Wednesday, 9 May 2018

Palliative Care- When and Why - May 2018


For this month's chat, Palliative Care - When and Why, we welcomed guest Christian Sinclair (@ctsinclair), a palliative care and hospice physician, editor of Pallimed and founder of the #hpm community on Twitter. Fifty-four participants made over 2.3 million impressions during the hour chat. You may find more analytics here and the transcript here.

Here is a sampling of responses. Please scroll down for Resources. 

What do you think of when you hear the term "palliative care"? What does it mean to you?
  • PalliativeCare is symptom management offering emotional support, to patient and family. At any time during Cancer dx not just eol.
  • Living life on your terms with the help of team of healthcare professionals who support the patient and family
  • Palliative care-I think of a critical piece of overall care during serious illness, pain, and end of life.
  •  I think of palliative care as an opportunity for someone to receive whatever support (pain management, counseling, home care, accessing info/resources, etc.) they may need when progressing through a health problem that may be life limiting #gyncsm
  • Palliative care should be available at any age and any stage. The goal is support. 
  • We #hpm docs spend quite a bit of time clarifying perceptions of the field (ie. its not just end of life care). Our #PalliativeCare thermometer highlights the domains of a person's care that may be of importance to them! #Palliative Care is whole person care!
This first question also began a discussion regarding the term "Palliative care". Some felt that the term may actually turn patients off from getting the care they need. Some centers use the term Supportive care. Sinclair responded "There are lots of debate inside and outside the palliative care community about finding the best name. Ultimately it comes down to organizational/community culture, and making sure the clinicians feel comfortable introducing the concept as concurrent, not either/or".

When do cancer patients tend to get referred to a palliative care specialist? Do you find this to be a tricky conversation? Patients - Did anyone on your care team discuss palliative care with you?
  • ASCO recommends PalliativeCare is offered within 8 weeks after dx
  • We are seeing more family and patient-initiated #pallaitive care referrals. As they realize they can have more support, they are starting to ask for it and our oncologists are open to collaborating with us. Caveat: I am in an academic med center in a metro area.
  • Patients with advanced cancer should be referred to #pallativeCare early and it should be an integral part of treatment, not just something added on near the end of life
  • I see them referred too late. Palliative care is still associated with end of life & have been told “they aren’t ready for that”. Who’s not ready for patient centered care that views the whole person not the illness & manages all symptoms physical, emotional, etc.?!

Why is knowledge of and access to palliative care throughout cancer treatment important? Does Medicare/Insurance cover palliative care? Are there specialists in rural areas?
  • For this chat I found this @ASCO Connection article : Telemedicine has been used for those in rural areas.https://connection.asco.org/blogs/telemedicine-palliative-and-supportive-care-continuing-conversation
  • Looking at symptom management by a specialist in the field offers a complementary approach to managing the disease itself by treating the patient as a whole being. Services are covered but often require copay. Rural areas often lack service
  • Medicare covers PalliativeCare for symptom management in some extent Improving Quality of Life and prolong survival.
  • #Telehealth show great promise is rural settings, along w/ patients' willingness to engage. Telehealth reduce travel needs, removing physical and financial burdens associated with travel. Telehealth utilization for #pallativeCare is emerging rapidly

What are medical and advocacy organizations doing to promote palliative care for cancer patients? How can patients advocate for themselves?

What do you wish you knew about palliative care at the beginning of your experience with a cancer-related diagnosis? For those who have worked with a palliative care specialist, what was most helpful? most challenging?
  • I think more and more patients appear to be more empowered to not just get the latest greatest cutting edge research treatment, but to make sure they get all their needs met. Aiming for whole person care. To be fair though, advocating for yourself is really hard work
  • Considering how much time we have to spend talking through acute issues with my GynOnc since I’ve been terminal, it’s not surprising we don’t talk about palliative care. I’m focused on getting more Oncs to have this talk when cases aren’t as complicated.
  • I wish I had known when my dad was diagnosed that pts in #palliativecare can still go to PT and OT to help them gain the strength to return home for EOL. It would have saved so much pain for him while he tried to get strong enough to return home.

If you are a caregiver or patient you may continue this discussion online on the Smart Patients platform at https://www.smartpatients.com/gyncsm .

Be sure to check our resources below.

Join us next month on June 9th for Let's Discuss Value of Care.

See you then.
 
