New Cancer Mentality: Dr. David Stewart- Regulations leading to Impeded Progress in Cancer (Part 1)

Dr. David Stewart discusses many aspects of Cancer that he feels need to be changed to make more progress in the field. He also discusses the importance of genetic testing before putting patients into clinical trials. Dr. Stewart is a professor of medicine and head of division of medical oncology at the University of Ottawa. He was previously professor and deputy chair of Thoracic Head and Neck Medical Oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Hospital. He has 270 peer reviewed publications and edited the textbook Lung Cancer: Prevention, Management, and Emerging Therapies Published in 2010.

New Cancer Mentality: Krystal Bocanegra on her Experince with Peritoneal Mesothelioma and Advice for Current Patients

New Cancer Mentality: Krystal Bocanegra on her journey fighting Peritoneal Mesothelioma and Advice for Current Patients from David Farzam on Vimeo.

Krystal’s story begins almost 3yrs ago, when she suddenly began experiencing severe stomach pains and exhaustion. At the time, she contributed these symptoms to her body reacting to working too much, but her symptoms consistently kept getting worse and worse each month. Finally, after becoming too fatigued to work, Krystal decided to go see her primary care physician. After, a CT scan was taken and surgery completed to look at what was going on, Krystal was diagnosed with the rare cancer peritoneal mesothelioma. She comes today to inform our audience of her treatment and help others who may be going through similar circumstances she did.

New Cancer Mentality: Thoracic Surgeon Dr. William R. Smythe on Mesothelioma Treatment

New Cancer Mentality: Dr. Arnold Glazier on the Requirements for Cure of Cancer: A plan of Action

New Cancer Mentality: Dr. Arnold Glazier on the Requirements for Cure of Cancer: A plan of Action from David Farzam on Vimeo.

Dr. Glazier discusses PRTT and the requirements for the cure of cancer.

Click the link below for a PDF of the interview



For additional information on the Overview of Requirements for Prevention and Cure of Metastatic Cancer click the link below

New Cancer Mentality: Dr. Arnold Glazier on the importance of Prevention on Cancer

New Cancer Mentality: Dr. Arnold Glazier on the importance of Prevention on Cancer from David Farzam on Vimeo.

In this video, Dr. Glazier emphasizes many important aspects relating to prevention on cancer risk and what can be done to avoid exposure to carcinogens.

Click the link below for a PDF of the interview

New Cancer Mentality: Dr. Arnold Glazier on the Complexity of Cancer, Tumor Cell Evolution, and its Implications for the Future

New Cancer Mentality: Dr. Arnold Glazier on the Complexity of Cancer, Tumor Cell Evolution, and its Implications for the Future from David Farzam on Vimeo.
In part one, Dr. Glazier reviews the evidence that cancer is an enormously diverse, unpredictable evolutionary process and discusses the logical and practical implications.

Click the link below for a PDF of the interview.

New Cancer Mentality: Jonny Imerman on Imerman's Angels and importance of connecting with others during Treatment

New Cancer Mentality: Jonny Imerman on Imerman's Angels and importance of connecting with others during Treatment from David Farzam on Vimeo.

Jonny Imerman is the founder of the successful organization Imerman's Angels. Jonny connects cancer patients with cancer survivors who fought the same type of cancer as the patient. Thanks to the organization, cancer patients are able to have someone to contact during difficult periods of their treatment. Cancer survivors assume a mentor position and are able to share their story with the patients and build new relationships. Thanks again to Jonny and we wish him all the best in the future.

New Cancer Mentality: Dr. William C. Dooley on Cutting Edge Cancer Treatments

In this video, New Cancer Mentality Interviews Dr. William C. Dooley about his thoughts on current cancer research techniques and ideas for the future. Dr. Dooley received his medical degree from Vanderbilt School of Medicine and later did his surgical training at the John Hopkins. Dr. Dooley is the G. Rainey Williams Professor and chair of surgical breast oncology at the University of Oklahoma Breast Institute, Oklahoma City. In the video he gives excellent advice for current cancer patients and gives basic information everyone should know, including a brief history of breast cancer procedures currently performed.

New Cancer Mentality: Carolyn Aldige on Importance of Prevention on Cancer

New Cancer Mentality: Carolyn Aldige on Importance of Prevention on Cancer from David Farzam on Vimeo.

Carolyn Aldige is the founder of the Prevent Cancer Foundation. The foundation has provided more than $120 million in support of its mission: cancer prevention and early detection through research, education, community-based programs and advocacy, and has become nationally recognized as a leader in the fight against cancer through prevention.

In this interview, Ms. Aldige speaks about the importance of prevention and early detection on cancer. She teaches the younger generation to follow basic principles and live a healthy lifestyle.

New Cancer Mentality: Dan Zenka's tips for Prostate Cancer Patients

New Cancer Mentality Interview: Dan Zenka on Prostate Cancer and Advice for Patients from David Farzam on Vimeo.

Dan is the vice president of communications for the Prostate Cancer Foundation, and recently began his own personal battle against prostate cancer. Dan is reaching out to other prostate cancer patients across the globe using his blog, My New York Minute, www.mynewyorkminute.org.

New Cancer Mentality: Caroline Ronten on importance of maintaining support when diagnosed with Cancer

New Cancer Mentality Interview: Caroline Ronten on importance of maintaining support when diagnosed with Cancer from David Farzam on Vimeo.

Caroline was diagnosed with thyroid cancer while in college, and was just diagnosed with breast cancer a few years ago. She has an inspiring story and gives great information to other patients who need help getting through their personal fight with cancer. Caroline is also the founder of the well known blog, "Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog"

New Cancer Mentality: Aubrey de Grey on WILT system and role of Telomeres on Cancer

New Cancer Mentality Interview with Dr. Aubrey de Grey from David Farzam on Vimeo.

