GUY’S GOTTA TALK ABOUT…Alzheimer’s #4 – Magic Bullets?

Dad’s diagnosis of Alzheimer’s stayed hidden from everyone until I took over the medical administration of my parents in 2015. Once I found out, there was a deafening silence from most of the people I know even though virtually all of them would add, “My _____ had Alzheimer’s…” But there was little help, little beyond people sadly shaking heads. Or horror stories. Lots of those. Even the ones who knew about the disease seemed to have received a gag order from some Central Alzheimer’s Command and did little more than mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I started this part of my blog…

This comes at a good time because the other day, my dad called me about some drug he’d seen advertised on late-night TV called “Cebria”. He said he was thinking about getting a supply of the drug because the advertising slogan is so…enticing: “Think Faster & Remember More with Cebria^® Improve Your Memory in just 30 Days!**Results may vary!”

He knows he has Alzheimer’s and to the best of my estimation capabilities, he is in Stage 5 or 6 – if he’s in 6, he’s slipped into it recently. I just realized that I haven’t ever defined those stages. Here you go:

Stage 1: Alzheimer’s disease is not detectable and no memory problems or other symptoms of dementia are evident.

Stage 2: Minor memory problems like losing things around the house though indistinguishable from normal age related memory loss. Undetectable via testing.

Stage 3: Friends and family members begin to notice memory and cognitive problems. Physicians using tests can detect impaired cognitive function. The person can’t find the right word during conversation, forget names of new acquaintances, trouble planning and organizing, frequently lose personal possessions, including valuables.

Stage 4: Difficulty with simple arithmetic, forgetting details about life history, poor short term memory, inability to manage finances.

Stage 5: Need help with many day to day activities, significant confusion, inability to recall simple details about themselves (phone number, address, age); difficulty dressing appropriately; they DO maintain functionality: bathe and toilet independently; know family members and some detail about their personal histories.

Stage 6: Need constant supervision and frequently require professional care; confusion or unawareness of environment and surroundings; major personality changes and potential behavior problems; need assistance with activities of daily living; inability to recognize faces except closest friends and relatives; inability to remember most details of personal history; loss of bowel and bladder control; wandering

Stage 7: Alzheimer’s is terminal, patients in stage seven are nearing death. Lose ability to respond to their environment or communicate. While they may still be able to utter words and phrases, they have no insight into their condition and need assistance with all activities of daily living. In the final stages of the illness, patients may lose their ability to swallow.

Truth? I can’t imagine that “Cebria” or any other nootropic pill will make Dad remember any better. My biggest problem is that a person takes the pill and the first place it hits is the stomach. The hydrochloric acid in the stomach helps the molecules that break down food work better, the to “acidity” can vary between 1.5 to 5 (car battery acid up to acid rain). I can’t imagine the lactose, glutamic acid, lysine, leucine, arginine, aspartic acid, serine, phenylalanine, valine, threonine, tyrosine, isoleucine, histidine, methionine, and tryptophan (the ingredients of the pill: http://www.topcognitiveenhancers.com/nootropic-reviews-seniors/cebria) will last long in the stomach. Moreover, I can’t imagine that they will then be taken up by the bloodstream and passed to the brain – which has a barrier set up specifically to filter out “junk”. OK – so according to Wikipedia, it DOES allow the passage of amino acids through the barrier (“ The blood–brain barrier allows the passage of water, some gases, and lipid-soluble molecules by passive diffusion, as well as the selective transport of molecules such as glucose and amino acids that are crucial to neural function.”)

The fact is that these nootropic companies are in direct competition with real medicine – which can’t find a cure (or even an effective treatment) of Alzheimer’s. The niche is open at this moment and there’s a mad scramble to make a buck any way possible. I include Big Pharma in that scramble as well…

HOWEVER…as I’ve started to realize in my writing: “Evil” forces – especially in Humans – rarely view THEMSELVES as evil. They’re just trying to find a solution to a problem they perceive as life-threatening. While I am sure that there are drug manufacturers whose sole goal is to rake in untold wealth while not caring a fig about the destruction they leave in their wake; most of these companies “sincerely believe” that they are doing good.

And therein lies the tale…

Resource: http://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2016/12/09/how-much-hope-is-there-for-alzheimers-drugs/#1bf392712602, http://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/mind-and-memory-supplement-scorecard, http://www.alzheimers.net/stages-of-alzheimers-disease/

Image:  http://az616578.vo.msecnd.net/files/2016/06/25/6360242025150255191939281878_Alzheimer-disease-patients.jpg

ENCORE #52! – “HOLD ON THERE BABA LOUIE!” – Exercise “reduces cytokines in adipose tissue” might be PURE HYPE!

From the first moment my wife discovered she had breast cancer, there was a deafening silence from the men I know. Even ones whose wives, mothers or girlfriends had breast cancer seemed to have received a gag order from some Central Cancer Command and did little more than mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I started this blog…That was four years ago – as time passed, people searching for answers stumbled across my blog and checked out what I had to say. The following entry appeared in May of 2012 and goes with this article: http://breastcancerreaper.blogspot.com/2012/05/another-hold-on-there-baba-louie-moment.html

Doctors harp on exercise.

Despite the harping – or in my case, perversely because of it – I avoid exercise like the plague.

Even so, as I read more and more sites promoting the “exercise makes you better if you have breast cancer” meme, I found that almost none of them give any kind of evidence as to WHY exercise fights cancer and promotes healing.

So I dug into the sites and finally found some evidence supporting this wild, “Do this one weird thing…” kind of meme. This week, it’s number:

1)                  Increased levels of pro-inflammatory factors and decreased levels of anti-inflammatory factors have been linked with increased cancer risk. Physical activity might reduce systemic inflammation alone or in combination with reduction in body weight or composition through reducing inflammatory cytokines in adipose tissue.

What are pro and anti-inflammatory factors?

Let’s start with CYTOKINES and let me warn you, even researchers are still a bit fuzzy about these molecules, which explains the “might” in the paragraph above. We’ll take this subject as a “details at 11” kind of thing – it’s changing every day, but TODAY and to the best of our knowledge, we can say that we’re pretty sure that cytokines are small molecules that are given off by numerous cells and are used to communicate with each other. Cytokines are a large and diverse family of molecules with many jobs. One thing we are pretty sure they do to control the immune system – that collection of white blood cells and chemicals that spring to work when you’re hurt or sick and the body has to fight off an infection. The line between cytokines and hormones is also pretty blurry but PROBABLY, cytokines come from lots of places and there are only set amounts in the blood – though that amount can leap up during trauma or infection. Hormone levels are steady. Many cells produce cytokines. Most hormones come from specific glands (adrenal, pancreas, etc). Also, while usually specific, some cytokines act like hormones to have an effect on the entire body. Last of all, some cytokines act outside the immune system and affect the development of the human body.

