I had never heard of ductal carcinoma in situ before I was diagnosed with it. Nor did I have a clue that breast cancer could be classified as stage 0; I only thought it came in stages 1 through 4. And I’m far from alone; most people I talked to had never heard of it either, including a …
Treatment for stage 0 breast cancer is definitely real
by Katherine O’Brien
Cancer patients usually say they want a cure. Well, of course, that goes without saying. But it’s also kind of annoying.
We’ve all, as children and adults, had those “What if” conversations. What if you could have anything you wanted in the whole world? Depending on the respondents’ ages, people might say anything from “a …
Cancer is a crime, and how a tumor board is the courtroom
Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians.
A 63-year-old woman is evaluated during a follow-up visit for a 4-week history of fatigue; pain in the proximal interphalangeal joints, knees, and hips; and low-grade fever.
She has not had joint swelling, chest pain, or shortness of breath. Over the past 4 years, she has …
MKSAP: 63-year-old woman with a 4 week history of fatigue
If you’re sick, you need people to empathize with you, right? Maybe not.
Empathy is one of those words with a wide variety of definitions, especially in academic settings.
From Wikipedia: “Empathy … cover[s] a broad spectrum, ranging from feeling a concern for other people that creates a desire to help them, experiencing emotions that match another person’s emotions, knowing what the other person is …
There isn’t a country on this planet where there isn’t someone dreaming of curing cancer. What if there was something even more spectacular than curing cancer? What if you could stop cancer right in its tracks and eliminate its existence. Prevent it. Squash it before it starts.
Vincent Tuohy, PhD, an immunologist at Cleveland Clinic, may be on a path toward …
Developing innovative solutions to battle cancer and disease
by Dan Zenka
As a patient, I feel for anyone who is given a diagnosis of prostate cancer. Hearing the “Big-C” word can be upsetting enough. But the complexity of the disease—diagnosing it, trying to characterize it and selecting the appropriate treatment—can feel like insult upon injury. We need to talk about prostate cancers. With 24 known sub-types of this cancer—from …
Prostate cancer from a patient perspective
When Clarissa was 13 she entered Johns Hopkins Hospital to be treated for relapsed acute leukemia knowing full well that she had only a 40% chance of survival. Today she is 16 and in excellent health. But it took 2 1/2 years of incredibly rigorous treatments to get there. Equally importantly it meant riding an emotional roller coaster for her and her parents.
Clarissa had …
Emotional issues that come with cancer during the teenage years
Why do my patients with cancer get better care than my patients in primary care? As the senior resident on my hospital’s inpatient leukemia service recently, this question troubled and intrigued me daily.
Despite the sheer complexity of treating leukemia (administration of chemotherapy, bone marrow biopsies, stem cell transplantation), the resources required (transplantation routinely costs $1 million), and the severity of the illness …
Cancer patients get better care than patients in primary care
by Robert Bresalier, MD
Did you hear the one about the cancer-sniffing dogs?
Sounds crazy, right? This is just one of many recent headlines that may leave you scratching your head.
Not every study you read in the news is the final word. But recent research can provide interesting new insight on colorectal cancer — the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States.
Here’s some insight to help you make sense …
Making sense of colorectal cancer headlines
My oncologist’s office implemented a new EMR system when I was in the middle of chemo. Once the nurses learned the system, I saw no difference in the care I got from them.
Not quite so with the doctor. My experience with him changed dramatically.
Before EMR I would enter the exam room and sit on a chair, play Angry Birds on my iPhone and wait. My doctor would walk in, make …
Last year it was the “Save the Boobs” video. This year it’s the “I (Heart)Boobies” bracelets.
Some people were very offended by the video’s slow-motion close-ups that were more reminiscent of a beer commercial. Now, some schools are banning kids from wearing the bracelets. And in a recent post on Salon, Tracy Clark-Flory made the eloquent case that we’re more than the sum of our body parts, and recounted her mom’s battle with metastasized lung cancer.
I agree …
Save the Boobs, and whether humor has a role in breast cancer
by Karen Basen-Engquist, PhD
The next time you’re on your couch contemplating whether to watch your favorite sitcom or get up and exercise, remind yourself that being active for at least 30 minutes every day can help reduce your chances of getting certain types of cancer.
Physical activity fights cancer because it reduces body fat, and lowers hormone levels that raise breast and endometrial cancer risks. It also keeps the digestive system …
The OR was hushed on Friday.
Normally, it is a loud, busy place. The staff and surgeons are almost like a big family; we chat with each other and banter cheerfully with patients to help get their minds off the imminent ordeal of surgery. Chaplains pray with patients and families. Sometimes there are disagreements, as in any workplace. But everyone cares about everyone else.
Because of that caring, it was hushed. Instead …
Tragedy of cancer in a small child
ADVERTISEMENT
I didn’t always recognize its importance. I mean when I was younger, I thought that being attractive, slim, athletic, articulate were sure-fire antidotes to one’s suffering a life of mediocrity. I just never recognized the value of something I took for granted, my sense of humor. And then life happened.
When I was 36, my husband (who was older by 12 years) was diagnosed with lung cancer. Inoperable, incurable, his type …
Kernels of humor in a tragic cancer story
Menopause often brings more than physical changes. It also may bring uncertainty about cancer risks and cancer prevention.
Below, I’ve compiled some of the questions I frequently hear from patients about menopause and cancer. I hope these answers will help other women start informed conversations with their doctors about menopause-related concerns.
How does menopause affect a woman’s cancer risk?
Menopause does not cause cancer. But your risk of developing cancer increases …
Menopause and cancer: What women should know
As an infectious diseases physician with a special interest in head and neck infections, I had extensive experience in otolaryngological illnesses. However, when I was exposed to new, different, and challenging experiences as a neck cancer patient, I had to deal with these as a patient — not as a physician. I endured the consequences of radiation, repeated surgeries, and prolonged hospitalizations. I confronted medical errors in my care, discrimination …
A laryngectomy shakes this physician to the core
by Brian Jackson, MD and Brian Shirts, MD, PhD
We’ve heard a lot of talk lately about personalized medicine (i.e., using advanced diagnostics to guide customized therapy).
A great deal of research is going into creating new molecular and genetic tests. But whether the health care system is prepared to actually generate value from these advanced diagnostics remains an open question. Our group’s research, presented in …
HPV test: Doctors are still not following testing guidelines
Winning the lottery — yes, I’ve heard the horror stories of how people’s lives have taken a turn for the worse after it’s happened. But, like many others, I still wonder what it would be like. I’d be willing to take my chances with the win!
But this post is not about money. Not at all. Actually it’s about gratitude.
It’s about the many ‘lotteries’ in life that have nothing to do …
Lotteries in life may have to do with suffering, disability and death
For everything, there is a season…
– Ecclesiastes
“Are you giving up on me?” My patient looks at me severely. “There must be other treatment options! Aren’t there some experimental drugs out there? I have beaten this cancer twice before. Are you saying that I can’t beat it again?”
No one can ever know with absolute certainty whether my patient’s newly recurrent cancer might miraculously disappear with one more treatment. His recurrence, however, has …
Discussing cancer treatment with the terminal patient
Merry Christmas!
I’d like to thank everyone for your continued readership.
Doctors, patients and other health care professionals need to be heard, and there’s no better place to do so than here, on social media’s leading physician voice.
This year, KevinMD.com had a regular rotation of 175 guest contributors, and surpassed 1.75 million visits, 2.95 million pageviews, 33,000 followers on Facebook and Twitter, and 40,000 RSS subscribers.
I am truly …
Posts of the year on KevinMD.com, 2010 edition
Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.
