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Posted by: Greg Lance-Watkins

DoB: 26-Jan-1946
Chepstow, NP16 7LR, Monmouthshire, United Kingdoms.

tel: 01594 - 528 337

of: Greg_L-W@BTconnect.com

on: http://GregLanceWatkins.Blogspot.com

All ideas and info. provided here are to be discussed with your medical professionals. I am NOT Medically trained. I have merely had this vile disease since 1998 - always use your Common Sense and seek expert medical advice.
YOU MAY FIND THE LINKS in text and in the Right Sidebar of Help.
I can NOT vouch for any external site that I may direct readers to & therefore can NOT accept any legal responsibility - this is a personal blog of that which I believe only.
I do NOT believe there are magical cures hidden from us by our medical professionals though there are without doubt cases that seem cured as if by magic. Medical knowledge of this disease is very rudimentary and research frequently profligate but pointless!
However - sticking goji berries in your ear on a moonless night or similar WILL NOT HELP - Nor will the price paid for quackery be it here OR Mexico, Brazil or China!
There are many health care professionals trying their very best with great care and compassion but perfection is a little way off!
Be Minded:
I have cancer - cancer does not have me!

"Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once.
Of all the wonders that I yet have heard, it seems to me most strange that men should fear;
Seeing that death, a necessary end, will come when it will come". - (Julius Caesar - Act II, Scene II).

Wednesday, 6 April 2011

06-Apr-2011 - I've SEEN Dr. LESTER (Specialist) & HAVE THE VERDICT!

06-Apr-2011 - I've SEEN Dr. LESTER (Specialist) & HAVE THE VERDICT!

Hi,

with some trepidation Lee and I set out with enough time to be there at about 11:45hrs. for a mid day appointment with Dr. Jason Lester, who is to be my new consultant I gather.

Dr. Jason Lester is a specialist Oncologist on the staff at Velindra - the specialist cancer facility in Cardiff.

As ever not a scrap of parking so now we are running 'tight' but I know a back street off of the Permit Parking Zone but in my haste modified the side sill of the car on a near invisible wall on the left below my line of sight - annoying but it is only tin!

Just made it in time to find Dr. Lester was running 15 minutes late!

In we go and Janet and I think Dr. Button also there and met Dr. Lester.

Much more relaxed in manner and easy to chat with - assured me he would tell it like it is etc.

He made a point of including Lee and making sure we understood details etc.

Well it is 'somewhat' better news as it is confirmed they could not find trace of cancer in the bones anywhere - it seems the area on my right thoracic spine is still not making sense but is not cancer - an old trauma of some sort? Lester seems certain it is completely unrelated to the cancer, which is a relief.

So the aim is chemotherapy with a possible follow on of Radiotherapy.

Best case scenario is that this shrinks and destroys the cancer and buys time - with no reason against it buying years but in the realisation that chemotherapy as the art is now rarely has a good outcome a second time!

Worst case scenario is that chemo plain doesn't work and then I have less than 6 months so lets hope it works for me ;-)

There is no doubt that cancer concentrates the mind and it is astonishing to think that there are currently around 2 Million people in the UK with cancer at the moment!

The plan of action is that first he needs to know accurately, how efficient my remaining kidney is, this will be done at Velindra within 2 weeks in their nuclear medicine facility.

On the outcome of this he will ajust the dosage of chemo accordingly: I need X amount of chemo for Y hours in the blood stream so if my kidney is tacking toxin out fast I will need a larger dose and vica versa.

The chemo I am to have is Gemcitabine and Carboplatin administered in a drip. The dose and mix is varied but is administered once a week 7 days apart and takes about 1.1/2hrs. the first time and around 45 mins. subsequently and a cycle is two weeks being dosed and one week off.

The aim is to start out with 6 cycles with CT scans to see the progress when Dr. Lester deems apposite.

He is fairly upbeat as I am clearly not one to quit after keeping 'The Bastard' at bay for 13 years now and he liked the way I was facing it!! He also felt I had general health on my side but obviously stated there are no guarantees.

That said Lee and I are far more relaxed about it than we have been for a while.

Frankly if The Royal Gwent managers weren't on a bloody silly ego trip weenie waggling about being 'clever dick' Welsh this conversation could have been in mid January but the incompetence of over manning and over managing in the NHS means they have been much too busy making fools of themselves with new names, uniforms and livery for their tiny corner of the NHS to pay attention to the health of patients!

There is a mismatch in supply of radiography and nuclear medicine facilities that would have saved more lives with better funding and better management rather than the management showing their insecurity and inadequacy by wasting time and money on fashion and frippery.

There is every reason to believe that if the Hospital management had been doing their job competently I would have had the result of my biopsy from the op on New Years Eve and the relevant CT scan so that I could have had the tumour on the uretic stub removed with a coin/cuff around it and the bladder resealed by mid January without ANY spread to the lymph glands.

What the clowns in management don't seem to get their head round is that whilst they make the Trust and the idiots in The National Ass for Wales look good with silly new names and uniforms they have potentially cost a small fortune in treatment that they need not have spent and have had more to invest in health and well being of patients - who cares what they call their trust or what livery they waste money on.

Surely it is a NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE - not some foolish parochial Welsh life style and fashion industry!!

Mental midgets at the levers of power will eventually destroy the health service as they have so much else in Britain!

Please Be Sure To
..

