Oncology and hematology

2,498 articles · Since 2004

Articles, page 83

Emotional issues that come with cancer during the teenage years

March 18, 2011Mar 18, 2011

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 …

Physician voices

Cancer patients get better care than patients in primary care

Shantanu Nundy, MD

March 17, 2011Mar 17, 201110

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…

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 …

Conditions and diseases

Making sense of colorectal cancer headlines

Robert Bresalier, MD

March 11, 2011Mar 11, 2011

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…

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 …

Real physician voices, twice a week

Free, and one click to unsubscribe.

Patient voices

EMR, a patient’s perspective

Ann Silberman

March 8, 2011Mar 8, 201114

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…

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 …

Read more…

EMR, a patient’s perspective

Patient voices

Save the Boobs, and whether humor has a role in breast cancer

Jackie Fox

February 25, 2011Feb 25, 201113

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…

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 …

Conditions and diseases

Exercise to prevent cancer

Karen Basen-Engquist, PhD

February 21, 2011Feb 21, 2011

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…

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 working well to …

Read more…

Exercise to prevent cancer

Conditions and diseases

Tragedy of cancer in a small child

gcs15, MD

February 18, 2011Feb 18, 20115

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…

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 …

Read more…

Tragedy of cancer in a small child

Conditions and diseases

Kernels of humor in a tragic cancer story

Colleen Kelly Mellor

February 5, 2011Feb 5, 20115

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…

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 …

Conditions and diseases

Menopause and cancer: What women should know

Therese B. Bevers, MD

January 21, 2011Jan 21, 20115

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…

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 …

Conditions and diseases

A laryngectomy shakes this physician to the core

Itzhak Brook, MD

January 19, 2011Jan 19, 20113

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 …

Conditions and diseases

HPV test: Doctors are still not following testing guidelines

Brian R. Jackson, MD & Brian Shirts, MD, PhD

January 11, 2011Jan 11, 20114

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…

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 …

Patient voices

Lotteries in life may have to do with suffering, disability and death

Jeffrey Knuppel, MD

January 8, 2011Jan 8, 2011

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…

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 …

Conditions and diseases

Discussing cancer treatment with the terminal patient

Bruce Campbell, MD

January 1, 2011Jan 1, 201115

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.…

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 …

Posts of the year on KevinMD.com, 2010 edition

Kevin

December 25, 2010Dec 25, 2010

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,…

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 …

Conditions and diseases

Quit smoking in 2011: 5 steps you need to know

Paul M. Cinciripini, PhD

December 14, 2010Dec 14, 20103

If you smoke, quitting the habit is the best New Year’s resolution you could make — and keep — in 2011. That’s true even if you’re just a social smoker. A new report from the Surgeon General shows that even…

If you smoke, quitting the habit is the best New Year’s resolution you could make — and keep — in 2011. That’s true even if you’re just a social smoker.

A new report from the Surgeon General shows that even occasional smoking and secondhand smoke cause immediate damage to the body.

The good news is that people who stop smoking before age 50 cut their risk of dying in the next 15 …

Conditions and diseases

Check for skin cancer and melanoma, even with dark skin

Erin Marcus, MD

December 11, 2010Dec 11, 2010

The mole on Ivis Febus-Sampayo's face looked odd. But it wasn't until her son needed treatment for acne that she went to a dermatologist. "As mothers, we're working, we're busy," she said. "I forgot about me and called the dermatologist…

The mole on Ivis Febus-Sampayo’s face looked odd. But it wasn’t until her son needed treatment for acne that she went to a dermatologist.

“As mothers, we’re working, we’re busy,” she said. “I forgot about me and called the dermatologist to make sure my son was getting taken care of.”

The doctor removed a sliver of the mole, and reassured Ivis that it was probably nothing to worry about. Two weeks later, …

Conditions and diseases

Early detection and improving cancer cure rates

Richard Leff, MD

December 6, 2010Dec 6, 2010

Reading the newspapers and watching the news lately would lead you to believe that screening for cancer is largely a waste of time. Yet, in the same week that the NEJM published Norwegian data showing a remarkably small survival benefit…

Reading the newspapers and watching the news lately would lead you to believe that screening for cancer is largely a waste of time.

Yet, in the same week that the NEJM published Norwegian data showing a remarkably small survival benefit of 2% associated with screening mammography, HealthDay reported a decrease in cancer incidence of almost 1% per year from 1999 to 2006 and a decrease in cancer deaths …

Patient voices

Travelers with medical conditions fear increased TSA security procedures

Brian Loew

November 30, 2010Nov 30, 20103

by Brian Loew Travelers with medical conditions hope that the TSA pat-down incidents involving bladder cancer survivor Thomas “Tom” Sawyer, at Detroit Metro Airport, and to breast cancer survivor Cathy Bossi, at Dulles Airport, are isolated incidents. But these reports…

by Brian Loew

Travelers with medical conditions hope that the TSA pat-down incidents involving bladder cancer survivor Thomas “Tom” Sawyer, at Detroit Metro Airport, and to breast cancer survivor Cathy Bossi, at Dulles Airport, are isolated incidents. But these reports are already creating a chilling effect on air travel for people with medical conditions and disabilities.

This group of travelers could benefit the most from holiday …

Conditions and diseases

Living with cancer is different from living after cancer

Edward Pullen, MD

November 30, 2010Nov 30, 201015

This is a topic close to home. My wife was diagnosed with stage 3C cancer of the ovary a bit over a year ago. She was a chemotherapy superstar, had few complications, and has been in remission since her treatment…

This is a topic close to home.

My wife was diagnosed with stage 3C cancer of the ovary a bit over a year ago. She was a chemotherapy superstar, had few complications, and has been in remission since her treatment finished last October. Still we know her chances of a cure are fairly low.

Understanding statistics is a mixed blessing. Even though her chances of this cancer never recurring are pretty low, …

Conditions and diseases

Ethics of placebo in cancer treatment clinical trials

Wendy S. Harpham, MD

November 27, 2010Nov 27, 20104

The New York Times recently ran an article tackling a complex ethical dilemma in cancer care: the withholding of treatment in clinical trials. Because I was treated in 3 clinical trials in the 1990s, the topic is close to my…

The New York Times recently ran an article tackling a complex ethical dilemma in cancer care: the withholding of treatment in clinical trials. Because I was treated in 3 clinical trials in the 1990s, the topic is close to my heart.

Scientists have advanced the treatment of disease using the scientific method. By that, I mean they have tested a theory using rigorous methods that give a reliable and reproducible answer. …

Oncology and hematology

Articles, page 83

Real physician voices, twice a week

The Podcast

Latest episodes

Most popular

The Podcast

Latest episodes

Most popular