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I am having mixed feelings about this article… what are your thoughts? Cancer drug costs are so expensive- not to mention chemo treatments run about $10,000 each… add on radiation, hospital charges and doc’s fees: $$$$$$ Do I really think Docs are going to close up shop for 1-4%? WHAT ARE THE CHANCES?
PREVENTION, PEOPLE. It needs to be all about PREVENTION.
American Society Of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Statement On Cuts To Cancer Care In 2010 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule
02 Nov 2009
Below is a statement for attribution to ASCO CEO Allen S. Lichter, MD:
“Today, CMS issued its physician fee schedule for 2010. The schedule included a one percent cut to oncology services in 2010, part of an overall six percent reduction in reimbursement for cancer care over the next four years. We are deeply concerned that these cuts will continue to erode access to cancer care in the United States.
“The cumulative effect of previous cuts has already caused oncologists to close practices, consolidate locations, and turn away Medicare patients. Further reductions will jeopardize access to care for more people with cancer across the country. Oncology cannot sustain additional cuts at a time when the number of people with cancer is increasing, practice expenses continue to rise, and the oncology workforce is dwindling.”
ASCO’s fee schedule fact sheet summarizes how cuts in Medicare coverage to date have already affected patient care, forcing physicians to close practices, consolidate locations, and turn away Medicare patients.
Source
American Society of Clinical Oncology
| HOW EXCITING IS THIS NEWS? DOES IT COME IN CHERRY FLAVOR?
Scientists in the US have discovered that cancer tumors that don’t spread to other parts of the body secrete a protein called prosaposin and that metastatic tumors, which do spread, don’t secrete much of it. They suggest this discovery could lead the way to developing new treatments that stop cancers from spreading.
Read the full article: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155283.php |
WOULDN’T THAT BE GREAT!!! YIPEE!! This is exciting news!
This article is taken from Medical News today.
New Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Biomarker NVB-64 Visualizes Malignant Breast Tumors
30 Oct 2009
Researchers at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, PA, supported in part by NuView Life Sciences, have published an article in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine reporting preclinical results of a novel PET biomarker designed to selectively detect malignant breast tumors[1]. “All tumors detected with the new biomarker were malignant and expressed the targeted VPAC1 receptors located on the plasma membrane of the tumor cells.” These results have led to initiation of clinical trials, supported by NuView, at Jefferson using this agent in patients with known and suspected breast cancer.
To date, the unsettling report that a patient has a “suspicious mass” on an annual mammogram has automatically dictated a costly and invasive needle biopsy. Soon there may be a choice of care in selecting a diagnostic procedure to determine the benign or malignant nature of the mass. Rather than a protracted waiting period to locate a clinician, find time to schedule a biopsy, endure a painful procedure and wait additional days for lab results to be reported; novel procedures such as a NVB64-PET scan may eventually be available to discriminate between malignant and benign lesions. The results of benign or malignant status of the mass could immediately be available without the anxiety of the delay normally associated with a lab processing and reporting of results from a needle biopsy.[2]
Since 1985, surgical biopsy has been the mainstay of diagnostics for evaluating nonpalpable mammographic abnormalities. In the early 1990’s needle biopsy of the breast was introduced and quickly became the preferred method of breast cancer detection. Not until 2004 was the first non-surgical procedure looking towards breast cancer detection using Positron Emission Tomography (PET) with 18fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) approved for use in patients. FDG-PET has two significant drawbacks: 1) FDG-PET leaves a frustrating 30% of tumors undetected; and 2) FDG cannot reliably distinguish between benign and malignant tumors.
The significant advance of NVB-64 is the recognition of genetic changes at the cellular level, as a genomic biomarker, rather than the overly generalized metabolic markers found with FDG.
Nearly as important as the human implications are the enormous financial ramifications. Lead investigator Mathew Thakur Ph.D. Professor of Radiology and Director of the Laboratories of Radiopharmaceutical Research and Molecular Imaging at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital says, “The use of NVB64-PET scan in the future may minimize the need for unnecessary biopsy of benign tumors.” Currently, nearly 6 million such biopsies are performed annually in the United States, at an estimated annual cost of $30 billion. Approximately 80% or 4.8 million biopsies, demonstrate benign pathology.
The biomarkers NuView has in development can, with alteration of the radionuclide attached to the compound, change them from a diagnostic to a targeted therapy, or a pairing of a target specific diagnostic and therapy. NuView Medical Director Peter S. Conti, MD, PhD adds, “Development of targeted diagnostics that can be modified to also carry therapeutic isotopes can lead to unique agents that can broaden the range of therapies available for cancer patients.”
