Cancer Cure

'Christmas miracle' for girl battling cancer

Instead of tinsel and carols, she gets plastic tubing and the steady beep of medical equipment.

Nurses, doctors and the sterile surroundings of a hospital are hardly conducive to the colourful Christmas morning a child fantasizes about.

For Diamond Marshall, none of that matters.

For the six-year-old cancer patient and her family, their Christmas dream has already come true.

"Call it a Christmas miracle — it is a miracle," said Lyall Marshall, Diamond's father.

The news, for a girl battling a rare type of adrenal cancer, couldn't be better.

"It's the one we've been waiting for a long time," said Lyall.

"We believe that Diamond is cancer-free as of yesterday."

The stunning news comes after Diamond underwent surgery this week to remove numerous tumours, and biopsies showed all to be cancer free.

It caps an emotional year for the young girl, who made international headlines this past July when she was chosen to hand flowers to the Duchess of Cambridge at Calgary International Airport.

As Duchess Kate bent down to greet her, Diamond couldn't contain her joy, flinging her arms around the future queen of England, the impromptu hug captured by the world's press.

"She told me she liked the flowers a lot," Diamond told QMI Agency after the Royal encounter, which included chatting with Prince William.

The brief meeting, made possible after Diamond wrote a letter asking to greet Kate, left the princess-loving girl on Cloud 9.

Apparently the tiny flower girl left a big impression on the Royal Couple too.

A call from QMI Agency conveying the amazing news to St. James's Palace in London, England, brought an unexpected and near-instant reply from Will and Kate.

"I passed the news to Their Royal Highnesses, who asked me to convey how pleased they are to hear the news and their best wishes to Diamond and her family at this happy time," wrote a palace spokesman, officially speaking on the duke and duchess' behalf.

"They hope for a joyful 2012 for Diamond and her family."

A cancer-free future would certainly be a joy for Diamond, who lost her mom, Memory Marshall, to the disease four years ago, when Memory was just 32.

But first, with the support of her dad and step-mom Danielle, Diamond faces a bone-marrow transplant and gruelling high-dose chemotherapy sessions early in the new year.

"Cancer is a tricky thing and we're celebrating right now, but she's still got a long road to recovery for this surgery and then she has a transplant in January," said Lyall.

"The big one is that bone-marrow transplant."

Having found no visible evidence of cancer, doctors still want to ensure there is no disease hiding in the body — thus the need for chemo to flush her entire system.

Keeping the disease in remission is going to be a tough slog for the little girl, though Diamond does have something special to look forward to when the hospital visits are over.

Her dad says Dreams Take Flight has stepped forward to ensure Diamond's dream of meeting Sleeping Beauty's Princess Aurora in Disneyland comes true.

"They let her know she could meeting Princess Aurora, the princess she really wants to meet," said Lyall.

"That really put a smile on her face."

It'll be tougher to smile on Christmas Day, laying in a hospital bed, but Lyall says the family plans to make the best of it.

"Our motto is Christmas comes on time once a year, and as long as we're all together it doesn't matter where we are -- at home or in the hospital, or even Hawaii," said Lyall.

"It's alright by us, we're going to have a hoot no matter what."

Source: Toronot Sun

How to beat cancer?

While your doctor who made the cancer diagnosis may have a plan for you, it is not the only plan that is needed. You need other therapies too, to beat cancer. The more knowledge you have about your condition and other supporting therapies available, the more successful you will be in your journey of treating cancer.

Nourish your body

Cancer lowers appetite while increasing nutrient and calorie requirement. You need to strengthen your immune system with protein rich food like curd, paneer, milk, sprouts, eggs and fish.

Boost your immune system Detoxify your body. Eat well and take a professionally well designed detoxification program. Some nutritional supplements like colostrum, mitake mushrooms and shitake mushrooms have demonstrated an ability to boost the immune system.

