Medical Information Information
Get Relief from Gastrointestinal Side Effects
by Marie Morande, RD, CSO, LD
While cancer treatments affect everyone differently, radiation, chemotherapy, and surgery all pose potential side effects. Cancer treatment can affect your body’s ability to absorb food, reduce how much you enjoy food, and cause disruptive gastrointestinal issues. Common gastrointestinal side effects include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, and sore mouth or throat.
Genetic Markers Linked To the Development of Lymphedema in Breast Cancer Survivors
A new University of California San Francisco (UCSF) study has found a clear association between certain genes and the development of lymphedema, a painful and chronic condition that often occurs after breast cancer surgery and some other cancer treatments. The researchers also learned that the risks of developing lymphedema increased significantly for women who had more advanced breast cancer at the time of diagnosis, more lymph nodes removed or a significantly higher body mass index.
Medication Duloxetine Helps Reduce Pain From Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy
Among patients with painful chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, use of the anti-depressant drug duloxetine for 5 weeks resulted in a greater reduction in pain compared with placebo, according to a study in the April 3, 2013, issue of JAMA.
Put an End to Cancer Pain
by by Kim Thiboldeaux and Mitch Golant, PhD
For many people, the most frightening part of any diagnosis is experiencing pain that is not treatable. Many people, however, undergo cancer treatment without ever having pain. If you do experience pain, you should talk to your healthcare team and together create a plan to manage your pain.
Lymphoseek Approved to Help Locate Lymph Nodes in Patients with Certain Cancers
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Lymphoseek Injection, a radioactive diagnostic imaging agent that helps doctors locate lymph nodes in patients with breast cancer or melanoma who are undergoing surgery to remove tumor-draining lymph nodes.
U.S. Cancer Mortality Rates Continue to Drop
The Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, 1975–2009, shows that overall cancer mortality rates continued to decline in the United States among both men and women, among all major racial and ethnic groups, and for all of the most common cancer sites, including lung, colon and rectum, female breast, and prostate. The special feature section on human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated cancers shows that incidence rates are increasing for HPV-associated oropharyngeal and anal cancers and that vaccination coverage levels in the U.S. during 2008 and 2010 remained low among adolescent girls.
ASCO Issues Recommendations for Improving Cancer Survivor Care in the United States
The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) has issued recommendations to help improve the quality of care for the more than 13 million cancer survivors living in the United States. ASCO's recommendations come at critical time when more people than ever before are surviving the disease as a result of advances in prevention, treatment and follow-up care.
Cancer & the Flu
Seasonal flu is a contagious respiratory illness caused by flu viruses. It spreads between people and can cause mild to severe illness. In the United States, flu season occurs in the fall and winter. Seasonal flu activity usually peaks in January or February, but it can occur as early as October and as late as May.
