Our Cancer blog finds a new home
Patients, caregivers, friends, family, doctors, nurses and researchers...we're proud to introduce a new blog in the Johns Hopkins family. The Our Cancer blog, authored by… Read More »Our Cancer blog finds a new home
Search Results for: On Target
A Prize, Promotion and Press Story
About ten years ago, researcher Bert Vogelstein appeared with Katie Couric on the Today Show to announce new research on a stool test for colon… Read More »A Prize, Promotion and Press Story
Top Cancer Research News: February
Dr. Bill Nelson discusses recent breast cancer studies and new recommendations on end of life care from American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). Listen to… Read More »Top Cancer Research News: February
Breast Cancer Patients: Lymph Nodes – Leave Them Alone?
When most people think about breast cancer, they don’t often think about the small, pea-sized structures that dot the body and help fight infections and other foreign substances. But it’s top-of- mind for many patients who undergo surgery for breast cancer.
Lymph nodes are sites for cancer spread, and certain nodes are removed during surgery depending on a number of factors. Data published originally in the Annals of Surgery in September 2010 and today in the Journal of the American Medical Association show that certain nodes in select patients may not need to be removed.
Read More »Breast Cancer Patients: Lymph Nodes – Leave Them Alone?
World Cancer Day
Cancer is now the leading cause of death worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. It crosses all boundaries, gender, ages, ethnicities and strikes both… Read More »World Cancer Day
Cancer News Review
This month's Cancer News Review podcast with Kimmel Cancer Center director Bill Nelson begins with updates on the field of head and neck cancer in light of the encouraging news that actor Michael Douglas' cancer is in remission. Nelson says that there is an emerging story in oropharyngeal cancers (those that are in the back of the throat, tongue, soft palate and tonsils). An increasing number of these cancers are associated with certain strains of the human papillomavirus (HPV), the same virus that causes cervical cancer. Patients with HPV-associated head and neck cancers fare better than patients whose cancers are causes by alcohol or tobacco use. He says the molecular details of why this infection causes cancers and why these patients fare better is still not understood.
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Promise, Progress, and Hope for the Youngest Cancer Patients
It is truly an exciting time in cancer discovery. Discoveries in cancer genetics, immunology, and cancer stem cells are leading us to new, personalized therapies that target the specific cells and cellular alterations that drive the cancer. For children, this represents a huge step forward, as this new generation of treatments will not be as toxic to healthy tissue and cells, and, therefore, may spare young patients the lasting side effects that often result from cancer treatment. These discoveries also offer new opportunities to better understand and make real progress against those pediatric cancers that do not respond to existing treatments.
Pediatric Cancer Research Advances of 2010
BREAKING NEWS – First Pediatric Cancer Genome Mapped
Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center researchers have led the world in mapping the genetic blueprints of several common adult cancers, and now, our scientists have become the first to decipher the genetic code of a pediatric cancer. Their findings were reported in the December 16, 2010, issue of the journal Science. Using sophisticated new gene sequencing technologies, the team mapped the genetic sequence of medulloblastoma, the most common type of pediatric brain cancer. As suspected, this analysis clearly shows that genetic changes in pediatric cancers are remarkably different from adult tumors. The work revealed fewer genetic alterations than are typically found in adult tumors, and the researchers believe this may make it easier to use the findings to develop new therapies. The research also uncovered epigenetic alterations, biochemical variations that occur to the environment of genes and have the ability to turn genes on and off without mutating them, as a more significant culprit in pediatric cancer than commonly thought. Using drugs to block the abnormal biochemical activity can return normal gene function and stop the development of cancer cells. Information like this, gained from gene sequencing technology, could potentially help our team change the course of some relentless childhood cancers. As a result, we hope to continue this work in other pediatric cancers.
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Pancreatic cancer
There are few cancers that are as tough to beat as pancreatic cancer. When it is found, the disease has usually spread, and only about 20… Read More »Pancreatic cancer
Fatigue
Five weeks into radiation, I decided that the hair on my legs had become so long that an intervention was necessary. Going somewhere to have my legs waxed was too overwhelming in my current state, and cutting myself while shaving seemed like a small risk, as I’d internalized my doctors’ advice about the compromised nature of my immune system. I enlisted my sister to help; although neither of us had ever done anything like this before, we decided the best thing would be an at-home waxing party…This very quickly became one of those situations where the task at hand seemed like a good idea in principle but turned out to be a very, very bad idea. The wax was either too hot or not hot enough, we put the strips on backwards, and we had only minimal results. Wax went everywhere; we made a huge mess; and ended up in nothing but our t-shirts in fits of hysterical laughter on the kitchen floor. We managed to sort-of passably wax a small piece of my shin before I had to throw in the towel and retreat to my room for a nap.
My fatigue hit an all time low towards the last week of treatment. During this time, I had one burst of energy—a precious state of mind and body that had felt on hiatus for many weeks—and I decided that I needed to go grocery shopping.
The Top Ten of 10
The 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 personalized therapies for cancer patients. Within the next few years all cancer patients at the Kimmel Cancer Center will have their tumors analyzed to reveal a unique genetic “fingerprint” that represents the combination of genetic and epigenetic alterations specific to their cancer. Targeting these alterations, say the scientists, will improve treatments outcomes, thwart cancers before they develop, and speed new cancer drug discoveries.