On the pulse.....for women affected by breast cancer

On the pulse

Cancerkin’s News Update…

Cancerkin goes digital
Cancerkin can now be found on popular networking site Facebook. If you have a Facebook account PLEASE become a fan of the Cancerkin page and invite all your friends and family to spread the word. Cancerkin will be using Facebook to organise fundraising and support events whilst providing a conversational space for people to share their experiences with cancer and the help they have received from Cancerkin.

Photos of previous events, the Cancerkin Centre and our Look Good, Feel Better workshops are also available on image sharer Flicker. If you want to find out more about Cancerkin or are suggesting Cancerkin to others you know who many benefit from our services, please refer them to our Flicker page so they can see Cancerkin at work!

If you, your children, your work colleagues or friends are looking to organise a charity fundraising event for Cancerkin and want help to get it started take a look at charity event organisers Choose a Challenge’s website (where Cancerkin can be found as a registered charity). Choose a Challenge offer charity drives such as skydiving, sponsored hitchhiking and many more. All proceeds raised will go directly to Cancerkin to support and facilitate our growth. Check out our page here.

In the News…..

Mum of three defies terminal breast cancer odds
The Telegraph published the heart warming and hopeful story of Claire Blair this week, a 36 year old mum of three. At the time she was diagnosed, Mrs Blair thought her extreme tiredness was down to having given birth to her youngest daughter three months earlier. However a trip to the hospital, resulting in an overnight stay suggested something was seriously wrong. Indeed the next day the doctors delivered the news that Claire had terminal breast cancer and just two weeks to live; despite being only 32.

Four years later, Claire is still here and will be taking part in Cancer Research’s Race For Life with her three girls. Claire attributes her survival to the drug Herceptin, stating "I wouldn't be here without it. I still take it’. Herceptin is designed to stop breast cancer cells dividing and growing. However Claire also recognises the power of dogged determination: "Surviving cancer isn't just about treatment. It is not just about your personality. It's not just about love and support. It is about all of those things pulled together. You have to make a happy balance of them all."

If you feel Claire’s story (available to read in full here) is similar to your own and you would like to celebrate it, please join our Hyde Park Walk, in support of Cancerkin’s work. The Walk takes place on Sunday 13th June and all registration details can be found on the fundraising section of our website.

Important cancer drugs denied to thousands of patients
The NHS medicines watchdog has found that a year after government ordered the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (Nice) to relax its spending criteria for patients close to the end of their lives, thousands of cancer patients are still being denied access to drugs. The recent Rarer Cancers Forum (FCF) report shows 16,000 cancer patients are still being denied the drugs they need.

Around half of the 16,000 denied have been judged not eligible for consideration under the new end-of-life criteria. The remaining 8,000 patients however have lost out as the drugs have been considered too expensive for the benefits they bring. The RCF says Nice should make greater efforts to agree "patient access" schemes with pharmaceutical companies.

Andrew Wilson, chief executive of the Rarer Cancers Forum, said: "Many thousands of patients are still missing out on the treatment they need. The changes introduced by Nice should be benefiting more patients." Sir Andrew Dillon, chief executive of Nice, said: "Our end of life treatments protocol, introduced at the beginning of 2009, has already made it possible for very expensive cancer treatments, which extend life for short periods, to be recommended". Read the document in full here

From prostate to breast cancer
A technique used to treat prostate cancer has successfully been adapted to the treatment of breast cancer, destroying tumors in 13 patients so far. The process, known as cryotherapy, involves inserting a number of small needles into the tumour, delivering temperatures of minus 30 degrees Celsius. This effectively freezes and then kills the tumour, negating the need for surgeons to have to cut it out.

These results mark a breakthrough for Barbara Ann Karmanos of the Cancer Institute in Detroit and her team. Previous attempts had not achieved sufficiently low temperatures in a wide enough area to make it work. The Society of Interventional Radiology conference, where the results were delivered were told that the procedure was not too intrusive or painful and offered excellent healing results, with biopsies taken immediately after treatment revealing no remaining cancer and no sign of it returning after five years.

Dr Peter Littrup, an interventional radiologist and director of imaging research and image-guided therapy recognised the value of this experimental technique stating, "Minimally invasive cryotherapy opens the door for a potential new treatment for breast cancer and needs to be further tested.” Doctors said surgery to cut out breast cancer is still the most effective chance of a cure but minimally invasive techniques such as cryotherapy could be used for women who cannot or do not want surgery. Dr Kat Arney, science communications manager for Cancer Research UK, agrees stating “This new technique has only been tested in a very small number of women. Larger trials will be needed before we know whether it is a safe and effective alternative to surgery for the disease.”

Please find the full article here
Lauren Newton 17th March 2010
l.newton@cancerkin.org.uk