levels, is a side effect of Erbitux® (cetuximab) treatment.  Patients with colorectal cancer whose blood magnesium dropped the fastest also had the best response to Erbitux given with Camptosar® (irinotecan) .

Italian researchers measured magnesium levels for 68 patients before treatment began and then 6 hours, 1 7, 14, 21, 50, and 92 days later.  After the seventh day, readings decreased consistently.

Magnesium levels fell at least 20 percent for 25 patients by the third week.  More of these patients responded to treatment, they lived longer before their cancer got worse and had longer overall survival. Read the rest of this entry »

Celebrate today!

Wherever you are in this tough journey that is cancer, I hope you can take some time out to watch fireworks or listen to bands or eat a hot dog and just have fun.

July is a special month of celebration for me, and it is even more so this year.  Twenty-five years ago I was first diagnosed with colon cancer.  Those were the days of surgery and not much else.  5FU could add some time, but mostly we had to depend on the surgeon’s skill and hope the tumor hadn’t spread too far. Read the rest of this entry »