To Spread The Facts World Wide
To Give Others HOPE

I Have Been Fighting Cancer since 1997 & I'M STILL HERE!

I Have Cancer, Cancer Does NOT Have Me

I just want to say sorry for copping out at times and leaving Lee and friends to cope!

Any help and support YOU can give her will be hugely welcome.

I do make a lousy patient!

.
If YOU want to follow my fight against Cancer from when it started and I first presented with symptoms see The TAB just below the Header of this Blog. called >DIARY of Cancer< just click and it will give you a long list of the main events in chronological order.
.
Thoughts and comments will be in chronological order in the main blog and can be tracked in the >ARCHIVE< in the Right Sidebar.

You may find the TABS >MEDICAL LINKS< and also >CANCER LINKS< of help. . YOU are welcome to call me if you believe I can help in ANY way.
.

Posted by: Greg Lance-Watkins

tel: 01291 - 62 65 62

of: Greg_L-W@BTconnect.com

on: http://GregLanceWatkins.Blogspot.com
TWITTER: Greg_LW
Health/Cancer Blog: http://GregLW.blogspot.com

6-Apr-2011 - NHS Modernisation - The Boy King - Dave's Speech!

6-Apr-2011 - NHS Modernisation - The Boy King - Dave's Speech!

Wednesday 6 April 2011

PM’s speech on NHS Reform

The Government has today launched a “listening exercise” to hear the public’s views on NHS modernisation.

Read the transcript:

[Check against delivery]
We’re here today to talk about the NHS and its future.
What our reforms mean, why we’re doing them and how we want to involve NHS professionals in making them work.
Before we get into the detail I want to say this.
I believe passionately in the NHS.
And for me – I make no apologies about this – this is a very personal thing.
I know what it is to rely on our health service, to put the people you love in the hands of our brilliant doctors and nurses, to arrive at a hospital in the middle of the night and know there will be people there to help.
We all know why the NHS is our most precious national asset.
It’s because in this country we don’t take our credit cards along to A & E.
We don’t have the poorest dying of treatable diseases because they can’t afford medical insurance.
No. We have an institution – a precious idea – that says we are in this together.
So let me say this again: I am in politics not to take risks with the NHS, not to threaten the NHS, but to safeguard and improve the NHS.
Now to some people this might beg a question: if you love the NHS so much, why are you so determined to change it?
There are two big reasons why we need change.
The first is about how the NHS is doing today.
We enjoy healthcare in Britain that is the envy of billions around the world.
But if our NHS was performing at truly world-class levels, we could save literally hundreds more lives every week.
It’s estimated we would save an extra 5000 lives from cancer every year.
An extra 2000 lives from respiratory disease every year.
These facts alone compel us to modernise and improve our NHS.
And the second reason we need change is not about what’s happening today but what’s coming up tomorrow.
Every hour more than 25,000 people walk through the doors of a surgery or hospital to get treated and with our population ageing, those numbers are set to rise dramatically.
Already the cost of advances in treatments and medicines alone put around £600 million of extra funding pressure on the NHS every year – and those costs are set to rise too.
Taken together these pressures threaten a squeeze on NHS resources down the line.
So if we want to keep a health service that is truly free at the point of use, not just this year and next year but in the decades to come, then we have got to make the NHS more effective.
Pumping in a bit more money and sticking with the status quo just isn’t going to cut it.
So no change is not an option and this coalition has set out what we believe the change should be.
Shifting money from the back-room to the frontline.
Passing decision-making power from bureaucrats to doctors and nurses.
Giving patients more choice over where they get treated.
And already these changes are having a positive effect.
In under a year the number of managers in the NHS has fallen by 3000.
The number of doctors has increased by 2500.
Thousands of people are able to access life-saving drugs thanks to a new cancer drugs fund.
So we are making progress.
But we also recognise that there are some big questions about what we’re doing.
Doctors and nurses are asking what our plans will mean for them.
We hear that – and we want to work with you, not against you.
Now that the Health and Social Care Bill has passed through committee stage in the House of Commons, we’ve got a natural break before this legislation reaches its final stages in Parliament.
We’re taking this time to pause, listen, reflect on and improve our NHS modernisation plans.
Let me be clear: this is a genuine chance to make a difference.
Where there are good suggestions to improve the legislation, those changes will be made.
But let me be equally clear: the status quo is not OK.
Modernisation is not just a good idea to save money and build a better health service it is essential to a strong future for the NHS.
I believe passionately in the changes we have set out – but I also know we need the people who work in our NHS to get on board.
We will listen and make any necessary changes.
So this is my message to you today: let’s work together for a stronger NHS.

I just want to say sorry for copping out at times and leaving Lee and friends to cope!

Any help and support YOU can give her will be hugely welcome.

I do make a lousy patient!

.
If YOU want to follow my fight against Cancer from when it started and I first presented with symptoms see The TAB just below the Header of this Blog. called >DIARY of Cancer< just click and it will give you a long list of the main events in chronological order.
.
Thoughts and comments will be in chronological order in the main blog and can be tracked in the >ARCHIVE< in the Right Sidebar.
You may find the TABS >MEDICAL LINKS< and also >CANCER LINKS< of help.
.
YOU are welcome to call me if you believe I can help in ANY way.
.

