Calling all triple negative breast cancer patients in the UK
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Once upon a time, in a land far away, a beautiful, independent, self assured princess happened upon a frog as she sat, contemplating ecological issues on the shores of an unpolluted pond in a verdant meadow near her castle. The frog hopped into the princess lap and said "Elegant Lady, I was once a handsome prince, until an evil witch cast a spell upon me. One kiss from you, however, and I will turn back into the dapper, young prince that I am, and then, my sweet, we can marry and setup housekeeping in castle with my mother, where you can prepare my meals, clean my clothes, bear my children, and forever feel grateful and happy doing so."
That night, the princess had frog legs seasoned in a white wine and shallot cream sauce in her dinner.0 -
Hello adagio
Thank you for your post. I do hope you will manage to get through treatment without problems to your veins. It is good that you have decent veins, so I hope that, like me, you will not have any problems with veins. If it is the same as here in the UK, the district nurse will come to you the day before each chemotherapy treatment to take blood. This is sent to the lab at the hospital so that the oncology team can check it to make sure that all is fine for you to proceed with the chemotherapy treatment. They will be looking to make sure in particular that your red blood cells and white blood cells are not too low. I never had a problem with these levels and I did take iron supplements and ate plenty of iron-rich prunes, raisins and dried figs to keep my iron levels up. These dried fruits also helped me not have constipation because they are high fibre. Chemotherapy drugs can also cause constipation. They can also cause diarrhoea. This is something I did not suffer from either and I ate bananas as a means of prevention. I know from the forum that some women do have problems with low red blood cells and low white blood cells. The medical team can deal with this.
When I was going through chemotherapy I took only the few anti-sickness pills given to me to take for the first two days after each treatment. From reading the forums especially with the American women, I know that it seems usual to give them injections to stop low white blood cell counts. They are given after each chemotherapy treatment, I think. One of these is the brand name Neulasta (pegfilgrastim) and also Neupogen.
You will be told to drink a lot of fluids during chemotherapy, especially in the first few days after treatment to flush out your system.
You should also be told to avoid crowded places and anyone from whom you might catch something, as your immune system will be lowered because of the chemotherapy drugs.
I was also told to get flu injections and pneumonia injections to keep these illnesses at bay. You will suffer hair loss so you might want to get a nice wig. The hair will grow back. There are women who decide to wear a cool cap at each session of chemotherapy in order to avoid hair loss. Again it is something that your oncologist should have mentioned to you. My oncologist was against it because of the possibility of infection, at least that is what she told me.
Your oncologist should also have told you to get any dental work done before you begin, as you will not be able to have dental treatment during your chemotherapy.
With reference to flu and pneumonia injections, my husband also had them done, on the advice of the oncologist.
If I were you, I would concentrate on one thing at a time and put all the rest out of your mind. You have had your surgery and now you must concentrate on getting yourself through chemotherapy. It is the longest part of the treatment and the one that a lot of women find the most difficult. You have to keep looking forward, drink plenty of fluids, get plenty of rest and have a strong attitude.
If I were you I would be very careful about looking up too much on the internet. I think with TNBC we may have gone, certainly in the UK, to information overload. I have not been on the site Breast Cancer Treatment Outcome Calculator as I do not think anyone really knows what a prognosis will be with or without chemotherapy. I would think that with some nodes positive you would need chemotherapy and that is what your oncologist has advised. We are all individuals and we are not statistics.
There is a lot of research about exposure to light and the development of breast cancer. We do have blackout blinds in our bedroom.
I do hope you will enjoy your long weekend which I assume is for Remembrance Day.
I lived in Montreal, Quebec for just over three years, Ottawa for just over nine years and London, Ontario for just over four years. We did fly out to the west for a holiday. We flew to Vancouver, which I liked very much and also went to Whistler, and also the Capilano suspension bridge. We went on the ferry to Vancouver Island and drove up to Port Hardy. From there we went on the inside passage to Prince George (I think) and then drove back through the Rockies. It was quite a trip.
You asked about the metformin trial. Yes I have heard of it. Metformin has had a lot of publicity this year as a potential treatment for breast cancer. There are women on the forum who are taking it, but I am not sure whether they are in a trial.
That is all for now. Keep posting.
Best wishes.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello BernieEllen
Thank you so much for that excellent joke. It was a good way to start off a very overcast and gloomy day here in Exmouth. It is typical weather for Remembrance Day on Sunday.
I hope you have a good weekend.
Have you been back to the hospital about your problem with lymphoedema? I think you said it was truncal lymphoedema.
Best wishes.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello everybody
I just wanted to wish you all a good weekend as Friday slowly disappears.
Hello to Dulcie, linali (Lindsay), I hope all goes well at the lymphoedema clinic on Wednesday November 14th. Mumtobe, I hope you and baby are doing well. When do you have to start treatment again? Sam52, I hope life is not too stressful. Chatterbox2012, I hope you have had an interesting week. Maria_Malta, is your weather still mild? FernMF, I hope you continue to make good progress.
Breast cancer has been back in the news again this week. We have had Sharon Osborne, her bilateral mastectomy after being told she has the BRCA1 gene. There has also been the story of the consultant who has about a hundred women suing him over unnecessary surgery for breast cancer. I think some did not even have breast cancer!!
