Elderly cancer survivors face risk of brain metastasis

Elderly survivors of breast cancer, lung cancer, and melanoma face the risk of brain metastasis later in life, claim researchers.

Brain metastasis is cancer that spread to the brain from other body parts and therefore considered a secondary brain tumour.

“As cancer treatments have gotten better and more people are surviving a primary cancer diagnosis, it’s important to study secondary cancers, including metastasis to the brain. With an ageing U.S. population, the number of people with brain metastasis is increasing, although sometimes that metastasis does not occur until many years after the initial cancer diagnosis,” co-author of the study.

“As people are living longer after an initial cancer diagnosis, their ‘time at risk’ for metastasis is going up. In addition, the majority of primary cancer diagnoses have no standard of care for brain metastasis screening,” co-author added.

The researchers linked data on brain metastases to investigate rates of brain metastasis in elderly patients.

Then they calculated the incidence proportion, the ratio of brain metastases counts to the total number of cases, for each primary cancer.

The highest rates of metastasis were in small-cell and non-small-cell lung carcinoma, compared with adenocarcinoma, a more common type of lung cancer.

The authors said that the results of the study could help clinicians better understand patients’ risk for brain metastasis and could potentially influence screening and surveillance practices.

“Brain metastases are detected with MRI, which is very expensive. An improved understanding of who is likely to develop a brain metastasis could help determine who should get an MRI,” the author said.

The author added that more targeted surveillance could potentially help physicians detect metastases at early stages. If we can identify brain metastases earlier in their progression, that could allow for earlier treatment and improved outcomes for these patients.

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People living with incurable cancers urge more research

A man hesitated to buy light bulbs guaranteed for up to 10 years, thinking they'd outlast him. Another woman debated filling a prescription for a $13,000-a-month drug that keeps cancer from worsening for three months on average and carries six pages of warnings.

"There are so many of us living with cancers that can't be cured," he said. "We study the treatments but we don't study what it's like to be the person going through treatment."

Millions of people live with metastatic cancer - disease that has spread through the body and is considered incurable. They are surviving longer as treatments improve, often seeing cancer subside and flare again and again. Now many are pushing to be included more widely in research and to have it focus more on the patient's point of view.

"It's really about time that happened," said Dr. Patients should be asked what side effects and risks they'll accept, "not just treated as research subjects," she said.

Guidelines on how cancer survivors should be monitored later in life often assume the disease is in remission rather than still being treated, they wrote. Many patients now live for years with advanced cancer: Sixteen percent of people with widely spread lung cancer survive five years. Patients wonder if they should have genetic testing, how they'll deal with the cost of treatment and whether their doctors can keep up with the latest discoveries.

"We could also use some guidance even on seemingly irrelevant health decisions," such as whether it's worth it to be tested for other medical conditions or to take a cholesterol-lowering medicine "when you don't even know if you should take a chance on purchasing airline tickets for a summer vacation," the survivors wrote .

The man said hormone therapy and dozens of radiation treatments for his prostate cancer caused extreme fatigue. A marathoner, he said he "went from somebody who could run 50 miles, or 26 miles, to somebody who gets short of breath going up the stairs."

"I've got terrible sleep, hot flashes every 45 minutes," mood swings and depression, he said. Last summer, "I actually admitted myself to the hospital so I wouldn't kill myself."

A good psychiatrist, help from his family and a support group, and a new antidepressant have helped.

When she was 34, the woman was treated for Hodgkin lymphoma with radiation that led to breast and stomach cancers in later years. Two years ago, doctors found an unusual and inoperable soft tissue cancer called a sarcoma between her throat and windpipe. She said she has lived "in this constant fear of the other shoe dropping."

A jazz pianist and radio show host from Gary, Indiana, who spoke at the Atlanta conference as a patient advocate, talked about the uncertainty cancer patients live with. He had a cancerous kidney removed in 1996, but in 2007 learned the disease had spread to his lungs, liver and brain.

