The Brooklyn Cancer Center (TBCC), a partnership between New York Cancer & Blood Specialists (NYCBS), one of the leading oncology practices in the nation, and The Brooklyn Hospital Center (TBHC), an independent community hospital in Fort Greene/Downtown Brooklyn, announces it will expand patient access to personalized and advanced radiation treatment at The Brooklyn Hospital Center at 121 DeKalb Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11201.
“The Brooklyn Cancer Center will bring the highest level of radiation therapy and advanced treatment options to the Brooklyn community,” said Jeff Vacirca, MD, CEO of NYCBS.
Radiation Oncology services will be staffed by dedicated and compassionate radiation oncologists, who will partner with medical oncologists and their care teams to develop the appropriate treatment plan for each patient. In addition, the facility will be equipped with the most advanced forms of radiation treatment equipment available. As a result, patients and their families will access best-practice, evidence-based treatment options close to home.
Board-certified radiation oncologist Dr. Minh-Phuong Huynh-Le will practice at the hospital location. She is an expert in advanced radiation techniques, including 3D-conformal radiation therapy (3D-CRT), intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT), stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), and brachytherapy.
“We are excited about being able to provide compassionate, state-of-the-art cancer care at TBCC,” said Talha Shaikh, MD, MBA, Chief of Radiation Oncology at NYCBS. “We look forward to partnering with the dedicated physicians and care teams of TBHC to enhance and expand patient access to radiation oncology services in and around Brooklyn. TBCC’s exceptional standard of care will ensure that patients receive the best radiation treatment possible and close to home.”
“The expansion of TBCC’s care with the appointment of Dr. Huynh-Le is an excellent development,” said Gary G. Terrinoni, President and CEO of TBHC. “We look forward to sharing more exciting news with the community when we cut the ribbon on the brand-new TBCC center in the coming months.”
Don’t travel out of the borough for excellent cancer care. Right in Fort Greene/Downtown Brooklyn, you can find a unique path to treatment with comprehensive support. The Brooklyn Cancer Center provides expert care and culturally sensitive services for patients with all types of cancer and blood disorders.
About New York Cancer & Blood Specialists: New York Cancer & Blood Specialists is committed to our patients. We are dedicated to providing each patient with a unique path to treatment and unmatched support. We strive to make quality, comprehensive cancer care available to each and every patient throughout New York.
About The Brooklyn Hospital:
The Brooklyn Hospital Center is dedicated to providing outstanding health services, education, and research to keep the people of Brooklyn and greater New York healthy.
The Brooklyn Cancer Center Sarah Gould 631-574-8360 https://brooklyncancer.com/
In its 20th year, the Seattle-based nonprofit organization Cancer Pathways decided to be more adventurous in reaching kids and teens affected by cancer.
Since 2003, Cancer Pathways’ Camp Sparkle has been held in person at various sites throughout Washington state, including Seattle, Tacoma, Bellevue and Everett. Every year, camp activities lead to campers having fun, making friends with others who understand them, and an opportunity to communicate about the impact of cancer and heal emotionally.
This year, the organization wanted to reach more kids throughout Washington state (beyond the four campsites) and connect them with campers living in other states in the U.S. For this coast-to-coast online camp, each camper was mailed a “campers kit” with everything they’d need to participate fully from their own homes. During camp, they’d co-create songs and poems, and share their artwork and offline adventures with each other.
Local community partners came together to put on an unforgettable show for kids online. Partners included the Pacific Science Center, Hibulb Cultural Center and Natural History Preserve, Nash Fung magician, and Music Works NW. Campers had a blast, as did program partners. As Magician Nash Fung said, “It was so fun seeing everyone’s bewildered faces and smiles.” One camper summed it up with this note, “…every day I would wake up eagerly waiting for camp sparkle to start, I loved the DIY’s and hosts. Everyday when I went to Camp Sparkle I learned something new.”
“Next year, I hope that we can connect even more campers coast-to-coast. I love seeing them show a natural curiosity about the world around them and about each other, all while having fun with others who share their life experiences,” says Program Director, Mary Nicholas.
All campers attend Camp Sparkle for free and support group services are available to all families.