As to breast cancer, at least one cytokine affects both the presence of and severity of breast cancer: “In a study published in the January 15th issue of Cancer Research…researchers showed that activation of the CXCR4 [cytokine] receptors [on the cancer cells] resulted in increased tumor growth and metastasis…and less dependent on estrogen for continued growth…to become metastatic and resistant to endocrine therapy…[in] A second study published in the current issue of Surgery…authors reported that all benign breast tissues had no detectable CXCR4 levels, whereas all 101 breast cancer patients showed at least some level of this cytokine receptor.  Of these breast cancer patients, 79 had low levels of CXCR4 and 22 had high levels of CXCR4.  These high CXCR4 levels were linked with increased breast cancer recurrence and worse chances of survival…overexpression of CXCR4 cytokine receptors is linked to worse breast cancer outcomes…blocking this pathway might become a valuable breast cancer treatment for patients overexpressing this cytokine receptor.”

The big “might” up above has given breast cancer, cytokines and exercise a high level of interest. The third reference below cites a study that, as of my referencing of it, was still recruiting participants.

So – I’m going to label THIS particular aspect of exercise and breast cancer as a big MAYBE, LET’S WAIT AND SEE. So don’t go spreading the word that exercise reduces cytokines and decreases breast cancer.

Nobody knows enough yet to say one way or the other.

Resources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cytokine, http://breastcancerfightnowbydraarontabor.blogspot.com/2011/01/cytokine-receptor-cxcr4-worsens-breast.html, http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00851812

Image: https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5527/10893068965_1d328e8f71_b.jpg

GUY’S GOTTA TALK ABOUT #31…Breast Cancer: Cameroon

From the first moment my wife discovered she had breast cancer, there was a deafening silence from the men I know. Even ones whose wives, mothers or girlfriends had breast cancer seemed to have received a gag order from some Central Cancer Command and did little more than mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I started this blog…

In the 1980s, I traveled with an organization to West Africa. I spent three months in Cameroon, so I still follow news about the country. Recently it seemed a natural extension of my reading about Breast Cancer to check the stats regarding the disease in that country.(Essay on BC:Nigeria is here -- http://breastcancerreaper.blogspot.com/2016/11/guys-gotta-talk-about-30breast-cancer.html)

I found this: “Overall survival rates of breast cancer are 30% at 5 years and 13.2% at 10 years among Cameroonian patients and are lower compared with 90% and 82% respectively at 5 years and 10 years in some developed countries.”

OMG! This is truly horrifying. Where we – justifiably – celebrate the survival of American breast cancer victims, the mortality rate of the women in Cameroon is THREE TIMES ours.

What’s being done? How can we help?

The vast majority of deaths from malignancies occur in sub-Saharan Africa primarily as a result of lack of public awareness of cancer and how it is diagnosed and treated in the setting of a severe lack of resources (physical and personnel) to actually diagnose tumors. To correct this massive health disparity, a plan of action is required across the continent of Africa to bring diagnostic medicine into the modern era and connect patients with the care they desperately need.” (Emphasis mine)

Why should this matter to you? Why should the matter to me?

I COULD wallow in guilt. That would be both easy and satisfying! Instead, I’ve decided I’m going to take a character I’ve created in a science fiction short story, and send him on a few adventures. Most likely, he’ll be travelling with a hard-thinking woman who will become his perfect match. They’ve already started out rebuilding the educational infrastructure of Liberia in the future middle of this century. I’m thinking the two of them need to make a trip to Cameroon. Separately – where they’ll meet and butt heads.

The driving issue will be breast cancer education, diagnosis, and treatment in these three West African countries that hold a special place in my heart. From the sale of the stories, I’ll donate the money to breast cancer research in those places…

As for current work going on there, there does seem to be movement and as you’d expect, it’s in the area of EDUCATION AND AWARENESS. “A recent review using the most recent data available for the entire continent showed that breast cancer was the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women in 2008. There were an estimated 92,600 cases…breast cancer recently overtook cervical cancer as the most commonly diagnosed cancer in several countries in sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria, Chad, Sudan, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Niger, Namibia, Congo, Kenya, and Somalia. This change was attributed to increases in the prevalence of breast cancer risk factors associated with urbanization and economic development, such as earlier menarche, later childbearing, having fewer children, obesity, and increased awareness and detection.”

As well, “Worldwide, breast cancer mostly occurs after the age of 50 years. The situation is different in our context where it occurs at a relatively younger age, 46 years. The majority of these cases in our setting are diagnosed at advanced stages of the disease because of difficulties in access to health care among other factors, underscoring the importance of early diagnosis through screening. According to the WHO, breast cancer is responsible for 25% of cancer deaths in the world with the majority of these deaths occurring in the developing countries. Although incidence of breast cancer is lowest in African countries, survival rates are also lowest. The majority of breast cancer deaths, 69%, occur in developing countries.”

A ray of hope? Run for a Cure, Africa has this as its mission: “To Win the fight against breast cancer in Africa by erasing societal stigmas; providing affordable breast cancer screenings, and creating more access to quality breast care. Their vision is to “…turn the current 90% breast cancer mortality rate in Africa into the 99% survival rate.”

So…the fight goes on in places most of us have never heard of. Hallelujah!

Resource: http://file.scirp.org/pdf/ABCR_2015033017061944.pdf, http://allafrica.com/stories/201607181336.html, http://file.scirp.org/pdf/OJOG_2016110715230808.pdf, http://us8.campaign-archive1.com/?u=9921334c92e792139971fa508&id=22224a0179&e=7c62834bc7

Image: http://wrex.images.worldnow.com/images/23784252_SA.jpg

ENCORE #51! – Metastatic Breast Cancer: Skin Cancer (aka Melanoma)

From the first moment my wife discovered she had breast cancer, there was a deafening silence from the men I know. Even ones whose wives, mothers or girlfriends had breast cancer seemed to have received a gag order from some Central Cancer Command and did little more than mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I started this blog…That was four years ago – as time passed, people searching for answers stumbled across my blog and checked out what I had to say. The following entry appeared November of 2013.

