ClinicAid With Care Blog

Breast Cancer Patients Pay It Forward

The ClinicAid Team — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 20:28:31 +0000

Have you ever heard words like these from a friend or family member who is living with cancer?

“It’s really hard to ask for help. You want to be competent and independent. … And then, all of a sudden, you have to acknowledge the fact that you can’t take care of your daughter all by yourself.”

Just a year before turning 40, Judy Haley was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer that required an immediate mastectomy.

The procedure and the treatments that followed left her fatigued, nauseated and in so much pain that she couldn’t pick up her 1-year-old daughter or do simple household chores. She also struggled with depression because she needed constant child-care assistance.

Haley and her husband were both full-time students, so there were also financial concerns. The couple cashed in their retirement to deal with the crush of medical bills.

“I was really bottoming out emotionally,” Haley said.

That’s when a friend recommended that she reach out to the Bellevue, Washington based organization Pink Daisy Project, a nonprofit that provides support to breast cancer patients under 45.

Watch the video:

The Pink Daisy Project is founded by Debbie Cantwell, who was 41 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006. Since 2008, the Pink Daisy Project has helped more than 150 women — mostly in the form of house-cleaning assistance and gift cards for gas, groceries and restaurants. But as we all know, it’s so much more.

“You’re relatively healthy, and they tell you (that) you have a chance of dying. … It just throws your world upside down,” Cantwell explained.

Cantwell underwent surgery to remove both breasts and 20 lymph nodes. She received eight rounds of chemotherapy and 37 radiation treatments before undergoing breast reconstruction surgery. She blistered, bled, lost all her hair and continued to work full-time as a copywriter and the sole provider for her husband and two young children.

Throughout her treatment, however, Cantwell was supported by family, friends and co-workers who pitched in to help her with her daily responsibilities. Co-workers donated vacation and sick leave. Friends brought over meals and took on child-care duties. Relatives helped with mounting costs.

“I just felt so grateful that all these people in my life were there for me and made it manageable,” she said. “Once I was through with treatment, I couldn’t possibly pay everybody back. So I decided I was going to pay it forward.”

Currently, Cantwell fields grant requests through the website. Grants (average $400 in value) come from small fundraisers and personal donations, and are designed to cover a woman’s basic needs for about one month.

“Right now, the Pink Daisy Project is helping women in these small ways,” Cantwell said. “But eventually, I want to be able to help in larger ways with real practical, tangible things like helping with bills … helping with the rent, helping with medical payments. It’s so hard to focus on healing when you’ve got $12,000 in medical bills.”

The average age of women diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States is 61. But according to the Young Survival Coalition, there are more than 250,000 women living in the U.S. who were 40 or younger when diagnosed.

Words to Live by: Debbie Cantwell

“I don’t feel sorry for myself. I never have. I want to really make the most of the time I have by doing some good in the world. … And if the spirit of helping each other were to continue, I’d feel my efforts meant something.”

Just like Debbie, our friend who blogs under the name Peglove on HealthCentral.com is taking breast cancer by the horns and paying it forward by openly sharing her breast cancer experience. Read Peglove’s blog.

Words to Live by: Peglove

“Thriving is the operative action. It is not enough to breathe in and out–but at times, on chemo and radiation, the destruction of cells and weak blood – breathing was all you could do. It makes you think that it is all you can do, and that it will never end. But it does! It does end! And it is not wasted time, but time that the body needs to rebuild those cells in order for it to thrive again.”

(source: CNN Heros)

To learn more about the Pink Daisy Project, visit the website.

Got great health tips of your own? We want to hear them! Please share with us on Facebook and Twitter!

With care,
The ClinicAid Team

Girls Rule at Google Science Fair 2011

The ClinicAid Team — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 17:23:11 +0000

Not only were we amazed to see female participants dominate Google Science Fair, the tech company’s first annual global science competition, we were also elated to hear that all three top prizes went to projects related to cancer and asthma research – two things we care deeply about here at ClinicAid.

Out of more than 10,000 students between the ages of 13 through 18 who entered the competition from all over the world, three young girls took home the top prizes in their respective age categories.

Google Science Fair 2011 winners Lauren Hodge (left), Grand Prize winner Shree Bose, Naomi Shah (right) smile for the cameras.