All the excitement over the Presidential election in the US has now gone and I suppose it will be the great emotional build up to Christmas.
That is all for now.
Best wishes.
Sylvia
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Good morning Sylvia. Thank you for your concern. Waiting for my next hospital appointment, should be at the end ofthe month.
I am doing very well at the moment. Tidying the garden and settling all the animals in for the winter.
Wishing you a good weekend.
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Church Bulletin Typos
These sentences actually appeared in a church bulletin or were announced in a church service. Read them and weep!
- Bertha Belch, a missionary from Africa will be speaking tonight at Calvary Memorial Church in Racine. Come tonight and hear Bertha Belch all the way from Africa.
- Announcement in the church bulletin for a National Prayer and Fasting conference: “The cost for attending the Fasting and Prayer conference includes meals.”
- Our youth basketball team is back in action Wednesday at 8 pm in the recreation hall. Come on out and watch us kill Christ the King.
- Miss Charlene Mason sang “I will not pass this way again” giving obvious pleasure to the congregation.
- Ladies, don’t forget the rummage sale. It’s a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Don’t forget your husbands.
- The peacemaking meeting scheduled for today has been cancelled due to a conflict.
- The sermon this morning: “Jesus Walks on the Water” The sermon tonight: “Searching for Jesus”
- Next Thursday there will be tryouts for the choir. They need all the help they can get.
- Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our community.
- Don’t let worry kill you off – let the Church help.
- Irving Benson and Jessie Carter were married on October 24 in the church. So ends a friendship that began in their school days.
- A bean supper will be held on Tuesday evening in the church hall. Music will follow.
- The senior choir invites any member of the congregation who enjoys sinning to join the choir.
- Scouts are saving aluminum cans, bottles, and other items to be re-cycled. Proceeds will be used to cripple children.
- For those of you who have children and don’t know it, we have a nursery downstairs.
- Please place your donation in the envelope along with the deceased person (s) you want to be remembered.
- Attend and you will hear an excellent speaker and heave a healthy lunch.
- The church will host an evening of fine dining, superb entertainment, and gracious hostility.
- Potluck supper Sunday at 5:00 pm – prayer and medication to follow.
- The ladies of the church have cast off clothing of every kind. They may be seen in the basement on Friday afternoon.
- Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 pm. Please use the back door.
- The eight graders will be presenting Shakespeare’s Hamlet in the church basement Friday at 7 PM. The congregation is invited to attend the tragedy.
- Weight Watchers will meet at 7 PM at the First Presbyterian Church. Please use the large double door at the side entrance.
- The associate Minister unveiled the church’s new tithing campaign slogan last Sunday: “I Upped My Pledge – Up Yours”
- Our next song is “Angels We Have Heard Get High.”
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Hi everyone,
Hope you are all having a good weekend. I am just popping in, don't get a chance to get on the laptop too much anymore. Baby Emma is doing great as am I thank God. I am starting into my 'preventative' treatment next week of 12 wks of wkly Taxols and I was just wondering for those of you who did Taxols what the side effects are and whether or not your hair grew back while on this treatment? I have had great regrowth in the last 6 wks but should I prepare myself for it to go again? Seems a bit vain but I am really beginning to miss my hair and hate my wig!
much love, C x
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In Flanders Fields by John McCrae May 1915
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep,
though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.0 -
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Hi,
Just watching the ceremony at the cenotaph and remembering my dad who was in the navy and survived, my uncle sandy who was killed in Egypt and my uncle Ian who was in the navy after the war but was drowned trying to save his friend.
It brings to mind the song where have all the flowers gone, to see all the injured young men who are so brave and positive....... when will we ever learn.
I have to miss my appt with the lymphadema clinic, by choice. The launch of STSA choir is on in Galway and we are going on a coach and making an day of it. They are on face book if anyone wants to see what they are about and on morning TV on Wednesday.I will reschedule as it seems to be getting worse and I think it has travelled down my ribcage if that is possible.
Gerry who does the sleep techniques was unable to come because of illness, I hope it isnt the start of the winter bug season.
Sylvia, to answer your question re endocrinology, Leigh is starting on a journey of transition and is being considered for female hormones. He has to see the clinics psychiatrist first for an assessment as the consultant wants to check out how the aspergers and his anxiety attacks will affect the difficult process of transitioning. A very stressful time for all of us.
I checked out other forums and none are as helpful, relavent or supportive as this one.
I feel comfortable here and it doesn't matter if I don't contribute any technical stuff but have learned alot and most importantly DO NOT FEEL ALONE. No one else that I have met understands about TNBC and perhaps think I am paranoid or over dramatic.
Where else could we find up to date information and support combined with the hilarious stories and poignant pictures posted by BernieEllen.
Wishing peace to everyone
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Linali, always here for you
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WHERE HAVE ALL THE FLOWERS GONE
words and music by Pete Seeger
performed by Pete Seeger and Tao Rodriguez-Seeger
Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the flowers gone?
Girls have picked them every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?
Where have all the young girls gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the young girls gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the young girls gone?
Taken husbands every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?
Where have all the young men gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the young men gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the young men gone?
Gone for soldiers every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Gone to graveyards every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?