Anticipated Benefits of NVB-64:
– Same day, immediate confirmation of the patient having either benign or malignant breast tumor(s).
– Choice of care in selecting a screening method to determine the malignant or benign status of a mass found on a mammogram.
– Significant cost savings to patients and insurers. The cost of the NVB64-PET scan is anticipated at $2,000. This translates to a 60% cost savings over a typical needle biopsy of the breast.
For patients, clinicians and physicians NVB-64 could represent a tremendous step forward in personalizing medical management. Future advances in this genomic biomarker arena hold great promise for both diagnostics and treatment therapies.
Source: NuView Life Sciences
Article URL: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169234.php
Hi All…
Yes, I took the summer off of blogging but I am coming back strong in the month of October! Check back for weekly updates and posts.
I want to talk about the UBCF. This foundation is a blessing - as it does not donate to drug companies, lobbyists, insurance and highly paid CEO’s pocketbooks. Who gets the money and the services? The people with breast cancer and their families of this terrible disease. Really. They also pay for BREAST THERMOGRAPHY SCREENINGS for the un-insured! I personally am donating $5.00 for each breast scan I perform in the month of October.
Here is the link. Research it. Donate to it. Thank you.
https://ubcfc001.secure.omnis.com/pages.shtml?nav=partssl&title=part&content=part_money
The average woman (without an inherited breast cancer gene abnormality) in the United States has about a 12% risk of developing breast cancer over a 90-year life span. In contrast, women who have an abnormal BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene have up to an 85% risk of developing breast cancer by age 70. Women with BRCA1 and BRCA2 abnormalities are also at increased risk of developing ovarian cancer. The lifetime risk is about 55% for women with BRCA1 mutations and about 25% for women with BRCA2 mutations.
The BRCA gene test is a blood test that uses DNA analysis to identify changes (mutations) in either one of two breast cancer susceptibility genes — known as BRCA1 or BRCA2. Genetic counseling also is part of the BRCA gene test process. After having a BRCA gene test performed, you learn whether you carry an inherited BRCA gene mutation and receive an estimate of your personal risk of breast cancer and ovarian cancer.
The BRCA gene test is a type of genetic test that’s possible only for certain diseases that run in families, and it’s offered only to women who are at very high risk of breast cancer and ovarian cancer based on personal or family history. The BRCA gene test isn’t routinely performed on women at average risk of these cancers.
Having a BRCA gene mutation is rare, occurring only in about one in 1,000 people. Inherited BRCA gene mutations are responsible for less than 5 to 10 percent of breast cancers and about 10 to 15 percent of ovarian cancers. The majority of these cancers occur sporadically and aren’t inherited.
Sources: Mayo clinic and breastcancer.org
Would anyone agree that hormone-laden foods and water supplies are a major factor with young girls’ early onset of menses?
Research studies have clearly identified puberty as a critical window in a woman’s development that has a major impact on her future risk of developing breast cancer. According to a 2007 Breast Cancer Fund study, women who started their period before age 12 have a 50 percent higher risk of developing breast cancer, compared to those who started at age 16, an important finding given that the average age at which girls in the United States reach puberty has been declining.
Elisa Bandera, MD, an assistant professor of epidemiology at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and UMDNJ-School of Public Health, is conducting the study. She notes, “Since there is growing evidence that early life factors have a significant impact on breast cancer risk, it is critical that we have a better understanding of what causes the early onset of puberty in young girls. We are hopeful to use the data from this study to improve the health of this population, as well as reducing their long-term risk of developing breast cancer.”
According to the American Cancer Society, aside from skin cancer, breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in women. In 2008, there were 183,000 new cases of breast cancer nationwide.
Source: Medical news today
Breast elastography allows physicians to give a more accurate diagnosis of breast cancer, according to a study performed at Singapore General Hospital in Singapore. Breast elastography is a new technique which looks at the mechanical properties of tissues (relative stiffness) as opposed to conventional ultrasound which looks at the backscatter of transmitted ultrasound waves through tissues.
Ninety-nine women with 110 sonographically visible lesions were evaluated with ultrasound, elastography and combined ultrasound and elastography. 26 lesions were malignant and 84 were benign on histology. “All breast cancers (100%) in the study were diagnosed correctly by elastography alone compared to 88.5% by conventional ultrasound,” said Llewellyn Sim, MD, lead author of the study. “The use of breast elastography alone or combined with ultrasound provides a more accurate diagnosis of breast cancer,” said Dr. Sim.
“Breast elastography improves the sonographic diagnosis of breast cancer. It also potentially reduces unnecessary work-up i.e. biopsies of benign breast lesions and patient anxiety,” he said.