Nature is full of cancer fighting ingredients in tomatoes, garlic and vegetables like cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and onions, berries like strawberry and cherries, as well as green tea Herbs , vitamins and minerals. The basic herb all cancer patients should be using is garlic. Season your food with garlic.

Eat it raw in the morning, cook it in a tomato puree or use it as a sandwich spread. Other herbs like ginger, yashtimadhu, echinacea, ginseng, astragalus help fortify your immunity. Healthy fats like flax seeds, fish oils supplements, minerals like selenium, magnesium, chromium and zinc helps lower cancer risk.

Antioxidants like vitamin C, E and A and probiotic like yogurt helps in fighting cancer. Make sure you eat more fiber and pass stools everyday.

Belly breathing

Do some yoga and start breathing properly. Suck in air to the bottom of lungs and watch your stomach protruding out. Breathe full to expand your chest. Then push your stomach in to exhale all the air out of your lungs as you breathe out. Repeat this cycle for 10 minutes everyday. .

Exercise

Exercise oxygenates tissues and helps in starving the cancer cells. It also balances blood sugar levels, thereby restricting the amount of sugar available to the cancer cells to grow.

Mind-body connection

Fill your mind with good thoughts and laughter. Feed it with feelings of love and forgiveness, and provide your body with the best diet and supplements.

Dr. Anjali Mukerjee, Nutritionist and Founder, Director - Health Total

Source: Hindustan Times

Cancer survivor, 3, backs festive appeal to support sick kids

WITH his beaming smile and sparkling bright eyes, Ross Anderton looks a picture of health as he excitedly chatters about what he hopes Santa will bring him for Christmas.

But just two years ago the brave youngster spent what his parents describe as the “hardest Christmas imaginable” fighting cancer at a hospital thousands of miles from his family home.

But now, not only is bubbly Ross, three, fighting fit – but he is helping other families of children with cancer.

Cancer support charity CLIC Sargent have chosen Ross as the face of their 2011 Caring for Children and Young People with Cancer Christmas campaign.

His cheeky smile was picked and his family’s story of how they were helped by the charity launched their Christmas appeal.

Celebrities, including former England footballer Gary Lineker, lent their support to the campaign and Ross’s proud family said they had been delighted to help.

Ross’s mum, Lesley Lauder, 40, said: “Two years ago there was only one thing we wanted for Christmas – Ross to get well. Instead of celebrating a normal family Christmas, we were at a hospital in America, where Ross was about to start receiving treatment.

“It was the hardest Christmas imaginable, but Ross made it through.

“This year we are looking forward to a wonderful family Christmas together, but we know a lot of families will not be so lucky.

“This Christmas appeal is about helping them.”

Ross, of Ormiston, East Lothian, was diagnosed in August 2009 with orbital rhabdomyosarcoma – a rare form of cancer, which affects fewer than 60 children in the UK each year.

Worried mum Lesley and dad Andy, 45, had taken their son to the doctor after he developed a puffy area under his right eye.

As the area swelled, medics carried out a series of tests, and the family were devastated to learn their 18-month-old son had cancer.

Ross was admitted to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh.

He had three rounds of chemotherapy to shrink the tumour, which burst out from his lower eye lid and was resting against his cheek. Further treatment was needed to save Ross’s life.

Doctors told them the only treatment available on the NHS was radiotherapy, which could leave him disfigured and brain damaged.

Lesley turned to the internet to look for alternative treatments and found an article on proton beam therapy, which targets tumours precisely and reduces any damage to healthy cells.

The couple started fundraising to fly Ross to America for a £200,000 course of the therapy.

They waited four weeks before hearing the NHS had agreed to fund their trip.

In December 2009, the family, including Ross’s sister Katie, now aged five, travelled to Jacksonville, Florida, for the five-week-long course of cutting-edge treatment.

After months of anxious waiting, they were finally told the treatment had been a success, and Ross was cancer free. Almost 18 months on from being given the all-clear, Ross must still attend hospital for regular check-ups.