Where have all the graveyards gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the graveyards gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the graveyards gone?
Covered with flowers every one
When will we ever learn?
When will we ever learn?0 -
Hello BernieEllen, linali and Mumtobe
I have just read all of your inspiring posts and I shall be answering in more detail later today. I have had a quiet weekend, during which I put the laptop away. I am truly proud of you three Irish ladies for your enormous contribution to this thread.
BernieEllen, you are one special person. You came to this thread during your own treatment and you have stayed with us all the way after your own treatment finished. You inform us, you make us laugh, you comfort us and you make us feel so good with your beautiful designs for every special occasion and your poems, songs and appropriate philosophical quotes.
I shall talk to you later today.
Best wishes.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello Mumtobe
Thank you for your post. It is always nice to hear from you. I think we can all understand how busy you are with Baby Emma and we are all glad that she is doing great.
We shall all be thinking of you as you start your chemotherapy treatment next week. This will be a very demanding time for you, chemotherapy in addition to looking after Baby Emma.
You said in your post that you were going to have twelve weeks of weekly treatment, so I am assuming the dose will be lower than if you were having a three-weekly cycle. You also said that you were having 'Taxols'. Do you mean Taxol (paclitaxel)? This belongs to the group of drugs known as Taxanes and the other one is Taxotere (docetaxel). Make sure that you know which one you are going to have and why one has been chosen rather than the other.
I had six months of chemotherapy and had docetaxel for the last three months. I had four three-weekly cycles of docetaxel.
I did ask my oncologist why she had chosen docetaxel rather than paclitaxel, and she said it was less damaging to the heart.
Your oncologist should tell you what the usual side effects are, but remember our cancers are all very individual and no one really knows how they will be affected. I am sure the Taxanes cause hair loss. I had epirubicin and cyclophosphomide for the first three months and my hair started to fall out after the first treatment, so I was more or less bald when I started the docetaxel. However, it was the docetaxel that caused my eyebrows and eyelashes to disappear and discoloured some of my toenails. They looked brown. A friend of mine on the same docetaxel had her toenails fall off, but they grow back.
I think FernMF had one of the taxanes when she started chemotherapy and had hair loss.
There is someone posting at the moment whose name is adagio and she lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. If you go back a few posts you will see what she has been saying and what I have been saying to her. She has been putting a lot of thought into chemotherapy treatment and whether it is what she wants. She is due to begin treatment and her treatment is to be first of all AC and then Taxol (AC is Adriamycin (doxorubicin) and Cytoxan (cyclophosphomide)). She should be posting again soon when she gets back from a long bank holiday weekend in Canada. It will be interesting for the two of you to post your experiences on chemotherapy and she will be able to see how you cope with Taxol if that is what you have.
Your hair will not grow back during treatment but it will grow back when you finish.
If you really cannot stand wearing your wig, you can always ask your oncologist about wearing a cold cap during your chemotherapy treatment, as this helps to avoid hair loss.
Some women experience a funny metallic taste in the mouth during treatment and I think that the taxanes may do this more, perhaps, than the other drugs.
I hope all this will help. Just remember you can get through this.
Wishing you well and please keep in touch.
Best wishes
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello linali
Thank you for your post and your wise comments about Remembrance Day. The ceremony is very moving but the tragedy is that the politicians who start these wars never learn. I always think of my uncle, my mother's brother, who died in the early part of WWII and never got to see his second child and of that child, my cousin, and his elder brother, who were left to be brought up by their mother without a father. I think that war is evil and does not solve any problems.
I love that song about where have all the flowers gone.
I do hope the launch of your choir will be successful and that you have a good day out. I can understand that you do not wish to miss it.
When you say morning TV on Wednesday, shall I be able to see it here?
I do hope you will be able to get your appointment soon at the lymphoedema clinic soon, because it needs to be treated as quickly as possible.
I do hope all will be well with Gerry who does the sleep techniques at your centre. The season of winter bugs seems to be alive and well in the UK.
I was interested to know about Leigh and I do hope all will go well for him. I can understand that this is a stressful time for you.
Thank you for your kind words about this thread. It does make a lot of difference to know that it is helping people and I did want it to be a very special thread, full of useful information, help and support, as well as motivation. Thank you for your help with this. What you say about not feeling alone is very important. The cancer journey is a long one and it can be wearing and exhausting. If this thread helps you to come on and share your thoughts and feelings about what you are going through, then it is all worthwhile. On the thread, with all of us having gone through TNBC, or indeed hormonal BC or other cancers, we can all put ourselves in other people's shoes.
I am so glad to know that you are getting so much out of this thread and that BernieEllen can make you laugh.
Enjoy your day out and keep posting. Thinking of you.
Best wishes.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello BernieEllen
I think you should take a few bows for bringing all of us so much laughter as we go on a journey we did not desire or learn to live our lives when that journey comes to an end but have to live with the knowledge that we might have to go on that journey again.
I am sure we are all glad to know that you are doing well and that we are all hoping that you can get successful treatment for the lymphoedema.
It is a good thing that you are keeping busy. It is definitely that time of year when we tidy up our gardens ans settle down for the winter.