Dee
#gyncsm Co-founder


Resources
Perceptions of #palliative care by people with adv cancer and their caregivers
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4938707/

Association between a name change from palliative to supportive care and the timing of patient referrals at a comprehensive cancer center.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21212438

Predictors of high symptom burden in gynecologic oncology outpatients: who should be referred to outpatient palliative care?
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24472408

 Practice Patterns, Attitudes, and Barriers to Palliative Care Consultation by Gynecologic Oncologists. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28783424

Economics of Palliative Care for Hospitalized Adults With Serious Illness https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/2678833?utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=content-shareicons&utm_content=article_engagement&utm_medium=social&utm_term=050818&redirect=true#.WvJSZ-FbZeU.twitter

 Palliative Care in the Global Setting Resource-Stratified Guideline
https://www.asco.org/practice-guidelines/quality-guidelines/guidelines/supportive-care-and-treatment-related-issues?et_cid=40284775&et_rid=977394059&linkid=Palliative+Care+in+the+Global+Setting%3a+A+Resource-Stratified+Guideline_link#/31016

@theNCI Palliative Care in Cancer Care
https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/advanced-cancer/care-choices/palliative-care-fact-sheet

@Cancerdotnet Caring for the symptoms of cancer and its treatment
https://www.cancer.net/navigating-cancer-care/how-cancer-treated/palliative-care/caring-symptoms-cancer-and-its-treatment

@SGO_org
https://www.sgo.org/newsroom/position-statements-2/delivery-of-palliative-care-services/

Dana Farber
How Does Palliative Care Help Cancer Patients? | Dana-Farber ...

ASCO Connection: Telemedicine in Palliative and Supportive Care: A Continuing Conversation
https://connection.asco.org/blogs/telemedicine-palliative-and-supportive-care-continuing-conversation

Links to Palliative Care Graphics Shared:
https://twitter.com/skochb/status/994387131161366528
https://twitter.com/IshwariaMD/status/994387821770297344
https://twitter.com/IshwariaMD/status/994388792747360256

https://twitter.com/skochb/status/994387131161366528
https://twitter.com/skochb/status/994387131161366528
httpwitter.com/skochb/status/994387131161366528
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Friday, 4 May 2018

May 9th Chat: Palliative Care - When and Why



This month we will return to a topic we last covered in 2015 - Palliative Care. We will once again be joined by Christian Sinclair (@ctsinclair), a palliative and hospice medical care physician, editor of Pallimed and founder of the #hpm community on Twitter.

More people are familiar with palliative care now, although there is still confusion as to what palliative care is versus hospice. Did you know that some are providing palliative care through Telemedicine? Did you know that ASCO issued a guideline on the Integration of Palliative Care on Standard Oncology Care? Join us as we discuss these topics.

T1: What do you think of when you hear the term "palliative care"? What does it mean to you?

T2: What is the technical definition of "palliative care"? How is it related to yet different from hospice care? Is there still a lot of confusion between the two?

T3: When do cancer patients tend to get referred to a palliative care specialist? Do you find this to be a tricky conversation? Patients - Did anyone on your care team discuss palliative care with you?

T4: Why is knowledge of and access to palliative care throughout cancer treatment important? Does Medicare/Insurance cover palliative care? Are there specialists in rural areas?

T5: What are medical and advocacy organizations doing to promote palliative care for cancer patients? How can patients advocate for themselves?

T6: What do you wish you knew about palliative care at the beginning of your experience with a cancer-related diagnosis? For those who have worked with a palliative care specialist, what was most helpful? most challenging?

You can learn more about palliative care by checking these resources:

See you at 9pm ET ( 8pm CT, 6pm PT)  on May 9, 2018!

Dee
#gyncsm co-founder


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Wednesday, 11 April 2018

SGO Annual Meeting Research Review and Ask the Doc April 2018

Twenty-four participants shared what they had learned at the SGO Annual Meeting or asked questions about research presented at the meeting during this month's #gyncsm chat. You may find more analytics here. You may find a transcript from the chat here.

We covered a number of different research areas from treatments to survivorship to funding for research.

T1: What were the results of the study comparing minimally invasive surgery (MIS) w/ radical hysterectomy in early cervical cancer. Will the results change practice?

