Source: www.npr.org Date: 09/28/2014 Author: Emily Siner   Every 15 minutes, for 10 hours a day, another patient walks into the radiation room at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville. Each picks up a plastic mesh mask, walks to a machine, and lies down on the table underneath. Nurses fit the mask over the patient's face and shoulders. And then they snap it down. "It was awful," says Barbara Blades, who was diagnosed with cancer in her lymph nodes and tongue nine years ago. "It was awful to have your head bolted to a table. Not being able to move. Not being able to move your head." "I can remember lying there, thinking that I'm glad I'm not claustrophobic," says Oscar Simmons, who had cancer in his tonsils. "I sort of fibbed to myself," says Bob Mead, who was diagnosed with salivary gland cancer in 2011. "I thought, if I had to, I could sit up and pull the mask off." Mead later realized he couldn't have pulled up his mask. It's designed to restrain his head so that the radiation targets the exact same spots — down to the millimeter — across several weeks. The mask is made out of a kind of white plastic mesh that forms to a patient's face. It's see-through, but it looks almost human, like a ghostly person frozen in place. Other survivors, like Steve Travis, who had tumors on his throat and neck and went through several weeks of radiation, say it felt comforting [...]

Source: www.npr.org Date: March 29, 2017 Author: Michelle Andrews You'd think that a vaccine that protects people against more than a half dozen types of cancer would have patients lining up to get it. But the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, which can prevent roughly 90 percent of all cervical cancers as well as other cancers and sexually transmitted infections caused by the virus, has faced an uphill climb since its introduction more than a decade ago. Now, with a dosing schedule that requires fewer shots of a more effective vaccine, a leading oncology group has joined other clinicians and public health advocates who are pushing hard to prevent these virus-related cancers. Last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended reducing the number of HPV vaccine shots from three to two for girls and boys between the ages of 9 and 14. This month, the American Society of Clinical Oncologists also urged physicians in the U.S. and abroad to use the vaccine to help provide protection against cervical cancer. The CDC recommendation was based, in part, on clinical trial data that showed two doses were just as effective as a three-dose regimen for this age group. (Young people older than 14 still require three shots.) The clinical trial was conducted using Gardasil 9, a version of the vaccine approved by the Food and Drug Administration in late 2014. It protects against nine types of HPV, seven that are responsible for 90 percent of cervical [...]

Source: http://www.kstatesports.com MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State head football coach Bill Snyder addressed today reports of his current health, which will not affect his duties leading the Wildcat program. “I feel bad having to release this information about my health in this manner prior to sharing it in person with so many personal friends, distant family, players and their families, past and present, and many of the Kansas State football family so close to our program,” Snyder said. “But, with so much talk presently out there, I certainly owe it to everyone to make them aware of my condition. "I have been diagnosed with throat cancer and have been receiving outpatient treatment at the KU Medical Center for about three weeks and am getting along very well. The doctors and staffs at both KU Med and M.D. Anderson (in Houston, Texas) have been great; working so very well together to finalize the overall treatment plan which is being conducted in Kansas City. Both ‘teams’ have projected a positive outcome and have worked out a schedule that allows me to be in Kansas City for my regular treatments and still be back in the office on a regular basis through the first week of March. Sean, along with our coaching and support staffs, remain highly productive in carrying out their responsibilities keeping us on track. "I greatly appreciate our President, Richard Myers, and Athletic Director, John Currie, for their continued support, and I’m very grateful to those who have responded over [...]

Author: Electra D. Paskett, Professor of Cancer Research, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University Source: http://theconversation.com Early in our careers, few of us imagined a vaccine could one day prevent cancer. Now there is a vaccine that keeps the risk of developing six Human Papillomavirus (HPV)-related cancers at bay, but adoption of it has been slow and surprising low. Although it’s been available for more than a decade, as of 2014 only 40 percent of girls had received the full three doses of the vaccine, while only 22 percent of boys had received all three. That is far lower than the 87 percent vaccination rates for the Tdap vaccine, which prevents tetanus, diptheria and acellular pertussis. Rates of uptake are low in all population groups. Some of the reasons include misinformation about the vaccine and why it’s administered to children. Because it is transmitted sexually in almost all cases, many parents assume their children do not need it until they are sexually active. Some believe that giving it will encourage early sexual behavior. Three separate doses on three separate doctor visits place a burden to many working parents. And, of course, there are those few who believe that vaccines are not good for children. Now, however, with the approval of a two-dose regimen for children under age 15, we have an opportunity to revisit the conversation with providers and parents and reinvigorate efforts to expand HPV vaccination. If successful, we may save tens of thousands of Americans from cancer [...]