In Qatar

It used to be that people wouldn't talk about cancer, especially breast cancer, and that women who noticed lumps would wait months and months and maybe years to get treatment. That's how it is in Qatar, according to a short video. Watch the film in a quiet place, because the volume is pretty low, at least it was on my computer.

Breast Reconstruction: New Video Discusses Latest Breast Reconstruction Options

Breast reconstruction surgery restores something that nature has provided but cancer has taken away.

Unfortunately, most American women with breast cancer do not even realize they have the option of breast reconstruction after mastectomy or lumpectomy.

Breast reconstruction is not a cosmetic procedure.... it is every woman's right: it restores something that nature has provided but cancer has taken away. It is also covered by insurance thanks to a Federal Mandate passed in 1998.

Despite this mandate, studies alarmingly show that only 30% of women facing mastectomy are even offered the option of breast reconstruction.

Women have many reconstructive options after mastectomy or lumpectomy. These range from breast implants to "autologous" techniques which use the patient's own tissue to recreate a more "natural", warm, soft breast. The nipple and areola (the darker area surrounding the nipple) can also be recreated.

Innovative Researcher Vlog

SU2C Innovative Researcher Vlog: Dr. Lawlor (Pt. 3). Video (3:09 min) posted July 13, 2010. Features Elizabeth R Lawlor, University of Michigan, an SU2C Innovative Research Grants Investigator. [About SU2C (Stand Up to Cancer)]. She provides brief comments about her project: "Modeling Ewing Tumor Initiation in Human Neural Crest Stem Cells". How do normal stem cells become cancer stem cells?

An example of a recent (OA) publication from her laboratory: CD133 expression in chemo-resistant Ewing sarcoma cells by
Xiaohua Jiang and 8 co-authors, including Elizabeth R Lawlor,
BMC Cancer 2010(Mar 26); 10: 116. [FriendFeed entry][PubMed citation][Full text via PMC].

Video from Stanford about CSC

Cancer Stem Cells: The Origin of Cancer. Video (Runtime: 00:48:26) produced by Stanford University Medical Center, February 11, 2009. Description:

Irving Weissman, professor of developmental biology at Stanford University Medical Center, addresses what cancer stem cells are, how they maintain themselves and why they may be resistant to some current treatments. Weissman also talks about the "don't eat me" signal and how it relates to the growth of certain types of cancer cells. Find out how Stanford scientists and clinicians are working to identifying cancer stem cells in many types of tumors and how they have used that information to develop new therapeutic strategies.

Comment: Captions are available for this video. If viewed using QuickTime, the captions will be visible when the video is launched. (Unfortunately, the captions haven't been copyedited by the speaker, and contain some errors).

Video promoting CSC research

Video of Dr. Christopher Paige Interview on BNN, uploaded to PrincessMargaretHF on YouTube by the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation on February 12, 2009 (to help to raise funds for research on cancer stem cells):

Dr. Chris Paige, Vice President of Research at University Health Network, talks to BNN viewers about what the discovery of cancer stem cells actually means for the researchers and scientists looking for new cancer treatments. Most chemotherapy treatments focus on cells that are regularly dividing, but cancer stem cells do not divide often. This understanding of cancer stem cells is leading to new ways of thinking about cancer treatment and new treatment targets.

The video has received 32 views as of March 11, 2008.

CIRM videos on YouTube

There's an Announcement, dated January 20, 2009, on the home page of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), entitled: CIRMTV: CIRM videos now available on YouTube. The link leads to a Playlist of CIRM Video Stem Cell Basics. One of these, Therapies Based on Cancer Stem Cells (4:33 min), features Catriona Jamieson. It currently has a 5-star rating.

For an example of a news release about the work of her group, dated April 7, 2008, see: From Bench to Bedside in One Year: Stem Cell Research Leads to Potential New Therapy for Rare Blood Disorder by Debra Kain, University of California - San Diego News Center. The first sentence:

A unique partnership between industry and academia has led to human clinical trials of a new drug for a rare class of blood diseases called myeloproliferative disorders (MPD), which are all driven by the same genetic mutation and can evolve into leukemia.

This research was funded in part by a grant from CIRM.