How to Support a Partner - Caring for the Caregiver is an article published 1/6/23 and is remains an important read.

It begins, "When test reports come in, and the building anticipation confirms the worst fears with a diagnosis of cancer, it certainly affects the individual the most. However, its ripples are far-reaching; we share it with our parents, family, partners, children or friends, and almost anyone that we can rely on for support.

These individuals become the backbone of one’s journey to fighting the battle with cancer, which can be a long and seemingly lonely road. The presence of a strong support system can make it feel easier. In this journey, the “caregivers”, our loved ones who are supporting us, often go unnoticed in their daily struggle by the doctors, relatives, and even themselves.  

To help combat that sense of caregiver fatigue, we are sharing some useful strategies to support a loved one, and in the process, also understand the role and challenges of a caregiver."

I was talking to a couple of friends last night when caregiving came up.  They had both been through recent episodes of caring for elderly parents in their last years of life and I with my husband's cancer journey (I'm embracing "journey" because I don't have another term.  Lend my a better term if you have one.:)). 

If you have thoughts on this topic please share them with us :)

Janine

Sex is almost always a neglected subject in cancer care.  I'm so glad and proud of our staff that we have this excellent article in both Spanish and  English. 

Wishing all well,

Janine

Our Targeted Therapies Forum was Saturday 7/16/2022. The forum was/is packed full of excellent, understandable, and useful information from our faculty of lung cancer specialists and Terri Conneran Founder of KRAS Kickers, lung cancer survivor, and patient advocate. Terri added a very important dimension to the day (she's one of us, a layperson who has a most personal stake in cancer treatment and patient advocacy).

You can watch it on-demand. NOTE: you need to scroll PAST, "Play Welcome Video" and "Test Your Connection"

down to the videos in orange boxes at "Morning Session", "Breakout Sessions", and "Afternoon Session" Here is the Agenda and Faculty Bios

March 26, 2018 at 10:40 pm #1294138

bfarz
Hi, 64 Y/O female, asian, dx 12/2011 Stage 4 Adneo del 19 egfr+, Tarceva for almost 5 years, no progression, then small progression, Almita/Carbo 4 cycles as hold over, tissue biopsy T790M + , Lepidic predominant Adeno, Started Tagrisso 12/2016.
Ct scan today showed 1mm increase in size of a 3 mm nodule. Also a 3mm lesion is a bit more dense looking but unchanged in size. All other nodules and lesions remain unchanged.
Is this considered progression ? Does the RECIST criteria for progression apply to a small lesion like this?
Do we have to increase the frequency of the CT scans?

March 27, 2018 at 6:25 am #1294140
JimC Forum Moderator
JimC Forum Moderator
Hi bfarz,

Although a 1 mm change in a 3 mm nodule appears to be significant in terms of percentage increase, a change of 1 mm in any size nodule is not a clear indication of growth. Many factors related not to growth but to the scanning process can make an unchanged nodule appear to be a millimeter larger, such as the way the images “cut”, the use of a different CT machine and slight changes in the angle of the images. Most oncologists would not consider this clear evidence of progression and it would not impact their management of the cancer.

You didn’t state your current scan interval, but unless it’s quite long (a year or more), then your doctor will probably not see a need to shorten the interval. But that’s a matter of personal preference that varies from one oncologist to another, and given the stable results from the latest scan, there isn’t a strictly defined standard interval.

JimC
Forum moderator

There’s still time to register for the 2015 GRACE Immunotherapy Patient Forum, to be held November 7, 2015 in National Harbor, MD. Meet with medical specialists and fellow patients and caregivers to discuss the latest information on the exciting new immunotherapies. Follow this link http://cancergrace.org/register-now-the-2015-immunotherapy-patient-foru…

Janine
Forum moderator

In this video from the AM Question and Answer Session of the event, Drs. West, Raez, Weiss and Janne discuss the role of liquid biopsies to track disease response and the potential for acquired resistance.

Denise is breaking down the plethora of information from the 2020 Targeted Therapies Forum.  Thanks DBrock!

For a full break down of the 2020 Targeted Therapies Forum, search, "2020 ttf"

Don't miss the transcription links at the top of the page, just under the subtitle.

Stay safe,

Janine

2021 Targeted Therapies Patient Forum  

To be held ONLINE July 17, 2021, 10:00 AM Eastern

Hope to see you there...LIVE...online.  :)

El Foro de Pacientes sobre Terapias Dirigidas en Cáncer de Pulmón será presentado por destacados oncólogos torácicos de nivel mundial y profesionales en tratamientos dirigidos del cáncer de pulmón. Este es un evento gratis y en línea, puedes reservar tu lugar dando click aquí o en el link de nuestro perfil: https://cancergrace.org/spanish-targeted-therapies-lung-cancer-2023-agenda

It's exciting to see such PFS numbers for advanced NSCLC.  From ASCO Daily News, Benefit With Lorlatinib in Advanced ALK-Positive NSCLC

Key Points:

• At 5-year follow-up, lorlatinib continues to show progression-free survival (PFS) benefit versus crizotinib in patients with previously untreated advanced ALK-positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with no new safety signals.
• Median PFS was not reached with lorlatinib compared with 9.1 months with crizotinib.
• The majority of patients (92%) assigned to lorlatinib were free from intracranial progression.

The Targeted Therapies Patient Forum from CancerGrace.org is finally here and FREE to anyone.  Originally scheduled for earlier this year our forum is now going to be held live online this Saturday, September 12, 2020.  

There’s no better way to get the most up to date information about research and real-life clinical practices than joining a group of professionals, patients, and caregivers for a day of lectures, panel discussions, and question and answer sessions.  

You’ve heard the saying 2 heads are better than one?  That goes doubly when you get a group of lung cancer specialists and researchers together.  I’ve been a member of Grace for over 10 years and have learned so many invaluable lessons from these types of group discussions.  This includes a variety of perspectives and detail only group discussions provide.  You’ll have ample opportunity to ask questions.  If you don’t already know, I think you’ll be heartened to see the genuine excitement from our faculty about new treatments and educating us so we can be players in the decision-making process. 

If you or someone you care about has NSCLC with a targetable mutation you won’t want to miss this forum.  

Here is the Agenda for Saturday, Faculty information, and Register here...See you there!