Cancer, Cancer Treatment

I always thought I had fairly healthy eating habits. However, when I went for my first chemotherapy treatment, I met with a Nutritionist who went over what I should have in my diet during treatment and then beyond. One of the first things I was told was to maintain my current weight. Chemotherapy drugs are given to you based on your body weight and if your weight fluctuates during the course of the treatment, then it can change the effects of the medicine. So if you were thinking of going on a diet to lose weight, youll have to put that on hold until after your treatment is completed. You may even be surprised that you may gain weight because of the foods you eat due to the change in your taste buds. More about that later Next, we discussed me eating foods that had a high source of Iron, protein and calcium as well as eating lots of fruits and vegetables. Keep in mind that while we had this conversation prior to starting the chemo, all the suggestions I received about what foods to eat was put on the back burner because one of the side effects of the chemo is that it alters your taste buds considerably. So, just know that what you should eat may not be what you actually end up eating because your food just doesnt taste normal.
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That’s a tricky question and, ultimately, each woman needs to make that decision with her doctor. But there are some advantages to having chemotherapy first.

It may be a good option “in women who have a tumor that is too big in relation to the breast size for conservative surgery[lumpectomy] but who want to have conservative surgery,” said Dr. Eric Winer, director of breast cancer oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. In these cases, chemotherapy can often shrink a tumor enough to allow breast-conserving surgery. Women who get such surgery typically get radiation afterward to prevent local and regional recurrence.

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New data show that CAPHOSOL, an advanced electrolyte solution, results in low rates of oral mucositis and pain in patients with head and neck (HN) cancer who are undergoing chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

The data, which were presented at the Advanced Practice Nursing Conference of the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS), demonstrate that use of CAPHOSOL from the initiation of cancer treatment results in a low incidence of oral mucositis (OM) and is associated with high levels of patient and physician satisfaction and medication compliance.

CHCIAGO, Nov. 17 — For carefully selected Asian patients with non-small-cell lung cancer, the tyrosine kinase inhibitor gefitinib (Iressa) significantly improved progression-free survival compared with the standard carboplatin (Paraplatin) and paclitaxel (Taxol), researchers reported here.

The phase III IRESSA-Pan Asia Study (IPASS) included patients who were chemotherapy na?ve, were never smokers or light smokers with a good performance status, an adenocarcinoma histology and Stage IIIb/IV non-small-cell lung cancer. The patients were selected from centers in China, Singapore, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Taiwan.

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