  • "Disease-free survival following minimally invasive procedures significantly lagged behind radical hysterectomies done by open laparotomy," -Pedro T. Ramirez, MD. I found this fascinating.
    • some suggested uterine manipulator use (not assessed in the study), also discussed immature data, early stopping.
    • Any reasons would be speculation. But I think we get bigger tissue margins with open surgery
    • data safety monitoring committee (filled with GYN ONCS) said the study should be stopped
T2: Several studies used targeted therapies to treat #ovariancancer - Which results stood out for you? Were side effects critical in any of the studies?
  • The #PARPi combinations are very exciting - responses and improved outcomes regardless of #BRCA status are encouraging
  • From our Scientific Director, Dr. Deb Zajchowski, “Exciting preliminary results for PARP inhibitors combined with immune checkpoint inhibitors — particularly in platinum-resistant patients.” (@ClearityFnd) 
T3: Which studies presented at the meeting will impact treatment of women with #endometrialcancer #uterinecancer #sarcoma?

  • The combo of everolimus & letrozole was quite successful in #endometrialcancer - this is the 2nd study to demonstrate this
  • Excited re our study (in rodents) of everolimus-eluting IUD pres by @JDottinoMD - could allow pts to avoid surgery in endo ca


  • My friend Matt Anderson, MD, PhD, presented on the genomic profiling of #uterine #leiomyosarcoma from The Cancer Genome Atlas as well as his own lab in Baylor. Data from @ALazarMDPhD was included. This is bigly important for us
  • I was not at SGO but results from the phase 2 trial looking at carbo/taxol vs carbo/tax + trastuzimab (herceptin) in uterine serous CA with Her2/neu overexpression were presented. Improved PFS w/addition of herceptin.
    • Agree... exciting abstract. Several pre-analytical issues that can affect Her2 testing results which will be important to consider for the future
T4: What research on palliative care and survivorship do you think will impact patients lives the most - or that survivors should ask their gyn/onc's about?

  • There was a study that finally measured and estimated rates of post op lymphedema which were much higher than anticipated. If we can measure it we can look for ways to reduce it. 
  •  Overall, I think it has been great to see an increase each year in survivorship studies and talk of long-term care planning and navigators/coordinators. Patients living longer and more emphasis on support.
T5: Once again studies showed less gyn cancer clinical trials and lower funding for gyn cancer research. What suggestions were made to increase enrollment and funding?
  • We MUST advocate for gynecologic cancer funding - write your Congressman and tell them that this funding must be INCREASED!!
  • the photo in this tweet shows how great the need is via @ShannonWestin
  • Outcomes are better for minorities who have access to #clinicaltrials - we need funding to ensure these trials are available 
    • I thought this was an important study. #clinicaltrials are an important part of cancer care. Many in general population still think trials are last resort and consider them "experimental" in a very negative risky way.
  • From our Scientific Director, Dr. Deb Zajchowski, “We need more funding. We also need to get the word out to enroll in the many clinical trials that are already available. There are more than 300 #clinicaltrials that #ovariancancer patients can enter.”
We have several questions/thoughts out there - feel free to now add any additional tweets re: the latest gynecologic cancer research.
  • Here is a link to a study reported at SGO on a vaccine to prevent recurrence in OC https://t.co/phQx2osDcN
  • Can you please tell us a little more about check point inhibitors and what that they’re used for in regards to #Lynchsyndrome cancers
    • Right now - they are FDA approved for any tumor that has MSI (microsatellite instability) - that includes Lynch Syndrome assoc tumors
    • Essentially the MMR in LS makes the cells more susceptible to attack by the immune cells. The checkpoint inhibitors allow the immune system to be more effective.
  • Still on #uterine #leiomyosarcoma: I'm glad the #sarcoma med oncs talked about the many lines of chemo -- I can think of at least 6 -- they might give. Some gyn oncs offer fewer
  • I was very surprised that chemo for early stage endometrial Cancer didn’t improve outcomes. Especially after last years ASCO when it was discussed that it may replace radiation.
  • Great video to share (from SGO) on clinical trial basics! https://t.co/UWjBqxQ584
  • There was a study that finally measured and estimated rates of post op lymphedema which were much higher than anticipate…
Additional resources mentioned during the chat may be found below. 

Patients and caregivers are invited to continue our discussion on the Smart Patients platform at  https://www.smartpatients.com/partners/gyncsm

Join us next month on Wednesday May 9,2018 at 9pm ET for our chat on Palliative Care - When and Why? with guest Christian Sinclair @ctsinclair (#hpm). 

See you then, 

Dee
#gyncsm Co-founder


Resources:


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Friday, 6 April 2018

April 11, 2018 Chat - SGO Annual Meeting Research Review and Ask the Doc



Part of our mission as a community for those impacted by gynecologic cancers is to inform and educate our followers regarding new developments in disease screening, treatment and survivorship.

