At the ICHNO meeting in Barcelona 2 weeks ago, I heard about a new website dedicated to oncology launched by Sanofi-aventis. I feel that its contents will be very helpful to patients and carers in understanding cancer. It needs a section on head and neck cancers like it has for the the more common cancers. We shall ask if they can create this.

quote:

"Cancer can occur anywhere in the body and may take many different forms, depending on which organs and tissues are affected. Only by understanding cancer will we become better equipped to fight it."

Links:

5 minute video on Understanding Cancer

Understanding Cancer
This section is designed to help people with cancer and their families better understand the disease, its causes and its treatment, and provides information on the following:

• What is cancer?
  
• Cancer epidemiology
  
• Cancer treatments
  
• Development of an anti-cancer agent

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Dr Vinod K Joshi,

You're right Dr Joshi, it would be good to have an explanation of head and neck cancer, especially in the early stages when you're confronted with something you know absolutely nothing about.
I found the section on gastro-intestinal cancer interesting. I mean, we are all too well aware of the whole thing now, however in the early days this sort of information would give a good grounding to build up some questions from.
Thanks
Deborah

I think that there needs to be more info available to the families of the sufferers. You hear the word Cancer and, like it or not, you mentally start to nail down the lid of the coffin!

Most of the official paperwork in hospitals don't help this thought process as, by necessity i guess, tend to concentrate on facts and figures and don't want to give a false sense or optimism.

But people need to know that there are many kinds and degrees of Cancer and not all will kill you if you detect them soon enough.

OK, we get the TV coverage of Jade dying by inches but we should also embrace the storeis of the many hundreds of people who survive and go on to live good productive lives (Bob Champion for example).

I am not naive enough to think taht we should only get the good news but we do need people to understand that the C word is serious but not necessarily a death sentence. My dad had tongie cancer, my mum-in-law had breast cancer, both of my grandmothers had ovarian cancer.

Dad and mum-in-law beat the crab and are doing well. 1 grandmother died from hers (due to late diagnosis) the other died of something unrelated.

I had a brush with it but luckily my ovarian cysts were benign.

When I found this site i was delighted to find some positive stories to keep my dad going.

Keep up the good work doc!

LellyM xx

Absolutely true. Brilliant discussion.
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