Posted by: Greg Lance-Watkins

tel: 01291 - 62 65 62

of: Greg_L-W@BTconnect.com

on: http://GregLanceWatkins.Blogspot.com

We Spent Some Time Together In The 1970s & She Saw My Blog ;-)

We Spent Some Time Together In The 1970s & She Saw My Blog ;-)

Like so many old friends around the world our shared memories are mutually good!

What if there isn't "anymore"?

One day a woman's husband died, and on that clear, cold morning, in the warmth of their bedroom, the wife was struck with the pain of learning that sometimes there isn't "anymore".

No more hugs, no more special moments to celebrate together, no more phone calls just to chat, no more "just one minute."

Sometimes, what we care about the most gets all used up and goes away, never to return before we can say “good-bye”, say "I love you."

So while we have it, it's best we love it, care for it, fix it when it's broken and heal it when it's sick.

This is true for marriage.....And old cars... And children with bad report cards, and dogs with bad hips, and aging parents and grandparents. We keep them because they are worth it, because we are worth it.

Some things we keep -- like a best friend who moved away or a sister-in-law after divorce, etc. There are just some things that make us happy, no matter what.

Life is important, like people we know who are special.. And so, we keep them close!

I received this from someone who thought I was a 'friend'! Then I sent it to the people I think of in the same way... Now it's your turn to send this to all those people who are "friends" in your life, including the person who sent it, if you feel that way. Suppose one morning you never wake up, do all your friends know you love them?

Let every one of your friends know you love them. Even if you think they don't love you back. And just in case I'm gone tomorrow:

I LOVE YA friend!!!

Live today because tomorrow is not promised.

I just want to say sorry for copping out at times and leaving Lee and friends to cope!

Any help and support YOU can give her will be hugely welcome.

I do make a lousy patient!

.
If YOU want to follow my fight against Cancer from when it started and I first presented with symptoms see The TAB just below the Header of this Blog. called >DIARY of Cancer< just click and it will give you a long list of the main events in chronological order.
.
Thoughts and comments will be in chronological order in the main blog and can be tracked in the >ARCHIVE< in the Right Sidebar. You may find the TABS >MEDICAL LINKS< and also >CANCER LINKS< of help.
.
YOU are welcome to call me if you believe I can help in ANY way. .

Posted by: Greg Lance-Watkins

tel: 01291 - 62 65 62

of: Greg_L-W@BTconnect.com

on: http://GregLanceWatkins.Blogspot.com

06-Apr-2011 - I'm Seeing The Specialist Later!!

06-Apr-2011 - I'm Seeing The Specialist Later!!

Hi,

Oh damn!

After a truelly rotten night last night counting bones ;-( I found an awful lot that ached and must therefore be riddled with cancer!!!

Now here I am again trying to pretend tomorrow isn't coming - it is almost 4am. I really must go to bed - pretending tomorrow will never come just doesn't seem to alter the alarm clock!!

Keep you fingers crossed and lets hope the bad news isn't too scarey!

Regards,
Greg_L-W.

I just want to say sorry for copping out at times and leaving Lee and friends to cope!

Any help and support YOU can give her will be hugely welcome.

I do make a lousy patient!

. If YOU want to follow my fight against Cancer from when it started and I first presented with symptoms see The TAB just below the Header of this Blog. called >DIARY of Cancer< just click and it will give you a long list of the main events in chronological order. . Thoughts and comments will be in chronological order in the main blog and can be tracked in the >ARCHIVE< in the Right Sidebar. You may find the TABS >MEDICAL LINKS< and also >CANCER LINKS< of help. . YOU are welcome to call me if you believe I can help in ANY way. .

Posted by: Greg Lance-Watkins

tel: 01291 - 62 65 62

of: Greg_L-W@BTconnect.com

on: http://GregLanceWatkins.Blogspot.com

Tuesday, 5 April 2011

04-Apr-2011 07:15hrs. I SUPPOSE I'D BETTER FACE IT ALL! BONE SCAN

04-Apr-2011 07:15hrs. I SUPPOSE I'D BETTER FACE IT ALL! BONE SCAN

Hi,

To view The Scan Images CLICK HERE

having eventually gone to sleep last night (well actually this morning) I had the alarm set for 07:15hrs. so that I would have time to get up have a shower and leave at 08:00hrs. although it is only half an hour to Newport I had no idea what so called rush hour would be like and I had to find parking so not wanting to be late the day started early for me.

Lee had slept in the spare bedroom partly because I have become a VERY restless sleeper and I didn't want to wake her leaving but she was up making me coffee when I stumbled out of bed at 07:30hrs.

Lee is being very stoic but it is not possible to hide her fear - understandably, she has known me since 1974 or 5 and we have been together now for 26 years for more hours of the day than most as we have worked together all of that time.

Anyway of I go and as for rush hour in Newport one wonders if ANYONE works as the traffic was light and the main bus queues were school children off to school - The industries of Newport are long cone, the tool makers, the steel works, the coal industry and the docks to be replaced by a raft of useless bureaucrats and a collection of naff lumps of tortured iron work trying to be passed off as art!

Newport is a truly horid town with nothing going for it and it has been said that if Britain was to be given an ennema the tube would be put in Newport - but clearly that was said by someone who hasn't been to either Bettws and it is Cardiff Bay that produces the largest output of noxious flatulence!!

0840hrs. in the hospital on the Urology unit saw Steph picked up a slip for bloods from Janet and off on the trek to Phlebotomy - in and done by 09:30hrs. and off to find Nuclear Medicine on floor 3.