He suffers kidney and vision problems as a result of the treatment he received.

But his parents say he is a boisterous and “full-of-fun” wee boy.

Lesley said: “To look at Ross now you would never know what he has been through, but it is something we will never forget.

“Our worry never goes away, and we never take his health for granted.

“But, as far as he is concerned, he is just like any other wee boy who is looking forward to Christmas and hoping Santa will bring him a tractor.”

Despite Ross receiving the proton beam therapy in America, Lesley says they will always be grateful for all the care and treatment he received in this country too.

And she admits they will always be thankful for the financial help they were given by CLIC Sargent.

Lesley said: “For the first two weeks after Ross’s diagnosis, we had to come to hospital every day.

“On top of the petrol, parking cost us £10 a day, so the CLIC Sargent care grant we received was an enormous help straight away.

“There are just so many costs when you have a child with cancer.

“To take care of Ross, I gave up work and Andy changed his shifts, so our income was severely reduced.

“Having a child with cancer is horrific enough, without money worries on top.”

Lesley says the whole family were delighted when CLIC Sargent asked if they could make Ross the face of their Christmas appeal.

She said: “I assumed lots of children were being asked, but when a team came up from London to take his photograph they told me he was the only one.

“We are delighted that Ross is doing this, as it is a great way for us to be able to give something back to the people who have helped us.

“We are so proud of him.”

Lucy Caldicott, CLIC Sargent’s director of fundraising, said: “We were very grateful that Ross’s parents welcomed us into their home to tell their story about how they struggled to cope with the costs.

“Cancer costs, financially as well as emotionally.

“The reason we chose Ross and his family is because their experience mirrors that of many families across the UK.”

Celebrity patron of CLIC Sargent Gary Lineker, whose son George, now 19, suffered from leukaemia as a baby, said: “Please join me this Christmas in supporting this enormously worthwhile appeal with a donation to help families like Ross’s.”

How you can help

EVERY day 10 families are told their child has cancer. As the UK’s leading children’s cancer charity, CLIC Sargent are the only organisation to offer all round care and support.

They help out:

During treatment – providing specialist nurses, play specialists, homes from home

In hospital and at home – offering specialist social care and support in the community – services for young people, holidays, grants

After treatment – helping survivors, supporting those bereaved

Find out more and donate at www.clicsargent.org.uk

‘Medical miracle’: Maggie Daley lived long time for breast cancer patient

Her husband called her a fighter. Her doctor called her a medical miracle.

Maggie Daley, who died Thursday after more than tripling the average survival rate for those with a metastatic breast cancer diagnosis, said she simply was part of a group ready to face what life threw at them.

“I have a lot of challenges ahead,” Mrs. Daley said in May, at an event celebrating her husband’s tenure as mayor. “But anybody who has cancer has the same experience. We’re a mighty group. I’m not alone. I’m one of many.”

Mrs. Daley was one of many — in January 2008, the National Cancer Institute estimated that about 2.6 million women in the U.S. with a history of breast cancer were alive. In 2011, about 162,000 U.S. women were expected to be living with metastatic breast cancer, where the cancer has spread beyond the breast and lymph nodes, according to the Metastatic Breast Cancer Network.

The average survival rate of metastatic breast cancer is two to three years. Daley lived with the disease for nine years.

“We wish it could be longer, though we have many patients beyond the two- to three-year mark,” said Dr. William Gradishar, director of Northwestern Memorial Hospital’s Maggie Daley Center for Women’s Cancer Care. “Certainly she had a disease that was sensitive to a variety of different therapies. She had perseverance — that was an element that can’t be underestimated. Mixed in there was some component of things we don’t understand. The end result was she had a long survival.”

Beating the odds wasn’t easy. After her June 2002 diagnosis, Mrs. Daley endured repeated hospitalizations, multiple surgeries and rounds of radiation treatment, chemotherapy, hormonal therapy and biological therapy.