In the 13-14 age group, Lauren Hodge won for her research on how different marinades could reduce carcinogens in grilled chicken.

Shree Bose, a 17-year-old from Texas, took home the grand prize for her work improving ovarian cancer treatment for patients who have built up a resistance to certain chemotherapy drugs.

Naomi Shah won in the 15-16 age group for her work looking at the effects of environmental pollution on asthma.

Congratulations to these three budding young scientists! At ClinicAid, we believe in girl power. We are proud of the fact that over 70% of our staff are women – they are young clinical research professionals, nurturing mothers, and executive team members with advanced post-graduate degrees. We’d like to think that as a result, our entire staff are helpful to each other, and dedicated to patience and compassion.

To learn more about Google Science Fair and the finalists, visit the event website.

Got great health tips of your own? We want to hear them! Please share with us on Facebook and Twitter!

With care,
The ClinicAid Team

A Doctor’s Advice to Cancer Patient: Practice the “Super 6″ Healthy Life Habits

The ClinicAid Team — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 14:08:44 +0000

You might have recently watched the film “Super 8″ by Steven Spielberg and JJ Abrams in theaters. But did you know that there are six factors, or habits, that will very likely add years to your life, and life to your years? Dr. David L. Katz calls these habits the “Super 6″ factors for healthy living.

Here is what Dr. Katz shared in his Huffington Post blog (If he looks familiar, it’s because he has often appeared with Dr. Oz on The Oprah Show):

What prompts me to focus now on my ‘Super 6′ list is a patient I saw in clinic recently who had experienced a potentially life-threatening cancer a year or so ago, and is now living in the aftermath of a surgical “cure.” He came to my clinic looking for ways to reduce the likelihood of that cancer ever recurring, or any other ever occurring in the first place.

Such collisions with our mortality tend to sharpen the focus of patient and clinician alike. Whereas any given patient might like to know how to promote their health, this patient approached the topic as a veritable quest. And whereas I might rattle off a number of suggestions to my healthy patient looking to stay healthy, this patient was a goad for me to rack my brain, and re-scour the relevant literature.

As you might expect, discussion with this patient was far-ranging. He wanted to know about everything he could do to bend fate and probability in his favor. So, naturally, we discussed both conventional medical therapies such as drugs (there is no clear role for them in his case), and nutrient/botanical supplements (these might contribute some benefit, discussed below).

The Super 6: feet, forks, fingers, sleep, stress and love.

There are, of course, innumerable reports about supplements, but overall evidence for cancer prevention by use of any given supplement or combination of supplements is slim. There is an argument to be made for vitamin D, particular among those living in northern climes and/or disinclined to eat dairy, and thus prone to relative deficiency.

There is a case to be made for antioxidant rich foods and beverages, such as green tea (or, perhaps even better, white tea). But the evidence for benefit from any given antioxidant supplement is lacking. To the contrary, studies have hinted at potential increases in cancer risk with certain antioxidant supplements, notably beta-carotene.

My clinic is intrigued by, and makes use of, modified citrus pectin, which appears to have some potential to interfere with the spread of cancer cells, and also appears to be entirely safe. The same applies to Avemar, a product derived from fermented wheat germ with an extensive, albeit still evolving, literature supporting its use in cancer prevention.

But in general, evidence to support the use of supplements to prevent cancer is inconclusive. And there is an additional concern based on the risk/benefit trade-off. Supplements that don’t perform as hoped may exert unintended effects, potentially including an increase in cancer risk. For someone devoted to risk reduction, this is a bad chance to take.

So risk/benefit ratios, the magnitude of any potential benefit and the quality of science all militate against undue reliance on supplements. But all three weigh in favor of the Super 6. The Super 6 are the best medicine we have for preventing cancer and other chronic disease, and all are good for health anyway. The only real potential side effect of their use to prevent cancer is that you might also get healthier in ways you didn’t intend.

Regular physical activity (feet) is associated with weight control, reduced inflammation, enhanced immune function and reduced cancer risk specifically. Optimal diet (forks) exerts far-ranging effects on every aspect of physiology, and similarly stands to reduce the risk of all chronic disease. Combine eating well and being active with a commitment to never hold a cigarette (fingers), and the risk of all chronic disease declines by roughly 80 percent.

