Tag Archives: Personalized Cancer Care

Cancer Care Tips, Cancer Caregivers

Find Out What to Expect When You Become a Cancer Caregiver

Improving the Lives of Others Can Help Improve Your Own Life.
Improving the Lives of Others Can Help Improve Your Own Life.

Has a loved one recently been diagnosed with cancer? Assuming the responsibilities of becoming a caregiver can seem overwhelming. Here are some cancer caregiver tips that will help you to better perform your role while maintaining your own physical and mental well-being.

Caring for a Cancer Patient

• The caregiver role is fluid. Duties can change based on factors such as where a patient is in the treatment process and whether he or she is staying in a hospital or at home.

• Caregivers are vital members of a patient’s healthcare team. Meet with the doctors frequently and don’t be afraid to speak up if you have questions or need more clarification.

• Talk to your loved one about how much they want to share with friends and family members and keep others updated accordingly.

• Everyone has their own way of coping with illness. Be available, but respect the patient’s wishes if he or she wants to be alone or doesn’t want to talk.

Caring for the Caregiver

• Caregiver is a rewarding role, but the road can be bumpy. Don’t feel guilty if you experience sadness, fatigue or grief. Joining a support group, either in person or online, can be a great source of strength.

• Have some friends or family members who can assist or even take over temporarily if you need a break.

• Plan activities such as workouts or movie outings that will help you maintain balance.

Issels® Is a Resource for Patients and Caregivers

Visit our website for more cancer caregiver tips as well as information about our personally created immunotherapy treatment programs, including cancer vaccines and NK cells.

Cancer Research, Cancer Survivors

Diagnostic Blood Test Could Speed Cancer Treatment

Cancer Research
Cancer Research

“Promising” is the word British scientists are using to describe early results of a simple blood test that could revolutionize cancer diagnosis and speed cancer treatment. Developed by researchers at the University of Bradford in the United Kingdom, the Lymphocyte Genome Sensitivity (LGS) test may turn out to be the easy to administer, inexpensive and accurate diagnostic tool the cancer treatment community has been searching for.

How It Works

Named for the type of white blood cell it examines, the Lymphocyte Genome Sensitivity test searches for cancer-related DNA damage in cells that have been bombarded with varying degrees of ultraviolet light.

“White blood cells are part of the body’s natural defense system,” study leader Professor Diana Anderson explains on the University’s website. “We know that they are under stress when they are fighting cancer or other diseases, so I wondered whether anything measurable could be seen if we put them under further stress with UVA light. We found that people with cancer have DNA which is more easily damaged by ultraviolet light than other people.”

What It Means

The ability to diagnose cancer with a blood test that measures immune system response would decrease the need for more costly and invasive tests and biopsies. In early testing, UV damage to white blood cell DNA was able to accurately differentiate between healthy, pre-cancerous and cancerous cells. DNA damage to white blood cells became measurably more pronounced as cancer developed and advanced.

The test underscores the connection between the immune system and cancer development. By strengthening the body’s immune system, Issels integrative immunotherapy has helped many of our patients achieve complete long-term remission of advanced and therapy-resistant cancers.

Alternative Cancer Treatment

Innovative Cell Imaging Could Improve Personalized Cancer Care

Doctor looking through a microscope.
New Cancer Breakthoughs

One of the most challenging aspects of treating cancer is that, while there are commonalities, each person’s response to cancer and cancer treatments is unique. When cancer cells attack, some people are able to fight off cancer’s devastating effects and recover; others are not. Likewise, a cancer treatment that is effective in achieving long-term remission in one person may not be successful with another.

Biodynamic Imaging, an innovative cell imaging technique created by Purdue University researchers, may allow physicians to accurately determine the efficacy of cancer treatments on an individual. As Purdue research leader David Nolte told R&D Magazine:

“Technicians can use BioDynamic Imaging to measure tumor response to cancer therapy, such as metabolism and cell division. This can tell how well the drug is working and if there are side effects. Our approach is called phenotypic testing, which is more pertinent than genetic testing because it captures the holistic response of cancer to chemotherapy.”

The ability to determine individual response to chemotherapy, cancer vaccines and other cancer therapies could allow treatment teams to evaluate and identify more quickly treatment protocols that most benefit individual patients.

Early to recognize the uniqueness of each person’s response to cancer and cancer treatment, Issels Integrative Oncology began developing our innovative program of individualized immunotherapy more than 60 years ago. In six decades of successful practice, Issels cancer treatment teams have refined personalized cancer care and treatment using a holistic approach to boost immune response and fight cancer on multiple fronts. The success of our immunotherapy-based approach is evident in the many patient testimonials and documented case studies posted on our website.