Your latest joke was great, the poppy design artistic, and the thoughtfulness of putting the words of that beautiful and profound song on line for all of us to see was most appreciated. It is one of my favourite songs. I also love Blowing in the Wind by Peter, Paul and Mary, not to mention the Sound of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel.
Thank you for all your help on this thread. You are such an asset. When I started this thread two years and two months ago, I never would have believed that we would end up with over 21,000 views and over 2,000 posts. You, Bernie, have made a tremendous contribution on the forum in general, with 1,660 posts, many of them on this thread. Keep up the good work!
I was wondering if you could tell me a bit about facebook. As you know I am not a member but I would like to know what you think of it and whether you think it is making a useful contribution to society and indeed to the world? Facebook and twitter seem to be a way of life for a lot of people.
Do you post on both? Do you have a blog?
Wishing you a good week and the same for everyone else.
Best wishes.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello adagio
I just thought I would post to let you know that I answered your post on the thread on November 9th. I hope this will help you to find it easily and that it will help.
I do hope that you had a good long weekend over there in Canada.
The following is a list of chemotherapy drugs with their brand names and their generic names, as this can be very confusing.
Cytoxan = cyclophosphomide
Ellence = epirubicin
Adriamycin = doxorubicin
Taxotere = docetaxel (Taxanes)
Taxol = paclitaxel (Taxanes)
There is also a group known as Platins. They are cisplatin and carboplatin.
Some of the combinations of chemotherapy include F = fluorouracil and M = methotrexate.
Maxtrex is the brand name for methotrexate.
I forgot to say in my previous post that it is usual in this country to have an appointment at the oncology clinic with the oncology nurses a day or two before you start your first chemo session.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Best wishes.
Sylvia xxxx
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Thanks Sylvia. It's Taxol I'll be on, starting this Wed. My onc nurse told me my hair may continue to grow because the dose is less dense as I'm on treatment weekly rather than every 3 wks. There has been so much regrowth over the last 6 wks, will be sad to lose it again but it's only hair and would rather get my treatment than keep the regrowth. Have a wonderful husband and family who are ready to take over night feeds for a while and mind Emma while I'm getting treatment, it's only 12 wks and please God it will be over after that. Here's hoping. Thanks again for that info. xx
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Hello Mumtobe,
It will be interesting to see whether the weaker weekly doses with Taxol will result in no hair loss or less hair loss. If it does, I would think that would be the way to go in the future, as hair loss is so traumatic for us all, and not to lose it would be one less problem.
I was wondering whether you have had the pre-chemotherapy appointment or whether you will not be having one. It is usual here as well to have an ECG done to see what condition your heart is in,pre and post treatment.
I am so glad that you have plenty of support and that you will not be on night duty with baby Emma. You will need your rest.
Fond Thoughts,
Sylvia.xxxx
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Thank you for your kind words Sylvia.
I find Facebook very easy to use as a way of keeping in touch with friends and family. You can see who is online at the same time as you and use the instant messaging feature to “chat” in real time. There is also group chat – useful when trying to arranging something.
I am aware of the need to be discreet when posting and you do have to be ruthless regarding friendship requests. There is the option of private groups where your comments and posts are only seen on that site.
I have never used Twitter, I see that more as a networking site, my friend uses it for business purposes.
Not up to date with Blogs.
As I am home based and living in a very rural environment, for me, a computer is invaluable. I use mine for online education, information and research. Unfortunately, the library services here are woefully inadequate. Newspapers and magazines are very expensive, all can be read online.
I am not an advocate of the mobile phone. I refuse to use “text talk”. In fact, I find it very sad that a generation is losing the ability of proper communication. Having to employ people in my previous work, reading numerous C.V.s, I was astounded at the lack of even basic writing and spelling skills.
I know that I do not always use the correct grammar when writing however I do at least attempt to be clear and concise
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Is your immune system old before its time? Here's how you can stop it ageing
By NIC FLEMING Daily Mail
PUBLISHED: 00:50 GMT, 13 November 2012 | UPDATED: 00:50 GMT, 13 November 2012
If you're always battling a cold then there is a fair chance your immune system is older than you are
We’re all familiar with the inevitable signs of ageing — creaky knees, grey hair, and crow’s feet to name a few.
But now scientists say it’s not just our skin and joints that show wear through the years.
Our immune system ages, too — becoming less efficient at warding off bugs.
This process is called immunosenescence, and it even causes our immune system to lose its ‘memory’ and forget it has encountered certain bugs before.
Poor immunity puts you at risk of conditions ranging from norovirus, the winter vomiting bug — which is up by a quarter already compared with last year due to the recent cold weather — to cancer.
But just as some people get grey hair before others, some people’s immune systems deteriorate more rapidly than others.
A person in their 50s could have the immune system of an 80-year-old, for example.
However, research has highlighted methods of turning back the clock.
Here we reveal the latest thinking on the immune system — and how you can stop it ageing…
JABS DON’T WORK AS WELL IF YOU’RE OVER 40
Our immune system protects us from viruses, bacteria and parasites, and consists of many different types of cells that carry out specific jobs — rather like different types of soldiers in an army.
However, an ageing immune system has fewer new recruits to combat unknown invaders, and more battle-weary troops only capable of fighting specific types of enemies they’ve already come across.