Those are my top three, but the list of health promotion priorities very reasonably extends to three more. The quality and quantity of sleep has profound effects on psychology, immunology and neurology. A linkage to cancer risk is suggested by a rudimentary connection of these dots. Much the same is true of stress, which can contribute to hormonal imbalances and inflammation that propagate cancer — or can be managed to prevent such effects.

And, finally, there is love. We are, from our earliest origins, social creatures much influenced by our relationships with others. While love may seem a “warm and fuzzy” topic, it is in fact the cold, hard scrutiny of clinical trials demonstrating that those with loving relationships are far less vulnerable to chronic disease and death than those without.

Combine all six salutary practices, and the evidence is clear that benefits reverberate all the way to our chromosomes, altering the behavior of genes in a way apt to reduce chronic disease risk in general, and cancer risk specifically.

I hasten to append to this paean for the power of lifestyle a proviso: there is never a guarantee. Think of it this way: lifestyle practices are the ship and sails, but there is still the wind and waves. The former we can control to increase the probability of a safe crossing; the latter, we cannot — and thus even a well-captained ship may founder.

But the Super 6 can assuredly put probability on your side. And these factors most likely to make a difference for a patient in the aftermath of cancer are as relevant for you and me, regardless of whether or not we have faced a similar peril.

You’ll need a little help with love, but the other factors are up to you. No need to wait for that brush with mortality — I commend the Super 6 to you right now.

About Dr. David Katz

David L. Katz, MD, MPH, FACPM, FACP is the founding director of Yale University’s Prevention Research Center at Griffin Hospital. He is a board certified specialist in both Internal Medicine and Preventive Medicine/Public Health; Director and founder of the Integrative Medicine Center at Griffin Hospital (2000) in Derby, CT. He founded the Turn the Tide Foundation and currently serves as president of the non-profit organization. Know internationally for expertise in nutrition and chronic disease prevention, as well as integrative care models, Dr. Katz has published numerous scientific papers and written textbook chapters, newspaper columns, and 12 books to date. He was the 2011 recipient of the Katharine Boucot Sturgis award from the American College of Preventive Medicine. Dr. Katz is a health editor for the Huffington Post, and Editor-in-Chief of the peer-reviewed journal, Childhood Obesity. He and his wife, Catherine, have five children.

Learn more about Dr. David L. Katz (@DrDavidKatz) at www.davidkatzmd.com.

(source: Huffington Post)

Got great health tips of your own? We want to hear them! Please share with us on Facebook and Twitter!

With care,
The ClinicAid Team

New ‘Liquid Biopsy’ Blood Test: Cancer Screening Breakthrough?

The ClinicAid Team — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 19:05:42 +0000

A new ‘liquid biopsy’ blood test promises to detect a single cancerous cell among a billion cells. The test, which is being developed by drug giant Johnson & Johnson, is expected to be particularly useful in breast, prostate, colon, and lung cancer.

The company described the technology as a “liquid biopsy” that avoids painful tissue sampling and may be better than imaging scans for the regular monitoring of patients. The test equipment consists of a piece of plastic studded with tens of thousands of bristles coated with antibodies that attract cancerous cells, but not healthy ones. When blood is run over them, the cancer cells are made to glow, allowing the researchers to see them and test them. While the new test is sensitive enough to read a single cancerous cell, doctors say scientific data from more than one cell is needed before any medical decisions could be made.

Redoing the test to check for a drop in cancer cells would then quickly show if the drug was working.

“If you could find out quickly, ‘this drug is working, stay on it,’ or ‘this drug is not working, try something else,’ that would be huge,” said Dr. Daniel Haber of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, one of the test’s inventors.

The test could also be used to detect the spread of cancer and ultimately it could provide a better way to screen for the disease than the mammograms and colonoscopies used now. Minetta Liu, a breast cancer specialist at Georgetown University’s Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center in Washington DC, said: “The dream is, a woman comes in for her mammogram and gets a tube of blood drawn.” Now wouldn’t that be something?

“There’s a lot of potential here, and that’s why there’s a lot of excitement,” said Dr. Mark Kris, a lung cancer expert at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

In this TODAY Show video below, Dr. Nancy Snyderman, who used to work for Johnson & Johnson, explains the new technology and its implications.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The next generation of cancer testing?

