Just a little over a year ago, our beloved gene expert and Board Member, Professor Bill Burhans, delivered a webinar we called Cancer Genetics 101. While Professor Bill is sadly no longer with us, two other good AnCan friends, Dr. Eli Van Allen and Dr. Corrie Painter Ph.D delivered their equally good take on the same content late last month sponsored by Cancer Research Institute, the historical research home of immunotherapy.
I have to admit, many of the questions were way more sophisticated than we produced. And in their inimitable fashions, both Eli and Corrie dumbed down teh answers to make them very intelligible for the many – but not all – lay particpants.
This webinar is definitley worth bookmarking for future reference.
AnCan is a huge proponent of inclkuding palliative care in your treatment plan and medical team!!
Palliative care is NOT about hospice or end-of-life ….. that is just a sub-set of palliative medicine. At AnCan we prefer to call it Symptom Management, the lingo used by UCSF. That is no coincidence as AnCan has an excellent longstanding relationship with the UCSF service. Dr. B.J. Miller is on our Advisory Board, and Dr.Mike Rabow, the Director of Symptom Management Service at UCSF, is a friend of the family too.
Last Friday, Dr. Rabow gave an excellent webinar on CureTalks titled Redefining Palliative Care – you can listen here. For those living with advanced cancer, auditing this webinar is a MUST in our view!
More good news to offset the difficulties of advanced cancer treatment!
If you have been paying attention, you will have noted that ADT (androgen deprivation therapy) drugs may protect against COVID19. A certain male protein, TMPRSS2, acts as a door handle for the virus to enter the lungs. ADT drugs suppress TMPRSS, and the LHRH antagonist, degarelix (Firmagon) has been shown to be very effective in controlling the virus in an Italian trial and is now being tested here in the US through the VA System; Prostate Cancer Foundation has sponsored both trials. Here are a couple of links to enlighten you:
Now the BBC is reporting this morning that dexamethasone may be a “lifesaving” COVID19 drug. Dexamethasone is a steroid, frequently used around the time of infusion for intravenous infused chemotherapy. In the UK RECOVERY Trial it has been shown to perform as a very effective agent to control the immune system, hence the aggression of the COVID19 virus. AND its inexpensive and readily available!
So if you are anything like our intrepid AnCan Board Chair, Peter Kafka, and currently on ADT and chemo, you may be very well protected against COVID19.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON OUR VIDEO CHAT PEER LED OVARIAN CANCER VIRTUAL SUPPORT GROUP, CLICK HERE.
TO REGISTER FOR OUR OVARIAN CANCER VIRTUAL SUPPORT GROUP OR ANY OTHER ANCAN GROUP, GO TO https://ancan.org/contact-us/
Do you have biologic kids? Are you living with a chronic and serious condition that could impact your children? Have you ever spoken to them about this?
If you answered YES, to the first two questions, and NO to the last, this series of talks could be for you! With various partners, AnCan will approach different diseases to consider the issues around an important ocnversation that is rarely discussed.
Should you share your disease with your kids – and if so, when?
Can it impact their lives directly?
What steps shoud they take?
In this first series AnCn will address:
Prostate Cancer with UsTOO on June 30 @ 8 pm Eastern, moderated by Dr. Alica Morgans (Northwestern). Panel will include Dr. Ryan Bergland (Cleveland Clinic) and 4 pairs of fathers and sons/daughters.
Ovarian Cancer with NOCC on July 29 @ 8pm Eastern moderated by Dr. Pamela Muenster (UCSF BRCA Center). Panel will include mothers and sons/daughters and a medical professional TBD
Multiple Sclerosis with A Couple Takes on MS on Sept 30 @ 8 pm Eastern. We will be flipping the tables to include how kids speak to their prents when diagnosed with MS.
The TALK – Mutliple Sclerosislooks at how families speak within themselves when a family member is living with MS.
We’ll be speaking with pairs of parents, kids, and siblings, one of whom and sometimes both, live with MS. Our Moderator for this session is popular and well know MS neurologist, Dr. Aaraon Boster.
Living with any disease is not easy, and living with multiple sclerosis can be a special challenge since it impacts so many aspects of your life. This can be difficult to explain to your family… especially to your children and your parents. Layered on top of all the other family dynamics, you have to communicate life with MS too. We’ll take a look at how different generations cope with this issue by talking to peers living with MS and their family members who are most affected. And you’ll enjoy hearing from nationally recognized MS neurologist Dr. Aaron Boster, who will offer his perspectives and expertise on MS and family communication.
