robintram – Page 2 – Survivors CAN!

Another reason to support the Mike Slive Foundation

What a privilege and thrill to be on hand last week for the official launch of the Mike Slive Foundation for Prostate Cancer Research. It was exciting to imagine the possibilities — for better detection, for better treatments, for cures — to combat a cancer that strikes one in seven men.

This week, the Survivors Cancer Action Network is even more determined for the new foundation to succeed at its work. This week, we lost an important member of our team to prostate cancer.

David York was a friend and a member of the Survivors CAN board. He had been diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer at age 44. At the time, reaching his 50th birthday seemed a long shot. When pressed, doctors told him he had a couple of years to live.

But they were wrong. In 2015, he was able to travel to the Georgia Dome to see his beloved Crimson Tide win the SEC championship on the way to another national championship. Then, he helped his dad celebrate his 90^th birthday. And, this past May, David celebrated his 51st, and final, birthday.

Even as he went through a range of traditional treatments, he never stopped looking with hope at the new advances that might provide the next line of defense against his cancer.

Sadly, that next line of defense didn’t come fast enough for David. And we know there are many more people like David out there.

Here are some key facts:

Other than skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most common cancer in American men. The American Cancer Society estimated that there’d be about 161,000 new cases of prostate cancer in 2017 and 27,000 deaths from the disease.

That is 27,000 too many.

So back to Mike Slive.

The former SEC commissioner continues to contend with prostate cancer that has spread to his spine. He calls the new foundation that bears his name “the beginning of the end of prostate cancer.”

To that, we say amen.

Rest in peace, David.

A listicle we love: 10 things cancer survivors have done

We love lists — top party schools, the most popular restaurants, the best places to retire. There’s even a reference book for quantifiable Top 10 lists on a wide variety of subjects, appropriately called the Top 10 of Everything.

But here’s a list we can get behind! Here are 10 things cancer survivors have done.

1.) Climbed Mount Everest. Go, Sean Swarner!

2.) Won the dragon boat team of the year. Go, Ngawai Richardson!

3.) Built a Habitat home. Go, Jimmy Carter!

4.) Launched a campaign for the Maryland House of Delegates. Go, Vaughn Stewart!

5. Won an Olympic medal. Go, Novlene Williams-Mills!

6. Carried and gave birth to a beautiful daughter! Go, Jami DeMarco!

7. Got inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Go, Mario Lemieux!

8.) Cast a vote against a health bill that would have hurt people with cancer. Go, Sen. John McCain!

9.) Interviewed Prince Harry. Go, Robin Roberts!

10.) Graduated from college. Go, Justin Ozuna!

In actuality, we could just as easily listed 100 things — or 100 million things — that cancer survivors have done. Every day, we are adding more and more to the list. We’re working, taking care of our families, making films, making babies, writing books, holding elected office, opening businesses, traveling, growing gardens, accomplishing all kinds of feats, big and small.

There is life after cancer, and we know it because we live it every day. And that’s something worth celebrating.

New hope for men with prostate cancer

Men diagnosed with prostate cancer could benefit from a new treatment strategy that does a much better job of treating the disease and slowing its spread.

The news was presented recently to the American Society of Clinical Oncology and is based on what was believed to be the “biggest cancer treatment trial in the world,” according to the Independent in London.

See the full story here.

Cancer Research UK tested the new drug regimen on 1,900 patients. Half received standard hormone treatment (known as androgen-deprivation therapy) while the other half received hormone treatment plus the drug abiraterone.

The drug traditionally has been given when men stopped responding to hormone treatment. The study found that giving the drug much earlier – and in addition to hormone therapy – offered considerably more benefits.

Specifically, the combination of treatments reduced the risk of dying over three years by 37 percent compared with men just on hormone therapy. It lowered the chance of further spread by 71 percent.

This is the kind of great news that cancer warriors of all kinds love to hear! Researchers say it has the chance to transform treatment for prostate cancer.

“These are the most powerful results I’ve seen from a prostate cancer trial – it’s a once-in-a-career feeling,” said University of Birmingham (England) Professor Nicholas James, who was the chief investigator in the trial. “This is one of the biggest reductions in death I’ve seen in any clinical trial for adult cancers.”

