- Glioma stem cell research for the development of immunotherapy, Neurosurg Clin N Am 2010(Jan); 21(1): 159-66 [PubMed Citation][Connotea bookmark].
- Cancer stem cell and niche, Front Biosci (Schol Ed) 2010(Jan 1); 2: 184-93 [PubMed Citation][FriendFeed entry][Connotea bookmark].
- Cancer stem cell niche as a therapeutic target by Alexey Bersenev, Hematopoiesis, December 27, 2009 [FriendFeed entry].
- Leukemia Stem Cells, Semin Cancer Biol 2009(Dec 22) [Epub ahead of print][PubMed Citation][Connotea bookmark].
- Aldehyde Dehydrogenase 1–Positive Cancer Stem Cells Mediate Metastasis and Poor Clinical Outcome in Inflammatory Breast Cancer, Clin Cancer Res 2009(Dec 22) [Epub ahead of print][PubMed Citation][FriendFeed entry][Connotea bookmark].
- Multiple lineages of human breast cancer stem/progenitor cells identified by profiling with stem cell markers, PLoS ONE 2009(Dec 21); 4(12): e8377 [PubMed Citation][Full text via PMC][ResearchGATE entry][Connotea bookmark].
- Are cancer stem cells concentrated in more alkaline hypoxic regions of tumors? Med Hypotheses 2009(Dec 16)[Epub ahead of print][PubMed Citation].
- Targeted therapy in haematological malignancies, J Pathol 2009(Dec 10) [Epub ahead of print][PubMed Citation][ResearchGATE entry][Connotea bookmark].
- Video of Robert Weinberg interviewed about Breast Cancer Stem Cells & the EMT, SABCS 2009 Interview, American Association for Cancer Research, December 10, 2009 [FriendFeed entry].
- Professor Dick Honored For Making Sense of Cancer Stem Cells by Mikkael A Sekeres, ASH News Daily, December 8, 2009 [FriendFeed entry].
- Spices halt growth of breast stem cells, study finds, PhysOrg.com, December 7, 2009 [FriendFeed entry].
Sunday, January 3, 2010
CSC news roundup 2010-01-03
Randy Pausch Inspires Graduates
This is 6:32 minute video of Professor Randy Pausch giving an inspirational speech to the Carnegie Mellon University Class of 2008 … at the Commencement ceremony.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Happy New Year
football, football and more football
I hope I stay out of the Spa this year as my health care has undergone a dramatic change for 2010.
I hope I stay out of the Spa this year as my health care has undergone a dramatic change for 2010.
Seems I Have More Energy
I can hardly believe it but on New Year’s Eve I actually stayed up till past midnight.... And with an abundance of finger food, chocolate and coffee I was a kind of worked up. This meant I was a bit more tired than normal on New Year’s Day. So last night I decided to take an Ativan before going to bed. I woke up this morning at around 8, feeling a bit groggy and headachy. I took 3 shots of Benadryl and one regular aspirin and then slept three more hours. Now I’m feeling good.
As far as my body goes, my calves are suppler and not as tight, allowing me to move around so much easier. My feet are still swollen a bit but they aren’t a huge issue right now. It’s a bit strange, but my other muscles are now sore ... like my thighs, like I’ve been doing squats or something. I think it’s just me being more active and working them.
I’m finding more energy to go do laundry. And now I can easily cook without the need of a chair in the kitchen. My motivation to do stuff is slowly coming back and my body is begrudgingly following suit.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Purpose in Pain
Maybe I'm going out on a limb here, but I guess I spend a lot of time thinking and contemplating and reading. Maybe because I live in the cancer community, a place where pain and heartache and struggle reign. I think about it a lot.
After I had survived longer than I was expected to, I became obsessed with purpose. If I had survived against all odds, I felt I must be here for a reason, and I was obsessed with learning why I had survived, what my purpose was here. I thought if I'd survived when I wasn't supposed to, it must be for a reason. I HAD to understand my life purpose, I had to justify my survival. I had to be worthy.
I read lots of books about purpose. One was "What Color is Your Parachute", written Richard N. Bolles, a former Episcopal clergyman. What intrigued me most about the book was a single chapter, which was later published in a single small book "How to Find Your Mission in Life". In that chapter and book, he contemplates that maybe before we were born, our eternal soul existed and gave permission for us to be on this earth and to deal with what we would suffer here, knowing that it was for a limited time only. What if we, from the other side, gave our permission to experience the events and pain we would suffer here, knowing it would serve an ultimate and greater purpose? Knowing that we had a mission and knowing that we would eventually come home to where things were right and just, where we would later be whole again.
