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More about the Onconurse.com Website The April 2004 Odds and Ends Column in the ESUN newsletter mentions that the Onconurse.com website provides free information for oncology nurses to share with their patients. The Stress and the Immune System fact sheet explores “the known associations—or the lack of them—between stress, the immune system, illness, and cancer” and is definitely worth reading as is the Patient Rights and Responsibilities fact sheet which discusses how patients can become involved in their own medical care, learn about their choices, and participate in decision making. Several other Onconurse fact sheets are mentioned in the April column.
Those of you dealing with osteosarcoma may want to check out this interesting and useful website at the Indiana University Cancer Center (IUCC). The sites states, “Our vision is to improve survival and quality of life for teens and young adults with osteosarcoma through advances in patient care, education and research.” Also check out their Osteosarcoma Clinical Care and Research Program.
The Sabin Vaccine Institute has organized a Cancer Vaccine Consortium to “address the networking, clinical and regulatory needs of corporations, organizations and researchers working in cancer vaccines.” The goal of the consortium is to accelerate the process of bringing cancer vaccines from the development stage to the clinic. Among other things, this website lists recent news about cancer vaccines and gives links to the 19 companies that are currently members of the consortium.
More on the Medline Plus Health Tutorials The Medline Plus Health Tutorials website was mentioned in the Drug News Column of February 2004 Issue of ESUN. Here are the names of several additional tutorials that you might find interesting and useful: Clinical Trials, CT Scan, MRI, Chemotherapy, and Radiation therapy.
MedScape CME Offering The MedScape website contains a new CME offering which is worth looking at for those of you suffering from anemia. It is called Cancer and Treatment-Related Anemia: Clinical Considerations, by Clifford Hudis, MD and Julie Gralow, MD, Writer: Robert S. Mocharnuk, MD.
Medical News Today Found on the Medical News Today website, A New Way to Kill Cancer: Viruses Can Destroy Lung, Colon Tumors, 15 May 2004, “A genetically engineered virus can selectively kill cancerous cells in the lung and colon while leaving healthy cells intact, according to new research published today in Cancer Research by William Wold and colleagues at Saint Louis University School of Medicine. The research could lead to a new class of cancer therapies that selectively kill cancer cells.”
Gold Ribbon Days 2004, June 15-17, 2004, Washington, DC, “The Childhood Cancer Gold Ribbon has become the unifying symbol for childhood cancer awareness, symbolizing the precious nature of all children and the golden flame of hope that burns brightly for childhood cancer patients, survivors, families and caregivers. As a mother of one young patient said, 'Our children are our gold and we should honor them'."
More on Immunotherapy The Q and A Column in the April 2004 Issue of ESUN dealt with immunotherapy (both vaccine-based and antibody-based therapies). See the website, Immunotherapy of Cancers (The Internet Journal. Easily accessible, highly relevant and very objective! Reviewed Materials, Guidelines and Links) for more information on cancer vaccines.
Depression It’s easy when dealing you or a loved one is dealing with a serious cancer such as sarcoma to become depressed. If you or someone you know is depressed, the “Your Guide to Depression” on the WebMD Health website may prove a useful resource for you.
Li-Fraumeni syndrome (LFS) “Individuals with LFS are at increased risk for developing multiple primary cancers, including soft-tissue sarcoma, breast cancer, leukemia, osteosarcoma, melanoma and colorectal cancers.” See Treating Precancerous Breast Cells May Prevent Onset of Cancer.
More on Angiogenesis The Q and A Column in the February 2004 Issue of ESUN dealt the question, “What is angiogenesis and how does it play a role in cancer treatment?” It is reported in a recent news release from Duke University that scientists at Duke have recently identified a new way to block blood vessels that feed cancer growth. “Scientists from Duke University Medical Center have identified the ‘master switch’ that cancer cells use to dispatch protective messages to nearby blood vessels, fortifying the vessels against deadly onslaughts of radiation. The messages enable blood vessels to survive and ultimately nourish any remaining cancer cells that escape toxic radiation therapy. Radiation biologists from the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center identified the master switch as a protein called ‘Hypoxia Inducible Factor’ (HIF-1) that turns on production of these protective messages.”
More on the use of the Internet In the Odds and Ends Column of the April 2004 Issue of the ESUN Newsletter, we discussed two studies dealing with the internet, The Impact of the Internet on Cancer Outcomes and How the Internet affects patients’ experience of cancer: a qualitative study. There is an interesting editorial, “The first generation of e-patients”, on the bmj.com website (BMJ 2004; 328:1148-1149, 15 May), which is well worth reading and summarizes some interesting impacts of the tool so essential to us.
The Diagnose-me.com website contains a webpage on soft tissue sarcomas. This website is centered around a tool called The Analyst™. The Analyst™ is an expert system based diagnostic tool that “fills the gap between what you need and what busy, human doctors can offer”. According to the website, The Analyst™ “pulls together extraordinary amounts of research, rules, connections, studies and real-world experience, applying all of this to each and every case that it encounters.” To use The Analyst™, you fill in a questionnaire that asks up to 900 optional multiple-choice questions. The results will be sent to you by e-mail. According to the website, “Your responses to the multiple-choice section of the questionnaire are translated into an analysis of your health that is based on statistical probabilities. The analysis will identify conditions that are likely to require attention, or that should be ruled out; it will also, if asked, indicate mainly natural treatments that have benefited others in a similar situation.”
V1N3 ESUN Copyright © 2004 Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative.
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