We’re alive: Let’s thank a researcher!

May is National Cancer Research Month, which gives those of us here at Survivors Cancer Action Network a chance to talk about a key piece of our mission. If you’ll notice, our goal is to champion those who have battled cancer in many realms — in their own bodies, in homes with their loved ones, in hospitals and oncology offices, in advocacy work in the halls of government, and in laboratories.

If you’ve been treated for cancer, chances are that there came a moment — maybe a moment of triumph when success was in sight or maybe a moment of utter fatigue when the journey seemed to be taking too long — that you thought about “them.” That is, you thought about those people who had developed this treatment giving you a chance at remission, or a cure, or even just a little more quality time. You thought about the patients who came before you who took a chance on clinical trials that brought your treatment to the market. You thought about the people who tried the “other” treatments — those that didn’t pan out. You thought about your debt to these people you’d never meet or see. And you whispered “thank you” into the air, hoping your gratitude would somehow reach them.

How cool is it that we have a special month set aside to thank them again?

In Birmingham, Ala., Sherri Jackson at CBS 42 gave us a great starting point this week with her wonderful War on Cancer report. Sherri began her story with footage of President Richard Nixon declaring this “war” on cancer. And while we know there have continued to be millions of casualties, we also know significant strides have been made. Take a look at this report from the National Cancer Institute, and you see how cancer death rates have continued to fall. But, as we all know, there is still more work to do.

And so, as we write this, researchers somewhere are hard at work behind the scenes, looking for that next weapon we can put in our arsenal to use against this terrible disease. They’re our allies, our secret weapons, our hope. They’re the reasons more and more of us are alive to tell our stories.

On behalf of cancer survivors everywhere, thank you.

Testicular cancer is no joke, but laughter is good medicine

Stumbling on the Testicular Cancer Society’s website generated some serious laughter. Is “serious laughter” an oxymoron? Why should it be?

Sometimes, even when you’re dealing with something as serious as cancer, you’ve got to laugh. Maybe you need to laugh especially when you’re dealing with something as serious as cancer.

And humor is a wonderful vehicle for broaching uncomfortable subjects. So for Testicular Cancer Awareness Month, the Testicular Cancer Society has started a social media campaign using the hashtag #TCisNoJoke. Now, as they note, you can take this invitation two ways. You can say something serious and punctuate your commentary with the #TCisNoJoke hashtag. Or you can say something funny, and use the hashtag that testicular cancer is still serious business.

And it is serious business. While it can happen at any age, testicular cancer primarily strikes young men. Indeed, it’s the leading type of cancer for men between the ages of 15 and 35.

One in 20 men diagnosed with testicular cancer die from the disease, but as cancer statistics go, testicular cancer has a great survival/cure rate. When it’s found early, the survival rate is 99 percent.

Which gets to the point: If we want it to be found early, we need for the people at risk to be on the lookout and to know what to look for. Just like women are encouraged to do self-exams for breast cancer, men should do self-exams for testicular cancer. Look for lumps, as well as changes in size, shape, etc.

Here’s how: http://www.testicularcancerawarenessfoundation.org/self-exam-how-to/

Most importantly, if you notice something of concern, DO NOT WAIT. See a doctor right away, and find out if it is nothing — or something. Testicular cancer really is no joke in that way; it can grow quickly.

As noted by one of the more serious messages from the #TCisNoJoke campaign, self-exams = early detection = almost 100% curable.

So, fellows, get with it!

Grab Your Spectacles and Check Your Testicles. http://bit.ly/TSEinfo #TCisNoJoke via @TCSociety

Cancer is not for sissies, and other reflections for 2017

The holiday season was tough going for some of our best allies here at the Survivors Cancer Action Network. The stories would be familiar to many survivors. Whether we’ve experienced progression of disease, developed secondary cancers related to earlier treatments, or simply feared recurrence, we as survivors understand that sometimes there isn’t a neat, tidy, happy end to our fight with cancer. So, the fight goes on.