A number of those developments were presented as research studies and practice innovations during the SGO Annual Meeting in New Orleans in March. This 49th Annual Meeting drew over 2500 participants including gynecologic oncologists, oncologists, radiologists, genetic counselors, oncology nurses and patient advocates. The #gyncsm community will discuss research projects and trial results presented at this meeting during our monthly chat on April 11, 2018 at 9pm ET (8pm CT, 6pm PT).

Join us as we cover a variety of research topics including answering questions such as:

What is the impact minimally invasive surgery has had on survival of women diagnosed with early stage cervical cancer? 

What is the latest news on the use of targeted therapies (niraparib, pemrolizumab, Olaparib, durvalumab) in treating ovarian cancer?

What impact could Phase I trial of Vigil® vaccine personalized engineered autologous tumor cells (EATC) have on preventing recurrence in women with ovarian cancer ?

What is the role of palliative care and lay navigators in treating and supporting gyn cancer survivors ?

What is the impact of chemotherapy and radiotherapy on endometrial cancer survival? 

How can we improve funding for gyn cancer research?

What is the impact of participation in clinical trials on minority patients? 

During the chat we will open the discussion to questions participants have for our health care professionals.

Check the SGO Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/SGO.org/), their Twitter account (@SGO_org and #SGOmtg), or their website (https://www.sgo.org/education/annual-meeting-on-womens-cancer/annual-meeting-media-coverage-3/) for more meeting coverage and potential topics of interest.

We look forward to having you join us.

Dee
#gyncsm co-moderator
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Wednesday, 14 March 2018

Immunotherapy - March 2018 Chat


"Very exciting to be a part of this important work. That was my goal all along...I didn't think the treatment would actually WORK to cure my cancer...I just hoped to be a part of something that would further the possibility of a cure"- Sue Scott 


"We have to continue to spread the word and help educate about immunotherapy and clinical trials. Always Hope and Believe" - Aricca Wallace


"They have enabled years of laboratory research that is still going on." - Dr Christian Hinrichs


For this month's  Immunotherapy chat we welcomed NIH researcher, Dr. Christian Hinrichs (@CSHinrichsMD), as well as patients Sue Scott (@SurvivorSueWDC) and Aricca Wallace (@mandmsportsmom), who provided their unique insight into participating in immunotherapy clinical trials.

We had 30 participants and over 1.5 million impressions. You may find more analytics here and a complete transcript here.

Here is a sample of the responses our guests and participants provided:


T1A: What is immunotherapy? How is it different from other gyn cancer treatments (surgery, chemo, radiation)? 
  • Unlike other treatments, immunotherapy uses the body's own immune system to help fight the disease
  • Immunotherapy stimulates immune response or modifies it so that immune cells can recognize and kill cancer cells.
  • immunotherapy works with your immune system to target cancer cells. For gyn cancers, this type of treatment is primarily being studied through clinical trials and our knowledge is advancing rapidly
T1B: @CSHinrichsMD - What did your immunotherapy trial for HPV-related gyn cancers entail?
  • Immunotherapy is a type of treatment that uses the patient’s own immune system to fight the cancer. The immunotherapies that we are discussing today are based on T cells, a type of immune cell that specializes in killing abnormal cells.There are two types of immunotherapy that have received a lot of attention lately. One is checkpoint inhibitors. These drugs block inhibitory signals sent to T cells by other cells. This is “releases the brakes” so the T cells can attack the cancer cells. The other is adoptive T-cell therapy (ACT). For this, the patient’s T cells are grown in the lab and then infused back to the patient to treat the cancer. This is what @mandmsportsmom and @SurvivorSueWDC received. The T cells for ACT can be grown from a tumor that is removed by surgery. These are called tumor-infiltrating T cells (TIL). T cells from ACT can also be grown from blood and genetically engineered to have receptors that let them target the tumor. One type of receptor is called a CAR. Another is called a TCR. 
  •  Our current clinical trials use T cells that are engineered to have TCRs. This does not require surgery, and it seems to more consistently and potently target the cancers
T2: For the patient, what is the immunotherapy treatment experience like? What are the common side effects with immunotherapy? 
  • @mandmsportsmom...After 18 rounds of chemo and 32 rounds of radiation...immunotherapy was a God send! I had to have a tumor removed and the t cells grown in the lab, had aphoresis to remove white blood cells and together they trained in the lab. I was given 7 days of chemo to deplete immune system.The t cells and my trained wbc were then put back in me. Millions of cancer cells being injected was scary! The trained wbc immediately recognized the tumors and started attacking. While this was happening it was like having the flu x 1000..fever, chills, etc just like fighting any other virus. The interluken 2 that you are given after injection, I call it gatorade for the cells. Would just ramp them back up again and symptoms of high fever, chills, etc would start again..nothing that nurses and meds couldn't help control. 
  • @survivorsuewdcI always say that Dr. H took out my immune cells and sent them to 5 weeks of KUNG FU school (genetically altered them in his lab) and then put 74.5 BILLION of them back in me! I feel the side effects were easier to handle than the ongoing side effects of chemo and radiation.Because the immuno trial I was in included 7 days of chemo ( to rid my body of its current TIL cells and make space for the " new and improved ones that Dr. H had "built" in his lab) I did lose all my hair. I also was sick from the IL2 doses.
  • Checkpoint inhibitors that target PD-1 have remarkably few side effects. This has been revolutionary.
  • Cell therapy is a more intense, often inpatient, treatment that can have many side effects.
T3A: Is immunotherapy common in treating gynecologic cancers? Is it only offered through trials?
  • There are emerging data for immunotherapy in some gyn cancers, and patients can receive some treatments outside of clinical trials. Nonetheless participation in clinical trials is best whenever possible as we are still learning about these treatments.
  • One of the issues is ensuring immunotherapy can identify tumor cells well. There's a lot of interest in radiation synergizing with immunotherapy. Example trial for cervical/endometrial cancer: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03192059?term=immunotherapy+radiation+endometrial&rank=2
T3B: Patients - How did you find out immunotherapy was an option? What were your concerns? What led you to go forward with enrolling in a trial?
  • Another God send. @cshinrichsmd reached out to former colleagues. One that happened to be my current gyn onc.
  • You learn you have to be an advocate for yourself. I now tell ppl to check out https://clinicaltrials.gov/ to see what is out there 
T4: What advice would you give to others considering an immunotherapy trial, or any clinical trial? 
  • DO IT! Once "standard treatment" doesn't work - what do you have to lose! New breakthroughs happen daily 
  • You don't need to wait for your medical team to bring up trials. You can do your own research or reach out to patient advocates or advocacy orgs
  • Re clinical trials, shop around. There are lots of them, and they are not all equally good. Look at past results.
  • Don't accept that the only answer is to control not cure you may have to control for awhile there is hope given daily w/trials
T5: @CSHinrichsMD - How did patients, including our guests, contribute to your immunotherapy research? What did you learn from them and where is the research now heading?
  • @cshinrichsmd T5: @mandmsportsmom and @SurvivorSueWDC are the brave volunteers who first showed that this type of treatment can work. They did this when all we doctors could say was that it seemed like a good idea. Studies that we did on samples that they donated have shown us which patients are more likely to respond to this type of treatment. Study of @SurvivorSueWDC led to the discovery of a new treatment that we hope to test soon.They have enabled years of laboratory research that is still going on.
T6: What are some resources for leaning more about immunotherapy in treating cancer? For finding out what's new and what trials are open?

Additional resources mentioned during the chat may be found below.

Patients and caregivers are invited to continue our discussion on the Smart Patients platform at https://www.smartpatients.com/partners/gyncsm

Join us next month on our regular day (second Wednesday of the month) Wednesday, April 11, as we discuss SGO Annual Meeting Research Review and Ask the Docs. 

See you next month and thank you for using the #gyncsm to share news of interest to our community.

Dee
Co-founder #gyncsm

RESOURCES

 @FacingOurRisk new info section w/ an overview on #immunotherapy for #cancer treatment.
http://www.facingourrisk.org/understanding-brca-and-hboc/information/cancertreatment/immuno-oncology/index.php

What You Need to Know About Immunotherapy Side Effects via @cancerdotnet 
https://www.cancer.net/blog/2018-02/what-you-need-know-about-immunotherapy-side-effects

@SITcancer released new consensus recommendations on recognition & clinical management of immune-related side effects of immunotherapy. 
https://www.medpagetoday.com/reading-room/asco/immunotherapy/71026

@DanaFarber New Clinical Trials Test Immunotherapy for Cervical Cancer
http://blog.dana-farber.org/insight/2018/03/new-clinical-trials-test-immunotherapy-cervical-cancer/

Sue's Washington Post article
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/cancer-was-killing-her-she-tried-immunotherapy/2014/11/10/0b252ae8-4fb4-11e4-babe-e91da079cb8a_story.html?utm_term=.0deb48a39453

