Another Take on Not Smoking, the Law and Tolerance
This vignette offers a 1930s perspective on what some call social health – that an individual’s behavior might be influenced by neighbors’ and coworkers’ attitudes.
A Closer Look at the Details on Mammography, in Between the Lines
A seemingly slight adjustment in a statistic, for teaching purposes, can significantly change a test’s calculated value….
What Does a Bikini Parade Have to Do with Breast Cancer?
A tanning salon – a business that causes melanoma and other skin cancers – is promoting a walk of bikini-wearing women in summer sun to break an amusing world’s record. This parade will …
Three Reasons to Celebrate the Supreme Court’s Decision on Obamacare
Like a good, smart doctor, morally grounded and, perhaps, influenced by compassion (hard to tell), the Chief Justice figured out a legally acceptable way for his court to do the right thing. Bravo!
How Much Do You Want Your Doctors To Say About Risks of Treatment?
This kind of paternalism, when a doctor assesses the risks and benefits, and spares the patient’s “knowing” seems anachronistic. But it may, still, be what many people are looking for when and if they get a serious illness. Not everyone wants a “tell me everything” kind of physician.
This Week’s Triple, Tough Dose of Real Stories on Women with Cancer
This news reminds us an aspect of cancer treatment some of us would rather put out of our heads….all cancer patients should take careful notes on their planned treatments and ask their doctors about the long-term consequences of therapy.
FDA Approves Pertuzumab for Advanced, Her2+ Breast Cancer
My opinion is not quite formed on this new antibody. The FDA’s decision was based on results of one trial of 808 patients, half of whom didn’t get the experimental drug…
Sad News, from the Metastatic Breast Cancer Network
Last October, I met Suzanne at a conference. She seemed familiar; that was because I’d read about her life with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) a few months back…
EMILIA Trial: T-DM1 Appears Helpful in Women with Her2+ Metastatic Breast Cancer
The new agent is a hybrid of an old monoclonal antibody, Herceptin, that’s chemically attached to DM1, a traditional kind of chemotherapy. The preliminary results of this randomized trial are encouraging. …It’s hard to know how this promising, likely expensive, intravenous drug will fit in with others for patients with Her2+ breast cancer.
The NBCC Holds Annual Summit and Pushes for Deadline 2020
Last week the National Breast Cancer Coalition (NBCC) held its annual summit. The meeting drew over 600 women to its opening rally in a Crystal City ballroom on Saturday, along with students who participated in sessions for Emerging Leaders, and a few men who joined in lectures and panels, and lobbied on Tuesday on Capitol […]
10 Newly-Defined Molecular Types of Breast Cancer in Nature, and a Dream
The 10 molecular BC categories bear prognostic (survival) information and, based on their distinct mutations and gene expression patterns, potential targets for novel drugs….I wonder if, in a few years, some breast cancers might be treated without surgery.
The Outlier’s Message, and Evolutionary Science in Breast Cancer
If a drug helps, keep it going; if it hurts, stop. There are so many algorithms in medicine, and molecular tools, but maybe the bottom line is how the, one, your patient is doing.
New Article on Mammography Spawns False Hope That Breast Cancer is Not a Dangerous Disease
Few forms of invasive breast cancer warrant no treatment unless the patient is so old that she is likely to die first of another condition, or the patient prefers to die of the disease….“Mammograms Spot Cancers That May Not Be Dangerous,” said WebMD, yesterday. This is feel-good news, and largely wishful.
Why I Support Health Care Reform
Profit is not what medical care is about, or should be about. What we need is a simple, national health plan, available to everyone, with minimal paperwork and, yes, limits to care.
What Does it Mean if Primary Care Doctors Get the Answers Wrong About Screening Stats?
The new findings have no bearing on whether or not cancer screening is cost-effective or life-saving. What the study does suggest is that med school math requirements should be upped and rigorous, counter to the trend
Harsh Words, and Women’s Health at Risk
In this new climate of shame, it’s easy to imagine a girl might feel really, really bad about herself simply for being sexually active.
New Studies on Colon Cancer Screening by Colonoscopy and Fecal Blood Testing
My take is that periodic colonoscopy has the potential to halve the number of deaths from colon cancer in the general population…As to how colonoscopy relates to fecal blood testing as a screening method at the population level, and the optimal start and frequency of either test, those remain uncertain.
50-50, A Serious Film About a Young Man With a Rare Cancer
The movie, based in part on the true story of scriptwriter Will Reiser, surprised me by its candor. Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt smoothly portrays Adam Lerner, who soon finds out he has cancer. The opening scene
Counterfeit Drugs, A New Concern for Patients
Counterfeit vials were sold and distributed to more than a dozen offices and medical treatment facilities in the U.S. This event, which seems to have affected a small number of patients and practices, should sound a big alarm.
Oh, No Methotrexate!
Methotrexate has been used in cancer wards for over 50 years. And like other beyond-patent meds, it’s become less profitable to manufacture MTX compared to much costlier new agents.