As we embark on this new year, we are reminded about why we fight. We fight as survivors for meaningful lives that are not just defined by our illness. We fight not just to live another day — but to live years. Good years. We fight for the people we love and for people we will never meet. We fight for the time when “cancer” will be just another word in the zodiac chart.

We start 2017 more committed than ever to support the people and policies that will lead to new treatments and cures. May this be a year that brings new breakthroughs and hope for all those who are battling cancer today and who will battle it tomorrow.

May it be so. May it please be so.

Cancer survival depends in part on early detection … and insurance coverage

People who’ve had cancer understand that survival is linked to having the right health coverage and resources to fight the disease. But it’s one thing to understand that on a general level. It’s another thing to see the stark reality on a big screen.

Those attending the Alabama Vision Summit this month had an opportunity to see the disparities in full, living color, thanks to a recorded presentation from Edward Partridge, the director of UAB’s Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The charts Dr. Partridge used showed urvival rates based not only on variables such as race and stage at diagnosis — but also on insurance status.

One stunning chart showed that people with stage 2 colon cancer – and health insurance — had better survival rates than uninsured people with stage 1 colon cancer.

The implications are beyond disturbing. It suggests that early detection isn’t enough if patients don’t have health coverage to get the care they need.

UAB has undertaken several efforts to address some of the disparities in cancer rates and outcomes, often training community navigators to focus on prevention and lifestyle changes, improved screening, and participation in clinical trials.

The goo incidence-and-survival d news is, those efforts have paid dividends. The bad news is that there is still much work to be done!

Too many disparities remain.

We as cancer survivors need to be the most vocal advocates for all the things we know will make a difference – lifestyle choices (please don’t smoke!!!), appropriate screening (there is no reason in the world to think a colonoscopy is worse than colon cancer!!!) and research, research, research (we believe in the cancer moonshot!!!).

We can’t rest until we see survival rates increase across the board!

Pancreatic Cancer Action Network stages poignant vigil in Avondale Park

The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network in Birmingham gathered in Avondale Park this month to honor survivors and remember far too many that we’ve lost to this disease. The sea of purple T-shirts and glow sticks offered at least a glimpse of how many people have been affected by this disease. But we know there are many, many more who weren’t able to be there.

If you have had pancreatic cancer, have a family member with pancreatic cancer, or lost someone to pancreatic cancer, PanCAN is a great way to connect to others who’ve been impacted by this disease. The organization offers support but also is involved in important advocacy work. Its worthy goal: to double pancreatic survival by 2020.

That’s a target worth shooting for!

We can all join PanCAN in its effort to Wage Hope.

Breast Cancer: Another Tool In Guiding Treatment

According to HemOnc Today:

A 70-gene signature test identified a substantial portion of women with early-stage breast cancer who safely avoid chemotherapy, according to phase 3 study results published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Treatment of early-stage breast cancer frequently involves adjuvant systemic therapy platforms, including chemotherapy, endocrine therapy and HER-2–targeted therapies. However, algorithms to aid in treatment decisions do not account for individual biological tumor characteristics, which may lead to overtreatment.

Gene-expression studies have identified molecularly distinct breast cancer subtypes and may potentially be used to direct treatment.

Fatima Cardoso, MD, director of the breast unit at Champalimaud Clinical Center in Lisbon, Portugal, and colleagues sought to determine whether a 70-gene signature (MammaPrint, Agendia) could be used to select patients for adjuvant chemotherapy.

Cardoso and colleagues conducted an international, prospective randomized trial of 6,693 women (median age, 55 years; range, 23-71) with early-stage breast cancer.

The researchers used MammaPrint to determine patients’ genomic risk, in addition to a modified version of Adjuvant! Online to determine clinical risk.

Women with high genomic and clinical risk factors were offered chemotherapy; women at low genomic and clinical risk were not.

Women with discordant results — a high clinical risk with low genomic risk, or vice versa — were randomly assigned to chemotherapy or no chemotherapy based on either result.

Survival without distant metastasis at 5 years served as the primary endpoint. The researchers evaluated whether women with high-risk clinical features but low-risk genomic features could achieve a noninferior rate of 5-year survival without distant metastasis, based on a lower boundary of the 95% CI of 92% or higher.