Initially, doctors want to use the test to try to predict what treatments would be best for individual tumors. The test is so sensitive that it can detect one cancer cell out of a billion healthy cells by extracting a small sample of the cancer patient’s blood and running it through a microchip. For the foreseeable future, the technology will be developed as a diagnostic tool for patients who have been diagnosed with cancer, and not so much those who don’t have cancer and wish to learn which types of cancer they may be at risk for.

A team approach

The project is a large, concerted effort from pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson and four highly recognized cancer centers – MD Anderson Cancer Center (University of Texas, Houston, Taxas), Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (New York, N.Y.), Massachuettes General (Boston, Mass.), and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass.). The cohesive “team approach” which involves drug makers, research scientists, and hospitals working closely together is a growing trend in the bio technology industry. And this is precisely how ClinicAid Research Management works with global pharmaceutical companies and southern California hospitals and cancer centers to deliver clinical trials to patients, a final phase in the drug development process before the treatment can go on the market. For a full list of our current clinical trials, visit our website.

“The private sector and scientists are putting their heads together. And this is how we’re going to make cancer breakthroughs.” – Dr. Nancy Snyderman.

What can we look forward to for the next few years?

Johnson & Johnson said that the kit could be on the market in three to five years. While remaining cautiously optismic, physicians say this type of research brings the promise of science and hope for the cancer community. Eventually, the same technology will no doubt become a pertinent part of cancer prevention.

(source: TODAY, Daily Mail)

Got great health tips of your own? We want to hear them! Please share with us on Facebook and Twitter!

With care,
The ClinicAid Team

Aretha Franklin Battles Pancreatic Cancer

The ClinicAid Team — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 19:10:41 +0000

Rourke/AP

Singer Aretha Franklin, Queen of Soul, it was revealed earlier this week, has pancreatic cancer. And though few details of Franklin’s disease are known at this time, the cure rate for this cancer is disconcerting.

Two in 10 people with pancreatic cancer live at least one year after diagnosis, and fewer than 4% survive beyond five years, the American Cancer Society says.

Little is known about Franklin’s condition, with media reports saying the 68-year-old had undergone surgery and was recovering at home. The three main types of treatment for pancreatic cancer are surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy, according to the Cancer Society.

Actor Patrick Swayze died from pancreatic cancer last year. His public battle created awareness of the fatal disease that has no early warning signs. That’s not to say there’s no hope or that the prognosis is fated to be grim. Read more about Patrick Swayze’s journey with pancreatic cancer.

Researchers are working to improve diagnoses, treatments, and outcomes. Here are the latest findings and research on potential treatments and a guide to the basics of this disease.

(source: Los Angeles Times)

Got great health tips of your own? We want to hear them! Please share with us on Facebook and Twitter!

With care,
The ClinicAid Team

Never Too Late to Grow Your Mo! Celebrate Movember All Year ‘Round

The ClinicAid Team — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 19:40:07 +0000

Is that hairspray, or are you just happy to see me?

Calling all manly men! November is almost over. But it’s never to celebrate Movember, a celebration of self expression and prostate cancer awareness.

“Stache,” “pushbroom,” “soup-strainer,” “crumb-catcher,” “fanny dusters” — fun with grooming (or the lack thereof) can go on and on. The Mo, slang for moustache, and November come together each year for Movember, when men all over the world are challenged to change their appearance and the face of men’s health by growing a mustache. The mustache becomes the ribbon for men’s health, the means by which awareness and funds are raised for cancers that affect men.

More Movember on YouTube

The idea for Movember was sparked in 2003 down under over a few Foster’s beers, by Aussie men who decided to grew out their handlebars for fun. With all the subsequent attention that their lip caterpillars drew, the Mo Bros realized that there was some real potential to use Movember to do some good. Inspired by what women have done to generate awareness about breast cancer, the Mo Bros set out on a course to create a global men’s health movement, focused on raising awareness and funds for the number one cancer affecting men – prostate cancer.

About Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer is cancer that starts in the prostate gland. The prostate is a small, walnut-sized structure that makes up part of a man’s reproductive system. It wraps around the urethra, the tube that carries urine out of the body.