“Breast radiologists will see elastography in a different light when they realize that it has come of age and outperforms conventional breast ultrasound. With the sterling results and knowledge gained from my study, I am more confident in using elastography to assist me in obtaining a more accurate diagnosis of breast lesions detected with ultrasound in my daily clinical practice,” said Dr. Sim.
Source: Medical News Today
One of the most effective ways to prevent breast cancer is through a full-term pregnancy at an early age. Studies out of Fox Chase Cancer Center have linked this protective effect to the presence of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), a hormone produced by the placenta to maintain the early stages of pregnancy. Their findings in an animal model of breast cancer showed that rats exposed to hCG over a 21 day period (the length of rat pregnancy), are far less likely to develop breast cancer when exposed to a known carcinogen.
At the 100th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research. Johana Vanegas, M.D., a research associate at Fox Chase, presented findings suggesting that even a much shorter exposure to hCG can prevent breast cancer in rats.
Venegas is a member of the laboratory of Jose Russo, M.D. and Irma Russo, M.D., who were the first scientists to propose hCG as an anti-cancer agent. Their studies have shown that hCG offers lasting, protective changes within breast tissue. Clinical trials of hCG in women, based on their work, are currently under way at three locations, nationally, including Fox Chase Cancer Center, and in one European country. The hCG hormone is an FDA-approved agent frequently used for fertility treatments.
“The ability to replicate the naturally protective effects of pregnancy against breast cancer will hold a significant public health value,” says Vanegas. “In order to translate our finding into humans, a clinical trial with hCG as a preventive agent against breast cancer, is already ongoing in pre-menopausal women with no previous pregnancy.”
Vanegas and her colleagues studied virgin female rats, which had been divided into four groups: a control group, which did not receive hCG, and three groups that received hCG for five, ten or fifteen consecutive days. Following the treatment, each rat received a single dose of a breast cancer-inducing agent.
According to Vanegas, 90.9 percent of the rats in the control group developed breast tumors, compared to 71.4 percent, 57.1 percent, and 15.4 percent in the five, ten and fifteen day-treated animals, respectively. In addition, the average tumor size was also smaller in all the animals that received any of the three hCG treatments.
“The animals that received hCG, but still developed breast cancer did so much later than the control group, which further demonstrates the protective effects of hCG,” Vanegas says. “While we don’t foresee side effects among humans in using hCG, it is helpful to know that even smaller doses confer benefits on breast tissue.”
Funding for this research comes from grants from the National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute.
Source:
Greg Lester, Fox Chase Cancer Center
(ps- the side effects from hCG is WEIGHT LOSS!!!)
THIS IS FANTASTIC!!! When are the other 49 states gonna STEP UP???
Pass it on!!!!!!!!!!!
Did you know FREE treatment is available to women diagnosed with breast cancer in Pennsylvania who are uninsured or underinsured? Unfortunately many women - and many healthcare providers - are not aware of the program or how it can benefit breast cancer patients. That’s why the Pennsylvania Breast Cancer Coalition (PBCC), in partnership with Senator Vince Hughes, is publicizing the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention and Treatment Program (BCCPT).
A press conference will be held on Tuesday, May 5 at 9am by the PA Breast Cancer Coalition and Senator Vincent Hughes to raise awareness about the FREE treatment that is available to women diagnosed with breast cancer who are uninsured or underinsured in Pennsylvania. This event will be held at the Main Capitol Rotunda in Harrisburg. Scheduled to speak at the event are: Pat Halpin-Murphy, President and Founder, PBCC; Senator Vincent Hughes, Minority Chair, Senate Public Health & Welfare Committee; Everette James, Secretary of Health, PA Department of Health; Joanne Corte Grossi, Director, Office of Women’s Services, PA Department of Public Welfare; and Robin Leidhecker, Survivor.
“No woman with breast cancer should be denied treatment - regardless of their income or insurance situation,” said Halpin-Murphy. “Thanks to the FREE treatment program, qualified women in Pennsylvania will receive the treatment they desperately need through Medicaid.”
“Thanks to the Commonwealth of PA’s Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention and Treatment Program, I received the treatment and outstanding care that I needed,” said Robin Leidhecker, a patient enrolled in the FREE Treatment Program. “I was told to just worry about getting well, don’t worry about paying for it.”
The PA Breast Cancer Coalition represents, supports and serves breast cancer survivors and their families in Pennsylvania through educational programming, legislative advocacy and unique outreach initiatives. The PBCC is a statewide non-profit organization that creates the hope of a brighter tomorrow by providing action and information to women with breast cancer today.
Source: Pennsylvania Breast Cancer Coalition
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