Amgen has recently been told by the FDA to reword the labeling of its flagship anemia drugs – Aranesp and Procrit – to further restrict their use in treating cancer patients.
The move, which the F.D.A. announced on Wednesday, represents the first time the agency has invoked authority under a 2007 law that empowered it to order changes in a drug’s prescribing information. Previously, the F.D.A. could only negotiate with a drug’s manufacturer to change the label.
Sales of the drugs, Aranesp and Procrit, have already plummeted in the last year because of studies suggesting that their use to treat the …read more

Remember Hope Lodge? The American Cancer Society (ACS)  has received a $4 million gift for the building of a new Hope Lodge in City of Rochester in New York.
Here’s the YouTube video forwarded by Paul McGee (thanks again Paul!).
God bless the generous hearts for the donation and most especially, God bless Hope Lodge!
All cancer patients need all the help they can get.

Mental health is important to every individual, whether you have a serious condition such as cancer or not.
Sometimes, I believe that one’s mental health is overlooked even though it too play a critical part how a patient manages to live with the disease or how survival is willed.
May is Mental Health Month and here at the Health and Wellness Channel, we focus on mental health.
Just one example why mental health is important in cancer patients:
Breast cancer patients who have a prior history of mood and anxiety disorders are at a much higher risk of experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder following their …read more

Do you guys know about Hope Lodge? I didn’t. Until now.
A service of the American Cancer Society (ACS) – Hope Lodge – offers free temporary housing to cancer patients that have to travel away from home to get cancer treatments, and is located in various locations throughout the United States.
Last night, the Hope Lodge NYC (the newest one) was featured on the local news. Watch it on YouTube.
Well, this is really a great help to all cancer patients. A little help goes a long for everyone and a free accommodation is really a big help.
Thanks again to Paul McGee of …read more

According to scientists at the University of Southern California (USC), in collaboration with Italian researchers, fasting (for 48 hours) before receiving chemotherapy could help limit the treatment’s toxic effects to cancer cells—and spare healthy ones.
Starving healthy cells helps to differentiate them from tumor cells, a trick that could make cancer treatments more effective.
The new finding may pave the way for higher and more frequent chemo doses that better shrink tumors without harming normal cells.
Any thoughts on the matter? I’d like to hear them.
Find more details from Scientific American.

For the Moffitt Cancer Center’s Department of Nutrition and their Dietitians, March is a month-long celebration of National Nutrition Month.
Together with the other medical disciplines, Dietitians help in providing quality care and comprehensive medical nutrition therapy, including:

Prevention and treatment of malnutrition
Counseling on diet and cancer prevention
Counseling on dietary supplements
Provision of tube-feeding recommendations
Food safety guidance for patients with decreased immunity

The month-long observance of nutrition is geared towards Moffitt patients and employees.
Spot Moffitt dietitians wearing pink on March 10, Registered Dietitian Day. Registered dietitians have degrees in nutrition, dietetics, public health or related fields, and most have a master’s degree. They must …read more

I was notified of something really interesting that will be of huge help (I hope!) to cancer patients — from the American Cancer Society (ACS) via Paul McGee.
Pretty much like YouTube, ACS has launched its own, cancer specific, video and picture sharing site called SharingHope.TV.
SharingHope.tv allows users to create an account and upload video, audio, photos and artwork in order to tell their stories of cancer in ways that work best for them. Visitors to the site can view the content, share what they like with others, or find hope and inspiration for their own fight against cancer.
Cancer survivors and …read more

Just like cancer patients undergoing treatments at the the St. Luke’s Medical Center-Cancer Institute in Quezon City, Philippines can focus on beauty even for just one day.
Six cancer patients got makeovers from the metro’s popular beauty salons and tips on how to look beautiful even in the worst of times.
Rosalia Cruz, 50, of Baliwag, Bulacan, received “oohs and aahs” from the audience of 100 people made up of cancer patients, their families and doctors, as Emmie Mole of Maria Carla Beauty Salon carefully worked on Cruz’s hair and makeup.
A few minutes later, she looked beautiful — inside and out.
The makeover …read more

Usually, cancer patients take several medications at the same time, not only for treatment of cancer but for management of side effects and other secondary illness induced by the cancer itself or the cancer drug prescribed to them.
Because of that, cancer patients are a higher risk of potential drug interactions that could cause them unnecessary harm.
According to a new study led by Rachel Riechelmann, M.D., of the Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto, recently published in the April 18 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute:
Nearly a third of patients were exposed to at least one potential drug interaction.
The …read more

The old notion that aspirin could lead to lethal bleeding of cancer patients who have heart attacks has now been proven wrong by researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.
According to their new study to be published in the February 1, 2007 issue of the journal Cancer (now available online):
…9 of 10 cancer patients with thrombocytopenia (low platelet count) who were experiencing a heart attack and who did not receive aspirin died, whereas only one patient died in a group of 17 similar cancer patients who received aspirin.
They also found aspirin helps cancer patients with normal …read more