Arrived early for the appointment and apparently my dosage has to sit and lose strength for about 15 minutes so I went for a coffee. Back spot on just as a yound woman about 37/8 emerges with her Mother and having had a Nuclear treatment is told to be back in two hours - I reminded her that although it was Newport she must be sure not to get pregnant in those two hours as it said on all the forms stay away from pregnant women and babies (My Pleasure!!).

Oh well they laughed and it broke the gloom and trepidation in the waiting room!! (It transpired later that the poor woman has had Crohn's Disease for 18 years steadily getting worse!)

Straight in and a tiny needle in the right arm this time fill with blood and then evacuate into my arm!

I gather this is Tritium and Phosphate or some such (as I recal Tritium is an isotope of water!! I presume the phosphate is to make it 'stick') - I am now sent off for 3 hours to let this permeate my bone structure where I gather it will show up hot spots!!

For a Hospital the main canteen is quite pleasant and airey so whilst I read the papers and drank my required two pints of fluid - I pondered why everyone is so horrified at the idea of reorganising The NHS.

Perhaps someone can tell me why in an NHS canteen there are so many junk tinned and bottled fizzy drinks, water in plastic sterate bottles, fatty food, fried and or with batter!

This leads to the obvious outcome - I can think of nowher I could go with an edless succession of grossly over weight people and the patients are, many of them, even fatter!

13:00hrs. and I'm well cooked and ready for the Rotisserie!

A Machine Very Similar To This!

On the bed ready to roll - well NOT really, the machine which had a new control part fitted on Thursday is now on the blink!

Back into the waiting room whilst they hit the machine with a bigger hammer and some choice 'word', after a reboot or two its off again!

The 3 huge 'cameras?' swing into position and the one above me starts to pulse up and down with my breathing 2" from my nose and then it starts and for 25 minutes I slowly emerge leaving a trail on the VDU!!

Another wait whilst the Radiographer has a look at the scan and then off to X Ray as there is an area seemingly ajoining the spine mid rib cage right hand side that they are not happy about.

NOT HAPPY!! You can guess how 'Happy' I am!!

So it is onto the big overhead XRay machine and half a dozen plates from strange angles!

I have this nasty feeling they are hunting for a soft tissue image of a possible tumour on, in or by the spine!

Sadly it is above everyones' pay grade to count me in on the Easter Egg Hunt!

I guess it is good for their figures, as if they can make you wait they have every chance the stress will give you a coronary and you die on someone else's statistical sheets!

Oh well all will be revealed on Wednesday and Janet has me in for an appointment with Doctor Lester at 12:00hrs.

I dropped the car off with Derek on the way home and he ran me home as he is going to put the car through MOT between my appointments and ensure it is reliable and won't let Lee or I down for appointments or when we need it. The last thing we need is car hastles at the moment!

My thanks to Derek - we have a small number of very reliable friends and it has been quite humbling that so many UKIP branch chairmen, members and etc (to prevent embarrassment) have written, eMailed and phoned to wish me well and beg me not to quit keeping them informed as I am the only source (with Junius) of honest information they trust, with a proven track record, that informs them about their own Party!

Well we can't let a bit of tedious cancer get in the way of the flow of news in defence of these United Kingdoms can we!

Thanks for your support it is hugely valued as is that of the many other friends who have contacted me.

I just want to say sorry for copping out at times and leaving Lee and friends to cope!

Any help and support YOU can give her will be hugely welcome.

I do make a lousy patient!

.
If YOU want to follow my fight against Cancer from when it started and I first presented with symptoms see The TAB just below the Header of this Blog. called >DIARY of Cancer< just click and it will give you a long list of the main events in chronological order.
.
Thoughts and comments will be in chronological order in the main blog and can be tracked in the >ARCHIVE< in the Right Sidebar.

You may find the TABS >MEDICAL LINKS< and also >CANCER LINKS< of help.
.
YOU are welcome to call me if you believe I can help in ANY way.
.

Posted by: Greg Lance-Watkins

tel: 01291 - 62 65 62

of: Greg_L-W@BTconnect.com

on: http://GregLanceWatkins.Blogspot.com

Monday, 4 April 2011

04-Apr-2011 - 01:30hrs.!! I KNOW, I KNOW!

04-Apr-2011 - 01:30hrs.!! I KNOW, I KNOW!

Hi,

I know but please have the good grace to turn a blind eye to my cowardice!

I know that not going to bed will NOT make tomorrow go away!

I also know that whatever tomorrow brings will only be a step closer to KNOWING the facts.

It is so very easy to intellectualise but - OK I'm Off!!

Thanks for the messages of support particularly those that have come in today!

Good Night ;-)

I just want to say sorry for copping out at times and leaving Lee and friends to cope!

Any help and support YOU can give her will be hugely welcome.

I do make a lousy patient!

.
If YOU want to follow my fight against Cancer from when it started and I first presented with symptoms see The TAB just below the Header of this Blog. called >DIARY of Cancer< just click and it will give you a long list of the main events in chronological order.
.
Thoughts and comments will be in chronological order in the main blog and can be tracked in the >ARCHIVE< in the Right Sidebar. You may find the TABS >MEDICAL LINKS< and also >CANCER LINKS< of help.
.
YOU are welcome to call me if you believe I can help in ANY way.