Cancer Pathways Mary Nicholas 206-709-1400 cancerpathways.org
Indian Scientists have recently found that the cancer-causing virus Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) affects the glial cells or the non-neural cells in the central nervous system and alters molecules like phospho-inositols (PIP); a type of lipid, glycerol, and cholesterol, when the virus infects the brain cells.
This could pave the path towards understanding the probable role of the virus in neurodegenerative pathologies, especially given the fact that the virus has been detected in brain tissue of the patients suffering from neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson and multiple Sclerosis.
The EBV can cause cancers like nasopharyngeal carcinoma (a type of head and neck cancer), B-cell (a type of white blood cells) cancer, stomach cancer, Burkett’s lymphoma, Hodgkin’s lymphoma, post-transplant lymphoid disorders, and so on. More than 95% of the adult population is positive for EBV. However, the infection is mostly asymptomatic, and very little is known about the factors which trigger the development of such disease. It was the detection of the virus in patients with neurodegenerative diseases that triggered the search for the mechanism of propagation of the virus.
Scientists’ teams from the Departments of Physics (led by Dr. Rajesh Kumar) and Biosciences and Biomedical Engineering (Dr. Hem Chandra Jha) at IIT Indore along with their collaborator, Dr. Fouzia Siraj, at National Institute of Pathology (ICMR), New Delhi, used Raman Spectroscopy System supported by “Fund For Improvement of S&T Infrastructure (FIST)” scheme of Department of Science and Technology to trace the propagation mechanism of the virus. Research scholars Ms. Deeksha Tiwari, Ms. Shweta Jakhmola, and Mr. Devesh Pathak also contributed to this study published recently in the journal ‘ACS Omega’.
Images: Raman Spectrometer procured through DST-FIST Grant at Department of Physics, IIT Indore
The phenomenon of Raman Scattering, first discovered by Indian Nobel laureate (awarded by Bharat Ratna) Sir C. V. Raman, provides information on the structure of any material based on the vibrations produced in them. Similarly, the light falling on the virus generates vibrations in the biomolecules, depending on the make of the virus. Using RS, the light that is scattered by the virus can be captured and analyzed to understand its structure and behaviour. Interestingly, every virus has a different biomolecular composition and thus generates a unique Raman Spectrum that serves as a fingerprint to its identity.
Dr. Jha’s and Dr. Kumar’s team have elucidated the infection pattern of EBV in the brain cells showing that the virus is also capable of infecting the glial cells (astrocytes and microglia) in the brain. This study noticed a differential pattern of infection progression in different glial cells. Dr. Jha said, “We found that the virus may take different time intervals to establish and spread infection in various types of glial cells of the brain.” Apart from the timeline of infection progression, their team also tried to reveal the biomolecules involved at each step of the virus infection and relate it to various neurological manifestations.
Dr. Rajesh added, “Our study showed that molecules like phospho-inositols (PIP), a type of lipid, glycerol, and cholesterol, are predominantly altered during EBV infection in the brain cells.”
The study, based on spatial and temporal changes in Raman signal, was helpful in advancing the application of Raman Scattering as a technique for rapid and non-invasive detection of virus infection in clinical settings. Since all the techniques available for viral load detection in the brain by far include invasive methods, RS can be a sigh of relief for patients undergoing brain biopsies for diagnostic purposes. Furthermore, it can be helpful in determining the stage of infection based on biomolecular markers and thus aid in early diagnosis.
Figure: Raman spectral signature from brain cells and their comparison.
Figure: Raman spectrum and optical images from a brain tumor.
Study explored Mexican patients with advanced cancers; results published in The Oncologist
BOSTON – April 26, 2021 – PRLog — Global Cancer Institute (http://globalcancerinstitute.org/) (GCI), which is focused on improving survival rates for underserved cancer patients worldwide, announced today the results of a new study (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33210345/) recently published in The Oncologist on the effectiveness of patient navigation programs for palliative care in Low-and-Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). This research was previously presented in an oral abstract session at the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting.
The study, titled, “Patient Navigation to Improve Early Access to Supportive Care for Patients with Advanced Cancer in Resource-Limited Settings: A Randomized Controlled Trial,” explored how early integration of supportive care in oncology improves patient-centered outcomes. Specifically, the authors evaluated whether patient navigation increased access to multidisciplinary supportive care among Mexican patients with advanced cancer treated at the Salvador Zubirán National Institute of Medical Sciences and Nutrition (INCMNSZ) in Mexico City.