“Where’d this come from?”

Well, see, my brother, sister, and sister-in-law were all diagnosed with skin cancer and successfully treated. As well, an old friend and teaching colleague of mine was recently diagnosed and treated for skin cancer. (The worst part there was that he’d posted a picture of the excision on Facebook and many (if not all) of US teased him about bonking his head, etc. Thoroughly stung when he later announced that it was a cancerous spot removed, I apologized both on his timeline and to him in person. NOT that I “should have known”, even so...)

Lately, I’ve had these dry, red patches on my face and while using lotion makes them fade, I have (duh) been wondering if they were signs of skin cancer. That led – at least in my mind – to wondering if there was any connection between breast cancer and skin cancer.

Not surprisingly, there is: “Since breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed non-cutaneous (non-skin) cancer among women in the United States, it is not surprising that many individuals with breast cancer will develop melanoma (the deadliest form of skin cancer) and vice versa...recent studies exploring how often individual patients develop both cancers suggest that it [is] more than just coincidence: A recent study by Murphy, et al, for example, found that patients with either breast cancer or melanoma were almost four times more likely to develop the other malignancy than probability would lead researchers to expect. Specific causes linking the diseases may be in play, and genetic or environmental factors may also contribute. On the other hand, the association may at least partly result from more rigorous detection – in other words, a detection bias. This occurs when health care providers who carefully monitor cancer patients detect a second cancer that might otherwise have been missed.”

Also: “Sometimes cancer cells can start growing in the skin. This is not the same as having skin cancer, melanoma, or cutaneous T cell lymphoma (a type of lymphoma that affects the skin). The secondary cancer may start to grow on or near an operation scar where the primary cancer was removed. Or sometimes secondary skin cancers can grow in other parts of the body.

A secondary skin cancer looks like a pink or red raised lump (a bit like a boil). Skin nodules can be treated. It is important to tell your doctor if you think you have one, because if it is not treated, it may become ulcerated [has a ‘cauliflower’ look to it; also, it can be weeping].”

So, it appears that breast cancer CAN spread to the skin – yet it doesn’t seem to be a common occurrence. I had a bit of trouble even finding places where the two kinds of cancers were linked. That doesn’t make it comforting – just one less-likely thing to worry about.

Resources: http://www.skincancer.org/skin-cancer-information/melanoma/breast-cancer-melanoma-link, http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/cancer-help/about-cancer/what-is-cancer/grow/where-a-cancer-spreads

Image: https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5527/10893068965_1d328e8f71_b.jpg

GUY’S GOTTA TALK ABOUT...Alzheimer's #3 “I don’t want to be here anymore…”

Dad’s diagnosis of Alzheimer’s stayed hidden from everyone until I took over the medical administration of my parents in 2015. Once I found out, there was a deafening silence from most of the people I know even though virtually all of them would add, “My _____ had Alzheimer’s…” But there was little help, little beyond people sadly shaking heads. Or horror stories. Lots of those. Even the ones who knew about the disease seemed to have received a gag order from some Central Alzheimer’s Command and did little more than mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I started this part of my blog…

Every few days, my father calls me to tell me that he doesn’t want to live in the retirement community any more. Of course, it’s not because of any one thing. Usually he believes that if he just got back to his old place, he’d know the people again.

Because he doesn’t know anyone in this place.

My dad has NEVER been a social butterfly. Once he gets a friend, he holds onto them forever. Examples include – the childhood friend who started a “supper club” a year before or after I was born. The place was in the far wilderness and practically on the edge of civilization! When they went to the place the first time, my mother declared, “If you don’t get there in the next ten minutes, we turn around and go back!” They got there – and he’s been going there ever since. It’s also the only restaurant he’ll go to and NOT get upset because of the food or service…at least when he’s with me. Another is a guy he hung out with when he was in the Air Force during the Korean Conflict. He’s been calling and talking to this guy since they reconnected about thirty years ago. Then there’s the former next-door-neighbors from the house they sold nearly 20 years ago. He still wants to see them – but they’re fifteen years his junior and they have their own lives to live that rarely include him.

Driving is another big issue. I took his car keys away when we moved them into the senior facility a little over a year ago. He constantly talks about getting a car and driving around. When I ask who he’d go see, he just starts to mutter about having a car…

I read once that someone with Alzheimer’s have a profound desire to return to a time when they had control over their lives. My dad WAS someone who always had to have control. His effort though wasn’t overt. It was always covert. Maybe even a little delusional, because it was MOM who was in charge. He just thought he was! He equates his truck, and going to the store with his freedom. He doesn’t have a clear idea of where he’d go or who he’d see, he’s just certain he’d be happier if things were all the way they used to be.

That seems to be the lot of Humanity though. I’ve no doubt that Adam and Eve wanted things to be the way they were before they broke from God. I’ve no doubt that the world would readily return to the way things were before nuclear weapons were abundant. I’m pretty sure that some people who be happy to go back to the time when Europeans were just one tribe among many.

But we can neither turn back the clock and go back to the way things were; we also, however don’t well remember “the way things were”. For example, I don’t remember my dad going out an awful lot. When I first stepped in to intervene in my parent’s decline, Dad would get angry and upset when he and I went grocery shopping. Mom would fight me when I wanted her go to the doctor; the meals she’d cook before we moved them to the senior facility were often burned; she also spent most of her time sitting in her chair, ignoring doctor’s orders to move. Dad would spend most of his time in the basement, watching TV and ignoring Mom…

So. What’s next? According to how I’m reading the signs, Dad is moving more firmly into Stage 6 (http://www.best-alzheimers-products.com/seven-stages-of-alzheimers.html). He’s been sundowning for months – long before Mom died; daily since then (four-and-a-half months ago). Sundowning is defined as “…a symptom of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. It’s also known as “late-day confusion.” If someone you care for has dementia, their confusion and agitation may get worse in the late afternoon and evening. In comparison, their symptoms may be less pronounced earlier in the day.”

He hasn’t shown many other of the Stage 6 symptoms, but it seems like their appearance is only a matter of time. *sigh*

Resource: http://www.aplaceformom.com/blog/12-17-15-alzheimers-behaviors-to-track/, http://www.alzheimersweekly.com/, http://www.alz.org/, http://www.healthline.com/health-slideshow/dementia-sundowning

Image:  http://az616578.vo.msecnd.net/files/2016/06/25/6360242025150255191939281878_Alzheimer-disease-patients.jpg

ENCORE #50! – Does EVERYONE, ALWAYS Need Radiation After A Lumpectomy?