That gave me a sort of peace. Maybe we are all interconnected and our trials in the end are for a greater good. One example...my daughter has a deaf cousin. She learned sign language to communicate with her. That same cousin had a very disabled brother who died at age 4 after suffering a life of disability..he was never able to communicate, eat, even breathe well. In the end she is pursuing a career in special education and works for a group home housing many disabled adults with severe autism. Her heart is for the handicapped. She has a gift for dealing with the severely disabled. She worked with the disabled at her high school, and taught sign language to some who were mute, giving them the first chance they'd ever had to communicate with others. Maybe dealing with two disabled cousins gave her the ability to profoundly affect the lives of many who are disabled. Maybe the disability of her two cousins will in the end help her help hundreds of diabled kids. So maybe from her cousin's pain there was a greater good.
I read once of a very educated and intelligent man who gave up his career and spent years working with the very disabled. Though they could not communicate with him, he said they taught him more than he had ever learned before...about appreciating health and wholeness, about unconditional love.
A young adult I consider my "adopted son" was profoundly affected by the accidental death of his father at a young age...but he has become gifted from that experience in the way he is able to support and relate to others.
Maybe in the end all of our suffering is for a greater good. Maybe kids who lose parents to cancer will in the end be able to help others in a way no one else can. The child of one patient I know who had appendix cancer in the end as a teen formed her own non-profit to raise money for cancer research.
Maybe the effect of our pain on just one other person will cause that person to positively influence hundreds of other. Maybe our pain is interconnected in a way that achieves a greater goal, even if we can't know it from our perspective here and now.
Maybe even small events in our lives cause a ripple effect that change the world. Maybe there is a bigger picture we don't understand..yet. But maybe we will one day
After I had survived longer than I was expected to, I became obsessed with purpose. If I had survived against all odds, I felt I must be here for a reason, and I was obsessed with learning why I had survived, what my purpose was here. I thought if I'd survived when I wasn't supposed to, it must be for a reason. I HAD to understand my life purpose, I had to justify my survival. I had to be worthy.
I read lots of books about purpose. One was "What Color is Your Parachute", written Richard N. Bolles, a former Episcopal clergyman. What intrigued me most about the book was a single chapter, which was later published in a single small book "How to Find Your Mission in Life". In that chapter and book, he contemplates that maybe before we were born, our eternal soul existed and gave permission for us to be on this earth and to deal with what we would suffer here, knowing that it was for a limited time only. What if we, from the other side, gave our permission to experience the events and pain we would suffer here, knowing it would serve an ultimate and greater purpose? Knowing that we had a mission and knowing that we would eventually come home to where things were right and just, where we would later be whole again.
That gave me a sort of peace. Maybe we are all interconnected and our trials in the end are for a greater good. One example...my daughter has a deaf cousin. She learned sign language to communicate with her. That same cousin had a very disabled brother who died at age 4 after suffering a life of disability..he was never able to communicate, eat, even breathe well. In the end she is pursuing a career in special education and works for a group home housing many disabled adults with severe autism. Her heart is for the handicapped. She has a gift for dealing with the severely disabled. She worked with the disabled at her high school, and taught sign language to some who were mute, giving them the first chance they'd ever had to communicate with others. Maybe dealing with two disabled cousins gave her the ability to profoundly affect the lives of many who are disabled. Maybe the disability of her two cousins will in the end help her help hundreds of diabled kids. So maybe from her cousin's pain there was a greater good.
I read once of a very educated and intelligent man who gave up his career and spent years working with the very disabled. Though they could not communicate with him, he said they taught him more than he had ever learned before...about appreciating health and wholeness, about unconditional love.
A young adult I consider my "adopted son" was profoundly affected by the accidental death of his father at a young age...but he has become gifted from that experience in the way he is able to support and relate to others.
Maybe in the end all of our suffering is for a greater good. Maybe kids who lose parents to cancer will in the end be able to help others in a way no one else can. The child of one patient I know who had appendix cancer in the end as a teen formed her own non-profit to raise money for cancer research.
Maybe the effect of our pain on just one other person will cause that person to positively influence hundreds of other. Maybe our pain is interconnected in a way that achieves a greater goal, even if we can't know it from our perspective here and now.
Maybe even small events in our lives cause a ripple effect that change the world. Maybe there is a bigger picture we don't understand..yet. But maybe we will one day
Happy new year to all
I woke up a little grouchy this morning, still a bit sore at the new port site, but thrilled to take a shower for the first time since Wednesday. After eating breakfast, I was alert enough to realize that IT'S A NEW YEAR!
I wasn't sure I would live to see 2010 after having been diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. But I am pleased to be here to celebrate the turning of a new year and a new decade. And to remember those we love who are no longer with us. (Emily, I am thinking of you today.)
I wasn't sure I would live to see 2010 after having been diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. But I am pleased to be here to celebrate the turning of a new year and a new decade. And to remember those we love who are no longer with us. (Emily, I am thinking of you today.)
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