A total of 1,550 patients (23.2% of the overall cohort) had a low genomic risk profile with a high clinical risk factor, of whom 1,497 underwent randomization (chemotherapy, n = 749; no chemotherapy, n = 748).

Among patients who did not receive chemotherapy, 94.7% (95% CI, 92.5-96.2) achieved 5-year survival without distant metastasis, exceeding the study’s noninferiority threshold.

The rate of 5-year survival without distant metastasis was 95.9% (95% CI, 94-97.2) among patients assigned chemotherapy based on clinical risk, compared with 94.4% (95% CI, 92.3-95.9) among patients who did not receive chemotherapy based on genomic risk. This corresponded with an absolute difference of 1.5 percentage points (adjusted HR = 0.78; 95% CI, 0.5-1.21).

The rate of 5-year survival without distant metastasis was 95.8% (95% CI, 92.9-97.6) among patients assigned chemotherapy based on genomic risk, compared with 95% (95% CI, 91.8-97) among patients who did not receive chemotherapy based on clinical risk (adjusted HR = 1.17; 95% CI, 0.59-2.28). The researchers determined there was no advantage to provide chemotherapy based on genomic risk alone.

Results of subgroup analyses showed similar rates of survival without distant metastasis among patients with node-negative disease (chemotherapy vs. no chemotherapy, 95.7% vs. 93.2%), node-positive disease (96.3% vs. 95.6%), and those with ER–positive, HER-2–negative, node-negative disease (95.5% vs. 93.9%).

A multivariate analysis showed that use of the 70-gene signature remained significantly associated with survival without distant metastasis after adjustment for chemotherapy receipt, clinical risk, and patient and tumor characteristics (HR for high-genomic vs. low-genomic risk = 2.41; 95% CI, 1.79-3.26).

“We found that chemotherapy with its attendant toxic effects could be avoided in these patients at high clinical risk but low genetic risk, at a cost of a risk of distant metastasis at 5 years that is 1.5 percentage points higher,” Cardoso and colleagues wrote. “Follow-up is ongoing to determine whether these conclusions remain valid for longer-term outcome.” – by Cameron Kelsall

http://www.healio.com/hematology-oncology/breast-cancer/news/in-the-journals/%7B918c99cf-f531-4826-b75d-1a39422f569f%7D/genomic-risk-test-may-guide-use-of-chemotherapy-for-early-stage-breast-cancer

Could you help UAB find targeted new treatments for cancer?

Call it “targeted therapy” or “precision medicine,” but we just call it the cutting edge of cancer research! Part of our hope for the future is finding customized treatments that work very specifically on different cancers and different people. In Alabama, we are lucky to have institutions such as the University of Alabama at Birmingham playing a critical role in this kind of research.

Most recently came the news that UAB’s Comprehensive Cancer Center is enrolling patients for the National Cancer Institute Molecular Analysis for Therapy Choice, or NCI-MATCH study, the largest, most scientifically rigorous precision medicine trial in cancer to date.

http://www.uab.edu/news/focus-on-patient-care/item/7469

According to the article, the clinical trial is open to patients whose cancer has returned, has gotten worse after standard treatment, or has no standard treatment at all.

This is the way possible new treatments are usually explored and developed, and those of us who have personally experienced cancer are always indebted to those who went before us and participated in these trials that ultimate saved our lives.

The hope is that researchers will now find even more weapons in their arsenal against this disease, and that the new therapies will attack each cancer where it is vulnerable and in ways that don’t inflict so much collateral damage.

“We are at an exciting point in cancer where we can tailor care to the individual patient based on emerging treatment and prevention that takes into account individual variability in genes, environment and lifestyle for each person,” Carla Falkson, M.D., professor in the UAB Division of Hematology and Oncology and principal investigator for the trial, is quoted as saying.

The hope is eventually to enroll 3,000 adult patients at UAB in the research study. If you think you might be a candidate, talk with your oncologist. Or to find out more details about eligibility, etc., contact Liz Busby, director of Oncology Clinical Trials at the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center, at 205-934-0337 or [email protected].