Category Archives: Living with Cancer

Alternative Cancer Treatment, Breast Cancer, Immunotherapy, Living with Cancer

Actress Uses Cancer Diagnosis to Change Her Life

Targeted Cancer Therapy Can Bring Patients New Hope!
Hope with Diagnosis

Actress Shannen Doherty is best known as one-half of the Walsh twins on the hit TV show “Beverly Hills 90210,” but lately acting has taken a back seat to a more serious challenge. For the past eighteen months Doherty has used social media to share her brave and inspiring battle against breast cancer.

Her Courageous Journey toward Restored Health

In March 2015, then 43-year-old Doherty was diagnosed with breast cancer, which she made public the following August. She filed a lawsuit against her former business managers alleging that the diagnosis was delayed because they left her without medical insurance. The suit was settled this past August.

Early in 2016, doctors discovered that the cancer had spread to Doherty’s lymph nodes, causing her to undergo a single mastectomy in May. When Doherty was presented with the American Cancer Society’s Courage Award at a gala in November, she revealed that she had completed chemotherapy and was beginning a course of radiotherapy.

How Cancer Changed Her Lifemastectomymastectomy

Over the last year-and-a-half, Doherty has documented her treatment online in words and pictures. She credits cancer with making her a “better human being” and demonstrating which people in her life could be truly counted on, a group that includes her mother, husband and friends such as fellow actress Sarah Michelle Gellar.

Immunotherapy for Cancer: A Personalized Path of Treatment

At Issels®, our integrative immunotherapy for cancer programs are designed to address you particular needs. Our protocols attack and kill cancer cells while boosting your body’s own natural defenses. Contact us today for more information.

Alternative Cancer Treatment, Cancer Research, Living with Cancer

Cancer May Be Carried in Your DNA – Should Testing Be Offered?

Cancer Can Be Caused at The DNA Level

Lifestyle choices, such as smoking and poor diet, can affect your chances of developing cancer, but some people carry a high risk for the disease

in their DNA. The medical community is currently debating whether widespread genetic testing will do more harm than good.

Would Lower-Cost Tests Mean Greater Accessibility?

BRCA-related cancers occur when the genes that produce tumor-preventing proteins mutate to the point where they lose that ability. These genetic changes result in higher risk of breast, prostate, ovarian and pancreatic cancers as well as melanoma.

Testing can normally run into thousands of dollars, making it generally available only via insurance coverage to individuals with a strong family history of cancer. But biotech companies have come up with viable tests that cost less than $500.

When Knowledge is a Dangerous Thing

Experts such as Mary-Claire King, the award-winning geneticist who originally identified the BRCA1 gene, think that the new testing methods should be considered routine like Pap smears and mammograms. Others are not convinced.

Why is caution needed with the new genetic testing?

• Genetics is not a cut-and-dried specialty, and not all variations can be interpreted correctly.

• Some companies sell these tests directly to consumers without clear information about limitations and risks.

At this point, knowing your family history is still the best indicator of a possible genetic link to cancer.

Genomic Testing and Immunotherapy for Cancer

At Issels®, our immunotherapy for cancer treatments are personally developed to allow for individual factors such as genetic predisposition and lifestyle. Visit our website to learn more about our state-of-the-art protocols such as cancer vaccines and NK cells.

Cancer Research, Living with Cancer, News

Oral Cancer in Men Jumps 61%, Is there a Link to HPV?

Could HPV Be Linked to Oral Cancer?
Could HPV Be Linked to Oral Cancer?

In the past, oral cancer was usually tied to use of tobacco, alcohol or both. But a sharp spike in oral cancer insurance claims among American men seemingly points to a surprising new cause.

A Dramatic Shift in Oral Cancer Numbers

FAIR Heath is a national non-profit corporation that serves as a resource for information regarding healthcare costs and health insurance claims. A recent FAIR Health report, compiled from a database including more than 21 billion privately billed claims, showed a 61 percent increase in oral cancer claims between 2011 and 2015.

The largest increases were seen in cases of throat cancer and tongue cancer. Breaking the claims down further by gender; a startling three-quarters were filed by men.

Searching for Answers

While oral cancer rates have remained relatively steady, smoking rates have fallen over the years, so what’s behind these numbers? Healthcare professionals suspect a link to human papillomavirus, or HPV, which is the most common sexually transmitted infection according to CDC.

HPV infects the skin and membranes that line areas such as the mouth, throat and sexual organs. The virus has already been determined to be a cause of cervical, vaginal and penile cancers, and now experts are turning their attention toward HPV as a possible factor in some of the 50,000 cases of oral cancer that will be diagnosed this year.

Immunotherapy for Cancer: Boosting Your Body’s Natural Defenses

Issels® has long been a leader in state-of-the-art immunotherapy for cancer treatments. Contact us to learn more about our non-toxic, personally tailored programs that strengthen and support your body’s own immune response.