Dr Donald Palmer, an immunologist who lectures at Imperial College, London, says: ‘It’s a double whammy.
By the time you reach 65, you don’t have the wide range of cells needed to fight new infections, and those you do have are exhausted.’
A group of immune cells called ‘naive T-cells’ patrols the body and raises the alarm when they find infections.
However, fewer of these are generated as we age, because the thymus — a small gland behind the breastbone where they are matured — shrinks from puberty.
Furthermore, our immune system holds a ‘store’ of weapons tailored to the bugs it’s met previously but its ‘memory’ becomes less efficient.
In the same way we may struggle to remember names as we age, the immune system struggles to remember if it has encountered a bacteria or virus before.
Professor Arne Akbar, immunologist at University College, London, says the memory cells — known as ‘memory T-cells’ — are the Dads’ Army of the immune system: ‘They can protect you but not as well as younger soldiers.’
Other immune cells become less effective, too. For instance, neutrophils, which arrive rapidly at the site of injuries and ingest invaders, tire with age.
Experiments by Professor Janet Lord of Birmingham University show that neutrophils from elderly people are around half as effective at killing bacteria compared with those of younger adults.
One important consequence of our immune system becoming frayed around the edges is that vaccines, which stimulate the immune defences, become less effective.
A study by Austrian scientists found that effectiveness of tetanus jabs, for example, declines from the age of 40. At 60, 16 per cent of those vaccinated within the previous five years were no longer fully protected.
And flu vaccines are only 30 to 40 per cent effective in those aged 65 and over.
Last year, the Government scrapped its programme of pneumonia vaccinations for the over-65s after experts said the protection they offered were poor and did not last long in older people.
A potential new approach is to inject the vaccine into the skin instead of into the tissue below, as this appears to create a better response in the immune system.
CONSTANT SNIFFLES? IT’S A BAD SIGN
It has become clear that different people’s immune systems age at different speeds.
Professor Akbar says: ‘Some older people have young immune systems and some young people have older ones.’
Genetic factors may play a role, as may the number of infections you have suffered throughout your life.
If you are a sickly individual who always seems to be battling a cold then there is a fair chance your immune system is older than you are.
Especially important is whether someone has been infected with cytomegalovirus (CMV), a member of the herpes virus family that can be passed on by kissing and sex.
More than half of adults have it.
Professor Akbar says: ‘You don’t know you have it but your immune system has to work overtime to combat it.’
Once you’re infected, this virus stays with you until the grave.
Scientists believe CMV ages the immune system because it is constantly expending energy to keep it at bay.
There are other conditions that lie dormant in the immune system, such as chicken pox, but don’t seem to have such an ageing effect, as they don’t require the same effort to control.
Other researchers have highlighted the impact of chronic stress on the immune system, suggesting it may cause it to age prematurely.
Each cell contains pieces of coiled DNA called chromosomes.
And on the ends of these are protective caps called telomeres — rather like the plastic on the end of shoelaces.
These get shorter each time cells divide.
Once they reach a certain length they can’t shorten any more, so the cell dies.
Scientists at the University of California, San Francisco, have shown that women who care for chronically ill children or parents; people with post-traumatic stress disorder; and those abused as children all have shorter immune-cell telomeres.
This ages their immune system.
REINVIGORATE YOUR KILLER CELLS
Although there is no magic pill, scientists have a few suggestions, such as moderate exercise, which boosts the body’s ability to fight off bacterial infections.
A study of adults aged 20 to 70 found exercise was linked with a 29 per cent reduction in upper respiratory tract infections, for example.
Maintaining good energy levels helps boost immune responses, so those who are underweight or go on crash diets could find themselves at greater risk of infections.
Immunodeficiency expert Professor Richard Aspinall, of Cranfield University, Bedfordshire, says: ‘To function properly, the immune system needs a lot of energy.
‘For good immune responses it is important to get plenty of energy from your diet, a good range of vitamins, and trace elements like selenium and zinc.’
These boost the effectiveness of certain immune cells, particularly natural killer cells.
Beef, sardines, probiotic yoghurt, olive oil, pine nuts, mangoes and pomegranates have high levels of nutrients that aid immune responses, according to the charity Age UK.
DON’T SLEEP TOO MUCH — OR TOO LITTLE
Professor Lord led a study of 150 volunteers aged 65 to 92 who wore devices to record how long they slept at night.
Blood tests showed two types of immune cell functioned better in those sleeping an average seven to eight hours, compared with those who slept six hours or less or 8½ hours or more.
‘We found the short sleepers seem to be the most affected,’ says Professor Lord, whose work is funded by Age UK.
‘Their neutrophils don’t kill bacteria as well, and the natural killer cells show a reduced ability to kill cancer cells.’
Professor Lord, who is publishing her results next year, plans to track her subjects’ immune systems after they have being given the flu vaccine this winter.
Previous work by her team suggests that lack of sleep raises levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which may suppress the immune system.
It is not known why sleeping for more than eight hours affects immune functioning.
You might also want to avoid that night cap.
Too much alcohol can interfere with the ability of immune cells to replicate, studies suggest.
It can also inhibit the ability of natural killer cells to take on cancer cells.