The cause of prostate cancer is unknown. Some studies have shown a relationship between high dietary fat intake and increased testosterone levels. There is no known association with an enlarged prostate or benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). The lowest number of cases occurs in Japanese men and those who do not eat meat (vegetarians).

Although rarely found in men younger than 40, prostate cancer is the third most common cause of death from cancer in men of all ages and is the most common cause of death from cancer in men over age 75.

People who are at higher risk include:

African-American men

Men who are older than 60

Farmers, tire plant workers, painters, and men who have been exposed to cadmium

Symptoms
Thanks to PSA testing, most prostate cancers are now found before they cause symptoms. Although most of the symptoms listed below can occur with prostate cancer, they are more likely to be associated with noncancerous conditions.

Urinary hesitancy (delayed or slowed start of urinary stream)

Urinary dribbling, especially immediately after urinating

Urinary retention

Pain with urination

Pain with ejaculation

Lower back pain

Pain with bowel movement

Other symptoms that may occur:

Excessive urination at night

Urinary leakage (incontinence)

Bone pain or tenderness

Blood in the urine (hematuria)

Abdominal pain

Low red blood cell count (anemia)

Unintentional weight loss

Lethargy

Prostate Cancer Clinical Trials

If you have been diagnosed with prostate cancer, you could help doctors transform modern medicine and find the answer for prevention and cure. In southern California, ClinicAid physicians are working with a top pharmaceutical company on a national research study for prostate cancer. Participants of the clinical trials receive early access to treatment options not yet available to the general public, monitoring and care by a team of clinicians in addition to their standard treatment, and potentially compensation for time and travel. The study is being conducted at two of the largest cancer centers in Corona and Riverside.

For more details, please visit our website: www.ClinicAidusa.com.

If you have any questions about prostate cancer, PSA testing, or clinical trials, talk to your doctor or give us a call at (888) 757-8881, ext. 51. Our experienced clinicians would be happy to provide you with the information and resources you’re looking for.

Join the Movember Movement

The Movember mustache has continued to grow year after year. In 2009, Movember raised $42 million worldwide, with over one million participants in Australia, New Zealand, the US, the UK, Ireland, Canada, Spain, South Africa, the Netherlands, and Finland. In 2010, the funds raised through Movember’s US campaign benefit the Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) and LIVESTRONG, the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

Lance Armstrong's started his Mo earlier this year to little avail. Hey, at least he's trying.

LIVESTRONG uses the funds it receives from Movember to support programs dedicated to helping cancer patients and their families to cope with the disease. This year’s beneficiaries include organizations such as Fertile Hope, which works with cancer patients who are struggling with infertility as a result of cancer patients; My Planet, which connects cancer patients in their twenties and thirties worldwide for support and solidarity; and causes such as continuing education for nurses specializing in young adult cancer survivorship.

Despite the seriousness of prostate cancer, Movember aims to make it fun for everyone who want to get involved. There are prizes, Gala Partés to award the Ultimate Mo and the Lame Mo. And even the ladies can get in on the fun. You can purchase a Demistache and wear your Mo around your neck instead of on your face.

Just because you can't grow one doesn't mean that you can't have one.

There are various other merchants who are participating in Movember by donating all proceeds of purchases of Mo Merch to Movember. Participating retailers include Wahl, Flip Video, TOMS Shoes, and Palmer Cash Tees.

There are a variety of fun ways to get involved in Movember, from becoming a Mo Bro or Sista to donating directly to the cause. You can also become a fan of Movember on Facebook or follow Movember on Twitter.

Stachetag: Movember Twitter Feed Gone Wild

Stachetag is a website dedicated to documenting the good, the bad, and the awesome in the world of the ‘stache. The process is simple, you go to the website and upload a photo (or tweet with #stachetag) and you end up in a gallery of men bound and determined to fix prostate cancer – one great mustache at a time. Go check out all the bikers, reynolds, zappas and fumanchus, and make sure to add your epic fanny duster.

Winner of ‘Dancing with the Stars’ Remembers Patrick Swayze

The ClinicAid Team — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 03:13:56 +0000

Nobody puts Baby in the corner! Jennifer Grey, the “Dirty Dancing” star, was named the winner of ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” on Tuesday night, fending off a late challenge from fellow competitor Bristol Palin.

November is National Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month. The achievement is especially meaningful for the actress since her most famous dance partner, her “Dirty Dancing’ costar Patrick Swayze, passed away from pancreatic cancer on May 19, 2009.