Dr. Steven Rosen, a Northwestern oncologist who treated Mrs. Daley for the duration of her illness, said on Thursday despite the difficult treatment, she never gave up.

“She was heroic,” he said. “She was just a very sweet, lovable woman of great substance.” He said her survival was a medical miracle, “a combination of who she was and modern medicine.”

Despite the averages, a metastatic breast cancer diagnosis isn’t an automatic death sentence, said Dr. Rita Nanda, the assistant director of the breast medical oncology program at the University of Chicago Medical Center.

“It’s not the norm, absolutely,” she said of Mrs. Daley, whom she didn’t treat. Targeted therapies, however, can extend a person’s life with metastatic breast cancer, she said.

“I have a patient who was diagnosed with metastatic disease in 1998 and at that time they told her she had six months to live,” Nanda said. “She’s still alive. I just saw her Monday.”

Source:Sun Times

Oral cancer: something to think about

By Dr. John Conti

We all know that tobacco and alcohol use puts people at an increased risk for developing oral cancer. Recent studies have identified another risk factor to consider. It is the infection of the oral tissue by the human papilloma virus (HPV) through sexual contact. In the past, studies indicated 75 percent of diagnosed oral cancer cases had used some form of tobacco. Research identifying HPV in the tissue of oral malignancies gives new clues as to the origin of oral cancer in those 25 percent of individuals with no history of tobacco use.

The Oral Cancer Foundation predicts that the 75 percent of “tobacco-related” to 25 percent of “other causes” ratio is no longer accurate and is outdated. New studies being published suggest HPV as an equal, if not more important, cause of oral cancer than tobacco use. HPV’s impact will certainly be a significantly larger percent and is estimated to be in the range of 50-65 percent.

The American Dental Association Council on Scientific Affairs states: “Risk factors for oral cancers have typically been older age, use of tobacco and excessive alcohol consumption. However, based on available evidence, oral HPV infection is now considered an important risk factor for oral cancers in both men and women, even in the absence of tobacco and alcohol use.” Studies further suggest HPV oral cancer incidence is three times higher among men than women, higher in younger adults and in people with a higher lifetime number of sexual partners.

With another risk factor recognized, it is now more important to have an annual oral cancer screening. This can be conveniently accomplished by a dentist or dental hygienist during your annual appointment. During this routine visit, your dentist should examine the oral soft tissue and identify any suspicious lesions. The dentist may perform or refer the patient for a biopsy to determine a definitive diagnosis. Your dentist should provide advice and guidance regarding the known risks for oral cancer from smoking, heavy alcohol use and HPV infection. This is especially important with the increased incidence of oral cancer in younger, non-smokers and non-drinkers.

It is worth mentioning that the new vaccines approved for pre-sexual individuals to target HPV infection for the prevention of cervical cancer will likely have a positive impact on future oral cancer rates. The Oral Cancer Foundation believes the elimination of the HPV virus by preventing infection with a vaccine will subsequently prevent any disease HPV may produce in a protected individual. This view is shared by many in the scientific community.

Prevention and early detection of oral cancer. Something to think about.

Source: muskogeephoenix

Doctors have begun analysing the tumours of 9,000 patients as part of a major drive to create a DNA database which could revolutionise the way cancer is treated.

One of the major obstacles in the fight against cancer is the fact the disease varies from patient to patient, even if it is located in the same part of the body.

Treatments for a particular type of cancer might be extremely likely to work in some patients but stand little chance of helping others because of the genetic make-up of their tumour.

This means some patients can be exposed to unnecessary courses of therapy which are expensive, have dangerous side effects and are unlikely to make them better.

Currently a patient might be tested for a single gene if studies have shown it responds best to certain drugs, but there is no system for testing a broader panel of genes and sharing that information quickly between labs.

Now over the next two years, dedicated centres across the country will collect tumour samples from thousands of patients diagnosed at the early stage of a wide range of cancers and test each for a handful of key genes.

Source: The Telegraph