Articles Posted in ‘survivorship’

Can Cancer-Related Fatigue be Treated with Novel Drugs?

Fatigue 2

People are surviving cancer in greater numbers than ever before thanks to treatment options that include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, immunotherapy, and medication. But during or after treatment patients are often hit with a common side-effect of the disease—a debilitating and whole-body exhaustion that cannot be relieved by rest or sleep—called cancer-related fatigue.

Research has been conducted to test the characteristics and properties of drugs currently used to enhance alertness, treat depression, arthritis—and even narcolepsy—for their effectiveness in treating cancer-related fatigue. NCI-supported investigators conducted a review of literature on 32 clinical trials that were held in the U.S., Canada, and Europe, to better understand how these treatment options work.

The Financial Burden of Cancer

Credit: Rhoda Baer (Photographer), NCI

Cancer care cost the American public $104.1 billion in 2006 – the most recent year for which statistics are available – according to NCI’s newly released Cancer Trends Progress Report-2009/2010 Update. The financial burden of cancer looms even larger, however, when you consider other costs, such as losses in time and economic productivity.

Can Radiation Therapy Influence the Development of Second Cancers?

scene from animation: patient undergoing radiation treatment for cancerous tumor

Over 10 million people in the U.S. — about one in 30 — are cancer survivors. This growing population reflects advances in cancer detection and treatment. But with the greater number of survivors comes an increasing number of people living long enough to experience more than one type of cancer in their lifetime. Overall, cancer survivors have a 14 percent higher risk of developing a new primary malignancy compared with the general population, according to a new NCI monograph entitled, New Malignancies among Cancer Survivors: SEER Cancer Registries, 1973-2000. The risk factors involved in the second cancer may be the same as those that led to the original tumor, such as smoking, excessive alcohol use, diet and nutrition, and genetic predisposition. For some people, however, the radiotherapy or chemotherapy received to treat the first cancer may be a contributing factor for their developing a completely new primary cancer.