Rectal cancer surgery is extremely complicated and is associated with significant side effects. This is due in part to the location of the rectum, the “last couple of inches” of the gastrointestinal tract.
Cancer Treatment
An unusual treatment with a very long name is helping cancer patients who are experiencing xerostomia, one of the side effects of radiation to the head and neck. This dry mouth condition can damage salivary glands, causing chronic oral dryness and slowed salivation.
“We are starting to cure melanoma, and it’s very exciting. We’re doing great things and hopefully people won’t have to die from this diagnosis anymore.”
To help relieve pain and stabilize spinal fractures, Roswell Park first began offering patients a technique known as vertebral augmentation, specifically kyphoplasty, in 2001. “We were the first clinic in Western New York to offer vertebral augmentation for cancer patients, and our experience makes a difference,” Dr. Alberico notes.
As a Stage IV oral cancer survivor, I am very passionate about spreading awareness. Oral, head and neck cancers are profoundly different than other cancers in that they limit one’s ability to swallow, eat and talk.
It can be difficult to make decisions, especially when you’re faced with a cancer diagnosis. For most cancers, there are many treatment options, depending on the type and extent of the disease, any other health conditions you have and other treatments you have received.
At Roswell Park, he enrolled on a clinical trial evaluating a drug combination that would later become known as “7 and 3,” for the dosing schedule of two drugs — seven days of cytarabine followed by three days of daunorubicin.
With stereotactic body radiotherapy, we can intensify treatment with less overall radiation exposure and fewer treatments. For the patient, this means improved convenience and quality of life and reduced costs, especially beneficial for patients who do not live nearby.
For cancer patients, a needle prick is never just a needle prick. Getting blood drawn can come with fear and anxiety about what the results may show.
On January 29, the Food and Drug Administration approved a lutetium Lu 177 dotatate (Lutathera®), a targeted radiation drug, for the treatment of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.
Judy was diagnosed with stage 4 non-small cell lung cancer in 2016. Almost a year after her diagnosis, with the help of Keytruda, Judy’s tumor has shrunk 95 percent.
In recent months, many news outlets have featured stories about the rising rates of women with breast cancer choosing elective double mastectomies. The reasons why these patients opt for healthy breast removal are very personal, but Dr. Kazuaki Takabe and Dr. Jessica Young joined us on Facebook Live to discuss the medical considerations surrounding this trend.