Cancer Patients To Test Personalised Drugs

The project, hailed as a "very important step forward", could see patients given a specific drug designed for their cancer.

7:10am UK, Thursday 17 April 2014

Video: Cancer Drugs Trial 'An Important Step Forward'

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By Rhiannon Mills, Sky News Correspondent

A unique new trial could bring hope to thousands of lung cancer patients in the UK by targeting their tumours with more personalised medication.

Cancer Research UK is teaming up with pharmaceutical companies and the NHS to launch the "National Lung Matrix" trial this summer.
When a patient is diagnosed a sample of their tumour will be analysed by researchers to establish its genetic makeup and mutations.
The patient could then be given the opportunity to try out a specific drug designed to target their type of cancer.
Over the course of the trial up to 14 different medicines will be tested from pharmaceutical companies AstraZeneca and Pfizer.
Clinical trials usually involve one type of medication.

Around 42,000 people are diagnosed with lung cancer every year

Speaking to Sky News, Professor Peter Johnson, Chief Clinician for Cancer Research UK, said the amazing advancements in molecular testing mean we now know a lot more about how different types of cancer develop.
"The reason this is exciting for patients with lung cancer is that really for the first time we're able to look at their cancers and screen them for a whole variety of molecular changes as the cancer has developed.
"Then we can say to them this is a treatment we think will be effective for you if chemotherapy hasn't worked.
"So instead of just having a conversation about one type of treatment at a time we now have a whole panel of drugs coming through into testing, and in this way we hope we can make progress much faster."
The drugs will first be tried out on a small group of patients, with researchers looking for signs of improvement, such as increased survival and tumour shrinkage.

Dr Harpul Kumar has hailed the move towards personalised treatment

Medicines that show promise will then be tried out on a larger number of patients.
Lung cancer is the second most common cancer in the UK, but the deadliest. Around 42,000 people are diagnosed every year, but over two-thirds find out at a stage when it is too late for them to be offered treatment that could cure them.
Fewer than 10% of people diagnosed with lung cancer survive for at least five years after diagnosis.
Dr Harpul Kumar, Chief Executive for Cancer Research UK, told Sky News this new clinical trial could rewrite the rule book on how research into new drugs is carried out.
He said: "This is a very important step forward in the fight against cancer.
"We know that every patient's cancer is unique, so we're moving away from a 'one size fits all' approach and striving for more personalised treatment.
"Critically we are shifting the emphasis from designing a trial around a specific drug, to designing it around selecting from a range of drugs for a specific patient.
"We could hope that within a couple of years we'll be talking about this type of approach in many forms of the disease."

A Novel Approach to Cancer Therapeutics

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GMA’s Amy Robach Shares Her Emotional Hair Cut Due To Cancer Chemo Treatment

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Good Morning America‘s Amy Robach has made her breast cancer diagnosis and treatment very public on the morning talk show and Wednesday she became very emotional as she debuted the new short haircut that she said gave her “control of something I have very little control of.”
She explained to her co-hosts and in a very personal video that “With chemo comes hair loss,” and she was feeling the effects after two of her six-session treatment plan.
“I am slowly starting to lose more and more each day,” she said, so she decided to chop off her long blonde locks.
“Today I am taking control of something I have very little control of.”
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Robach, 40 and a mother of two, filmed the haircut and truthfully showed the viewers that she was crying at the loss, but that she was doing so in order to be happier.
“I want to say I had something to do with how I look, not the cancer.”
Struggling through tears, she said: “It’s like a fresh start, a new chapter.”
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Explaining that 2.1 million women are living with cancer in the United States, she says she shared the visit to the salon to let others know: “You’re not alone.  And you too can be brave.”
Her co-host George Stephanopolous told her she looks “fantastic,” and Robin Roberts, who has shared her own cancer diagnosis and treatment told her it was a “powerful message” she was sending.
“I’m here and I’m going to stay here,” Amy said, showing off the new short cut.