From the first moment my wife discovered she had breast cancer, there was a deafening silence from the men I know. Even ones whose wives, mothers or girlfriends had breast cancer seemed to have received a gag order from some Central Cancer Command and did little more than mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I started this blog…That was four years ago – as time passed, people searching for answers stumbled across my blog and checked out what I had to say. The following entry appeared in August 2013. The root of this one is from: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/264999.php

One of the most AMAZING things about consistently looking at current breast cancer research is that the discoveries seem to be never-ending. I can’t imagine ever stumbling across a headline that reads, “Scientists Know Everything About Breast Cancer, Research Centers Closed”…

Aside from the shock to breast cancer researchers if they actually reached their ultimate goal, I wonder what the next frontier would be? Certainly the world of research changed when smallpox was finally vanquished or we conquered polio.

At any rate, there’s news now that breast cancer treatment may be taking another turn – women who contemplate a lumpectomy typically follow up with both radiation and some sort of chemotherapy.

One research team is now proposing that treatment centers and doctors WEIGH the advantages and disadvantages of subjecting a woman to sometimes debilitating treatment with radiation. “The most contentious issue surrounds radiotherapy and whether all patients undergoing breast-conserving surgery should receive it. The authors believe that if toxic effects of radiotherapy exceed any oncological gains amongst DCIS patients, it is likely to lead to a higher all-cause mortality rate.”

In other words, it’s a case of “if they don’t need it, don’t do it” school of medicine.

While the research DOES NOT SAY RADIATION TREATMENT IS A WASTE OF TIME OR HARMFUL IN ALL WOMEN, they do note that “Present treatment options for DCIS [ductal in situ carcinoma – the most common form of breast cancer] are acknowledged as being excessive for many patients, and the aim of molecular profiling is to ensure that additional treatments such as radiotherapy are restricted to patients at highest risk of invasive recurrence."

What is molecular profiling? “Molecular profiling [looks at] the [patient’s] genetics and... [looks for] molecules found in the blood, other body fluids or tissues. Based on the information gathered from a patient’s tumor, doctors are able to identify the appropriate therapies that target[s that] patient’s cancer cells.”

So, doctors are working to first detect breast cancer as early as possible, then treat the cancer effectively using ONLY what is needed to heal the patient. This would include the recent push to only remove SENTINEL lymph nodes that test positive for cancer rather than entire lymph node structures along with recent research that indicates that it MAY be possible to reattach the lymph ducts from a limb back into the blood stream if a large number of nodes were removed, thereby reducing the incidence of lymphedema...but that’s the subject of another post!

Targeted treatment for maximum impact with minimal damage? Sounds like a good plan to me.

Resources: http://www.cancercare.org/publications/166-molecular_profiling_personalizing_treatment_for_breast_cancer

Image: https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5527/10893068965_1d328e8f71_b.jpg

GUY’S GOTTA TALK ABOUT #30…Breast Cancer: Nigeria

From the first moment my wife discovered she had breast cancer, there was a deafening silence from the men I know. Even ones whose wives, mothers or girlfriends had breast cancer seemed to have received a gag order from some Central Cancer Command and did little more than mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I started this blog…

Most people don’t know that for most of 1984, I was in the West African countries of Nigeria, Cameroon, and Liberia.

I got to thinking this morning when I noticed that some of my blog entries have taken a new direction, that I can pretty much talk about whatever I want to talk about.

So, it got me to wondering: what are the breast cancer facts, figures, and treatment in these three developing countries and what does it have to do with me – or you? Two of them have recent histories rife with coup d’etat, civil war, and mass exodus. One of them has had the same president for 34 years.

What have they accomplished for women’s health in relation to breast cancer – and why would it matter to us in the US?

Nigeria: Well…here was study conducted in 1992. That’s almost a quarter century old… (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1393468). There DOES seem to be a current drive to help the women in Nigeria and that is what you’ll find below.

“BACKGROUND: In most resource-constrained settings like Nigeria, breast self-examination self-breast examination (BSE) is culturally acceptable, religious friendly and attracts no cost. Women's knowledge and beliefs about breast cancer and its management may contribute significantly to medical help-seeking behaviours. This study aimed to assess knowledge and beliefs of BSE among market women.

METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 603 market women in Ibadan, Nigeria (Ibadan is a major city with a heavy Western influence. This is not necessarily representative of MOST women in Nigeria). Data was collected using semi-structured interviews and analyzed using descriptive and analytic statistical methods.

RESULTS: The mean age of the respondents was 34.6±9.3 years with 40% of the women aged between 30-39years. The proportion of married women was 339 (68.5%) with 425 (70.8%) respondents reporting that they do not know how to perform BSE. However, 372 (61.7%) women strongly agreed that BSE is a method of screening for breast cancer. Highest proportion 219 (36.3%) reported that the best time for a woman to perform BSE was 'anytime'. Most of the respondents believed breast cancer is a dangerous disease that kills fast and requires a lot of money for treatment. (Emphasis mine)

CONCLUSION: More efforts are needed in creating awareness and advocacy campaigns in the grassroots in order to detect early breast cancer and enhance prevention strategies that would reduce the burden of breast cancer in Nigeria. - See more at: http://www.cancerindex.org/Nigeria#sthash.vxdUxdCI.dpuf”

The conclusion: “The vast majority of deaths from malignancies occur in sub-Saharan Africa primarily as a result of lack of public awareness of cancer and how it is diagnosed and treated in the setting of a severe lack of resources (physical and personnel) to actually diagnose tumors. To correct this massive health disparity, a plan of action is required across the continent of Africa to bring diagnostic medicine into the modern era and connect patients with the care they desperately need.” http://www.cancerindex.org/Nigeria#sthash.vxdUxdCI.dpuf

Why should this matter to you? Why should the matter to me?

I COULD wallow in guilt. That would be both easy and satisfying! Instead, I’ve decided I’m going to take a character I’ve created in a science fiction short story, and send him on a few adventures. Most likely, he’ll be travelling with a hard-thinking woman who will become his perfect match. They’ve already started out rebuilding the educational infrastructure of Liberia in the future middle of this century. I’m thinking the two of them need to make a trip to Nigeria. Separately – where they’ll meet and butt heads.

