“Cancer is a terrible turn in a person’s life, but it may bring out the best in their family and friends,” says Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center Chaplain Rhonda Cooper. “The best gift of all is a strong shoulder to lean on, along with an understanding heart.” She notes that you may be able to(...)
treatment
Natural Remedies Being Studied for Breast Cancer
Posted by | treatmentIn your Facebook feed, in conversations with friends, in a magazine article—the talk about natural remedies for preventing and treating breast cancer seems to pop up everywhere. But which natural products are actually being tested in the lab and in clinical trials, and what’s the evidence for their effectiveness? Saraswati Sukumar, Ph.D., Johns Hopkins oncology(...)
What are the signs of spiritual distress for cancer patients?
Posted by | treatmentNo matter how you respond to your diagnosis, it’s not unusual for cancer patients to feel the impact of spiritual pain and distress, says Rhonda Cooper, an oncology chaplain at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center in Baltimore. Signs of spiritual distress for cancer patients may include: Guilt or regrets about things you have done(...)
What can a cancer chaplain do for me as a cancer patient?
Posted by | treatment“Don’t be shy. It is not a sign of weakness to want a person of faith by your side at a time like this,” says Rhonda Cooper, an oncology chaplain at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center in Baltimore. If you are struggling to understand why you have cancer, are feeling a range of emotions(...)
Training the next generation of cancer immunotherapy experts
Posted by | treatmentJiajia Zhang was a trained oncologist in China when she read news about former Vice President Joe Biden's visit to Johns Hopkins and the launch of the Bloomberg-Kimmel Institute. "I want to make more of an impact in patients' lives, and I believe immunotherapy is the future of cancer treatment," says Zhang. She decided to(...)
Making Real and Measureable Progress with Immunotherapy
Posted by | treatment--This blog post celebrates the one-year anniversary of the launch of the Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy. When we launched the Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy last March, we committed to accelerate the progress of immunotherapies in a real and measurable way, taking advantage of its ability to produce unprecedented and durable cancer regressions. We(...)
How do experts assess ‘chemo brain’?
Posted by | treatment*The information in this blog post is based on the webinar, “Understanding Cancer-related Cognitive Impairment,” hosted by the Kimmel Cancer Center's Breast Cancer Program. Q: What type of cognitive assessments can be done for cancer patients undergoing treatment or who have completed treatment who complain about ‘chemo brain’? A: Tracy Vannorsdall, Ph.D., a neuropsychologist at Johns Hopkins(...)
8 Tips for Improving Cognition During and After Cancer Treatment
Posted by | Survivorship, treatment*The information in this blog post is based on the webinar, “Understanding Cancer-related Cognitive Impairment,” hosted by the Kimmel Cancer Center's Breast Cancer Program. Q: What can I do to improve my cognition during and after cancer treatment? A: Use areas of cognitive strength to compensate for any weaknesses, advises Tracy Vannorsdall, PhD, a neuropsychologist at(...)
Immunotherapy drug staves off lung cancer better than chemo in some newly treated patients
Posted by | treatmentIn a head-to-head comparison between the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab and standard chemotherapy as a first-line therapy for advanced nonsmall cell lung cancer, patients taking pembrolizumab had a 50 percent greater drop in the risk of death or disease progression and a four-month greater increase in progression-free survival compared with those who took chemotherapy. A report on(...)
Do you have endocrinologists on the lung cancer team?
Posted by | treatmentEndocrinologists, or hormone doctors, are on your lung cancer treatment team “if it's clinically appropriate for them to be a part of it,” says radiation oncologist Russell K. Hales, M.D. of the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center on the Johns Hopkins Bayview campus. Hales notes that “Endocrinologists often look at hormone levels, and we use(...)