Cancer in the News #2: Hope, recommendations, progress, and coronavirus

Breast Cancer

• Leptomeningeal Carcinomatosis: ‘A Catastrophic Complication of Breast Cancer’
“The risk for leptomeningeal carcinomatosis is greater with more aggressive tumors, such as triple-negative and HER2-positive [tumors], and it is also greater for patients who have very extensive bone metastases.”
and my two cents: Nasty, nasty diagnosis. Still… I am living proof it is survivable…
• Increased Risk for Invasive Breast Cancer After DCIS
“a new analysis shows that any diagnosis of DCIS, even when low or intermediate grade, is associated with an increased risk for invasive breast cancer (IBC) and that treatment of DCIS lowers this risk.”
and my two cents: This is interesting, given the mounting pressure to not overtreat DCIS. I had DCIS, had a preventive mastectomy but no other treatment and five years later… metastatic cancer everywhere.

Western medicine

• Cancer drug: New treatment halts tumour growth
“A drug that could stop cancer cells repairing themselves has shown early signs of working.”
and my two cents: This was only a “phase one” trial, designed to test the safety of a treatment, but early indications showed it could stop tumors from growing. It’s too early to get excited but, still…
• Computer algorithms find tumors’ molecular weak spots
“focussed instead on identifying a few…