During a rehearsal with her “Dancing With the Stars” performing partner Derek Hough, Jennifer Grey broke down about the actor’s death from pancreatic cancer.

“I just missed him. It made me realize how fast time goes. He was young and gorgeous. And now he’s (sic) gone,” she sobbed. “It freaked me out.”

Remembering Patrick Swayze

“Patrick was one of the most fearless people I’d ever met.” – Jennifer Grey

With an illustrious film and TV career that spanned 30 years, Patrick Swayze was best known for his roles as the tough guy with a romantic side in hit movies like “Ghost.”

In January of 2008, Patrick Swayze was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. At the time, the public didn’t know much about this type of cancer. Swayze himself remained optimistic, continuing to work on television projects while undergoing chemotherapy and taking an experimental drug that targets tumors.

“I’m proud of what I’m doing,” Swayze told the New York Times. “How do you nurture a positive attitude when all the statistics say you’re a dead man? You go to work.”

It’s no wonder that the world was so shocked by Swayze’s swift decline and subsequent death less than two years after his initial diagnosis. But his tragic death was not in vain; as a result of his celebrity status, there is much more awareness of pancreatic cancer than there has ever been before.

About Pancreatic Cancer

The pancreas is a large organ that is found behind the stomach. It makes and releases enzymes that help the body absorb foods, especially fats. Hormones called insulin and glucagon are also made in the pancreas. These hormones help your body control blood sugar levels.

The exact cause of pancreatic cancer (or pancreatic carcinoma) is unknown. The risk increases with age. The disease is slightly more common in women than in men, and more common among smokers and people who are obese. A small number of cases are related to genetic syndromes that are passed down through families.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest forms of the disease. Only 5% of people diagnosed with the disease survive for longer than five years after their diagnosis. It is notoriously difficult to catch in its early stages, earning it a reputation for being a “silent killer.”

Research for this disease is still in its infancy, in many ways. Doctors still aren’t sure what causes it, and the American Cancer Society has no established guidelines for its prevention.

It is estimated that 43,140 people will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2010, and that 36,800 will die from the disease. That’s why it’s more crucial than ever to keep pancreatic cancer research moving forward.

Are You Aware of the Signs?

While the jury’s still out on how to prevent pancreatic cancer, you should be aware of the signs so that you can stop it in its tracks as early as possible. You may be at risk for pancreatic cancer if:

You are over 60 years old.

You are male. Men are 30% more likely to contract pancreatic cancer than women.

You’re a smoker.

You eat a diet high in red meats and processed sugars and low in fruits and vegetables.

You are obese.

You have diabetes mellitus.

You have chronic pancreatitis.

You have had a Helicobacter pylori infection.

You have a family history of the disease.

You have gingivitis or periodontal disease.

Symptoms include:

Pain, especially if it starts in the upper abdomen and radiates toward your back.

Loss of appetite, especially if it is accompanied by nausea or vomiting.

Significant weight loss.

Jaundice.

Trousseau sign, in which blood clots form spontaneously in portal blood vessels.

Diabetes mellitus.

Clinical depression.

If you are exhibiting any of these symptoms, or if you possess any of these risk factors, you should get screened for pancreatic cancer regularly. The sooner you catch it, the better the chances that you will be able to beat it.

November is National Pancreatic Awareness Month. Get Involved

It has now been a year since Patrick Swayze’s death in September 2009 but his memory lives on, especially in the month of November. Thanks to people like Patrick Swayze and orgazantions like Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, more people than ever before are participating in efforts to promote awareness and raise funds for pancreatic cancer research.

In the video below, Patrick Swayze’s beloved wife Lisa urges the world to “be a hero. Fight pancreatic cancer.”

The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PANCAN) is full of resources to help you get involved in the fight against pancreatic cancer. You can:

Read survivor stories and share them with others.

Share your story in order to show your support and spread awareness.

Become a fan of the fight on Facebook, or follow PANCAN’s Twitter feed.

Volunteer to advance cancer research, support cancer patients, host events, or even become an advocate.

Follow along with the Take Action Calendar. Every day, there’s a suggestion for a way in which you can fight pancreatic cancer.

Donate directly to the cause.

