On the pulse

Cancerkin’s News….
Creative writing in December…
Lily Seibold will be holding her next creative writing session on Monday 6th December 2010 at 10am until 3pm. With the festive season imminent, the group will explore and write about what different seasons mean to them. Each season tells a different story and you can tell yours as well as listen to those of famous writers.

Tea and coffee will be available but lunch will not be provided. There are plenty of places around the hospital to eat, alternatively you can bring your own food and use our patient waiting room. If you would like to attend, please email Laura on l.smith@cancerkin.org.uk or call 0207 830 2323.

In the news…
Introducing the ‘Cyberknife’…
Announced in the news this week was the arrival of the first NHS ‘Cyberknife’ machine at the Mount Vernon Hospital in North London. Providing treatment that targets difficult to treat tumours, the Cyberknife was previously only available in the UK through private health care. The machine was purchased with an anonymous donation of £2 million and its services will be made available to cancer patients all over the country, bringing hope to many who had been told that their tumours were inoperable.

The non-invasive treatment uses a robotic arm to deliver multiple beams of high dose radiation from different angles, meaning it is able to reach tumours in difficult or dangerous areas such as the brain or the spinal cord. The machine is extremely precise – its beam is accurate to within a millimetre - and so, when it is targeted at a tumour, minimal damage is made to the surrounding healthy tissue. As a result, high dose Cyberknife treatment can be delivered in just a few sessions whilst conventional radiotherapy involves twenty or more short sessions with low-dose radiation.

A BBC report about the Cyberknife interviewed Daphne Duggan, a breast cancer patient with secondary brain tumours who has benefited from the treatment. She said: ‘it’s just so easy. Everybody who is offered the opportunity to have treatment with the Cyberknife should grab it with both hands.’ It has now been announced that a further machine will be installed at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London next spring. To watch the BBC news report, please click here.

New developments in breast cancer prevention for postmenopausal women…
A new study has revealed the impact Lasofoxifene can have on reducing the risk of breast cancer and other health problems in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis. A study conducted at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in the US and published in the online Journal of the National Cancer Institute randomly assigned 8556 such women different doses of the drug or a placebo. Researchers found that, in comparison with those who took the placebo, the overall risk of breast cancer development in women who took 0.5 milligrams of the drug was dramatically reduced by 79%. Furthermore, the risk of estrogen receptor positive invasive cancer was reduced by 83%, and cases of coronary events, strokes, vertebral and non-vertebral fractures were all significantly lower.

Lasofoxifene belongs to the same group of drugs as Tamoxifen and Raloxifene, known as SERMs – or selective estrogen receptor modulators – which are sometimes used in breast cancer chemoprevention. The drugs work by blocking the effects of estrogen on breast tissue and all have similar effects on reducing breast cancer risk in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis as well as offering certain health benefits. However Tamoxifen can cause further complications and has been linked with endometrial cancer and other gynaecological problems, whereas Raloxifene is less widely used as it does not offer a wide enough range of health benefits. What this study reveals is that Lasofoxifene potentially offers a wider variety of health benefits but does not pose further risks to patients’ health.

Victor G. Vogel, MD, of the Geisinger Medical Center, said of the study: "We need more complete information about the long-term effects of Lasofoxifene on both beneficial and unfavourable outcomes, but the early data regarding its risks and benefits are encouraging." To read more about the study, click here.

Exercise can aid recovery…
At Cancerkin, we see first hand the positive impact undertaking exercise and staying active can have for our patients. In the news this week, preliminary results from a study into exercise for recovering breast cancer patients suggest that a structured programme of physical activity can help reduce the risk of breast cancer recurrence and improve quality of life. The pilot study, lead by researchers at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, Australia, indicates that increasing physical activity improves general health and is therefore an important part of the rehabilitation process.

Researchers found that on the whole, breast cancer patients tended to do less exercise during treatment than they had beforehand. Many were motivated by their diagnosis to undertake a new healthier lifestyle but often failed to put such plans into action due to lack of support and structure. Annabel Pollard who led the study said: "Enabling cancer survivors to recover or improve their health after cancer treatment is perhaps as important as treating the disease […] The research indicates that simply providing information alone does not change behaviour; a structured approach is more conducive to change". Clinical Oncological Society of Australia President, Professor Bruce Mann, added: "Physical activity is not usually high on the list of priorities for patients, but we should be encouraging and supporting them to undertake structured programs." If you would like to read the article in full, please click here.

Laura Smith 11th November 2010
l.smith@cancerkin.org.uk