Cancer Survivorship

BEIJING — Eric Shanteau doesn’t recall if it was the first or second conversation he had with his father in the blurry days after being diagnosed with testicular cancer six weeks ago. He’ll never forget the message.

“You have cancer; it doesn’t have you,” Rick Shanteau, a lung cancer patient for the last year, told his son.

Swimmer Eric Shanteau was recently diagnosed with testicular cancer

Eric, 24, has been living those words every day since.

They’re a fundamental part of the reason he postponed surgery and kept working toward fulfilling a lifetime dream by competing in the 200-meter breaststroke at the Beijing Olympics next week. His medical condition has been monitored closely the last month, and he knew any change would have sent him home immediately for surgery.

“It’s the biggest roller coaster you could ever imagine. The highs are great, and the lows are really low. And that’s basically on a weekly and daily basis,” Shanteau said in late July during a U.S. training camp in Palo Alto, Calif. “Waiting for the results to come back, you’re biting your nails down to the skin.”

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Cancer is so limited…

It cannot cripple love
It cannot shatter hope
It cannot corrode faith
It cannot destroy peace
It cannot kill friendship
It cannot suppress memories
It cannot silence courage
It cannot invade the soul
It cannot steal eternal life
It cannot conquer the spirit

- Author Unknown

For the first time, an optical sensor, developed by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), can measure proteins in saliva that are linked to oral cancer. The device is highly sensitive, allowing doctors and dentists to detect the disease early, when patient survival rates are high.

A device known as a confocal microscope can detect proteins linked to oral cancer. (UCLA)

The researchers are currently working with the National Institute of Health (NIH) to push the technology to clinical tests so that it can be developed into a device that can be used in dentists’ offices. Chih-Ming Ho, a scientist at UCLA and principal investigator for the sensor, says that it is a versatile instrument and can be used to detect other disease-specific biomarkers.

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This past weekend, I participated in my local Relay for Life! Was a great time. The Relay is a great place to interact with and meet other cancer survivors, as well as support those that are currently fighting cancer. Parts of the Relay can be quite emotional, and it’s well worth your time. You can find out about your local Relay for Life here.

We had several different “wacky laps” where you dressed up to walk that lap. We did a favorite football team lap, patriotic lap, PJ lap, Beach lap, Community Service lap where we donated food, and a power of purple lap. They took place between 8PM and 8:30AM, and yes, I did them all. Here’s a picture from the event.

2008 Waukesha Relay for Life

Low-dose radiation has helped scientists at Scottish university unravel susceptibility to breast cancer.

In a breakthrough study, scientists at St Andrews University’s Bute Medical School are investigating a vital link between radiation sensitivity and breast cancer susceptibility.

The study sheds new light on a vital enzyme that could be linked to breast cancer susceptibility.

The study sheds new light on a vital enzyme that enables cells in our bodies to ‘unravel’ DNA. This enzyme allows the chromosomes to split into two prior to a cell dividing and could be linked to breast cancer susceptibility.

Using a model human cell system in which cells are grown in cultures in the laboratory, researchers have shown that when amounts of the enzyme ‘topo-2′ are reduced, the cells become resistant to low doses of gamma-rays and less damage to their chromosomes is observed.

Dr Peter Bryant of the Bute Medical School, whois heading the team, said the discovery was important. ‘I believe that these findings could help explain individual susceptibility to sporadic (non-familial) breast cancer, since previous work in the Medical School has demonstrated an on-average higher radiation sensitivity of chromosomes to damage among white blood cells from breast cancer patients, when compared with groups of normal (non-cancer) patients,’ he said.

Several studies by scientists in Manchester, Athens and Ghent have found a similar link between breast cancer and elevated chromosome radiation sensitivity, and while the underlying mechanism of the link is not yet understood, it is thought that changes in ‘low-penetrance’ genes could be involved in causing both the radiation sensitivity and breast cancer susceptibility.

The group in the Bute Medical School, including Professor Andrew Riches, PhD student Samantha Terry and technician Olga Shovman, in collaboration with Dr Dougal Adamson at Ninewells Hospital, is currently studying the levels of topo-2 and the effects of low-dose radiation on chromosomes of cells in culture in the laboratory and in white blood cells in samples taken from breast cancer cases.

‘The original aim of the laboratory cell culture work was to test a theory as to the way in which low-dose radiation causes damage to our chromosomes. Our published findings support the theory, and suggested a possible way in which this exciting result might help lead us in our ongoing study of patients, to understand more about breast cancer susceptibility,’ said Dr Bryant.

The research is published in the latest edition of the British Journal of Cancer and is funded by the Breast Cancer Campaign and the Scottish Government.

THURSDAY, July 31 (HealthDay News) — A test that helps identify the type of cancer cells present in a tumor has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
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The Pathwork Tissue of Origin test compares the genetic material of a patient’s tumor with genetic data stored in a database from evaluated cancers. The test, which is able to analyze thousands of pieces of genetic material at a time, considers 15 common cancer types, including those of the bladder, breast, and colon.

“The clearance of the Pathwork test is another step in the continued integration of molecular-based medicine into standard practice,” Dr. Daniel Schultz, director of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, said in an agency news release.

The test and its technology are produced by Pathwork Diagnostics of Sunnyvale, Calif., and Affymetrix Inc., of Santa Clara, Calif.

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Last week this site was attacked by a virus. As a result, I’ve had to delete everything, and start from scratch. Please bear with me, as I work to start over. Thanks. In the mean time, please see the “About Me” page for a history of my fight with cancer.

Friday, Aug 1 and Saturday Aug 2, I’ll be at the Waukesha, WI Relay for Life!

2007 Survivor's Lap at Relay for Life