PS. UPDATE: I eventually got to bed at 02:40hrs. - I know 'idiot'!
.

Posted by: Greg Lance-Watkins

tel: 01291 - 62 65 62

of: Greg_L-W@BTconnect.com

on: http://GregLanceWatkins.Blogspot.com

Sunday, 3 April 2011

03-Apr-2011 - Tomorrow Is just daunting!

03-Apr-2011 - Tomorrow Is just daunting!

Hi,

I have to be at The Royal Gwent Hospital at 09:00hrs. in the morning - for me that time of day is quite daunting enough!

That means leaving the house for a 1/4mile walk to where my car has to be parked, due to idiotic planning by MBC. So to be sure to be on time I need to leave at about 08:00hrs. so up at about 07:15hrs.

I guess as the treatment 'beats me about' I'd better get one of those Blue Badges just in case I plain can't cope with a walk that far!

Yeah I know that is making a fuss about something all sorts of people do as a natural every day but may I remind them they haven't had this bastard disease for 13 years! My sleep patterns are crazy!

So find somewhere to park at The Royal Gwent and pick up a form from whoever is on duty on The Urology Unit and set out on the trek to Phlebotomy for them to take at least half an arm full of bloods - before we go any further My Consultant wants to know every detail he can, which is reassuring.

Then for the trek to Nuclear Medicine where I am due at 10:00hrs. to WILLINGLY!!!! be injected with a Radioactive Isatope (as if the Japanese folly isn't delivering enough already! - Well the probably will soon!).

I then have to find something to do for about 4 hours until I glow from every bone!

Then back to be scanned for a full skeletal scan - I'm told there are no side effects from the drug/injection but I must say if I am to keep away from Pregnant Women and small children (easy as it tends to be a habit on my part!!) I just have this feeling that if it MIGHT harm third parties then it can't be doing me much good!

Interestingly, as Lee will confirm, I am finding it increasingly difficult to actually DO anything or make decisions - which at a time like this is so very selfish of me but I am increasingly focusing on beating this vile disease. Perhaps it will be a bit more rational after Wednesday when I get the results and we 'Make a Plan' for treatments and what that might entail.

~~~~~~~~~~#########~~~~~~~~~~

I just want to say sorry for copping out at times and leaving Lee and friends to cope!

Any help and support YOU can give her will be hugely welcome.

I do make a lousy patient!
~~~~~~~~~~#########~~~~~~~~~~

. If YOU want to follow my fight against Cancer from when it started and I first presented with symptoms see The TAB just below the Header of this Blog. called >DIARY of Cancer< just click and it will give you a long list of the main events in chronological order.
.
Thoughts and comments will be in chronological order in the main blog and can be tracked in the >ARCHIVE< in the Right Sidebar.

You may find the TABS >MEDICAL LINKS< and also >CANCER LINKS< of help.
.
YOU are welcome to call me if you believe I can help in ANY way. .

Posted by: Greg Lance-Watkins

tel: 01291 - 62 65 62

of: Greg_L-W@BTconnect.com

on: http://GregLanceWatkins.Blogspot.com

Tuesday, 22 February 2011

22-Feb-2011 - Reducing drug side effects with nanoparticles

22-Feb-2011 - Reducing drug side effects with nanoparticles

Posted: Feb 22nd, 2011
Reducing drug side effects with nanoparticles

(Nanowerk News) Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Brigham and Women's Hospital have shown that they can deliver the cancer drug cisplatin much more effectively and safely in a form that has been encapsulated in a nanoparticle targeted to prostate tumor cells. Using the new particles, the researchers were able to successfully shrink tumors in mice, using only one-third the amount of conventional cisplatin needed to achieve the same effect. Such a dose reduction, should these results hold in human clinical trials, could help reduce cisplatin's potentially severe side effects, which include kidney damage and nerve damage.

In 2008, this research team, headed by Stephen Lippard and Omid Farokhzad, a member of the MIT-Harvard Center of Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence (CCNE) funded by the National Cancer Institute, showed that the nanoparticles worked in cancer cells grown in a lab dish. Now that the particles have shown promise in animals, the team hopes to move on to human tests. "At each stage, it's possible there will be new roadblocks that will come up, but you just keep trying," says Dr. Lippard. The results of these investigations were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ("Targeted delivery of a cisplatin prodrug for safer and more effective prostate cancer therapy in vivo").

Cisplatin, which doctors began using to treat cancer in the late 1970s, destroys cancer cells by damaging their DNA, which ultimately triggers cell death. Despite its adverse side effects, which also include nausea, about half of all cancer patients receiving chemotherapy are taking platinum drugs. And in addition, cisplatin suffers from other problems that ultimately limit the utility of this potent tumor-killing agent. One problem with the drug is that conventional cisplatin remains in the bloodstream for only a short period of time. In fact, only about one percent of the dose given to a patient ever reaches the tumor cells' DNA, with about half of any given dose being excreted from the body within an hour of treatment.

