Another step forward in fighting glioblastoma

According to a recent article in The Chronicle, “A new immunotherapy treatment created by Duke researchers holds promise for patients with aggressive brain tumors.

The researchers engineered a protein—bispecific T-cell engager or BiTE—that attacks the cancerous cells while sparing surrounding healthy tissue. The protein locates the tumor and attracts white blood cells called T-cells to attack the cancerous cells. The therapy was successful in six out of eight mice with brain tumors.“

As you can imagine, the article reports that “The scientists’ goal is to adapt the new treatment for humans with malignant brain tumors such as glioblastoma.” According to Dr. Darrell Bigner, Director of the Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center, if the drug succeeds in clinical trials, it could change the current standard of care for these types of tumors.

How so? Bigner says that “If [this treatment] is as successful in patients as it has been in the mice, it would be a completely new method of treating brain tumors and would potentially be much more effective than our current treatments and lack the toxicity of the current treatments.”

Being just vaguely familiar with current glioblastoma  treatments, but being somewhat familiar with GBM blogger comments on sites like Inspire, any improvement would be of huge value.

Here’s a link to the article in The Chronicle: http://www.dukechronicle.com/article/duke-scientists-develop-potential-treatment-brain

And for you scientists/researchers/high IQ types, here’s a link to the abstract of the published paper, “Pattern of retinoblastoma pathway inactivation dictates response to CDK4/6 inhibition in GBM” from PNS, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America - http://www.pnas.org/content/110/1/270.abstract?sid=6cc641c2-d4c0-4620-9aa3-9138fb8bd001

Amy Marash and her “cancer is SO FUNNY” Book & Blog

This is my favorite Amy Marash cartoon which she has entitled: “WHY COLON CANCER DOESN'T HAVE A GOOD RIBBON”

If you haven’t read Amy’s blog or seen any of her other cartoons, stop reading this right now and go to: http://cancerissofunny.blogspot.com/

What you’ll find is a great visualization of the cancer emotional spectrum: from fear to anger to confusion to despair to incipient hope to sorrow to sadness to courage…and I probably missed a few.

She selected some of her drawings for a wonderful book by the same name. If you know of somebody going through the agony of cancer detection/treatment, this book might help them. It might also help a caregiver or victim’s friend or somebody just interested in how an artist can create wonderfully evocative visuals in the throes of a life or death struggle.

My one complaint about her book is that it is too short. You can buy a copy here: http://www.amazon.com/Cancer-Is-Funny-Amy-Marash/dp/0557961386/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1358553504&sr=8-1&keywords=amy+marash

10 Brain Health Predictions from SharpBrains

Here’s a link to an interesting post from the SharpBrains people about a new report that predicts massive (or at least it seems massive to me) acceptance/implementation/utilization of digital programs to improve brain health. 

The report’s rather long name is “The Digital Brain Health Market 2012–2020: Web-based, mobile and biometrics-based technology to assess, monitor and enhance cognition and brain functioning.” Here’s a link to a description of the report - http://www.sharpbrains.com/market-report/

So why am I interested in this? To me, digital brain health means online brain training programs like Lumosity – www.lumosity.com – which I use three to four times/week.

Here’s the 10 predictions that the SharpBrain folks list based on the report:

1. More than one mil­lion adults in North Amer­ica alone will take a self-administered annual brain health check-up via their iPad or Android tablet.
2. More than one million amateur athletes will better manage possible concussions by taking cognitive base­line tests via a mobile device.
3. More than 150,000 teenage and adult AAA mem­bers will access web-based brain training to become safer drivers.
4. Biometrics-aided meditation will become the next big thing in corporate and consumer wellness.
5.  iPad-based cognitive screenings will inform more diagnoses of Alzheimer’s disease and MCI than neuroimaging.
6. Patients with Multiple Sclerosis in at least 10 countries will be offered online cognitive training together with drug-based therapy to help address their condition.
7. Insomnia and depression will be first-line treated with computerized Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in at least two national health services.
8. The industry’s first brain-based bio­marker to predict depression treatment responses will be cleared by the FDA.
9. Brain training firm Lumos Labs and/or biometrics-based developer NeuroSky will file for an IPO.
10.  At least one major insurer will launch an educational campaign to help adults proactively take charge of their own “brain fitness” navigating emerging research and digital brain health tools.

My takeaway from all this is a) digital brain training is well-accepted by the larger medical community and going mainstream, and b) those of us who can benefit from digital brain health tools ought to use them instead of dithering about it.

PS - And here's a link to a cool infographic that visualizes all this: http://www.sharpbrains.com/executive-summary/

"Lotsa Helping Hands" – a great idea for brain tumor victims and caregivers

As I talk to brain tumor victims, I keep hearing that victims have two kinds of problems once friends, family and co-workers know about their disease:

1. No help whatsoever (which is hugely disappointing)
2. An overwhelming amount of disorganized help

While I don’t have any suggestions for the “no help” problem, “Lotsa Helping Hands” helps you and your family organized all the good souls who want to help you, but don’t know what your need, when you need it or how to deliver it.

According to the MyCaringLink website - https://abta.lotsahelpinghands.com/caregiving/home/ - “MyCaringLink is a private, online caregiving coordination service that allows family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues to assist with the daily tasks that become a challenge during a brain tumor journey.”

What kind of daily tasks? Well, if memory serves me right, almost everything, e.g. rides to treatments, meal delivery, babysitting (both children and the victim) “and more.”

The personal website also allows you to customize sections for posting journal entries and photos so that everybody is updated on your progress (or challenges).

Actually, Lotsa Helping Hands does a better job of explaining who they are and what they do than I can, “Lotsa Helping Hands powers online caring Communities that help restore health and balance to caregivers’ lives. Our service brings together caregivers and volunteers through online Communities that organize daily life during times of medical crisis or caregiver exhaustion in neighborhoods and communities worldwide. Caregivers benefit from the gifts of much needed help, emotional support, and peace of mind, while volunteers find meaning in giving back to those in need.”