The driving issue will be breast cancer education, diagnosis, and treatment in these three West African countries that hold a special place in my heart. From the sale of the stories, I’ll donate the money to breast cancer research in those places…

Resource: http://www.cancerindex.org/Nigeria

Image: http://wrex.images.worldnow.com/images/23784252_SA.jpg

ENCORE #49! – The Wicked Witch of the West Is DEAD! – Thoughts on the Continuing Life as a Breast Cancer Husband

From the first moment my wife discovered she had breast cancer, there was a deafening silence from the men I know. Even ones whose wives, mothers or girlfriends had breast cancer seemed to have received a gag order from some Central Cancer Command and did little more than mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I started this blog…That was four years ago – as time passed, people searching for answers stumbled across my blog and checked out what I had to say. The following entry appeared in August of 2013…

We started celebrating our 26^th wedding anniversary this past week.

“Started celebrating” because as a teacher, my paycheck “runs out” at the end of the summer, a few weeks before we start work again. This has been true for the past 26 years just as it is true this year.

Because of that, we’ve never had what you’d call a “spectacular” anniversary. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve had many GOOD times! Went to a local dinner theater last year to see the musical XANADU; did a “blockbuster movie” watch the year APOLLO 13 and EXCALIBUR came out topped with supper at the then brand new local Champps. For another we spent a night at a Bed & Breakfast in Stillwater. This year my wife had a quiet day at home while I hurried north to pick up my daughter-in-law and grandkids to ferry them to a doctor appointment – my granddaughter had pneumonia. We had takeout that night from our favorite Chinese restaurant and watched OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL. The addition though is that with some old and dear friends of ours, we’ll be spending the Thanksgiving holidays in Wild Eagle, Wisconsin at a resort for a week! That will allow us to celebrate in the style we should have been celebrating all along.

So what does all this have to do with breast cancer?

While it may not be obvious to you, it is to me: we get to celebrate our 26^th wedding anniversary two and (almost) a half years after a breast cancer diagnosis! In 1911 the diagnosis would have been a death sentence. In 1961, she would have been treated with “stone knives and bearskins” with drugs that would have made her violently ill and miserable – and probably wouldn’t have made much difference at all.

Here in the second decade of the 21^st Century, the treatments she received and continues to receive cured her of the cancer and given us a chance to celebrate our...well, when I exclaimed that we could be together for another 26 years, my wife pointed out that I would 90 years old by then. Hmmm...I guess if that’s God’s plan, then so be it. But 90? Whew – that DOES seem old.

At any rate, in the here and now, the point is that we’re planning an extended celebration of our 26^th Wedding Anniversary and those plans rest firmly on the basis of the pain, treatments, research, advances, and drug regimens my wife has experienced since the original diagnosis.

So “...let the joyous news be spread, the Wicked Old Witch at last is dead!” (And no, I DON’T mean the Wicked Witch of the East with the Ruby Slippers – I mean the melted remains of her sister – the Wicked Witch of the Cancerous West!)

Let the celebration continue!

Image: https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5527/10893068965_1d328e8f71_b.jpg

BREAST CANCER RESEARCH RIGHT NOW! #50: Breast Cancer and Prostate Cancer In Relatives May Indicate an Increased Chance of Breast Cancer

From the moment my wife discovered she had breast cancer, there was a deafening silence from the men I know. Even ones whose wives, mothers or girlfriends had breast cancer seemed to have received a gag order from some Central Cancer Command and did little more than mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I started this blog…

Every month, I’ll be highlighting breast cancer research that is going on RIGHT NOW! Harvested from different websites, journals and podcasts, I’ll translate them into understandable English and share them with you. Today: http://www.breastcancer.org/research-news/prostate-cancer-related-to-bc-risk

So…my wife had breast cancer. My dad had prostate cancer – but my MOM didn’t have breast cancer and I don’t have prostate cancer…

So, what does this mean for my kids?

Backtrack for a second: I have a BS in biology with additional classes in earth, space, soil, and chemical sciences that allow me to teach (at least one class of) anything from astronomy to zoology. I pretty much know what I’m talking about when it comes to genetics, cancer, and Alzheimer’s. NOT because the degree magically imparted on my special knowledge, but because I can read the reports, papers, abstracts, and scholarly articles and then understand them (sometimes with a bit of research).

So – I made a map, or a Cancer Family Tree. You can see it above.

Based on this article and my Cancer Family Tree, I can say that my daughter is NOT in this class of possible breast cancer risks. My sister isn’t, either.

I can’t say that I’m breathing a sigh of relief because we ALL know that BC is far more complicated than this. But it’s somewhat reassuring.

“‘These findings are important in that they can be used to support an approach by clinicians to collect a complete family history of all cancers -- particularly among first-degree relatives -- in order to assess patient risk for developing cancer,’ said Jennifer Beebe-Dimmer, Ph.D., M.P.H. of the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute and Wayne State University, who was the lead researcher. ‘Families with clustering of different tumors may be particularly important to study in order to discover new genetic mutations to explain this clustering.’”

I suppose I’ve “known” this all along, but seeing it in such stark terms, I can see that my family has a long history of cancers…not just one kind: lung, skin, prostate. My wife’s family is just as varied: lung, liver, breast cancers. It looks like my kids have an entire suite of things to keep an eye on. Not to worry. Strides are being made in cancer research all the time. It’s why we host such events as Relay For Life, Susan B. Kommen events, and all the others.

A cautionary note. Any of you ever see I AM LEGEND? “. The story is set in New York City after a virus, which was originally created to cure cancer, has wiped out most of mankind, leaving Neville as the last human in New York...” in a city infested with zombie-like nocturnal things. The movie opens with “Emma Thompson has an uncredited role as Dr. Alice Krippin, who appears on television explaining her vaccine for cancer that mutated into the ‘zombie’ virus.”

The cautionary note? Cancer is complex, varied, and has dozens of factors that affect it. There IS no straight line between genetics, environment, lifestyle and the onset of cancer in Humans. A Human-engineered vaccine against cancer could very easily succumb to natural forces and turn into something terrifying.

On THAT happy thought, see you later!

Image: Personal camera, © Guy Stewart 2016

ENCORE #48! – Not Your Usual Use of Microwaves…

From the first moment my wife discovered she had breast cancer, there was a deafening silence from the men I know. Even ones whose wives, mothers or girlfriends had breast cancer seemed to have received a gag order from some Central Cancer Command and did little more than mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I started this blog…That was four years ago – as time passed, people searching for answers stumbled across my blog and checked out what I had to say. The following entry appeared on my birthday in 2013.

