Support Pancreatic Cancer Awareness and Research

Carly Roop RD, CSO, is a registered dietitian at the Joan Karnell Cancer Center (JKCC). She provides nutrition education and support to patients while addressing nutrition-related side effects from chemotherapy and radiation. Dietitians at JKCC provide educational nutrition programs that are open to patients as well as the community.This year, an estimated 43,920 people will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in the United States and approximately...

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Focus On: Neuroendocrine Tumors

Join the Abramson Cancer Center and Caring for Carcinoid Friday, November 2 for a free conference about neuroendocrine tumors. Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) form from cells that release hormones in response to a signal from the nervous system. Some examples of neuroendocrine tumors are carcinoid tumors, islet cell tumors, phechromocytomas and Merkel cell cancers.Neuroendocrine tumors are often small and can be malignant (cancerous) or benign (non-cancerous)....

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Life Worth Living: My BRCA Story

Carlette Knox is a BRCA-positive, breast cancer survivor. She underwent a bilateral mastectomy and chemotherapy in 2010 as part of her breast cancer treatment. In 2011, she had a prophylactic oophorectomy (removal of her ovaries), to decrease her ovarian cancer risk. She founded the website Life Worth Living, where she shares her experience with breast cancer.  In this blog post, she talks about her journey. In December of 2009, at the age of...

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Cancer-fighting Recipe: Not Your Mama’s Apple

Carly Roop RD, CSO, is a registered dietitian at the Joan Karnell Cancer Center (JKCC). She provides nutrition education and support to patients while addressing nutrition-related side effects from chemotherapy and radiation. Dietitians at JKCC provide educational nutrition programs that are open to patients as well as the community.There are many things I look forward to with the start of fall, most notably is the arrival of the Honeycrisp apple....

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How to Help a Friend Going Through Treatment for Cancer

Author and breast cancer survivor, Wendy NeilsenWendy Nielsen is a mom, a blogger and a breast cancer survivor. Diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008, Wendy initially underwent a lumpectomy, chemotherapy, and radiation treatment that year, followed by a prophylactic oopherectomy in 2010. She currently takes a daily aromatase inhibitor and remains NED. Wendy blogs at Wendy Nielsen and is the weekly health and wellness contributor at The Trend Tribe.Do...

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Shoe Shop to Benefit Breast Cancer Research at Penn

On Wednesday, October 24, 2012, from 5 to 8 PM (ET), QVC© will air the 19th Annual QVC© Presents “FFANY Shoes on Sale®,” a charitable shoe sale to benefit breast cancer research and education.This October, the multimedia retailer will once again join the Fashion Footwear Association of New York (FFANY) to offer more than 125,000 pairs of shoes from over 90 brands at half the manufacturer’s suggested retail price* with net proceeds benefitting breast...

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Eat Healthy and Save Money With This Harvest Recipe

Carly Roop RD, CSO, is a registered dietitian at the Joan Karnell Cancer Center (JKCC). She provides nutrition education and support to patients while addressing nutrition-related side effects from chemotherapy and radiation. Dietitians at JKCC provide educational nutrition programs that are open to patients as well as the community.The standard American diet is made up of 62% processed foods; these are packaged foods that are convenient to eat,...

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A Patient Perspective: From Surviving Breast Cancer to Motherhood

When 26-year-old Melissa Brown was diagnosed with breast cancer, preserving her fertility was not her foremost concern. Recently engaged, she and fiancé Steve Mohler were planning their wedding. And her mother, Gail, had recently suffered a third relapse in her 20-plus-year battle with cancer. But on the advice of her oncologist, David H. Henry, M.D., Vice Chair, Department of Medicine at Pennsylvania Hospital, she decided to become familiar with Oncofertility. Melissa had a special connection to Dr. Henry, her mother’s oncologist. “My mother left...

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Eye Witness News 3 in Connecticut reports on family's Basser Research Center experience

Eye Witness News 3 in Connecticut reports on Kate Berges’ families experience with BRCA, noting Berges attendance at the Philadelphia opening of Basser Research Center for BRCA.WFSB Channel 3For the latest information on BRCA research, screening and clinical trials from The Basser Research Center for BRCA,visit the official webpa...

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Let Penn Help You Manage the Stress of Cancer

As many people living with cancer integrate mindfulness into their treatment and recovery, studies show they experience a variety of positive benefits including: improved psycho-social functioning, reduction in stress symptoms, less fatigue and better sleep, deep physical relaxation, and an opening of compassion for themselves and others.The Penn Program for Mindfulness teaches people with cancer and their loved ones how to manage the stresses of...