To prolong the time in circulation, Drs. Lippard and Farokhzad and their collaborators decided to encase a derivative of cisplatin in a hydrophobic (water-repelling) nanoparticle. First, the researchers modified the drug, which is normally hydrophilic (water-attracting), with two hexanoic acid units — organic fragments that repel water. That modification enabled them to encapsulate the resulting prodrug — a form that is inactive until it enters a target cell — in a nanoparticle.
Using this approach, far more of the drug reaches the tumor. The researchers found that the nanoparticles circulated in the bloodstream for about 24 hours, at least 5 times longer than un-encapsulated cisplatin. They also found that it did not accumulate as much in the kidneys as conventional cisplatin, which could reduce the dose-limiting kidney toxicity that limits the duration of cisplatin treatment today. To help the nanoparticles reach their target, the researchers also coated them with molecules that bind to prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA), a protein found on most prostate cancer cells.

After showing that nanoparticles improved ciplatin's lifetime in the blood stream, the researchers tested their effectiveness by treating mice implanted with human prostate tumors. They found that the nanoparticles reduced tumor size as much as conventional cisplatin over 30 days, but with only 30 percent of the dose normally required to see such a therapeutic response.

The particles tested in this paper are based on the same design as particles developed by Farokhzad and his MIT colleague Robert Langer, who is the co-principal investigator of the MIT-Harvard CCNE, to more effectively deliver the cancer drug docetaxel to tumors. A Phase I clinical trial to assess those particles, run by BIND Biosciences, commenced in January. Additional animal testing is needed before the cisplatin-carrying particles can go into human clinical trials, says Farokhzad. "At the end of the day, if the development results are all promising, then we would hope to put something like this in humans within the next three years," he says.

To view the original article CLICK HERE

I just want to say sorry for copping out at times and leaving Lee and friends to cope!

Any help and support YOU can give her will be hugely welcome.

I do make a lousy patient!

Posted by: Greg Lance-Watkins

tel: 01291 - 62 65 62

of: Greg_L-W@BTconnect.com

on: http://GregLanceWatkins.Blogspot.com

Tuesday, 1 February 2011

01-Feb-2011 - WHO CANCER FACT SHEET #297

01-Feb-2011 - WHO CANCER FACT SHEET #297
.

Please Be Sure To

Tweet My Blogs

To Spread The Facts World Wide

To Give Hope & Information

Cancer

Fact sheet N°297
February 2011

Key facts

Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide and accounted for 7.6 million deaths (around 13% of all deaths) in 2008. ¹
Tobacco use is a major risk factor for cancer. Harmful alcohol use, poor diet and physical inactivity are other main risk factors.
Certain infections cause up to 20% of cancer deaths in low- and middle-income countries and 9% of cancer deaths in high-income countries.
More than 30% of cancer deaths can be prevented.
Cancer arises from a change in one single cell. The change may be started by external agents and inherited genetic factors.
Deaths from cancer worldwide are projected to continue to rise to over 11 million in 2030.

Cancer is a generic term for a large group of diseases that can affect any part of the body. Other terms used are malignant tumours and neoplasms. One defining feature of cancer is the rapid creation of abnormal cells that grow beyond their usual boundaries, and which can then invade adjoining parts of the body and spread to other organs. This process is referred to as metastasis. Metastases are the major cause of death from cancer.

The problem

Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide and accounted for 7.6 million deaths (around 13% of all deaths) in 2008. The main types of cancer are:

lung (1.4 million deaths)
stomach (740 000 deaths)
liver (700 000 deaths)
colorectal (610 000 deaths)
breast (460 000 deaths).

More than 70% of all cancer deaths occurred in low- and middle-income countries. Deaths from cancer worldwide are projected to continue to rise to over 11 million in 2030.

What causes cancer?

Cancer arises from one single cell. The transformation from a normal cell into a tumour cell is a multistage process, typically a progression from a pre-cancerous lesion to malignant tumours. These changes are the result of the interaction between a person's genetic factors and three categories of external agents, including:

physical carcinogens, such as ultraviolet and ionizing radiation;
chemical carcinogens, such as asbestos, components of tobacco smoke, aflatoxin (a food contaminant) and arsenic (a drinking water contaminant); and
biological carcinogens, such as infections from certain viruses, bacteria or parasites.

Ageing is another fundamental factor for the development of cancer. The incidence of cancer rises dramatically with age, most likely due to a build up of risks for specific cancers that increase with age. The overall risk accumulation is combined with the tendency for cellular repair mechanisms to be less effective as a person grows older.

Risk factors for cancers

Tobacco use, alcohol use, unhealthy diet, and chronic infections from hepatitis B (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and some types of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) are leading risk factors for cancer in low- and middle-income countries. Cervical cancer, which is caused by HPV, is a leading cause of cancer death among women in low-income countries.

How can the burden of cancer be reduced?

Knowledge about the causes of cancer, and interventions to prevent and manage the disease is extensive. Cancer can be reduced and controlled by implementing evidence-based strategies for cancer prevention, early detection of cancer and management of patients with cancer.

Modifying and avoiding risk factors

More than 30% of cancer could be prevented by modifying or avoiding key risk factors, including:

tobacco use
being overweight or obese
low fruit and vegetable intake
physical inactivity
alcohol use
sexually transmitted HPV-infection
urban air pollution
indoor smoke from household use of solid fuels.

Prevention strategies

Increase avoidance of the risk factors listed above.
Vaccinate against human papilloma virus (HPV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV).
Control occupational hazards.
Reduce exposure to sunlight.

Early detection

Cancer mortality can be reduced if cases are detected and treated early. There are two components of early detection efforts:

Early diagnosis

The awareness of early signs and symptoms (such as cervical, breast and oral cancers) in order to facilitate diagnosis and treatment before the disease becomes advanced. Early diagnosis programmes are particularly relevant in low-resource settings where the majority of patients are diagnosed in very late stages.