Living with Cancer, Stress Management

How Do I Keep My Job While in Cancer Treatment?

Feeling Bombarded with Questions on How to Handle Cancer at Work? We Have Some Tips.
Feeling Bombarded with Questions on How to Handle Cancer at Work? We Have Some Tips.

If you’re diagnosed with cancer, one of your immediate concerns is how it will affect your everyday life, including your job. Can you continue to work while in treatment, or will you even be able to keep your position?

Can Work and Cancer Treatment Co-Exist?

No matter what form of cancer you have, your particular case is unique so there are no hard and fast rules concerning your job performance. Answers will depend on factors such as your overall health, stage of cancer, and your duties.

Go At Your Own Pace

You may find that you’re able to continue with your regular work schedule during immunotherapy for cancer or other treatments. If your job becomes too much of a strain or your doctor recommends that you cut back, here are some tips to help you manage:

• Change to a part-time schedule

• Work from home either full- or part-time

• Modify your working conditions, such as having a desk closer to the restroom

• Enlist help from your family with household chores so you have more energy for your work responsibilities

You’ll need to coordinate any modifications with your supervisor, so be sure to communicate with him/her regularly. As for co-workers, it’s your choice whom you tell and how much you tell them. You may want to discuss your illness only with your closest and most trusted co-workers.

Immunotherapy for Cancer: Individually Tailored for Your Specific Case

Immunotherapy for cancer includes personalized non-toxic therapies that can reduce the number and severity of side effects. Contact us to learn why Issels® is the leader in comprehensive immunotherapy for cancer protocols.

Cancer Care Tips, Cancer Caregivers, Cancer Research, Living with Cancer

What Are the Healing Benefits of the Human Touch for Cancer Patients?

Human Touch

If you’ve been diagnosed with cancer, “the human touch” is more than just a figure of speech. Hands-on therapies can help reduce stress, boost your spirits, and reduce physical pain.

How “Healing Hands” Boost the Fight against Cancer

There is scientific research to back up the positive claims of touch therapy. One widely publicized study involved a group of married women who were threatened with a mild electric shock, but their anxiety levels dropped instantly with a touch from their husbands’ hands.

Chronic stress and depression inhibit your body’s immune system, making it more vulnerable to invading cancer cells. Touch therapy can improve your overall wellness so you’re better equipped to fight the disease.

3 Popular Touch Therapy Techniques:

  • Body psychotherapy goes beyond talk therapy, helping you tune in to bodily sensations that uncover deep emotional traumas. Methods focus on various elements such as muscle contraction, breathing and posture.
  • Physical therapy addresses pain and limited movement in muscles, joints and other tissues. According to one study, women who had undergone breast cancer surgery and worked with a physical therapist had less pain and better quality of life than others who exercised on their own.
  • Massage therapy may seem like a luxury, but it actually triggers brain activity that increases serotonin, a mood-elevating chemical, and reduces the stress hormone cortisol.

Immunotherapy for Cancer: An Integrative Approach

At Issels®, our innovative immunotherapy for cancer uses a comprehensive mind-body approach to attack cancer cells while restoring your natural immune response. Visit our website for more information about our non-toxic, personally tailored treatment programs.

Cancer Caregivers, Living with Cancer

I Have Cancer, Who Should I Tell?

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Finding the Best Way to Tell Others you Have Cancer.
Finding the Best Way to Tell Others you Have Cancer.

If you’ve been diagnosed with cancer, it’s important to maintain a support network of friends and family, but discussing your illness can be awkward and uncomfortable. How do you decide whom to tell and what to tell them?

Sharing Your Cancer Diagnosis

  • Your situation is unique. How and when you inform loved ones is up to you, not some arbitrary timetable. Take time to explore your own thoughts and emotions, giving yourself permission to experience them honestly.
  • Once you’re ready to start telling others, make a list of those you want to talk to in person. This group will most likely include your spouse or significant other along with other family members, followed by close friends. You may want to let these people break the news to more casual acquaintances.
  • If you work, not everyone in the office has to have the same level of information. You should tell your supervisor and human resources manager, since treatment will probably affect your work schedule. With co-workers, you might want to let them know with a general email or statement and then share details individually as you see fit.

Handling the Reactions

  • Most people will offer assistance, so be prepared with an answer. If you do want help, give them specific suggestions.
  • Sometimes people make inappropriate or thoughtless comments. Keep in mind that such behavior stems from their own discomfort or insecurities and shouldn’t be taken personally.

Personally Tailored Immunotherapy for Cancer Programs

At Issels®, we have decades of successful experience using immunotherapy for cancer to bolster our patients’ natural defense mechanisms. Visit our website to learn more.