This is the second blog in a three-part series. As technology that makes it possible to quickly sequence an individual’s whole genome becomes increasingly more available and affordable, people have begun to wonder about its ability to predict diseases a person is likely to develop. If I had my whole genome sequenced, could it reveal whether […]
Sequencing our Genes: Is Cancer Written in our DNA?
Posted by Valerie Matthews-Mehl | Prevention/ScreeningThis is the first blog in a three-part series about Genome Sequencing and Predicting Cancer. Technology called next generation sequencing can be used to reveal an individual’s complete and entire DNA (whole genome). Right now, it costs about $5,000 to sequence an individual’s whole genome, but the price tag is decreasing rapidly. With its increasing […]
May 16, 2012 No comments
A Special Camp for Kids
Posted by Michelle Potter | UncategorizedRight about now, parents are scrambling to enroll their kids in various area summer camps. The choices abound, and for many kids, it’s the highlight of their summer. Last year, I had the opportunity to visit our own Camp Sunrise, a week-long summer camp, hosted by Johns Hopkins, for children and young adults with cancer. […]
May 1, 2012 No comments
Tao makes a difference
Posted by Evan Lipson | UncategorizedIn 2009, while studying at Johns Hopkins University, Tao Wang, now age 40, was diagnosed with stage one breast cancer. After diagnosis, she began to focus on helping other patients with some of the questions she, herself, faced during treatment. ”Somehow, I want to make a difference in my life,” she says. Now Wang volunteers […]
Apr 13, 2012 No comments
Cancer News Review
Posted by admin | ResearchCancer headlines this past month included two studies on colonoscopy, a screening tool for colon cancer. The first study looks at the long-term benefits of colonoscopy and found that 50 percent of colon cancer cases were avoided by a single colonscopy. In the Cancer News Review podcast, William Nelson, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer […]
Apr 5, 2012 1 comment
Stand Up 2 Cancer Cites Progress
Posted by admin | UncategorizedYesterday afternoon, at the American Association for Cancer Research Meeting in Chicago, more than 150 people crowded a room to hear updates on research funded by Stand Up 2 Cancer (SU2C) and meet the new prostate cancer Dream Team. Arnold Levine, Ph.D., professor of pediatrics and biochemistry at the UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School opened […]
Apr 2, 2012 No comments
Cancer News Review
Posted by admin | ResearchProstate cancer topics abound in the latest Cancer News Review podcast. Dr. Bill Nelson, director of the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, discusses Hopkins-led research, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, looking at the genetic similarities of men with a family history of prostate cancer. By looking at their genes, investigators were able to find a genetic marker for […]
Mar 9, 2012 No comments
The Healing Power of Music
Posted by Michelle Potter | Issues & Perspectives, UncategorizedI never thought I’d be exposed to such a wide variety of expert musicians and performers working as a communications coordinator in the Cancer Center. Through the Cancer Center’s Art of Healing Performing Arts Series, I have the exciting opportunity to work with high caliber musicians from the Peabody Institute, local ballet dancers, and even a […]
Mar 6, 2012 1 comment
The True Age of Cancer is Different Than You Might Think
Posted by Valerie Matthews-Mehl | Issues & Perspectives, UncategorizedI was listening to the radio as I was driving in my car, and the lyrics in the song struck me. It went something like this, “Cancer doesn’t discriminate or care if you’re just 38.” I thought to myself, “Well, yes it does.” Cancer has always been and remains a disease of aging. Perhaps the […]
Mar 1, 2012 3 comments
More Good News on Melanoma Drug
Posted by admin | Issues & Perspectives, Research, treatmentResearchers from the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center and other institutions reported more data today on studies of a new melanoma drug that target products of a cancer-causing mutation in the BRAF gene. The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, tracked patients with metastatic melanoma who have been followed for more than a year […]
Feb 22, 2012 No comments