Triple Negative Breast Cancer, "I Won't Back Down!"

Just in recent years, Triple Negative Breast Cancer has sparked interest in the news where instead of calling the tumor as ER-negative, PR-negative, and HER2-negative; researchers began using the shorthand term, "Triple Negative," dubbed the "new type" type of cancer. Being Triple Negative, you don't have a targeted therapy and that your only treatment option is chemotherapy.

Triple Negative is seen in about 15% of all breast cancers. Triple Negative is a very aggressive cancer that tends to strike younger women, pre-menopause, especially among African-American women and women who have BRCA1 mutations. The tumor tends to be fast growing and is less likely to show up on an annual mammogram. TN is more likely to metastasis early on; has a high rate of recurrence in the first 2-3 years from diagnosis and has a poorer prognosis than other types of breast cancer due to lack of specific, targeted treatment for TNBC.

Mother, 3 daughters, all fight cancer at the same time

MEMPHIS, TN -
(WMC-TV) - Imagine the devastation of finding out that your child has been diagnosed with cancer. Now, imagine what it would be like to have three children diagnosed with cancer. And that's not even all.
Felicia and Jayla are known throughout St. Jude Children's Research Hospital for their laughter, energy, and enthusiastic hugs. Both were diagnosed with optic nerve glioma at 3 and 4 years old. The oldest, Jayla, is now 10.
"Very unexpected. no warning signs anything like that," said the girls' mother, Elnora.
Both girls went in for eye checkups. When doctors saw the tumors, they ended up at St Jude.
"We do scans every three to six months," added Elnora. "They're on medication every morning. Blood work throughout the month. At St. Jude four out of five days a week."
Elnora and her husband, Frederick, were astounded when they learned that they would not have any out-of-pocket expenses for treatment at St. Jude.
"I was able to take care of my children, be there for them, walk with them, talk with them, be right by their side without having to worry about how am I going to pay for something," said Elnora.
But Elnora's worries are far from over.
Her youngest daughter is now being treated for the same condition as her older sisters. And if that were not enough, Elnora was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. She had to battle her own cancer while her three girls were being treated for theirs.
"I had it in three spots in my neck, my chest area, and a spot on my back. Between stages two and three," she explained.
Thankfully, Elnora is doing better and keeping a positive attitude while focusing on her three children as they receive treatment at St. Jude.
"I hope and pray that you get to do this, you know, milestones you take for granted. Sixteenth birthday, sweet 16, or turning into a teenager, those things you pray for. But I am very optimistic. They're my inspiration," said Elnora.

When the cancer you beat comes back

Kezia Fitzgerald beat cancer once -- and she's determined to do it again, for her husband Mike and son Lochlan.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Kezia Fitzgerald went into remission from Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2011
• The cancer relapsed in March of this year
• Fitzgerald says relapse is the "fear of the known"

Editor's note: CNN first covered Kezia Fitzgerald's fight against Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2011. Her daughter Saoirse passed away later that year. In March, Kezia found out her cancer had relapsed. You can read more about her journey on her blog.

(CNN) -- When I "beat" cancer the first time, I was excited. My daughter was on her way to remission as well, and we were going to be a normal family again.

It was almost over.

Then Saoirse's cancer came back with a vengeance, and she was taken from us. I wanted to trade places with her, but I was better. I was in remission, and I had to learn to live again, even though my baby girl had died.

So I did just that. I pushed forward. I started a nonprofit neuroblastoma foundation in Saoirse's honor, helped my husband start a business called CareAline Products to distribute products I had made for her when she was sick, and gave birth to our second child.

Mom sews a new dream after toddler's death

Life seemed to be moving in the right direction. I felt great, and while there was always a little voice telling me remission wasn't a guarantee, I thought that I had made all the necessary changes in my lifestyle to keep me cancer-free forever.

Then, in one instant of excruciating pain, that belief that everything was going to be OK was gone.