While lifestyle changes can slow down immune system ageing, researchers are also investigating therapies — with many focusing on ways to slow or reverse the shrinking of the thymus.
Scientists have successfully increased the size of the thymus and boosted T-cell production using a hormone called growth factor, which promotes cell growth and reproduction.
‘This work suggests the thymus has the potential to re-boot,’ says Dr Donald Palmer, from Imperial College, London.
He adds that, following further tests, growth-factor treatment might be offered to the elderly alongside flu jabs.
Removing ‘old’ cells in the immune system may kickstart the production of new cells, too.
Professor Doron Melamed of the Israel Institute of Technology has published research showing that removing a type of immune cell called B-cell from mice stimulated big increases in B-cell production.
The team hopes to replicate the findings in human trials.
If successful, therapies that keep our immune system young could be with us in five to ten years.
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Hi Sylvia,
thanks for those words of support. I need them today because yesterday I was turned down again for invalidity and had a bad evening worrying about our finances,especially coming up to Xmas.I always bought a whole new outfit including boots and bag for my daughter as she and her husband are in financial difficulties and there is no spare money for clothes. I feel angry too because I have had a lot of pain recently even after light housework and cannot knit or hold a heavy book. BUT my husband put it into perspective and said there are so many people a lot worse off than us and then I thought of the women at the centre who are really ill. So this morning despite the rain it is good to be warm, not hungry and able to look forward to a massage at the centre and the laughter and conversation that I will find there.
I have appealed the decision although it could take up to a year, I am determined to keep on going.
I forgot to explain who Luke Kelly was. He was a member of the Dubliners and had a fabulous voice, as did Ronnie drew.
Hope that your weather isnt like ours.Perhaps we are getting the tail end of the US storms. I love the cold bright days of winter, they feel so healthy.
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Hi BernieEllen,
Interesting reading re the immune system.
A medical consultant at the hospital that I worked in always maintained that we built up our immunity over the years just by being exposed to many different illnesses. This was when we were concerned about several open TB cases and what precautions etc we could take.
I suppose that immunisation works on the same principle of minute exposure to a disease. I know that my own GP was always loathe to prescribe antibiotics unless absolutely necessary.
As health workers there were many different precautionary vaccinations that were offered to us.Hepatitis B, the flu injection, TB testing and strong antibiotics when in contact with meningitis. We were expose to MRSA, novovirus,TB and lots of other infectious illnesses over the years. I do feel that we did build up an immunity but did take the precautionary antibiotics when dealing with the meningitis.
We always felt uncomfortable being exposed to the strong chemicals used to combat infections but they are what are used to fight the virulent strains of bacteria. Over the years some of them were proven to be harmful especially to the respiratory tract system and withdrawn from use and now there are many precautions taken and protective clothing provided.
I think that now they have gone back to the good old fashioned soap and water for many cleaning tasks.
As for the herpes virus, I was plagued with cold sores as a child and still get them if I am "run down".
I would be interested to hear what they recommend for the lymphadema and hope that you are not finding it too painful or debilitating.
If you can watch TV Am tomorrow the launch of the survivors choir should be featured. They also have a facebook page.
Something to sing about....choir... ireland. The website is stsa.ie but I found it difficult to access.
Hope that you can get some of those outside winter jobs done despite the weather.Our lawn is completely waterlogged.
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Hi BernieEllen.
Just checked out STSA facebook and it isnt tv but radio morning ireland that will be broadcast.
Sorry about that.
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Good morning Linali.
You are so right about all the chemicals we have been and still being exposed to. I now clean as in my grandparents time.
So sorry to hear that you are having to appeal again for your Invalidity. I am now on my last appeal. The worrying part is, if I am turned down this time there is no further course of action except taking the department to court. If that fails then I would be liable for the court costs. I wonder who thought that one up?
Thank you for the information on the choir, I will look them up.
Still waiting for my next hospital appointment.
Hope you have a good and peaceful week.
Love Bernie
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Hi Sylvia,
I know a canadian lady on another TN thread here had weekly doses of Taxol and her hair continued to grow, i'm so hoping mine does too but it's a small thing in the overall bigger picture. I last had chemo about 10 wks ago and then had surgery. I had an ECG done before surgery, post AC chemo and nothing was said to me about it so I'm assuming it was ok, not sure they'd have done surgery if it wasn't. I met my onc last week which was my pre taxol appointment and she just wanted to see that everything was ok and I was ready to go. I'm hoping I won't be sick on taxol cos I really want to be able to be able to take care of Emma as much as possible.
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Hello BernieEllen
Thank you for all of your very interesting posts. I do not know what we would do without you.
Thank you for all your information about facebook, which I found most interesting. The thing about facebook is you can find yourself lined up as friends to people to whom you do not wish to be friends, but I suppose you can always refuse. I can see how useful it must be to you in your rural setting. I can definitely see the benefit of the private groups.
I can see that you make very good use of your computer. You can find almost anything on the internet. I find that apart from the thread, there is always something that I wish to research by using Google. I use my e-mail for my work as a volunteer director of the apartment complex in which I live, work that keeps me very busy.
The library services are not very good here and lots of the books are very old. I do like to keep up with politics, current affairs, health, nutrition, education and literature. I agree that newspapers, magazines and books are all very expensive and that you can read everything online.