When I think of microwaving something, I usually think of popcorn or my lunch, NOT how microwaves might be used to track the progress of tumor shrinkage during chemotherapy.

But that’s exactly what doctors used it for in a recent study and unlike traditional methods like x-ray mammography and ultrasound, they’ve discovered that microwaves tuned to very particular frequencies seem to pass through surround tissue and only resonate with the tumor. This gives a much, much clearer image of the tumor and therefore allows doctors to measure more accurately what’s going on inside the breast without having to invade it with needles or biopsies.

Why is this significant?

“1) its low cost and portability, especially relative to MRI and X-ray computed tomography (CT);

2) its use of safe nonionizing radiation;

3) its ability to image bulk electrical properties as a feature of tissue that is not imaged by most other modalities;

4) its ability, without the use of contrast agents, to quantitatively reconstruct frequency-dependent permittivity and conductivity profiles of living tissue as a way of identifying physiological conditions of those tissues.

“One possible application of MWT is in the frequent monitoring of tissue for the early detection of disease. For example, there is evidence to suggest that up to 22% of breast cancers detected by repeated mammographic screening naturally regress [1], and the ability to monitor these cancers with nonionizing radiation would be very useful. Significant progress in microwave imaging has been made in the last decade, with experimental prototypes having been used for the imaging of...breast tumors [4]. In addition, promising pilot studies for human breast imaging have been completed [5], [6].”

When the tumor is struck by microwaves at a certain frequency, it conducts electricity in a particular way. When the microwaves are captured on the other side, a computer looks at the differences in electrical conductivity AND CREATES AN IMAGE THAT IS CLEARER THAN USING OTHER METHODS!

The real plus here is that there is no danger of radiation. It doesn’t cost as much. It’s easier to carry this type of microwave unit around than it is to carry x-ray equipment or a an MRI machine (possibly making regular breast cancer screening MUCH MORE ACCESSIBLE to the rest of the women in the world!), and last of all, there’s no need to inject chemicals in order to see the tumor better in other imaging systems.

Promising, eh?

Image: https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5527/10893068965_1d328e8f71_b.jpg

GUY’S GOTTA TALK ABOUT…Alzheimer’s #2 Answering the Alzheimer’s Phone

Dad’s diagnosis of Alzheimer’s stayed hidden from everyone until I took over the medical administration of my parents in 2015. Once I found out, there was a deafening silence from most of the people I know even though virtually all of them would add, “My _____ had Alzheimer’s…” But there was little help, little beyond people sadly shaking heads. Or horror stories. Lots of those. Even the ones who knew about the disease seemed to have received a gag order from some Central Alzheimer’s Command and did little more than mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I started this prt of my blog…

“The Devil Wears Prada” is one if my favorite movies. I don’t really know why, but I think part of it is that, in the end, Emily (played by Anne Hathaway) dumps the role she’d assumed and that had been reinforced by everyone around her, and became herself – oh, and she’s a writer!

Be that as it may, a line from the movie has come to mind lately: “Nate: [as Andy takes a call from Miranda] You know, in case you were wondering - the person whose calls you always take? That's the relationship you're in. I hope you two are very happy together.”

Checking my own cell phone, I see that in the last seven days, I have 77 calls from my dad. Granted, I’ve only answered 33 of them, but still…

Right after my mom passed away, I Googled “Alzheimer’s” and found http://www.alz.org/ and their help 24/7 number (1-800-272-3900). I called. They answered. Then they connected me to someone LOCAL.

That was probably most helpful because I was able to talk with someone who was nearby; in the area I grew up in; with a similar worldview.

At any rate, in talking about Dad’s constant phone calls, they advised that I only answer the phone once a day.

“Once a day!” I exclaimed. “I don’t think I can do that to him.”

“You may need to or it will drive you crazy,” said the counselor.

As you can see above, I have failed miserably to follow her advice. According to my data, Dad calls on average 11 times a day. I answer him around three of those times. However, one of those days includes the Sunday me and my brother took Dad out to Fort Snelling National Cemetery. Besides Dad’s sister and brother-in-law, his mother and father are buried there as well (though at different grave sites as my grandmother died ten years after my grandfather did and married again). Mom is there, too. That day, Dad called only twice wondering where I was and when I was going to get there (the place he lives). After that, he was at the cemetery with us and then over at my house for supper. But on average, the number seems right.

The vast majority of those calls are to ask where Mom is. Sometimes he figures it out before I say anything. Sometimes I have to ask leading questions. Sometimes I have to tell him outright. Occasionally he calls worried that Mom left him; that she’s on a trip somewhere and forgot to tell him; or he confuses my sister and my mother asking, “Now, does Pat live in…” To which I reply, “No Dad, that’s where…”

In my defense, I offer up the logic that while Dad usually calls out of boredom and just rings up everyone on the list we gave him of all of us kids and our spouses, he’s only somewhere around Level Four on the Alzheimer’s Scale (I’ll talk about the two scales later), though he’s edging into Five. He’s pretty much cognizant of his surroundings, he can sometimes tell you where he lives, he dresses himself and can use the shower and toilet. He even takes care of Pretty Girl, the cat we gave to Mom after hers disappeared during the move to the residence a year ago. Once those skills start to fade, and according to the literature, he won’t have much farther to go until his body fails entirely.

He DOES get bored there. Sometimes he gets bored believing he hasn’t done anything…when he’s like…gone to an apple orchard.

That perhaps, is the saddest phone call of all.

Resource: http://www.alz.org/we_can_help_24_7_helpline.asp

Image:  http://az616578.vo.msecnd.net/files/2016/06/25/6360242025150255191939281878_Alzheimer-disease-patients.jpg

ENCORE #47! – SEX (after and during breast cancer treatment…)

From the first moment my wife discovered she had breast cancer, there was a deafening silence from the men I know. Even ones whose wives, mothers or girlfriends had breast cancer seemed to have received a gag order from some Central Cancer Command and did little more than mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I started this blog…That was four years ago – as time passed, people searching for answers stumbled across my blog and checked out what I had to say. The following entry appeared January of 2013…

After my “Brain Cancer” post, I predict that this will become my most popular post…

It’s one I knew I would get to, but is way too personal so I also knew I’d NEVER get to it.

