Tag Archive for: colonoscopy

How Are Myeloma Survivorship and Treatment Planning Evolving?

How Are Myeloma Survivorship and Treatment Planning Evolving? from Patient Empowerment Network on Vimeo.

How have myeloma treatment planning and survivorship evolved? Expert Dr. Sikander Ailawadhi from Mayo Clinic discusses how patient outlooks have changed and the impact to patient treatment options and doctor-patient communication.

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Transcript:

Lisa Hatfield:

So how is myeloma survivorship evolving, and what’s different now than it was five or 10 years ago in terms of treatment planning?

Dr. Sikander Ailawadhi:

Yeah, I think it’s very important to keep that in mind. When I see a newly diagnosed patient, I’m not just telling them, “Hey, this is your induction therapy, and your transplant is the goal.’ We’re trying our best to decide that patient’s life journey with myeloma over the next 10, 15 and hopefully more years. So we’re trying to pick and choose the regimen that is most likely going to help the patient the most today and most likely will give a longer duration of the response.

So when you say survivorship, that also very importantly brings up the point that patients are living with myeloma longer. We have to manage their health overall. So looking for any side effects from treatment, managing them very well so the patient is able to stay on the treatment and maintain good quality of life.

There are actually, clinical trials looking at stopping treatment when there is a very deep, prolonged response. Again, going towards survivorship and giving the patient’s quality of life. There is looking for other cancers. In fact, I had a patient in the clinic and we were talking about just myeloma in general and I was telling them, “Okay, please remember you may not want to do a colonoscopy, but you already have one myeloma cancer diagnosis.

The risk of subsequent cancers is always there in any cancer patient.” So that was a male person. So I said, “Okay, please do not miss your colonoscopy. Please do not miss your prostate screening and whatever is age-appropriate must be done.” So managing everything because myeloma is not a sprint, it’s a marathon.

We want to make sure that we pace ourselves well so we manage all the symptoms, all the signs. Bone health becomes much, much more important because the same bone structure is now going to carry us longer and many more years. And as you rightly said, planning, which treatment comes first, which comes next, when does CAR T come? It’s not that everybody must get CAR T today. That’s not the answer. So what to use when becomes extremely more important.


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Advice From a Young-Onset Colorectal Cancer Patient

Advice From a Young-Onset Colorectal Cancer Patient from Patient Empowerment Network on Vimeo.

Colorectal cancer patient Jessica was surprised but not shocked even after a diagnosis under the age of 40. Watch as she shares her journey from symptoms, diagnosis, her advice to others, and coping methods she’s found helpful for navigating her experience as a patient.

Special thanks to our partner, Colorectal Cancer Alliance, for helping to make this vignette possible.


Transcript

My name is Jessica, and I’m from Chicago, Illinois. Even though my doctors thought I was too young, I was diagnosed with colorectal cancer at age 39.

I’d been experiencing occasional rectal bleeding for about a year when I was finally referred for a colonoscopy.

While my doctors were convinced that I was too young for colorectal cancer, I was still worried because my grandmother died of the disease.

My doctor asked me to go in to get my colonoscopy results. My parents knew what that meant, so we went together. When the GI gave me the results, stage III rectal cancer, I felt so scared. I called my best friend, and I couldn’t even speak. We just cried together.

After I received my diagnosis, my doctor told me it’s very curable. I had a 2-inch mass in my rear. I had a CT scan to confirm the cancer had not spread followed by an MRI. And that’s when the whirlwind began.

I returned to a craft I hadn’t used much in recent years. To sort my thoughts, to update my friends and family, to document the most important year of my life, I started writing again. Beginning a blog was at once a coping mechanism for me and the best way I knew how to share this breathtaking news with friends and family I’d collected from across the country and over decades — and still conserve energy I would need to fight this fight.

Five years later, and I’m thriving.

I want to raise awareness about the rising incidence of colorectal cancer in the under-40 crowd because I was symptomatic and ignored before I was diagnosed. I know that not everyone is as lucky as me, especially young people who are often diagnosed at an even more advanced stage.

Some of the things I have learned during my colorectal cancer journey are:

  • Watch out for signs your body gives you
  • Don’t take “no” for an answer even if doctors think you’re too young for colorectal cancer.
  • Cases of young-onset colorectal cancer are increasing, and that’s why funding colorectal cancer research is so important.
  • Find something to do to help you cope. If you’re unsure whether it’s a healthy activity, ask your doctor or care team member who you trust.

These actions are key to staying on your path to empowerment.

May 2022 Notable News

This month brings exciting and new information to help with the fight on cancer. As technology improves, knowledge gathered about cancer changes how the medical community views and approaches cancer treatment. Early screening is the key to dramatically reduce colon and rectal cancers in women. There is also a rise in esophageal cancers in middle aged adults, early screening plays a key role in patient outcome.

New Evidence Shows Cancer is not as Heritable as Once Thought

Scientists have found that cause of cancer is not primarily genetic as once thought. There are three causes of cancer: genetic (genome), environmental (exposome), and metabolic (metabolome). As cancer develops and spreads in the body, it creates its own environment and introduces certain metabolites. It becomes a self-fueled disease, reports MedicalXpress.com . Looking at how the cancer grows and survives in the body offers another more specific avenue of treatment for physicians to offer their patients. Simple changes to a patient’s metabolism and lifestyle can change the internal environment and prevent the cancer from growing. Scientists looking at all three causes of cancer opens more options for cancer prevention and treatment. Find more information here.

Starting Colon, Rectal Cancer Screening Earlier Reduces Risk in Women, Study Finds

Starting colon and rectal cancer screening at ages 45 to 49 has resulted in about a 50% reduction in cases of the disease diagnosed in women ages 45 to 60, compared with starting screening at ages 50 to 54 reports, UPINews.com.  Colon and rectal cancers are the third deadliest cancers and there has been rising rates among younger people. In response to the rising rates of occurrence, earlier screening has been encouraged by physicians. The standard procedure for screening is a colonoscopy. During the colonoscopy, the doctor can identify and remove cancerous tumors at an earlier stage and remove polyps that could become cancerous. Find more information here.

Alarming Rise Found in Esophageal Cancer and Barrett’s Esophagus in Middle-Aged Adults

Adults ages 45 to 64 experienced a nearly doubled rate of esophageal cancer and a 50 percent increase in the precancerous condition Barrett’s esophagus between 2012 and 2019 reports MedicalXpress.com . This information has prompted doctors and scientists to look at the causes of this rise, is it due to an increase in screening or is it an actual rise in cancer. Doctors use endoscopy to guide a small camera down the patient’s esophagus, stomach, and duodenum. Esophageal cancer is usually detected in later stages due to minimal symptoms in the early stages. People with elevated risk factors such as chronic acid reflux, male gender, smoking, alcohol consumption, obesity, and Barrett’s esophagus need to get earlier screening. Early screening is the best tool in prevention, often the endoscopy can be done at the same time as the colonoscopy. Find more information here.