"They say if you go five years, you're kind of in the clear," but that's often not true, he said. He joined a study testing an experimental drug that helped him for five years until the company abandoned it.

"It wasn't working for enough people but it was saving my life," he said. His doctor persuaded the company to keep making the drug for him for another year, long enough for a new drug to come out that seems to be keeping his cancer in check.

Several studies are examining "what allows some people to live a very long time with incurable cancer," said a Dr. Around 750 women have given extensive details on their treatments and lifestyles, and tumor samples are being analyzed for genetic clues.

The survivors say they are focusing on living. She filled the prescription she'd been debating. He bought the long-lasting light bulbs.

"I figured, even if I can't enjoy them, the next person who lives in our house might," he said.

ps- it is very true that positive attitude matters a lot. Another important advise that I got from my oncologist friend is " don't pity yourself, nor anyone pity you for cancer". I think, this holds true not just for cancer but all diseases. I've seen that a lady who had stroke was able to overcome it and is moving around without any problem, at the same time, a man who had stroke, living on self pity and other's pity, has been worsening his condition. He never did the exercises that were necessary, always saying that I don't have hands and legs ! I'm also a cancer survivor with COPD, fibromyalgia and other issues. But I feel each day is a bonus, I do what I love doing and what makes me happy. I can never sit idle, feel waste of time, very rarely I watch TV, but will do my crochet at that time. Right now part of the team making prosthetic for breast cancer patients. I believe in mind over matter, if the mind wills, you can conquer a mountain too ! Good luck to all out there, especially cancer survivors, be happy, spread your smile, it will make you feel better, continue with your hobby or start a new one !

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Pregnancy is safe for breast cancer survivors

Currently there is no evidence saying breast cancer can cause any risk to mother or baby .

Breast cancer, the most prevalent cancer among Indian women, cannot deter motherhood, if intervention takes place at the right moment, say health experts. According to them, pregnancy is possible for women survivors of breast cancer- -- it does not increase risk of recurrence and neither does it cause any harm to the baby.

Yes, pregnancy is possible for breast cancer patients. Currently there is no reason or evidence to believe that becoming pregnant after breast cancer treatment can cause any risk to the mother or the baby, said a radiaton oncologist.

In a striking case from Rawanda,  a 33 year old lady conceived naturally and delivered a healthy baby 5 years after she was diagnosed with breast cancer. The lady was at high risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer in 2013.

She completed four years of hormone blockade treatment, which blocks the action of the Estrogen Receptor (ER) on breast cancer cells. Pregnancy is not advisable while on this treatment.
Although she had her eggs frozen before chemotherapy, she conceived naturally and delivered a helathy baby after the treatment stopped.

Another 27 year old lady  was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 27 and treated in 2007, opted for breast conservation against full masectomy and delivered a healthy baby boy in 2013.

Previously there were concerns over increased risk of cancer recurrence in women who contemplate pregnancy, but it is good news that studies show no higher risk in women who conceive as compared to women who do not conceive, the Dr. said.

In yet another case, a lady treated for breast cancer in her late 30s, conceived and delivered a healthy baby, 2.5 years after her treatment. She hada history of 7 miscarriages.

However.  it is not a blanket statement for all breast cancer patient. It depends on the age of the patient. And while deciding about pregnancy, it is important to consider and talk to the patient about her age, family size and type of breast cancer ( aggressiveness and risk of recurrence) the Dr. said.

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Yes, pregnancy is possible for breast cancer patients. Curre

Read more at:
https://punemirror.indiatimes.com/others/scitech/pregnancy-is-safe-for-breast-cancer-survivors-experts/articleshow/66912858.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Currently there is no evidence saying breast cancer can caus

Read more at:
https://punemirror.indiatimes.com/others/scitech/pregnancy-is-safe-for-breast-cancer-survivors-experts/articleshow/66912858.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

3-D printed ovaries could help cancer survivors have healthy children!

Scientists have developed a new world of three-dimensional (3-D) printed organs that includes implanted ovary structures which can actually ovulate and may help childhood cancer survivors to produce healthy children.