Like you I do not like the mobile phone and I do not use one. My breast cancer consultant surgeon told me that she thought they would cause an epidemic of brain cancer in years to come. These phones started off as car phones and were supposed to be for use in an emergency. Like everything else, they have become misused and people are still driving around whilst talking on the phone. As for texting, I think it is awful and is causing the younger generation to be illiterate. The mobile phone has also become an anti-social instrument. Wherever you go you have people talking loudly on their phone about the most mundane things. I think that man is a social animal and that it is beneficial to get together in groups to have a chat.
Like you, as a former high school teacher, I am appalled at the lack of basic writing and spelling skills and texting certainly does not help this.
All the very best.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello again BernieEllen
Thank you for all the most interesting information from today's Daily Mail.
I did know about the immune system and how it weakens as we age. I think that is why so many elderly people die of pneumonia. There immune system cannot fight. However, it was interesting to have more details. I found the bit about our immune system losing its memory fascinating. It is almost as if our immune system is suffering from dementia. I can understand how a person in their fifties can have the immune system of an eighty-year old. It is just like some of the soldiers who were found to have the cholesterol levels of old people.
The information about flu vaccines makes you wonder whether it is worth it. My husband and I have decided not to have them this year. I remember my breast cancer consultant surgeon telling me when I was first diagnosed that because I had not been ill before, my immune system had grown lazy and had failed to fight off cancer cells. It seemed to make sense to me. I think it is perhaps good to have a fever or an infection to make the immune system work. This may be more difficult as you get older. Even so, I do wonder about these flu vaccines, especially as the doctors are somewhat evasive about telling you what exactly is in them. It makes sense to me that cancer could be a failure of the immune system and that more and more people are getting it because of poor nutrition (too much processed food from which important nutrients have been removed), a toxic environment and a stressful way of life, not to mention a sedentary one.
In the article there is a reference to the CMV virus, of which I have never heard, although, of course we are all familiar with the herpes virus. I am surprised that there seems to be no way of testing an individual for this.
As for chronic stress, I am absolutely convinced that it takes a huge toll on your body and ages you prematurely. I was interested to read about the telomeres again, as I remember reading about them some time ago and how they shorten as you age and how they are implicated in the ageing of the immune system.
I was wondering what other people think of the article. It would be nice to have some feedback – calling Michael, come on in and give us your considered opinion.
Thank you BernieEllen for posting this article.
Best wishes.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello linali
Thank you for your posts. I was so sorry to hear that you were once again turned down for your invalidity and I can understand your worry about finances. It is so awful the way people with cancer or who have survived cancer are being given such a hard time over their invalidity benefits. It is the same in the UK. I would not give up fighting for it.
Your husband is right when he says that you can always find other people worse off, but that does not stop the worry and with worry comes stress and we all know how bad stress affects the body. I am glad that you can take comfort in the fact that you are warm and not hungry. Here, in the UK, we have people living on the streets and using food banks. That should not be acceptable in a civilised society and I think it puts the UK to shame. There is so much inequality here and we are governed by spoilt, posh, millionaires!!!
I am so glad that you have the centre to go to. You are obviously getting a lot out of it.
The weather here is horrible (blame it on the posh boy government!). There is nothing but cloud, damp and rain. Last night as I closed the blinds I saw the most beautiful vivid red sunset and it made me feel good. This morning there was no equivalent sunrise and the day gradually deteriorated. It could well be that we are getting the tail end of the US storms. In Canada the winters were absolutely freezing, but the weather was very sunny and bright, except when it snowed, and it did a lot of that!
Thinking of you and keep up the fight for your invalidity.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hi Sylvia and friends
Just came across the article below. Cancer Research UK has reported on a hypothesis in June 2011 that ER negative and PR positive breast cancer is affected by androgen receptors.
As TN is ER/PR negative, I thought this research might be of interest to you.
According to the report, it may be that it is similar to prostate cancer and could be treated with drugs that are already available for this type of cancer.
A tale of two hormone receptors – could prostate cancer therapy help breast cancer patients?
scienceblog.cancerresearchuk.o...
Androgen receptors - more commonly associated with prostate cancer - could also play a role in some types of breast cancer.
Breast cancer survival is one of the big success stories of recent years. Thanks to improvements in screening and treatment more than 70 per cent of women now survive for more than ten years, compared to around 40 per cent back in the 1970s.
But while this is cause for celebration, the statistics hide the fact that most of this progress has been made in treating breast cancers driven by the female sex hormone oestrogen.
So-called oestrogen-receptor positive (ER-positive) breast cancer accounts for around two-thirds of cases, and can usually be treated with hormone therapies that block the production or action of oestrogen – notably drugs such as tamoxifen and aromatase inhibitors.
Unfortunately, these drugs don’t work in women whose breast cancers lack oestrogen receptors (ER-negative), so alternative chemotherapy options are used. These are often not as successful as hormone therapy, and new treatment approaches are urgently needed.
Now a paper from Cancer Research UK scientists, published in the EMBO Journal this week, shines the spotlight on a subset of these ER-negative breast cancers – known as molecular apocrine breast cancer - showing that they may be fuelled by a molecule more commonly implicated in prostate cancer.