Know It. Fight It. End It.” – National Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month slogan

Got great health tips of your own? We want to hear them! Please share with us on Facebook and Twitter!

With care,
The ClinicAid Team

OCMMC ‘Fall Festival for Life’: Event Recap (Photos)

The ClinicAid Team — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 17:00:22 +0000

The fifth annual 'Fall Festival For Life' event on Nov. 13, 2010 was organized by the MemorialCare Cancer Institute at Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center in Fountain Valley, Calif.

Last Saturday, ClinicAid was part of the fifth annual Fall Festival For Life event, organized by MemorialCare Cancer Institute at Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center in Fountain Valley, Calif. ClinicAid is the official clinical research partner of OCMMC.

Attendees of the health fair connected with physicians, nurses and administrators from more than 20 groups from the hospital, including Cancer Research, Cancer Rehabilitation, Breast Center, Pain Management, Complimentary Medicine, Hospice Care, OCMMC’s in-house American Cancer Society (ACS) office, and Pet Therapy. There were tons of food, music, and good cheers. We even got a visit from Fountain Valley Mayor Larry Crandall and Mrs. Crandall!

Visitors got an in-depth tour of the Cancer Center’s facilities and its cutting-edge technologies, like the CyberKnife Robotic Radiosurgery System, the world’s first and only robotic radiosurgery system designed to treat tumors throughout the body non-invasively. (It provides a pain-free, non-surgical option for patients who have inoperable or surgically complex tumors, or who may be looking for an alternative to surgery.)

Photo Highlights from the Event

The Dan Krikorian Band performed live.

Teams of OCMMC doctors and nurses were on hand to provide health information and answer questions.

The ClinicAid Team! From left: Dr. Dwight Tapp (CEO), Dr. Kim Tran (COO), and Dr. An Nguyen (principal investigator overseeing several ClinicAid clinical trials).

Members of Psychosocial Care and Spiritual Care with Nancy Lean, OCMMC Director of Oncology Services, and Dr. Bichlien Nguyen, OCMMC oncologist.

ClinicAid is the official clinical research partner of OCMMC.

Sign up for our email list or call us at (888) 757-8881 x 51 with your questions about clinical trials. Newsletter subscribers and callers will receive a chance to win a $50 American Express gift card in our holiday gift event.

Volunteers from OCMMC's American Cancer Society information center.

Cuddly Therapy Helpers

Out of the many passionate members representing the cancer institute, perhaps none were more popular than the four-pawed professionals from Pet Therapy. Just look at those smiles!

About the Cancer Institute

The MemorialCare Cancer Institute at Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center is a premier cancer center in southern California, providing compassionate and innovative cancer care to Orange County residents. The center provides comprehensive services for the prevention and treatment of cancer under the medical leadership of renowned oncologists and other prestigious specialists.

Services include:

State-of-the-art facilities for the research, diagnosis and treatment of cancer

No-cost prevention and screening programs open to the community

Advanced MRI, including Breast MRI and CT scanning for early detection

Radiation therapy for cancer treatment

The American Cancer Society Information Center open at-no-cost to the community

For more information about the cancer center, visit www.memorialcare.org/cancer.

For more information about ClinicAid Research Management, Inc., the official clinical research partner of the cancer center, visit www.ClinicAidusa.com.

Got great health tips of your own? We want to hear them! Please share with us on Facebook and Twitter!

With care,
The ClinicAid Team

Lung Cancer: Not Just for Smokers

The ClinicAid Team — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 13:00:58 +0000

We were moved by a number of candid responses to our previous post about Lung Cancer Awareness Month.

Cancer epidemiologists estimate that 85%–90% of those who die from lung cancer in the United States were smokers – if you smoke, please consider quitting.

But what of the remaining 10%–15%? Some experts estimate that as many as 15,000 Americans die each year from lung cancer even though they have never smoked.

If never-smokers’ lung cancer were a separate category, it would be among the top 10 most lethal cancers in the country, ranking somewhere near ovarian cancer.

That fact is reflected in our readers’ heartfelt comments:

The fastest growing group of people who are being diagnosed with lung cancer are the never smokers. I am one of them. At 43 years old, and having never smoked a cigarette, I find myself with lung cancer, and I’m faced with the constant message that smoking causes lung cancer. Well, it didn’t cause mine, and there are many others in the same situation as me. Its time people became aware that lung cancer doesn’t discriminate – anyone can get it, and no-one deserves it.

