Treating childhood cancer!

In spite of the developments in treatments and technologies that are enhancing the survival rate of childhood cancer, children with cancer are still at risk for developing various cognitive, sexual and heart problems, later in their lives, because of the cancer itself and the side effects of cancer treatments like chemotherapy and radiation therapy that they receive. Some studies have shown that cancer treatments can damage brain white matter and disrupt brain activity to a large extent.

Researchers at Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, New York are now working to reduce this risk, by reducing or increasing the doses of medicine administered on children with cancer, based on a type of protein present in the tumor. By doing so, they are able to minimize the damage caused by cancer therapies on the quality of the life of childhood cancer patients, which enables them to lead a normal life like any other person.

This news story, throws more light on this new approach to treating childhood cancer.

Developments in the fight against cancer

In this video, Dr. Ang Peng Taim, Medical Director of Parkway Cancer Centre, explains about the recent developments in the field of cancer research. A must-watch for cancer patients and their families, since this video sends out a clear message that cancer is curable, irrespective of the stage of the disease.

New therapies are changing the outlook for blood cancer patients

Medical News Today: The International Myeloma Foundation (IMF) - conducting research and providing education, advocacy and support for myeloma patients, families, researchers and physicians - noted that multiple studies presented at the 2006 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) illustrate the breadth of the gains being made in the treatment of multiple myeloma and related blood cancers.

The findings show that new treatment regimens that began with THALOMID® and extend to both VELCADE® and the newest oral treatment REVLIMID® are helping a growing range of myeloma patients when used alone, sequentially and in various combinations. Collectively, these studies represent a significant increase in knowledge of how myeloma responds to treatment, which is already becoming applicable to other cancers.

The patient groups studied cover the full range, from relapsed patients to the newly diagnosed, young to old, and include patients with an otherwise poor prognosis due to chromosomal abnormalities. In some cases the data being presented at the conference significantly advances previous studies to show long-term response in newly diagnosed patients. In one of the most significant studies, researchers from the Mayo Clinic report 67% of patients using REVLIMID (plus the steroid dexamethasone) as primary therapy, achieved a response categorized as complete or very good, with a low rate of disease progression continuing even after two years.

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