De Grey is an English author and theoretician in the field of gerontology, and the Chief Science Officer of the SENS Foundation. He is editor-in-chief of the academic journal Rejuvenation Research, author of The Mitochondrial Free Radical Theory of Aging and co-author of Ending Aging. Wikipedia. Due to technical difficulties, the voice of the interviewer echoes at the beginning. However, De Grey's voice comes out clearly and he offers excellent insight into what he believes will lead to the best advances for cancer treatment in the future.

New Cancer Mentality: Ironman Clayton Treska on Importance of Faith with Cancer

New Cancer Mentality Interview with Clayton Treska from David Farzam on Vimeo.

Thanks again to Clayton Treska for sharing his miraculous story of faith and bravery. Clayton fought off stage 4 testicular cancer and completed the Kona Ironman this past October. We wish Clayton much success in the future and we know that his inspirational story and determined nature will resonate with other cancer patients around the country. We look forward to having him on the website again soon.

New Cancer Mentality: Dr. Carlo Maley on Evolutionary Dynamics of Cancer

New Cancer Mentality Interview 2 with Evolutionary Biologist Dr. Carlo Maley. Dr. Maley is currently at the Helen Diller Center at the University of California San Francisco leading a center looking at the role of evolution on cancer. He gives excellent insight into many concepts most cancer patients should know and gives his opinions on what needs to be done in the future to control this deadly disease.

New Cancer Mentality Interview 2 With Carlo Maley from David Farzam on Vimeo.

Why We Haven't Cured Cancer

I’m going to try to give everyone a brief overview as to why researchers have been unable to cure cancer for the last twenty years and I would love anyone who has additional feedback to comment. Let's get right into it. DNA is our genetic material found in every single human being. DNA consists of 4 nucleotides(A,T,C,G). Many nucleotides can form a gene and this gene can make a protein. These proteins are critical for our survival and play many important functions. In DNA the A nucleotides pair up with the T’s and the C’s pair up with the G’s. It should be stated that many of our nucleotides don’t form proteins and we still don't have a good grasp on what these nucleotides actually do. Most researchers believe these nucleotides play a role in structure. Cancer results when random mutations form in our DNA everytime we replicate our cells. For example, a T nucleotide will mistakenly base pair with a C instead of an A. One big potential problem with this inaccurate basepairing is that we no longer form the proteins that need to be made from that specific gene. Also, we could potentially form abnormal proteins that can lead to cancer forming. Clever scientists decided that it was time to sequence all the genes in cancer cells they isolated from the tumors of cancer patients and compare these with normal cells in the same area. These scientists eventually noticed similar patterns of mutations occurring in various types of cancer in different patients. As a result, these doctors attempted to inhibit these genes that were accumulating mutations shown in many patients with similar forms of cancer by using drugs. Unfortunately, our bodies are constantly changing and new mutations are always forming so eventually resistance forms against the drugs given to block these genes. Now, the next question most of you probably are asking is “why don’t we find the form of resistance and target a drug to stop this”? The overwhelming problem is that it is very hard to specifically find what mutations are causing the resistance and there are many mechanisms of resistance possible to the drugs used to treat cancer. Furthermore, while one drug might block a long sequence of one gene, all it may take is a single nucleotide mutation to cause the cells to become resistant to the drug given. By the way, these drugs(herceptin, gleevec) are pretty expensive(averaging around 60000 dollars a year). Most of the time these drugs are combined with chemotherapy to give an enhanced affect to try to kill the malignant cells and they tend to add about an extra two months to lifespan on average for some individuals. Bottom line, even a small tumor contains tens of billions of cancer cells which are constantly evolving. It is impossible for us to try to target one specific gene or try to identify one protein that could be the sole cause of cancer occurring. We can not predict the evolution that is constantly taking place in our bodies. Instead we need to focus on the simpler models of cancer and try to solve the problem on a larger scale. All cancerous cells require normal cell machinery to function. Also, all cancerous cells need to be able to proliferate and be invasive(cross the basement membrane and enter new sites of the body) in order to cause damage. Researcher needs to focus more on the mechanisms that are found in the normal machinery that are allowing all cancerous cells to do their job. If we can inhibit proteins needed for invasiveness and stop replication of cancerous cells we will be able to solve the problems of cancer. On that note, I have come to the realization that being healthy both on a physical, dietary, and mental level is of key importance. It has been shown in many studies that microtumors are unable to develop into large scale tumors unless our environment triggers this effect. Also, it has been shown that eating right and being less stressed(practicing breathing exercises, meditating) can actually change expression of genes in a positive manner and can help fight cancer. If you need evidence for this, just look at the fact that most Japanese men do not develop cancer in their own countries; however, when they migrate to America and start eating a western diet cancer rates skyrocket. Also, although i’m very new to this field of research, after reading many books I feel every cancer patient should realize that they have a choice. Cancer patients should always get a second opinion and not resort to the first form of treatment justified by their doctors. Many times surgery is not the answer and active surveillance can be used instead. Also, a cancer patients outlook on life and belief that they will win this fight is of utmost importance. With that said I will continue to find information about many questions people might have(Can biopsies spread cancer? Which foods are good for fighting certain types of cancer?). I will also continue to highlight relevant research and find out any new forms of conventional treatment proven to be helpful. For more information on why cancer is so difficult to cure, check out this excellent talk by Carlo Maley in which he gives an in depth look at all the mechanisms involved in causing cancerous lesions to form and what we want to do in the future to look at tumor evolution. http://vimeo.com/10809459