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Breast Reconstruction Surgery After a Mastectomy

Many women with early-stage cancers can choose between breast-conserving surgery and mastectomy. A small number of women having breast-conserving surgery may not need radiation while a small percentage of women who have a mastectomy will still need radiation therapy to the breast area. Mastectomy involves removing all of the breast tissue, sometimes along with other nearby tissues. In a simple or total mastectomy, the surgeon removes the entire breast,...

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Five Reasons to Practice Yoga During Cancer Treatment

The practice of yoga during cancer treatment can be helpful on many levels. Yoga can help manage side effects of cancer including nausea and fatigue. Yoga can also promote better sleep and deep relaxation. Many people think of yoga as a very physically challenging practice, which is not the case at all. In fact, the simple act of linking of your breath with gentle movement is the essence of a yoga practice. Also, working with a yoga practitioner...

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Penn Program for Mindfulness

The Penn Program for Mindfulness provides powerful tools for coping and personal growth. Combining modern cognitive science with ancient mindfulness techniques, the program teaches people with cancer to change the way that they experience themselves and their world with skillfully applied mindfulness approaches to start anew. Founded by Dr. Michael Baime in 1992 to help patients with serious health conditions cope with the stress, pain, and losses...

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Mesothelioma Prevention and Treatment Conference at Penn in Philadelphia

Join Penn Medicine’s Abramson Cancer Center and the Pennsylvania Lung Cancer Partnership for a day of information about mesothelioma and pleural disease diagnosis, treatment and prevention as well as a chance to meet others  at the 4th Annual Focus On Mesothelioma Conference. Get information about mesothelioma and these topics:Ask the expertsDiagnosisChemo and personalized therapiesCopingIntegrative medicine and wellnessNutritionRadiation therapy...

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Chemo In Louboutins

Susan L. Schwartz is a writer from London who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 1996, and Hodgkin lymphoma in 2012. She is currently undergoing treatment for Hodgkin lymphoma at the Abramson Cancer Center in Philadelphia. You can find her blogging at Chemo in Louboutins. Nobody wants to go through chemo. It’s not on anyone’s bucket, to-do or wish list. In fact, I was never supposed to even have chemo…but then suddenly, I woke up with an...

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Multiple Myeloma Awareness Walk October 6, 2012

Carly Roop RD, CSO, is a registered dietitian at the Joan Karnell Cancer Center (JKCC). She provides nutrition education and support to patients while addressing nutrition-related side effects from chemotherapy and radiation. Dietitians at JKCC provide educational nutrition programs that are open to patients as well as the community.Staying active is key to the prevention of chronic diseases and it also plays a role in the prevention of cancer. Exercise...

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A Survivor's Perspective: Rearview Mirror

Donna-Lee ListaDonna-Lee Lista is a lung cancer survivor and an advocate for lung cancer research. In this blog, she talks about lung cancer research, and her hope for lung cancer research and treatment in the future. When I see all that has transpired in the last few years regarding lung cancer research, I can’t help but hope that maybe all the work the advocates are doing has something to do with it. I want to believe we are making a difference...

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Lung Cancer Prevention and Treatment Conference at Penn in Philadelphia

Join Penn Medicine’s Abramson Cancer Center and the Pennsylvania Lung Cancer Partnership for a day of information about lung cancer diagnosis, treatment and prevention as well as a chance to meet others at the 5th Annual Focus On Lung Cancer Conference. Get information about lung cancer and these topics:Ask the expertsDiagnosisChemo and personalized therapiesCopingIntegrative medicine and wellnessNutritionProton therapy for lung cancerRadiation...

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LiveSTRONG - It's More than Lance

In celebration of LiveSTRONG Day, Penn is highlighting the LiveSTRONG team at Penn Medicine. Sue Anne Clark physician liaison at Penn Medicine. An avid triathlete, she is the captain for the LiveSTRONG team at Penn Medicine. In this article, she discusses Lance Armstrong, cancer survivorship and her experience as team leader for the Team Penn Medicine/ The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia LiveSTRONG team.This is the third year I have participated...

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10 Must-know Facts About Breast Cancer

October is breast cancer awareness month, and it is a great time to support breast cancer research, and those women who are breast cancer survivors. It’s also a great time to remember to schedule your yearly mammogram. Here are some more facts about breast cancer to keep in mind this month.  One in 8 women will develop breast cancer – or 12% of women. A gene mutation called BRCA1 and BRCA2 can increase the likelihood of developing breast and/or...

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