cancer
Breast cancer patients need more access to reconstruction surgery
Early stage breast cancer can be cured in most women
Integrative cancer care in Canada: curiosity and cautions
Joanne MacPhail was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1993 at the age of forty three. At that time, her treatment included two surgeries, as well as a lengthy course of chemotherapy that had profound physical and emotional side effects. MacPhail details how she sought out reflexology, therapeutic touch and massage therapies to help her cope with side …
The costs of being a cancer patient
Cancer surgery: Ontario does not end at London
I am writing this piece as a Windsor native and current fourth-year medical student at the SchulichSchool of Medicine & Dentistry in London. Over the last week, I have read with concern the Wynne government’s decision to move all thoracic (esophageal and lung) cancer surgery care out of Windsor. The government declares it is centralizing …
Weighing the evidence – should Ontario fund Avastin for brain cancer?
Like many Ontarians, I have been moved by the request of Kimm Fletcher to have the Ontario government pay for the drug Avastin to treat her recurrent brain cancer. Ms. Fletcher is 41 years old and the mother of two young children. It sounds like her brain cancer is growing aggressively despite the best treatments …
Accessing reconstructive surgery after breast cancer treatment
One in nine Canadian women will develop breast cancer in their life time. The growth of screening programs means that breast cancer is being caught and treated earlier. Often, treatment involves surgery – lumpectomy or mastectomy. Increasingly, women are also choosing to undergo breast reconstruction surgery following treatment. However, only some of these breast cancer …
Ovarian cancer: why does it often evade early detection?
Financial aid for costly cancer drugs
Evidence does not support blanket prostate cancer testing recommendation
Earlier this week, Prostate Cancer Canada released a recommendation that all men have a baseline PSA test in their 40s. This recommendation is based in part on a recent paper by Vickers and colleagues in the British Medical Journal that showed that men in their 40s with a relatively high PSA level have a higher-than-average …
A patient asks: does my ancestry put me at higher risk of breast cancer?
The Personal Health Navigator is available to all Canadian patients. Questions about your doctor, hospital or how to navigate the health care system can be sent to AskLisa@Sunnybrook.ca The Question: I had my mammogram done last year. I also registered for a breast-screening program at a hospital. My aunt, who is my mama’s sister, died from …
When cancer spreads and standard therapy no longer works
My wife has colon cancer that has metastasized to her liver. She has been receiving cancer treatments in Winnipeg since June 2012. I understand from Biocompatibles Inc. that Ontario hospitals may offer Debiri treatments with respect to the liver. I would be grateful if you could let me know if these treatments are available and how I might be able to access them.
Waiting for pathology after a cancer diagnosis
The Personal Health Navigator is available to all Canadian patients. Questions about your doctor, hospital or how to navigate the health care system can be sent to AskLisa@Sunnybrook.ca The Question: I have recently been diagnosed with uterine cancer and have been told it is a “high grade.” I was referred to a surgical oncologist two weeks ago. …
Groundbreaking Canadian cohort studies aim to shed light on risk factors for cancer, chronic diseases
The British Whitehall studies helped establish the importance of the social determinants of health, while a Danish study of children provided strong evidence to disprove the damaging MMR-vaccine-causes-autism hypothesis. Those are just two of many international cohort studies—studies that follow large groups of people over many years. In Canada, starting such studies has never been …
What should I do if my father’s cancer treatment doesn’t work, a patient asks
The Personal Health Navigator is available to all Canadian patients. Questions about your doctor, hospital or how to navigate the health care system can be sent to AskLisa@Sunnybrook.ca The Question: My father has been diagnosed with lymphoma and has begun treatment with one round of chemotherapy so far and several medications. I was wondering if early results …
When dealing with cancer, “lost battle” language is inappropriate
I was very saddened to learn of the recent death of Roger Ebert. I, like so many around the world, was impressed and inspired at how he handled himself in the aftermath of his cancer surgery years ago that left him disabled and disfigured and unable to eat, drink or speak. And yet, despite his …
Suspicious skin lesions and melanoma
The Personal Health Navigator is available to all Canadian patients. Questions about your doctor, hospital or how to navigate the health care system can be sent to AskLisa@Sunnybrook.ca The Question: I suspect I have acral melanoma on my foot and I want an excision biopsy done. Most family practitioners are unaware of what it is, and they …
Diagnosed with a rare cancer, a patient needs a plan
The Personal Health Navigator is available to all Canadian patients. Questions about your doctor, hospital or how to navigate the health care system can be sent to AskLisa@Sunnybrook.ca The Question: My Godfather was diagnosed with neuroendocrine cancer a couple of weeks ago. He went into hospital with stomach pain and had emergency surgery for a tumor obstructing …
Radiation treatment after breast cancer: not optional
The Personal Health Navigator is available to all Canadian patients. Questions about your doctor, hospital or how to navigate the health care system can be sent to AskLisa@Sunnybrook.ca The Question: I have a friend who has just had a lumpectomy and sentinel lymph node biopsy for a small invasive lobular breast cancer. She has not yet met …