Cancer Education

If you are a cancer patient or survivor, you've most likely become accustomed to frequent visits to a phlebotomist, or a specialist trained in drawing your blood for testing. But what is all that blood work for? What exactly is your cancer care team looking at?

Cancer patients and their families and friends may look for books that offer hope, encouragement, and guidance. Our experts at Roswell Park put together this reading list full of insightful and educational books to help those living with or around cancer find comfort and inspiration when it's most needed.

I have worked as a pediatric hematology and oncology nurse at Roswell Park for twenty years. I am also an active member of the Western New York Association of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Nurses (APHON).

Squamous cell carcinoma hit the local spotlight last month when former Buffalo Bills quarterback Jim Kelly announced his diagnosis, isolated in his upper jaw. About 55,000 Americans will be diagnosed with this disease in 2013.

As a teen, Donna Warner worshiped the sun from dawn to dusk. Eager to achieve a bronze complexion like her dark-haired siblings, her fair skin took a beating. Ignoring the painful sunburns she often endured, Donna continued to tan for many years.

Roswell Park patients rarely meet the team working behind the scenes – a team just as dedicated to understanding, preventing and curing cancer.

In honor of Black History Month, I want to educate African Americans on the inequities that exist in health care treatment with the hope of inspiring change. Patients need to take a proactive approach to their health care and demand equality.  

The majority of cancer is sporadic and caused by genetic changes during your lifetime. However, approximately 5-10 percent of cancers are inherited.

When thinking about lung cancer and its risk factors, it’s natural to immediately think about smoking. However, there are other forms of lung cancer and, with them, other risk factors. Mesothelioma is a rare, but serious, lung cancer heavily linked with exposure to asbestos.

Boris Kuvshinoff, MD, MBA, and Renuka Iyer, MD, both Associate Professors of Oncology and Co-Directors of RPCI’s Liver and Pancreas Tumor Center, stopped by the Roswellness Radio stud