Chemotherapy and stem cell transplant will not extend lives!

A controversial breast cancer treatment consisting of a combination of high-dose chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant does not extend the lives of patients, according to a study conducted by researchers from the University of Texas’ M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

“This report should absolutely, definitively and for all time close the door on this treatment,” said Dr. Larry Norton of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

During the 1980s and 1990s, it became popular to treat women with a high dose of chemotherapy after surgery, in order to kill off any cancer cells that had not been removed by the initial procedure. Before surgery, surgeons would extract stem cells from the patient’s bone marrow. After the chemotherapy, these cells would be transplanted back into the body in order to restore the immune cells that had been killed by chemotherapy.

The procedure was controversial from the start, in part due to the toxicity of Chemotherapy drugs. Such drugs are particularly dangerous at high doses, and some women subjected to the treatment in the United States have died from toxicity. Even in those who survive, such a high dose of chemotherapy drugs is incredibly hard on the body and leads to a high degree of suffering. Finally, many health insurers were initially unwilling to pay for what they considered an experimental and non-proven treatment.

Researchers analyzed the results of 15 separate trials involving a total of 6,200 early stage breast cancer patients. The lymph nodes of all the patients tested positive for cancer following surgery, but in no cases had the cancer spread to other organs. The researchers found that women who underwent the high-dose chemotherapy did not relapse as quickly as women who underwent more conventional treatments, but they did not live any longer!

NICOTINE PATCH SURVEY

Have you ever been diagnosed with Breast Cancer? AND have you EVER used nicotine Patches?
A new study is being conducted right here and right now, sparked after a recent debate, which had experts and scientists alike, argue ferociously and controversially over a womans’ claim that the nicotine patches she used some ten years previously had caused her breast cancer.
The woman claimed that the cancerous lumps located in both her breasts were in the same positions in which she put her nicotine patches all those years before.
Challenged about the location, the woman demonstrated her claim by showing where her hand went comfortably and said that she put them there because she wanted them to be just below her bra line and out of sight.
The women had three types of breast cancers with two of these in her left breast. She claimed that as she is right handed more patches were put on her left side.
Her results from biopsies, ultrasound scans and mammograms demonstrated the precise locations of her cancerous lumps, which backed up her claims.

If you have had breast cancer and have used nicotine patches and would like to participate in this simple survey please take a few moments and contact the researcher with basic details of when you used them and approximately how long you used them for. In particular did your lumps correspond at all to the places where you used these patches?

If a YES answer applies to the next two questions tell us how long ago you used the patches.

Have you had or have you been diagnosed with breast cancer?
Have you ever used nicotine patches?
How long ago?
Less than one year before diagnosis
Two years ago
Three year ago
Four years ago
Five years ago
Six years ago
More than 6 years ago, please specify

With your input if any possible links are found, a new research could be conducted and may even help save lives.
This simple survey can be submitted online right here – right now.

Name (required)

Email (required)

Website

Text only. No markup allowed.

all you have to say is if you have been diagnosed with beast cancer and if you have used patches and approximately how long ago. That’s all! No personal information is being asked at all. If your answer is no to either of these questions then please do not reply.

Feel free to make any comments and include any additional and relevant information if you want to , but it is NOT a requirement for this survey
Send this page to your family and friends especially anybody you know who has been diagnosed with breast cancer even if you’re unsure if they may have used nicotine patches.

Reconstruction… to be or not to be

Women with breast cancer who are faced with a single or a double mastectomy also have a decision to make on reconstructive surgery, prosthesis or none of the above.
For me at aged 53 and being faced with this choice I chose reconstruction. I couldn’t bear (Bare?)being boobless and I didn’t fancy the prosthesis. I had read many funny and sometimes heartbreaking and embarrassing stories about them that persuaded me to choose the reconstruction.
I had mine done at the same time as the initial double mastectomy where expanders were intoduced and I travellled some 400 ks to get them inflated with saline every so often. (totally painless!)
I found the expanders quite uncomfortable and when I lay on my tummy in bed it felt like I was laying on a pair of tennis balls. They were an odd shape really and I felt I had to be careful what I wore if I opted to go braless at any time.
It was almost a year later when the expanders were removed and the new implants inserted. After the initial discomfort subsided I was relatively pleased with the outcome. They were a little bigger than my original boobs and this was some compensation for me.
I didn’t opt for new nipples as I felt I didn’t really need them. Plus I didn’t like the idea of a further operation and losing some cherished skin off my thigh . But it is an option for all women who face this choice. Besides every oiperation is a risk and I felt I had taken enough risks by now.
Still, it’s a choice and one I do not regret as such. I say no regrets, but of course there is always the regret of losing my breasts. That regret will stay with me for always, but I feel I have minimised them by making this particular decision.
Of course every woman needs to make her very own decisions based on only her self and her wanted outcomes in such a position.It’s not an easy choice for everyone as it was for me.
Should you like to read more about my journey through breast cancer you can by clicking here. All the very best in your personal journey and feel free to add a comment.