A kidney stone sent me to the ER. When the doctor came back with the CT results, I wasn't expecting the words that would come out of her mouth:

"You have a 4-millimeter kidney stone. But you also have some swollen lymph nodes next to your aorta. They were flagged by the radiologist because of your history."

The world went silent, which is a feat, considering I was sitting in a busy ER. I'm pretty sure I stared dumbfounded at the doctor for at least a minute, unmoving. Lymph nodes. Swollen. Those words stuck in my head.

How could this be happening again? I didn't have time to deal with cancer.
Kezia Fitzgerald

While I did my best to believe that follow-up tests would be negative, in the back of my mind, I knew.

The cancer was back.

I was sent home to pass my kidney stone, and to start the excruciating process of figuring out what the heck was going on inside my body. First came the scans -- CT and PET. Then a biopsy.

Waiting for test results takes an extreme emotional toll. With every day that passed I grew more anxious, and more unfocused.

The news came at lunchtime on a Tuesday six weeks after that fateful ER trip. "They are calling it a Hodgkin's lymphoma," the doctor said. All I could say was, "OK."

I was numb. Then frustration set in, quickly followed by extreme annoyance.

How could this be happening again? I didn't have time to deal with cancer. I had a foundation to run, a business to help with, and first and foremost, an 8-month-old to take care of.

When I set out to fix something, I do it right. I think this is why my cancer relapse hit me so hard. It means I have to go back to the drawing board and start again. It's a feeling of failure that is hard to overcome.

I have tried not to let my family and friends see my disappointment, but it has been almost impossible to hide.

This time, cancer isn't the unknown beast it was the first time I was diagnosed. This time cancer was the nagging neighbor who finally moved and put their house on the market and then decided to come back instead of paying closing costs.

Relapse is a fear of the known.

I know what chemo feels like. I know the nausea, the hair loss, the numbness, the fatigue, the burning veins and the pain. I know that chemo can take me from feeling great to feeling like crap in less than four hours.

I know what high-dose chemo does to a patient whose only wish is to live a little bit longer. I've seen quality of life stripped away for a chance at a few more months, and the ever-diminishing chance of a cure.

With that knowledge came a major decision: Should I give in and allow myself to be thrown back into the chaos of toxic therapy -- or defy the fear and find a better way?

During the six weeks I waited for my test results, I started to think about, talk about, and research different treatment options. I wasn't comfortable doing chemotherapy again, as I knew the treatment would be much more intense and toxic than what I had already been through.

When relapse was confirmed, my general practitioner told me about homeopathic cancer therapy. I did more research, and made more phone calls. It just felt right. My doctors are on board, especially since I have a slow-growing disease.

While some may not understand my choice to forgo conventional treatment, this time around I'm determined not to be scared into toxic therapy. This is a chance to take back control of my body.

I'm determined to beat cancer, and I know that I am strong enough to do so.

After all, I did it once before.

Schoolboy set for US cancer treatment trip

A SCHOOLBOY from Overslade is to travel to America for specialist life-saving treatment against an extremely rare cancer.
Adrian Secareanu is one of only 77 people in the UK since 1967 to have Mucoepidermoid Carcinoma.
And after being diagnosed in 2012 and having several operations to remove it from his neck and jaw, the 12-year-old is to have Proton Therapy to prevent it returning in a more aggressive form.
The treatment - which directs radiation treatment to precisely where it is needed with minimal damage to surrounding tissue - will be funded by the NHS and carried out at the University of Florida Proton Therapy Institute in Jacksonville where he will spend around three months.
Mum Corina, a nurse at St Cross, said: "We are overjoyed at being able to secure the funding and that he will be going to America as soon as possible.
"You think something like this wouldn’t happen to you and that it can’t touch you. But we now know this is not the case.
"Adrian is a wonderful child, very polite. We want to have his life back.
"Hopefully we can help raise awareness of the condition because another child could have to go through the exact same situation."
The family are now hoping to raise £10,000 with the help of charity Kids ‘N’ Cancer so his mum and dad can stay with him in America.