Over the last thirty years, about every decade I’ve found myself in a cancer center waiting room--first in 1984 with my husband, in 1999 with my father, and now this year with my mother. Last week, I accompanied my mother on her regular visit. It was a busy day in the clinic, and as I […]
precision medicine
Lung Cancer: Still the Top Cancer Killer
Posted by admin | precision medicine, treatmentRecent news of the full results of the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) published in the New England Journal of Medicine underscores the heavy toll that lung cancer takes on many lives. It's still the deadliest of all cancers. For Phyllis Curtis, who had enrolled in the trial at Johns Hopkins, the trial and screening […]
Jun 30, 2011 No comments
Avastin: Good Drug, Bad Decision?
Posted by Valerie Matthews-Mehl | precision medicine, treatmentRecent news that the FDA will not approve the use of the drug Avastin for breast cancer has many patients who have benefitted questioning why. Kimmel Cancer Center director William Nelson believes it is a perfect example of why personalized cancer medicine—getting the right drugs to the right patients—is so important. “Often in trials, drugs […]
Jun 29, 2011 2 comments
The Top Ten of 10
Posted by Valerie Matthews-Mehl | precision medicine, ResearchThe Top Ten of 10 As we look ahead to a 2011 filled with new cancer discoveries, let’s take a moment to revisit the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center’s top advances of 2010: #1: Personalized Cancer Medicine Becomes a Reality World renowned investigator Bert Vogelstein, M.D., and team pioneered the science that has led to […]
Dec 28, 2010
Getting Personal About Personalized Cancer Medicine
Posted by Valerie Matthews-Mehl | Issues & Perspectives, Patient Stories, precision medicineI got into this business 25 years ago, when my husband was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease. I was a newlywed, and at 22-years-old, I faced the prospect of being a widow. The evening we learned the shocking news, I remember leaving the hospital to return home. I was numb with fear. I went into our […]
Dec 17, 2010 2 comments