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Immunotherapy

Help For Your Pet During Your Cancer Journey: What A Great Idea!

A cancer diagnosis and treatment is difficult enough. Having a pet that needs attention during one’s journey shouldn’t add to the burden. That’s the philosophy behind a program offered by CancerCare, a national charity focused on the emotional, social, and financial well-being of those with cancer and those who love them. The program is called the Pet Assistance and Wellness Program, or PAW for short. When I first heard about it, I realized how important such a program can be for those with cancer who love their pets, particularly their cats and dogs, and how the financial, medical, and social… Read More »Help For Your Pet During Your Cancer Journey: What A Great Idea!

To Screen Or Not Screen For Melanoma: That Is The Question

To screen or not to screen for melanoma in people at average risk seems to be an open and shut case: melanoma is a lethal skin cancer. Finding it early must be a good idea! That’s what a lot of people—including many dermatologists—believe and preach. However, from a science point of view it is difficult to prove. That is the essence of a research article and two dueling editorials (see 1 and 2) in a recent issue of JAMA Dermatology. This is not a new question: There are lots of believers, including skin cancer organizations, advocates, dermatologists and others who… Read More »To Screen Or Not Screen For Melanoma: That Is The Question

Are Cancer Patients Getting The Best Care? Maybe; Maybe Not

Have we made great strides in cancer research and treatment? Yes. Are folks getting the care they need? Maybe not. That is the lesson learned from recent experience helping some cancer patients in their journeys. Our ability to treat cancer has advanced, but if people don’t get the right care or understand their care or feel capable of participating in their care are we really doing the best by them in their times of need? I don’t think so and I hope you would agree. Let me offer an example from real life (and I assure you there are others!!!):… Read More »Are Cancer Patients Getting The Best Care? Maybe; Maybe Not

Say It Ain’t So: The Cost of Lupron is WHAT????

A patient and physician are faced with the difficult choice of a medicine that isn’t affordable and the option of surgery. But the real question is why does the medication cost so much?

March Is National Colorectal Cancer Month. So What Are We Going To Do About It?

March is National Colorectal Cancer Month, a month devoted to bringing attention to the third most common cancer in men and women, as well as the third most common cause of cancer deaths in each birth gender. Screening and improvements in treatment for colorectal cancer (CRC) have proven effective in reducing both incidence and death from the disease, yet despite the considerable progress that has been made over the past 30 years we still have a long way to go if we are to further reduce that burden. We often say that we want to make progress in cancer treatment,… Read More »March Is National Colorectal Cancer Month. So What Are We Going To Do About It?

Future Think: Could Some Lung Cancers Be Cured Without Surgery? Maybe, Just Maybe…

There is an even more tantalizing possibility: what if we could diagnose, treat and monitor patients with localized lung cancer without even using surgery and radiation therapy as primary treatment? Now, that would be amazing. And yet as I gaze into my crystal ball, I really do think that may just be a possibility sometime in the future. And that may not be so far away.