What about the fact that 60% of newly diagnosed patients either never smoked or quit decades ago.

My husband a never smoker was diagnosed with lung cancer stage IV this year, He along with many other have never smoked.

There is not enough money to research for early detection, cures, or targetted therapies for lung cancer. It is the least funded and affects the largest amount of people.

The topic of lung cancer can be an intensely emotional one. Whether you smoke or not, getting lung cancer is not anyone’s ‘fault.’ Although we are still trying to find a cure and definitive preventive measures, we now know that no one gets lung cancer for the same reason.

Personalized Medicine

Until recently, doctors had little reason to view lung cancer affecting never-smokers as a separate entity. Diagnosis and treatment were the same, regardless if patients smoked or not. Never-smokers may have responded slightly better to treatment than smokers, but doctors had no way of determining whether there were inherent differences in the cancers of smokers and never-smokers.

Now, however, there’s growing recognition that in certain key respects, never-smokers’ lung cancer may be a distinct disease. For example, two cancer medicines — gefitinib (Iressa) and erlotinib (Tarceva) — are found to be more effective in people who never smoked. And women’s tumors had a noticeably better response rate than men’s. Iressa shrank tumors in only about 10% of the lung cancer patients who took the drug. If the receptor is there, why doesn’t everyone benefit?

In clinical trials across the country, doctors and researchers continue to test lung cancer tumors of never-smokers and former smokers with relatively light habits. The efforts are part of a momentous move towards “personalized medicine” and a promising future where medical treatment is custom tailored for the patient’s individual genetic profile.

The large group of lung cancer patients who never smoked should remind us that we need to look beyond the usual risk factors and disease categories. With the advent of ‘personalized medicine,’ new entities — like never-smokers’ lung cancer — are getting added to the map.

Lung Cancer Clinical Trials

If you have been diagnosed with lung cancer, you can help doctors transform modern medicine and find the answer for prevention and cure. In southern California, ClinicAid physicians are working with pharmaceutical companies on four lung cancer research studies. Participants of the clinical trials receive early access to treatment options not yet available to the general public, monitoring and care by a team of clinicians in addition to their standard treatment, and sometimes compensation for time and travel. The research studies are being conducted at large local hospitals and cancer centers in Orange County and Riverside County.

For more details, please visit our website: www.ClinicAidusa.com. If you have any questions about clinical trials, give us a call at (888) 757-8881, ext. 51, our experienced staff would be happy to provide you with the information and resources you’re looking for.

For more information about lung cancer, see the Times Health Guide on Lung Cancer.

(source: New York Times, Harvard Medical School)

Got great health tips of your own? We want to hear them! Please share with us on Facebook and Twitter!

With care,
The ClinicAid Team

The World of Cancer Pathways

The ClinicAid Team — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 23:16:59 +0000

On a wall in the ClinicAid offices hangs a giant poster of an image very similar to the graphic above – an illustration of the myriad of pathways likely to be involved with different types of cancer. Cancer is an extremely complicated disease. We keep the poster up to remind our doctors and clinicians to think of cancer treatment options holistically.

The graphic was part of a presentation by Dr. Wafik El-Deiry of Penn State Hershey Cancer Institute at a recent AACR meeting on colorectal cancer and posted by our friend Sally Church at the Pharma Strategy Blog.

“The future may not be so far off as we think. The future is now.” — Pharma Strategy Blog

In the article, the author points out:

Imagine all those pathways that are overexpressed in any given cancer, some may well be mutated, most will be passengers, a very few will be actual drivers. Now imagine that all of them are lit up like a Christmas tree.

Not so easy to see the wood from the trees now, is it?

The article urges for change in research “driven by greater understanding of basic research, better animal models, a panopoly of potential druggable targets and a broad, deep pipeline across the oncology companies as a whole. We just need to start putting the jigsaw together now and maybe we’ll see a difference in outcomes in the not too distant future.”

Sally Church (@MaverickNY) is a strategic consultant and science blogger specializing in oncology and big pharma.

Got great health tips of your own? We want to hear them! Please share with us on Facebook and Twitter!

With care,
The ClinicAid Team