A movie we watched last night has spurred me on to finally write this.

HOPE SPRINGS (with the word “eternal” just hanging there, unwritten, unspoken but entirely appropriate.)

Take a three of my favorite actors – Meryl Streep (for multiple movies that we love!); Tommy Lee Jones (for MEN IN BLACK); and Steve Carell (for making us laugh repeatedly…and for NOT doing one single funny thing in this movie!) – and create a story that can easily lead to CONVERSATION.

Which is I have discovered, more important than anything in a marriage.

I once read that the most important sex organ in the a Human body is not…ahem. It’s not…ahem. It’s not the skin.

It’s the BRAIN. And the brain, while doing all sorts of things (which HOPE SPRINGS talks about brilliantly) directs intelligent conversation.

It led last night, to all kinds of things, some of which I’ve talked about before: http://breastcancerreaper.blogspot.com/2011/06/i.html, http://breastcancerreaper.blogspot.com/2011/11/big-hairy-deal.html, http://breastcancerreaper.blogspot.com/2011/08/what-would-men-like-better-bigger-boobs.html, and some of which are new, like this Indian-sounding thing I’ve been reading about called “kareeza” (http://www.reuniting.info/) which we will be exploring in the future.

So for all you sickos (8-D) who were hoping for a quick thrill, go rent the movie and then rub that most important sex organ of all…your head!

  

Image: https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5527/10893068965_1d328e8f71_b.jpg

GUY’S GOTTA TALK ABOUT #29…Breast Cancer Awareness Month Part I…

From the first moment my wife discovered she had breast cancer, there was a deafening silence from the men I know. Even ones whose wives, mothers or girlfriends had breast cancer seemed to have received a gag order from some Central Cancer Command and did little more than mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I started this blog…

It’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month right now.

It’s not funny, but strange that it seems that the issue isn’t “awareness” but importance.

In my local newsfeed, the number one story is “Beer fans steal campaign signs in Prior Lake”.

The CNN lead story: “Can Trump Recover?”

The BBC lead story: “Trump ‘sorry’ for obscene comments” (This leads the “Haiti hurricane death toll doubles to 800”)

The ABC (Australian Broadcast Company) lead story: “Donald Trump apologises for vulgar comments; targets Bill and Hillary Clinton”

So, we must be aware of breast cancer because the antics of idiot politicians (an oxymoron) “trump” any mention of breast cancer.

BC is relegated to minor status even though “As of June 2016, there were more than 2.8 million women with a history of breast cancer in the U.S. This figure includes women currently being treated and women who have finished treatment.”

“About 1 in 8 U.S. women — 12% — will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime.

“In 2016, an estimated 246,660 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed, along with 61,000 new cases of non-invasive breast cancer (also known as carcinoma in situ). About 40,450 women are expected to die in 2016 from breast cancer, though there has been a decrease in death rates since 1989, with larger decreases in women under 50. These decreases are thought to be the result of treatment advancements, earlier detection through screening, and increased awareness.”

Internationally, the last time figures were calculated, there were 1.7 million new cases each year. The figure below shows the incidence of breast cancers in different regions of the world:

http://ww5.komen.org/uploadedImages/Content_Images/Figure%201-3.GIF

So, while we KNOW about breast cancer in the US, it’s clear that the issue is not the same worldwide. In some parts of the world, there is greater concern over infant mortality, malaria, malnutrition, and war; rightfully so – I’ve been to Nigeria, Cameroon, Liberia, and Haiti. All of these countries have experienced the “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse” while Americans have experienced none in recent history. “Awareness” then might be a relative thing. Is it Breast Cancer Awareness Month in China?

Turns out that “Yes, China DOES have a breast cancer awareness campaign!”

This is it for now – I’ll come back to the subject next time…

Resource: http://www.breastcancer.org/about_us/press_room/press_kit/facts_figures, http://newsroom.gehealthcare.com/beyond-the-pink-ribbon-breast-cancer-awareness-month-around-the-world/

Image: http://wrex.images.worldnow.com/images/23784252_SA.jpg

ENCORE #46! – I Have To Keep Telling Myself That The “New Normal” Isn’t The “Old Normal”

From the first moment my wife discovered she had breast cancer, there was a deafening silence from the men I know. Even ones whose wives, mothers or girlfriends had breast cancer seemed to have received a gag order from some Central Cancer Command and did little more than mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I started this blog…That was four years ago – as time passed, people searching for answers stumbled across my blog and checked out what I had to say. The following entry appeared in September of 2012.

Following Labor Day [2012], school started in Minnesota this week and that means that my wife and I are back into the swing of things again full time. Not that I haven’t been there since the second week of August; not that she hasn’t been training up on new and updated classroom management and methodology…

But this past week was the first week with KIDS!

Two miles of walking a day is pretty much a regular form of exercise for her. But the beginning of the year is ALWAYS harder after a long summer of NOT walking two miles a day!

This fall was no exception – except that it was harder than ever.

Maybe it’s natural aging – even for me, my knees aren’t what they used to be and I have a knuckle or two that feel like they may have a touch of arthritis every once in a while. I can’t stand up without grunting a bit and I have to tell my two-year-old grandson to “slow down! Grandpa can’t keep up with you!” That seems pretty normal for me.

But the first two days of school were murder on my wife! Not joint pains like with me, but muscle aches and pains to a point where she had to take an unnatural number of over-the-counter pain killers. Not that she hasn’t had aches after a day’s hard work. She chases kindergartners from here to eternity and has been doing it for several years. Before that, she did daycare for 17 years. Certainly lots of aches and pains.

HOWEVER…I was talking to another friend of mine, a long-term survivor of breast cancer and she pointed out that while she was pretty sure she was all set to get right back into life and start swinging again, she discovered that while she felt better than she’d remembered feeling in a long time, the FACT was that she was recovering from a recent bout with cancer, surgery and chemotherapy.

The FACT, she discovered, is that a Human body doesn’t bounce back from an ordeal like that quickly. We’re not talking about a bad cold. We’re not talking about walking pneumonia. We’re not even talking about flat-out-on-your-back pneumonia.

We’re talking about a disease so invasive, it can grow to lethal proportions in less than twelve months. We’re talking about surgery as radical as the amputation of a limb. We’re talking about being injected with chemicals so dangerous the handlers must wear goggles, gloves, masks, booties, and dressing gowns lest any get on their skin and cause profound BLISTERING!