VITAMIN D EFFECTIVE CHEMO-PREVENTATIVE AND AGENT

It has been suggested that vitamin D (3) is an effective chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic agent for breast cancer.
I found it amusing and yet detrimental when instructed to stay out of the sun whilst I was undergoing Chemotherapy. They claimed I would burn more easily on account of the type of drugs I was on.
Yet the research is so promising the National Cancer Institute stated there is general agreement among experts that vitamin D deficiency is associated with a higher prevalence of cancer and several other diseases.
Read my book on Vitamin D and learn many true facts that are being obliterated by the pharmecuticals endorsing sunblocks.

Sunshine and Breast Cancer

Most doctors now agree another cause of breast cancer is chronic vitamin D deficiency, Yet neither the cancer industry or medical establishment currently express any interest in urging women to get more vitamin D through sunlight exposure
Recent research has shown that vitamin D halts 77 percent of all cancers from becoming full-blown tumours, including breast cancer, prostate cancer, colon cancer and leukemia. The vast majority of women in the Australia remain chronically vitamin D deficient, putting their bodies in a state of accelerated tumour growth. Read my E-Book on this very important vitamin so you know just what you are up against, how to expose yourself and for how long but most importantly why!

Carcinogens Galore

The motto of Breast Cancer Awareness Month is “Early Detection is Your Best Protection”. Mammograms are the front line of defense.? Celebrities like Rosie O’Donnell offer free t-shirts with the honourable words “I’ve been Squished” if you’ll make a date with your local x-ray department.So let’s all join in and wave our pink ribbons and don those running shoes and take to the streets, right?
Wait! Before the emotional frenzy of this call to arms sweeps you up, there is something you should perhaps know. Breast Cancer Awareness month’s primary sponsor and mastermind of the event in 1985 was Zeneca Pharmaceuticals, now known as AstraZeneca. Zeneca is the company that manufactures the controversial and widely prescribed breast cancer drug, Tamoxifen. Did you know all TV, radio and print media campaigns in America are paid for and must be approved by Zeneca?
Perhaps we can forgive Zeneca’s heavy involvement with carcinogenic chemicals, since it researched and patented the most popular breast cancer treatment, Tamoxifen, which grosses 500 million dollars a year. Perhaps not. On May 16, 2000 the New York Times reported that the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences listed substances that are known to cause cancer.
Tamoxifen was included in that list!!
It is known that Tamoxifen causes uterine cancer, liver cancer and gastro-intestinal cancer. After just two to three years of use, Tamoxifen will increase the incidence of uterine cancer by two to three times. The treatment for uterine cancer is a hysterectomy.
In addition, Tamoxifen increased the risk of strokes, blood clots, eye damage, menopausal symptoms, and depression.The biggest shock of all is the fact that Tamoxifenwill increase the risk of breast cancer!The journal Science published a study from Duke University Medical Center in 1999 showing that after 2 – 5 years, Tamoxifen actually initiated the growth of breast cancer! So, Zeneca, the originator of Breast Cancer Awareness month is the manufacturer of carcinogenic petrochemicals, carcinogenic pollutants and a breast cancer drug that causes at least four different types of cancer in women, including breast cancer. I ask you to stop and think, “Is something wrong with this picture?”

HOW MUCH VITAMIN D?

HOW MUCH VITAMIN D TO TAKE?
It’s the latest, and always has been since time memorable, the greatest vitamin, but what’s the safe and effective dose?
New research on vitamin D is showing that most Australians are deficient, and that a lack of it may be contributing to breast cancer, colon cancer, osteoporosis, multiple sclerosis and fibro myalgia, just to name a few. In fact, if you work inside, like in an office and use sunscreen when you do go outside, you’re very likely to be vitamin D deficient.

