Dr. Len's Cancer Blog

I knew I was in trouble this past Friday when I walked into our American Cancer Society offices in Atlanta and immediately met one of my male colleagues who was bedecked in a bright pink tie and a blue and pink striped shirt.  Guess I missed the memo telling us that Friday was a “Think Pink” day here at ACS.

But that wasn’t the worst of it. 

What really got me going during the day was a series of emails that crossed my computer screen describing a number of promotions that tied the “think pink” theme to a variety of products that in my opinion probably don’t belong on anyone’s list for fighting breast cancer.

Lance Armstrong is a truly amazing person.

He is a world class athlete. He is a cancer survivor under perhaps the most difficult of circumstances.  He is someone who didn’t sit back on his successes and memories but instead reached out and created a focus on cancer and survivorship that has touched millions.

Today, the Lance Armstrong Foundation announced that they were taking the cancer fight globally, as an integral part of Mr. Armstrong’s decision to reenter competitive cycling.

Wearing his suit and his sports gear, he has committed to working throughout the world to bring attention to cancer, and the plight of those who suffer from cancer—frequently silently and in pain—in Africa, Australia, or wherever his journeys may take him.

Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States, and will remain so for the foreseeable future. That makes answering the question whether or not the early detection of lung cancer with CT scans can in fact reduce the risk of dying from this killer disease all the more important.

Over the past two days, the American Cancer Society has hosted a meeting of experts in Washington DC to answer the question of whether there is anything we can do to accelerate our knowledge as to whether or not lung CT scans really reduce deaths from lung cancer.

The conclusions of these experts were important.  But the meeting was not without some controversy when it came to assessing the value of another large United States clinical trial that has been used by many to promote lung cancer screening with CT scans in current or former smokers.

If you or a loved one has had cancer, how much do you really know about your disease after you have completed your treatment?

If the experts are right, not much.  Certainly not enough to tell another doctor the stage of your disease, the type and dose of chemotherapy you received, the plan for follow-up and the potential long term side effects.  

Now, fast forward with me.  It is twenty years after your diagnosis and treatment.  You are doing well, and you are now under the care of a primary care clinician.  A researcher writes a report about a new finding that would put you at high risk of having a heart attack as a result of a drug you received during your cancer treatment. But you and your primary care clinician don’t read or hear about the report, so you can’t take preventive steps to protect yourself.  Oops...

How do you know if you or someone you love is getting the best quality care for their cancer?

The sad truth is that you don’t. It is difficult to impossible for most people to understand what really constitutes quality medical care.  In fact, I suspect it is also difficult for many medical professionals to measure quality cancer care.

The good news is that most health care professionals and the hospitals where they work want to do the best they can for their patients.  We are fortunate in that regard.

But despite good intentions, those of us who have seen the research which measures quality medical care know that many of those intentions fall short of the mark

As I sit here tonight watching the “Stand Up To Cancer” television show, I find myself admiring the quality of the effort that went into this program.

The producers and the entertainers have certainly tugged at my heartstrings, and I suspect they have done so for many, many people throughout the country as well.  This is, in a simple phrase, a smashing success.

It is no secret that when the stars come out, they get the attention of the masses.  That is a good thing when it comes to cancer research.

Yesterday, USA Today ran a lead story in their “Life” section about tonight’s “Stand Up To Cancer” television event, and today the American Cancer Society ran a full page advertisement in the same newspaper with the headline “A question so important it will take an entire nation to answer it.”

But there is more to the story, and we must embrace the concept with the understanding that there is much to be done in the fight against cancer.  It will take more than any organization’s single moment if we are going to succeed in our efforts to reduce the burden and suffering from these dreaded diseases we call cancer.

There has been a buzz lately in cancer research circles about an event that is going to air tomorrow evening on the three major television networks from 8 to 9PM EDT.

It is always a powerful moment when the media and Hollywood come together to promote something as important as cancer research.  The organizers of this event are to be commended for their commitment to raising awareness of the need for more funding for cancer research and putting the topic front and center in the public eye.

But sometimes strange things happen on the way to the chapel.  One of those is noted in an email I received late yesterday announcing that Brad Garrett is going to have a prostate cancer screening examination shown on national TV as part of this program.

Recently, there have been some question as to whether or not Vytorin is effective in reducing the risk of cholesterol-related heart disease.  Now, another concern has been raised that Vytorin can increase the risk of getting cancer.

This week the New England Journal of Medicine has published two research papers and an editorial that provide the first detailed glimpse into the controversy.  Unfortunately, the evidence isn’t sufficient in my opinion to provide a clear yes or no answer as to whether the increased risk of cancer is real.

Sometimes you just can’t get it right for trying.

I must admit that I am not a big “media fan” or stargazer, and I know nothing about an online website called TMZ.  What I have learned is that TMZ’s claim to fame is showing movie stars behaving badly.

Why am I even writing about this?

Because earlier this week, our division office in California was contacted by TMZ for a news comment.  The topic was a photo of Michael Jordan smoking a cigar at a softball game.