Not only do the results help to explain the puzzle underpinning the disease, but they bring hope for more effective treatments in the near future.
From oestrogen to androgen
Women’s bodies are awash with female hormones – namely oestrogen and progesterone – but they also produce a small amount of testosterone, more commonly thought of as a male hormone.
These hormones act by entering cells and attaching to receptors – the oestrogen, progesterone and androgen (testosterone) receptors, respectively – which then switch on specific genes causing the cell to do certain things (for example, grow and divide).
Scientists have known about the roles of the oestrogen and progesterone receptors in breast cancer for some time, showing that they are a key force in driving cancer cells to divide in response to hormones. But, curiously enough, most breast cancers also contain androgen receptors.
In oestrogen-positive breast cancer, androgen receptors have been found to counteract the effects of oestrogen, slowing down cancer growth. This is borne out by research showing that women whose breast tumours carry both oestrogen and androgen receptors are likely to respond better to treatment and survive longer.
But nobody knew what androgen receptors were doing in breast cancers that didn’t have oestrogen receptors. So a team of researchers from our Cambridge Research Institute – led by Dr Jason Carroll and Dr Ian Mills – along with colleagues in Norway and Australia, set about finding out.
Studying the switches
Hormone receptors act as molecular ‘switches’, attaching to special regions of DNA and turning specific genes on.
To find out what the androgen receptor was up to, the researchers studied three different cell lines – human cancer cells grown in the lab. These were breast cancer cells lacking oestrogen receptors but containing androgen receptors (similar to molecular apocrine ER-negative breast cancer), breast cancer cells with both receptors (similar to ER-positive breast cancer), and prostate cancer cells (which only carry the androgen receptor).
Using various techniques, the scientists looked at the cells’ DNA to find out which genes the androgen and oestrogen receptors were attached to (and therefore switching on) in the different types of cells – and got a rather surprising result.
Rather than finding that the oestrogen and androgen receptors were turning on different genes, they noticed a significant overlap. Around half of the locations occupied by oestrogen receptors in the ER-positive breast cancer cells were hogged by androgen receptors in the ER-negative cells, presumably switching on the same genes that drive cancer growth.
This poses an interesting question. Oestrogen and androgen receptors each have unique shapes, which match different regions of DNA, like keys fitting into locks. In theory, the androgen receptors shouldn’t even be able to attach to the oestrogen receptor sites, let alone switch on genes.
So how were they managing it?
The missing link
The missing piece in the puzzle came in the form of a protein called FoxA1. Like the androgen and oestrogen receptors, FoxA1 sits on DNA and helps to switch genes on by ‘opening up’ the DNA so genes can be read. It’s well-known to scientists, as it helps oestrogen receptors to turn on genes in breast cancer cells, but was only thought to be important in oestrogen-receptor positive tumours.
However, when the Cambridge team looked at the location of FoxA1 on DNA in the ER-negative breast cancer cells, they found an almost exact match with the androgen receptors – more than 98 per cent of the sites occupied by androgen receptors also attracted FoxA1. In contrast, only half of the sites occupied by oestrogen receptors in AR+ ER+ cells were targets for FoxA1.
This told the researchers that FoxA1 must be acting as a ‘skeleton key’, allowing androgen receptors to hijack sites normally reserved for oestrogen receptors and switch on genes driving cancer growth.
What does this mean for treating breast cancer?
This is the first time that researchers have shown that androgen receptors play an important role in switching on ‘oestrogen responsive’ genes in breast cancer cells that don’t carry oestrogen receptors.
And unlike the situation in breast cancers with both types of receptor – where the androgen receptor acts as a ‘brake’ on cancer growth – it’s likely that androgen receptors are responsible for fuelling the growth of ER-negative cancer cells in molecular apocrine cancers.
This research opens up two avenues for exploration that could lead to new treatments for molecular apocrine ER-negative breast cancer. Firstly, it suggests that drugs targeting FoxA1 may be useful for treating the disease – an approach that is already being explored but is yet to bear fruit.
Perhaps more importantly, the findings also suggest that anti-androgen drugs could be useful for treating women with this particular type of breast cancer. These drugs are currently used to treat men with prostate cancer – a disease fuelled by testosterone acting on androgen receptors.
Given that anti-androgens such as bicalutamide are used to treat thousands of men safely every year, it should be relatively quick to test this idea in a clinical trial.
This work is still at an early stage, and it’s important not to extrapolate too far from cell lines growing in the lab to real women living with ER-negative breast cancer. But this discovery is a big step towards making a success story out of this type of breast cancer too.
Kat
Reference:
Robinson J et al (2011). Androgen receptor driven transcription in molecular apocrine breast cancer is mediated by FoxA1 EMBO Journal DOI:10.1038/emboj.2011.216
Posts 1 (1 total)
Post a reply Report this PostOct 31, 2012 09:32 PM cp418 wrote:
More research articles:
liulab.dfci.harvard.edu/public...
www.news-medical.net/news/2012...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21...
pharmastrategyblog.com/2012/02...
breast-cancer-research.com/con...
My chemo was the regime sometimes given to TNs (4 x FEC and 4 X Taxotere) so I do know what it's like to go through aggressive treament. Hugs to all of you!
Best wishes
Alice
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