Cancer Treatment Breakthroughs Milestones, lessons and stories for patients, family, friends and survivors

Amuch-needed manual for navigating different cancer treatments for patients, family, friends, carers and survivors.

Cancer is the world’s biggest health problem, manifesting at an ever-increasing rate, and alongside the human cost is an enormous economic impact. With so much information available this detailed guide demystifies cancer treatment and highlights the rate of progress the scientific and medical communities are making in their understanding of cancer and, therefore, how best to treat it.

Cancer Treatment Breakthroughs gives the reader an overview of the disease—how and why people develop cancer—and how treatment has evolved throughout history. It covers recent treatment breakthroughs including early diagnosis and testing through to surgical techniques, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, combination treatments, personalized medicine, clinical trials, and psychosocial oncology.

Each chapter contains a detailed case study that shares someone’s experience with that treatment, as well as interviews with internationally recognized experts in their fields. Authors Tim Ladhams and Jackey Coyle also explore living with cancer and how to build resilience after cancer treatment, with evidence-based tips for exercising, eating well, complementary treatments, sleeping better and simple recipes and ideas for maximizing nutrition during this time. Families and friends will find ways to support someone with cancer and improve quality of life with palliative care..

Jackey Coyle is obsessed by stories, whether to do with history, medicine, science, wellbeing, travel or music. She is a writer, researcher and broadcaster who has earned a master’s (writing and literature). Her fiction and nonfiction feature in books, magazines, anthologies and journals, including health and wellbeing since 2001. With her mother a nurse and her father a physicist, Jackey has been immersed in medicine and science from her earliest memories. She began to investigate cancer when her younger sister died within 11 months of diagnosis.

Tim Ladhams is the editor of Inside Small Business and is responsible for all the publication’s online content and its quarterly magazine. He turned to journalism after a long career—including management roles—in hospitality, insurance and credit management. Born and brought up in the United Kingdom, Tim moved to Australia in 2008. He was driven to research the themes in this book after losing his father to cancer.

Contents About the Authors Prologue Chapter 1 The world's biggest problem It's all about cells Will I get it? Cancer Across the millennia New Approaches Chapter 2 What are we dealing with here? - Advanced diagnostics Catching it early Taking scans nuclear A targeted approach Making it simple Chapter 3 The cutting edge - Surgical techniques Surgery through key hole technology in operation Chapter 4 Turn on the radiotherapy Returning to la dolce vita External radiotherapy Internal radiotherapy Radiosensitisers Chapter 5 Hitting the target - Chemotherapy Eight times lucky A WWII breakthrough 1960s development A targeted approach Chemotherapy and the 'big' cancers Targeted therapies - Angiogenesis inhibitors (ling and bowel cancer) - Anti-epidermal growth factor receptor therapies ( lung, breast and bowel cancer) - Selective estrogen receptor modulators (breast cancer) - Aromatase inhibitors (breast cancer) - Bisphosphonates (breast and prostate cancer) - Anti ADT-resistant drugs (prostate cancer) Overcoming drug-resistant cells Chapter 6 Helping the body to fight back - immunotherapy Bouncing back from a fall Not a new science Stem cell transplants signalling therapies Immune surveillance Regulatory cells Killer T-cells Co-stimulatory molecules and checkpoint inhibitors Chapter 7 Combining the treatments From horror story to happy ending Surgery combinations Chemotherapy combinations Immunotherapy combinations Chapter 8 Making it personal - Personalize medicine Understanding cancer through genetics Decoding the genome Getting the right therapy to the right patient Chapter 9 Eliminating error - Clinical trials 'Lazarus' rising Company-versus investigator-sponsored trials From concept to clinic Who takes part in trials and for how long? How do patients get on to trials? Harnessing advanced technologies in trials More trials mean better results Chapter 10 The human element - Psychosocial oncology Living with melanoma An emotional roller-coaster Challenges across the spectrum A team approach A tailored approach Measuring effectiveness Psychosocial survivorship Chapter 11 Living with cancer A recipe for resilience Eating well Exercising the body Complementary medicine Palliative care Survivorship Managing Pain Cancer risks Chapter 12 How to eat well Good eating - the basics Simple recipes for good eating References