According to the study, the bioprosthetic ovaries was constructed of 3-D printed scaffolds that house immature eggs and found to successfully boost hormone production as well as restore fertility in mice.

Teresa K. Woodruff, a reproductive scientist at the Northwestern University in the US said, "This research shows these bio-prosthetic ovaries have long-term, durable function."

Ramille Shah, Assistant Professor at the Northwestern University said, the architecture of the scaffold and the material, or "ink", that was used in the bio-prosthetic ovaries are different from other 3-D printed structures.

The material used was gelatin -- a biological hydrogel made from broken-down collagen and is safe to use in humans.

Researchers said, the bioprosthetic ovaries may help restore fertility and hormone production in women who have undergone adult cancer treatments or those who survived childhood cancer and now have increased risks of infertility and hormone-based developmental issues.

 Monica Laronda, Assistant Professor at the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital in Illinois, US explained, "What happens with some of our cancer patients is that their ovaries don't function at a high enough level and they need to use hormone replacement therapies in order to trigger puberty."
 
Laronda said, "The purpose of this scaffold is to recapitulate how an ovary would function. We're thinking big picture, meaning every stage of the girl's life, so puberty through adulthood to a natural menopause."

Additionally, the successful creation of 3-D printed implants to replace complex soft tissue could also significantly impact future work in soft tissue regenerative medicine, the researchers stated.

The finding was published in the journal Nature Communications.

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Depression makes recovery from cancer tough, says study

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"Depression and anxiety often go hand in hand with cancer but now we can see the extent to which people are struggling to live with these illnesses," said a researcher. 

People suffering from depression are less likely to recover well after treatment for colorectal cancer compared to those without depression, according to a new study. Researchers from Macmillan Cancer Support and the University of Southampton in the UK found that one in 5 colorectal cancer patients are depressed at the time of diagnosis. 

These people are 7 times more likely to have 'very poor health', which could include severe difficulty in walking around or being confined to bed two years after treatment has ended compared to those without depression, researchers said. They are also 13 times more likely to have 'very poor quality of life', which could include problems with thinking and memory or sexual functioning, they said. Previous research has shown that more than half a million people who have received a cancer diagnosis are also living with a mental health issue, such as depression. 

 Unless people undergoing cancer treatment are asked about other illnesses, concerns and worries by their healthcare professionals, mental health issues may get missed and they could lose out on vital support, researchers said. The study, which is the largest of its kind, is following the lives of more than a thousand colorectal cancer patients from before surgery until at least five years afterwards. It assesses their recovery by measuring indicators of health, quality of life and well-being.

"This research tells us that having depression has an enormous impact on how people live after their cancer treatment," said Jane Maher from Macmillan Cancer Support. "In fact, it affects their recovery more than whether or not they have been diagnosed early. We know that depression and anxiety often go hand in hand with cancer but now we can see the extent to which people are struggling to live with these illnesses," said Maher.

"Colorectal cancer can have some difficult physical consequences, such as incontinence and sexual difficulties - it is more than enough for anyone to have to deal with. Mental health issues can be a real barrier to people getting better," he added. "Our study has highlighted the importance of taking into account psychological factors when thinking about how best to support patients recently diagnosed with colorectal cancer," said Claire Foster from University of Southampton.

"We have shown that self-reported depression before cancer treatment starts predicts quality of life and health status during treatment and up to two years later," she said.

The findings were published in the journal PLoS ONE.

Portable cancer detectors?

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 A thin, stretchable film that coils light waves like a Slinky could lead to a portable smart phone-sized device for more precise, less expensive monitoring for cancer survivors, scientists say.


The film provides a simpler, more cost-effective way to produce circularly polarised light, an essential ingredient in the process that could eventually provide an early warning of cancer recurrence. "More frequent monitoring could enable doctors to catch cancer recurrence earlier, to more effectively monitor the effectiveness of medications and to give patients better peace of mind," said Nicholas Kotov of the University of Michigan.