Screening

The systematic application of a screening test in an asymptomatic population. It aims to identify individuals with abnormalities suggestive of a specific cancer or pre-cancer and refer them promptly for diagnosis and treatment. Screening programmes are especially effective for frequent cancer types that have a screening test that is cost-effective, affordable, acceptable and accessible to the majority of the population at risk.
Examples of screening methods are:

visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) for cervical cancer in low-resource settings;
PAP test for cervical cancer in middle- and high-income settings;
mammography screening for breast cancer in high-income settings.

Treatment

Treatment is the series of interventions, including psychosocial support, surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy that is aimed at curing the disease or considerably prolonging life while improving the patient's quality of life.

Treatment of early detectable cancers

Some of the most common cancer types, such as breast cancer, cervical cancer, oral cancer and colorectal cancer have higher cure rates when detected early and treated according to best practices.

Treatment of other cancers with potential for cure

Some cancer types, even though disseminated, such as leukemias and lymphomas in children, and testicular seminoma, have high cure rates if appropriate treatment is provided.

Palliative care

Palliative care is treatment to relieve, rather than cure, symptoms caused by cancer. Palliative care can help people live more comfortably; it is an urgent humanitarian need for people worldwide with cancer and other chronic fatal diseases. It is particularly needed in places with a high proportion of patients in advanced stages where there is little chance of cure.
Relief from physical, psychosocial and spiritual problems can be achieved in over 90% of advanced cancer patients through palliative care.

Palliative care strategies

Effective public health strategies, comprising of community- and home-based care are essential to provide pain relief and palliative care for patients and their families in low-resource settings.
Improved access to oral morphine is mandatory for the treatment of moderate to severe cancer pain, suffered by over 80% of cancer patients in terminal phase.

WHO response

In 2008, WHO launched its Noncommunicable Diseases Action Plan.
WHO and the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the specialized cancer agency of WHO, collaborate with other United Nations organizations and partners in the areas of international cancer prevention and control to:

increase political commitment for cancer prevention and control;
generate new knowledge, and disseminate existing knowledge to facilitate the delivery of evidence-based approaches to cancer control;
develop standards and tools to guide the planning and implementation of interventions for prevention, early detection, treatment and care;
facilitate broad networks of cancer control partners at global, regional and national levels;
strengthen health systems at national and local levels;
provide technical assistance for rapid, effective transfer of best practice interventions to developing countries; and
coordinate and conduct research on the causes of human cancer, the mechanisms of carcinogenesis, and develop scientific strategies for cancer prevention and control.

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Tuesday, 14 September 2010

RADIO THERAPY & The Risks of Damage Dr. Jason Lester in Daily Mail

RADIO THERAPY & The Risks of Damage Dr. Jason Lester in Daily Mail

14-Sept-2010 - Dr. Jason LESTER In Daily Mail on HBO & Radio Therapy Damage
.

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To Give Others HOPE

I Have Been Fighting Cancer since 1997 & I'M STILL HERE!

I Have Cancer, Cancer Does NOT Have Me

Radiotherapy saves millions from cancer but can inflict cruel damage, now, at last, there may be an answer...

By Isla Whitcroft

Last updated at 1:31 AM on 14th September 2010

Perched on a wooden bench inside a metal tank, surrounded by people shrouded in full-face hoods with oxygen pipes, Michael Charter could have been forgiven for thinking he had stepped on to the set of a sci-fi film.

In fact, the former publisher and businessman was in a decompression chamber receiving huge bursts of oxygen in an atmosphere twice the normal pressure - equivalent to being 40ft under the sea.

The aim of the treatment, known as hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO), was to heal the internal damage caused to his bladder and bowel when he received radiotherapy for prostate cancer 17 years earlier.

Fresh hope: Michael Charter and his wife Ingka. He is having hyperbaric oxygen therapy to counter the adverse effects of radiotherapy

'When my urologist suggested the therapy, I thought he was mad,' laughs Michael, 70, who lives in Devon. 'I'd never heard of it. But, as most people with significant and long- term radiotherapy damage will tell you, you will try anything to ease your symptoms.'

While radiotherapy is an effective cancer treatment - experts say it increases survival rates by about 50 per cent - it can damage healthy tissue around the tumour site.

Most vulnerable are the 12,000 patients a year who have pelvic irradiation for bowel, cervical and womb cancer, and those who are treated for head and neck cancers.

'We think that about 50 per cent of patients who undergo pelvic irradiation will suffer some radiotherapy damage,' says Dr Jason Lester, an oncologist at Velindre Cancer Centre, Cardiff.

'Some will simply suffer a change in bowel habits, but others may have distressing symptoms such as bowel ulcers, rectal bleeding, pelvic pain and a lack of bladder control. Some will need a blood transfusion, or even end up with a colostomy bag.'

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Dr Lester is one of a growing number of cancer specialists referring these patients for oxygen treatment.

HBO was first used in the Thirties to treat deep-sea divers suffering from decompression sickness and trapped air bubbles (the bends) but quickly it was noted that the treatment aided wound healing.

Dr Phil Bryson, director of the Diving Diseases Research Centre in Plymouth, where Michael had his therapy, says: 'The principle behind HBO is very logical.