No one in their right mind would expect such a victim to recover from such treatment in less than a year. Yet your average breast cancer survivor EXPECTS THAT OF THEMSELVES! They fully expect to go back to a full training regimen training for the Olympics or the Tour de France; they expect to return to caring for children and home without missing a beat; they expect to take up the reigns at whatever career they had to slow down for, snap them and get back up to full speed yesterday!

So – to those of you supporting a wife, girlfriend, mother, grandmother or partner through breast cancer – stand tight beside them, ready to offer an elbow lift if they stumble or slow down and to continue to work beside them toward as complete a recovery as EACH PERSON is capable of. It’s hardly easy, but has proven to be another, newer role I’m growing into.

Image: https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5527/10893068965_1d328e8f71_b.jpg

BREAST CANCER RESEARCH RIGHT NOW!#49: Breast Cancer Cells ATTACKED By Nanomachines!!!

From the first moment my wife discovered she had breast cancer, there was a deafening silence from the men I know. Even ones whose wives, mothers or girlfriends had breast cancer seemed to have received a gag order from some Central Cancer Command and did little more than mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I started this blog…

Every month, I’ll be highlighting breast cancer research that is going on RIGHT NOW! Harvested from different websites, journals and podcasts, I’ll translate them into understandable English and share them with you. Today: http://phys.org/news/2016-08-legions-nanorobots-cancerous-tumours-precision.html

This article is about the future.

You can’t ask your doctor to give you a shot of nanobots to cure breast cancer tomorrow. But your KIDS might be able to, and almost without a doubt, your grandkids will be able to take this treatment.

The article talks about an experiment written up last August in the journal, Nature Nanotechnology.

Let’s define a few terms to begin with. Simply, “nano” means “so small you can’t see it without a microscope”.

Technically, for those of you so inclined, it means 1/1,000,000,000 (one billionth) of a meter. For the sake of comparison, a single hair from your head would look fat compared to a nanometer at a whopping NINETY THOUSAND nanometers wide. This article talks about the possibility of building “machines” that are about 200 nanometers across. The cancer cell would be a bit over 1000 nanometers (the same as one micrometer) across.

When I talk about “machines” here, we’re not talking about lawnmowers. Nanomachines, while they are made by people, are built out of things that are already around, like bacteria, viruses, and other microscopic life forms (or more often, “the key is to be able to both see and manipulate nanomaterials in order to take advantage of their special properties…the invention of special microscopes gave scientists the ability to work at the nanoscale. The first of these new discoveries was the scanning tunneling microscope. While it’s mainly designed to measure objects, it can also move tiny objects such as carbon nanotubes.”

So doctors and other technicians are able to “build” very small structures and make them so that they will do certain things.

The article talks about doctors who were able to take bacteria, put in a few molecules of magnetic iron – which gave the machine a built-in compass; and a few molecules of an oxygen -sensitive material so that it could detect how mch oxygen is in the cells around it.

Why?

The compass gives the bacteria – which has long, “sperm-cell-like” tails to move it around – a way for scientists to aim it to the right area. Once the bacterial nanomachine is on site, it narrows down the target area by sniffing out the places where cancer cells have sucked out all the oxygen from the tissue. That’s what cancers do because growing as fast as they do, they burn a lot of oxygen, just like we get wheezy when we go on bike rides and have to pedal up a hill.

Why does that matter? Because the doctors have LOADED THE BACTERIAL NANOMACHINE WITH TAMOXIFEN OR ADRIMICIN OR ANY OF THE OTHER ANTI-CANCER DRUGS IN OUR ARESENAL.

So? So…instead of flooding your body with chemo and accidentally killing hair follicles, the only place in the body that get the chemo is the cancer cells. Which saves the body all SORTS of abuse.

Hopefully this excites you as much as it excites me. Now all I have to do is fold my hands and wait…

Resources: http://www.nano.gov/nanotech-101/what/definition

Image: http://cdn.phys.org/newman/gfx/news/hires/2016/legionsofnan.jpg

ENCORE #45! – What’s the Difference Between Metastatic Liver Cancer and non-Metastatic Liver Cancer

From the first moment my wife discovered she had breast cancer, there was a deafening silence from the men I know. Even ones whose wives, mothers or girlfriends had breast cancer seemed to have received a gag order from some Central Cancer Command and did little more than mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I started this blog…That was four years ago – as time passed, people searching for answers stumbled across my blog and checked out what I had to say. The following entry appeared in July of 2012.

A few weeks ago (June 2012), my brother-in-law was diagnosed with liver cancer.

I’d talked about metastatic breast cancer of the liver (http://breastcancerreaper.blogspot.com/2011/12/metastatic-breast-cancer-liver-cancer.html), but with this grim diagnosis, I wanted to look more closely at the differences – if any.

In brief, metastatic breast cancer in the liver (MBC:L) comes from the transfer of breast cells to the liver and then the growth of tumors there. Most often treated with hormone, chemo and radiation therapies, there are newer choices as well, including liver resection.

Regarding non-MBC liver cancer (and my brother-in-law has the complication of being a hemophiliac (this refers to a group of bleeding disorders in which it takes a long time for the blood to clot)) it has been “...shown that cancer is…common…for people with hemophilia. The authors attributed this to overlooked symptoms, such as blood in the urine or stool, and delayed treatment because of bleeding complications…The most common cancer in patients with hemophilia and hepatitis C virus is hepatocellular carcinoma, a type of liver cancer.”

Hepatocellular carcinoma, also called HCC, develops like any other cancer by a mutation to the cellular machinery that makes the cell divide faster than normal and/or gives the cell a sort of “immortality” by keeping itself from ever dying. This wild growth of cells form tumors and the tumors ruin the normal balance of chemistry in the liver. This leads to many different symptoms: abdominal pain, jaundice, bloating, loss of appetite, nausea and proteins in the blood that aren’t supposed to be there.

There are many treatments available for both MBC:L and HCC and while there is a constant search for new methodology, in the long run, whether the cancer originated in metastatic breast cells or in the liver itself, the prognosis continues to depend on how much the cancer has spread and how quickly it is treated. The main difference is that MBC:L cells can also be treated with tamoxifen (which affects estrogen levels) the same as any other breast cancer cells. HCC is not treated that way.

Resources: http://www.hemaware.org/story/getting-older-hemophilia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hepatocellular_carcinoma

Image: https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5527/10893068965_1d328e8f71_b.jpg