Palliative care is crucial to improving quality of life for patients suffering from advanced cancer. However, 80 percent of these patients live in LMICs where palliative care is rarely provided, or provided only at a very late stage.
Patient navigators can assist patients in overcoming barriers to care. The Global Cancer Institute has been a huge proponent of Patient Navigation programs for assisting cancer patients with entering treatment in LMICs, and helped design and provided funding for this study exploring the role patient navigation can play in improving access to palliative care as well.
134 patients were randomized: 67 to patient navigation and 67 to usual care. Supportive care interventions were provided to 74% of patients in the patient navigation arm versus 24% in usual care. Results:
– In the patient navigation arm, 48% of eligible patients completed advance directives, compared with 0% in usual care.
– At 12 weeks, patients randomized to patient navigation had less moderate/severe pain (10% vs. 33%), without differences in quality of life.
Dr. Enrique Soto-Perez-De-Celis and Dr. Yanin Chávarri-Guerra, Researchers in Medical Sciences at INCMNSZ and collaborators of the Global Cancer Institute, the principal authors of the study, believe that this easily replicable program – involving just one additional staff member plus a new model of supportive care team coordination – can make a big difference in the quality of care patients receive. “The data shows that early access to supportive and palliative care interventions helps increase advance care planning and reduce symptoms as compared with the usual oncologist-guided care alone,” said Dr. Soto-Perez-De-Celis. “The results demonstrate that patient navigation represents a potentially useful solution to achieving implementation of supportive and palliative care in resource-limited settings globally,” added Dr. Chávarri-Guerra.
Read the study here (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33210345/).
About Global Cancer Institute
Global Cancer Institute (GCI) is focused on improving survival rates for underserved cancer patients worldwide. Today, cancer death rates in developing countries are double those in the U.S. – GCI is working to close that gap. GCI works directly with physicians in developing countries to propagate simple interventions and treatments that are common in the U.S today, and proven to accelerate diagnosis, access and treatment. Learn more about our programs at http://globalcancerinstitute.org/.
Eisai Co., Ltd. and MSD K.K., a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, N.J., U.S.A., (known as MSD outside the United States and Canada) announced today an application submission in Japan for the additional indication of Eisai’s in-house discovered and developed multiple receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor, LENVIMA (generic name: lenvatinib mesylate), in combination with Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, N.J., U.S.A.’s KEYTRUDA (generic name: pembrolizumab) as a treatment for patients with advanced uterine body cancer.
This application is based on the results of the pivotal Phase 3 Study 309/KEYNOTE-775 for the treatment of patients with advanced endometrial carcinoma (advanced uterine body cancer in Japan), following at least one prior platinum-based regimen, which were presented at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) 2021 Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer in March 2021. In this trial, LENVIMA plus KEYTRUDA demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in the primary endpoints of Progression-Free Survival (PFS) and Overall Survival (OS) as well as the secondary endpoint of Objective Response Rate (ORR) versus chemotherapy (treatment of physician’s choice of doxorubicin or paclitaxel). The safety profile of LENVIMA plus KEYTRUDA was consistent with previously reported studies.
LENVIMA plus KEYTRUDA has received orphan drug designation for a prospective indication for uterine body cancer by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan (MHLW). Under this system, this application will be subject to priority review.
It is estimated that there were more than 417,000 new cases of uterine body cancer diagnosed worldwide and nearly 97,000 deaths from the disease in 2020. In Japan, there were more than 17,000 new cases and more than 3,000 deaths in 2020. Endometrial carcinoma is the most common type of uterine body cancer. It is considered that more than 90% of uterine body cancers occur in the endometrium. Survival is highly dependent on the stage at diagnosis, and with a five-year survival rate of 17% for metastatic disease, the prognosis for these patients is poor.
Eisai and MSD have been collaborating through the provision of information on LENVIMA in Japan since October 2018, and will work together to expedite the maximization of contribution by the LENVIMA plus KEYTRUDA combination therapy to patients with cancer.
For more information, visit https://www.eisai.com/news/2021/news202131.html.
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Images: Raman Spectrometer procured through DST-FIST Grant at Department of Physics, IIT Indore