'We know the protein which controls cell growth and healing depends on oxygen. HBO delivers a huge amount in a short time, and research shows it stimulates this protein to work more efficiently.

'This is particularly relevant when you consider that radiotherapy damage is characterised by the death of the blood capillaries, which feed oxygen to the damaged area.'

As these capillaries die, the cells get less blood, hence less oxygen. The cells die and a wound forms. Then the cells around the edges of the wound become damaged by the inflammation and they, too, die, causing the wound to enlarge. 'It's a vicious circle and there is little medical treatment.

However, in some cases, HBO can halt or reverse that process,' says Dr Bryson.

Michael Charter was one of those to benefit. After being diagnosed with prostate cancer, aged 53, he had a biopsy and his prostate was removed in 1993.

Bitter sweet treatment: Radiotherapy kills cancer cells but also healthy tissue around a tumour

'The cancer had spread slightly outside the prostate,' he says. 'A biopsy showed that six per cent of the surrounding tissue contained cancer cells, but that was enough for my Harley Street specialist to order a huge dose of radiotherapy.'

Then, 15 years later, Michael began to suffer symptoms.

'My first symptoms were bladder leakage,' he says. 'Then the small leaks became large leaks, and suddenly I was wetting myself. I started using pads. I'd put one on in the morning and it might be full by lunchtime. There were accidents. It was clear something was badly awry.'

Michael's GP referred him to a urologist who said his situation was probably a side-effect of the surgery - and that little could be done.

'It was depressing,' says Michael, who is married to Ingka. 'From being sociable and outgoing, suddenly I was wetting myself, often in public. It was a terrible blow to my pride and self-esteem.'

Deterioration was rapid.

Within weeks of the first symptoms, Michael had passed blood in his urine, was suffering from painful bouts of cystitis and had bowel problems.

His urologist suggested he begin using a catheter to empty his bladder. But he still had to sleep on rubber sheets and take changes of clothes with him when he went out.

'If I'd been consulted, I would have been hesitant about such a large dose of radiotherapy'

All these symptoms are text book radiotherapy damage. Yet no one told Michael exactly why these symptoms had appeared.

'I thought I was simply living with the effects of having had cancer,' he says. 'It wasn't until I was referred to my current urologist in the autumn of 2008 that I first heard about radiotherapy damage.

'My urologist told me that today I wouldn't have been given such a large amount of radiotherapy, and that they might have adopted a watch-and-wait regime.

'That made me angry. If I'd been consulted, I would have been hesitant about such a large dose.'

Michael's story is not unique. While the damaging side-effects of radiotherapy have been recognised for decades, until recently patients weren't told of the risk. Partly this is because of concern that patients may refuse treatment if they knew the risk of damage.

This attitude has left generations of radiotherapy patients struggling to get a diagnosis - let alone treatment - for their problems. However, the bleak truth is that even when the patient is properly diagnosed there is little that clinical or pharmaceutical medicine can do to help.

'The worst aspect of the condition is that it will probably get worse,' says Dr Lester.

'Some doctors have tried rectally administering steroids to calm any inflammation.

'Others prescribe anti-diarrhoea drugs. But none of these treatments have been properly researched and, in my experience, none of them really work. Some may even make things worse.

'On the other hand, HBO therapy offers the possibility of improvement. The worst that can happen is that there is no improvement at all.'

But, because relatively low numbers of radiotherapy damaged patients have received the treatment, and no results have yet been collated, there has been no definitive research to show the oxygen therapy can help. It is a situation that many clinicians find frustrating, as it means the treatment is not recognised by NICE.

Patients who wish to use it must apply for funding on an individual basis. Fortunately, this lack of research may be about to change. In a world first, a trial carried out at the Royal Marsden Hospital in conjunction with the Institute of Cancer Research is aiming to establish whether HBO therapy does reverse symptoms.

Michael believes he already has the answer to that question. Initially denied funding by his local health authority, after the intervention of his urologist the money was found for him to attend his first course of treatment in February 2009.

'I went for 40 treatments over five weeks, and then, this year, I had a top-up of 20 treatments over two-and-a-half-weeks. Each session lasts between two and three hours, which includes three half-hour sessions of breathing pure oxygen through a hood.

'The chamber often feels warm and your ears pop as it is decompressed. There is always a medically trained attendant and usually up to nine other patients in with me.

'Each time, the results were astonishing. My bowel problems disappeared completely within days, and although I still have to use a catheter and wear pads, I'm usually dry for a night.

'To someone who has never had to use pads, it is hard to explain just how wonderful that feels.

'I am aware that, because the radiotherapy damage is continuous, the benefits of the oxygen therapy will start to wear off after time, but I am due to go for another course next year, which I hope will continue this pattern of improvement.

'HBO has given me hope that I can reverse some of the worst effects. That is a priceless gift.'

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Wednesday, 6 April 2011

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Tuesday, 1 February 2011

Cancer

Key facts

The problem

What causes cancer?

Risk factors for cancers

How can the burden of cancer be reduced?

Modifying and avoiding risk factors

Prevention strategies

Early detection

Early diagnosis

Screening

Treatment of early detectable cancers

Treatment of other cancers with potential for cure

Palliative care strategies

WHO response

Related articles

Tuesday, 14 September 2010

Radiotherapy saves millions from cancer but can inflict cruel damage, now, at last, there may be an answer...

More...

Related articles