You can get some vitamin D from food, and of course you can take supplements, but the very best, safest and most reliable source of vitamin D is sunshine!!
No doubt about it.
But haven’t we been warned away from sun exposure? Won’t it cause cancer and wrinkles? Well, yes and no. Our hysteria about sun damage is grossly exaggerated. It’s one of those myths that have been repeated so much that most everyone assumes it to be true. The sunscreen industry has done a great job selling its wares by scaring us about sun exposure. However, if you dig down and do some research it’s a different story. A very different story.

Yes, if you repeatedly get sunburned you somewhat increase your risk of non-melanoma skin cancer. The fairer the skin, the more easily it is sunburned. By far the biggest risk for skin cancer is simply having fair skin—with or without sunscreen. There is absolutely no substantial evidence that using sunscreen protects you from skin cancer. In fact there is a growing concern that it may even contribute. There is a weak association between melanoma and sunburn, but there is no evidence that using sunscreen prevents melanoma. There is some research indicating that exposure to the sun as a child reduces the risk of melanoma.
The take-home lesson is to avoid getting sunburned. One way to avoid sunburn is to tan gradually. Start with five minutes a day in the sun and work up slowly. Being tanned repeatedly over many years may cause you to wrinkle sooner, but it’s unlikely to substantially increase your risk of skin cancer. And nothing on the face of our planet will stop you from aging ,you cannot become 60 years of age without a wrinkle on you body anywhere. It’s one of life’s facts that you get old and wrinkle. We all know that!
THE DOSE? It just takes 15 to 20 minutes in the mid-day sun, three to four times a week, to provide you with adequate vitamin D. Now if you’re pale as a galss of milk, don’t go right out and sit in the sun for 20 minutes or you’ll get burned. Work up to it.

References:<a href=”“>”Vitamin D”… for quality of life. KD Boyes 2006Berwick M, Armstrong BK et al, “Sun exposure and mortality from melanoma,” J Natl Cancer Inst 2005; 97: 195–99.
Boscoe FP, Schymura MJ, “Solar ultraviolet-B exposure and cancer incidence and mortality in the United States, 1993-2002,” BMC Cancer 2006 Nov 10;6:264.
Dennis LK, Beane Freeman LE et al, “Sunscreen use and the risk for melanoma: a quantitative review,” Ann Intern Med
2003; 139: 966–78.
Ginanjar E, Sumariyono SS et al, “Vitamin d and autoimmune disease,” Acta Med Indones 2007 Oct-Dec;39(3):133-41.
Grant WB, “An estimate of premature cancer mortality in the U.S. due to inadequate doses of solar ultraviolet-B radiation,” Cancer 2002; 94: 1867–75.
Holick MF, “Sunlight “D”ilemma: risk of skin cancer or bone disease and muscle weakness,” Lancet 2001; 357: 4–6.
Lin J, Manson JE et al, “Intakes of calcium and vitamin D and breast cancer risk in women,” Arch Intern Med 2007 May 28;167(10):1050-9.
Robien K, Cutler GJ et al, “Vitamin D intake and breast cancer risk in postmenopausal women: the Iowa Women’s Health Study,” Cancer Causes Control 2007 Sep;18(7):775-82.
Solomon CC, White E et al “Melanoma and lifetime UV radiation,” Cancer Causes Control 2004 Nov;15(9):893-902.
Thieden E, Philipsen PA et al, “Sunscreen use related to UV exposure, age, sex, and occupation based on personal dosimeter readings and sun-exposure behavior diaries,” Arch Dermatol 2005; 141: 967–73.
Get my e-book on Vitamin D here

Think Positive

I have written an e-book on how to think positive and get well. This is dedicated to all women with diagnosed breast cancer, but anyone can use the valuable information within . It teaches you how to think positive and guides you through meditation tecniques to achieve a positive mind set in times of great doubt or hardship.“>You can see this e-book here

I have actually cured myself of disease that I was told could only be cured by surgery. Read my true story and how I did it in my e-book.

Breast cancer survivor

Helo and welcome to this blog site,
I am a breast cancer survivor and I have set up this blog page to interact with other breast cancer survivors. If you have a story to tell or a question to ask this is the place to do it.
I am 54 years old, was first diagnosed in 2004, have had a recurrance and this was thus followed by a double mastectomy, lymph node removal on both sides and chemotherapy.
I have done a whole heap of research since and have dedicated a web page to my journey. Please feel free to visit by clicking here….