Articles about #ovariancancer treatment vaccine trials https://medicalxpress.com/news/2017-04-world-ovarian-cancer-vaccine-trial.html and http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/obgyn/research/ovarian_clinical.htm  [updated link 1/11/2019 https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2018/april/personalized-tumor-vaccine-shows-promise-in-pilot-trial ]
 
Overview from @theNCI - Immunotherapy to Treat Cancer
https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/types/immunotherapy

Overview from @cancerdotnet – Immunotherapy and Vaccines https://www.cancer.net/navigating-cancer-care/how-cancer-treated/immunotherapy-and-vaccines

@CancerResearch has an immunotherapy trials #ovariancancer page http://cancerresearch.org/immunotherapy/cancer-types/ovarian-cancer and #cervicalcancer page http://cancerresearch.org/immunotherapy/cancer-types/cervical-cancer

patient recruitment page for the NIH https://www.cc.nih.gov/recruit/

A survey on state of patients' Immunotherapy knowledge by @teaminspire - Infographic: 
https://corp.inspire.com/resource/2017-immunotherapy-awareness-infographic/

NYTimes Article - Doctors Said Immunotherapy Would Not Cure Her Cancer. They Were Wrong.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/19/health/ovarian-cancer-immunotherapy.html

How CAR-T Therapy, Known As A 'Living Drug,' May Help To Kill Forms Of Cancer ( #mmsm )
http://keranews.org/post/how-car-t-therapy-known-living-drug-may-help-kill-forms-cancer

PET Scans Could Identify Those Likely to Respond to PD-1-targeted Cancer Therapies 
https://immuno-oncologynews.com/2018/03/09/pet-scans-could-identify-those-likely-to-respond-to-pd-1-targeting-immunotherapy/

Collaboration key to identification, incorporation of biomarkers for immuno-oncology 
https://www.healio.com/hematology-oncology/practice-management/news/online/%7B64654536-7fa7-4d43-b57d-ae9b4d027a7f%7D/collaboration-key-to-identification-incorporation-of-biomarkers-for-immuno-oncology

"In Cancer Trials, Minorities Face Extra Hurdles" Researchers actually (falsely) believe people in minority groups have lower incomes & less education, & therefore less awareness of medical studies.
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/23/health/cancer-trials-immunotherapy.html?smid=tw-share

clinical trials check out this @SGO_org video
https://www.sgo.org/patients-caregivers-survivors/clinical-trials/

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Friday, 9 March 2018

March 14th Chat: Immunotherapy



We are pleased to be discussing Immunotherapy in Gynecologic Cancers with NIH researcher Dr. Christian Hinrichs (@CSHinrichsMD) and patients Sue Scott (@SurvivorSueWDC) and Aricca Wallace (@mandmsportsmom) during our monthly #gyncsm chat on Wednesday, March 14th at 9:00pm ET. 

Dr. Christian Hinrichs' research focuses on immunotherapy for HPV positive cancers including cervical, vulvar and vaginal cancers. Read more about his research and trials here. Sue Scott, following a diagnosis of metastatic cervical cancer, took part in one of Dr. Hinrichs' trials in 2013. You may read her story here. Aricca Wallace discovered she had stage III cervical cancer in 2011 and went through 32 rounds of chemo and 25 days of radiation. Aricca also took part in Dr. Hinrichs' clinical trial. You can read about her experience here. 

The NCI/NIH Immunotherapy to Treat Cancer site states that immunotherapy is a type of biological therapy that helps your immune system fight cancer. Dr. Hinrichs' research deals with T-cells, white blood cells, that target two specific HPV proteins.

Our topic questions will include: 

What is immunotherapy? How is it different from other gyn cancer treatments (surgery, chemo, radiation)? 

What is the immunotherapy treatment experience like? What are the common side effects with immunotherapy? 

Is immunotherapy common in treating gynecologic cancers? Is it only offered through trials?
Patients - How did you find out immunotherapy was an option? What were your concerns? What led you to go forward with enrolling in a trial?

What advice would you give to others considering an immunotherapy trial, or any clinical trial? 

@CSHinrichsMD - How did patients  contribute to your immunotherapy research? What did you learn from them and where is the research now heading?

What are some resources for learning more about immunotherapy in treating cancer? For finding out what's new and what trials are open?

We hope you will join us to learn more about how immunotherapy works, immunotherapy clinical trials and hear about the experiences of two women whose cancer was treated with immunotherapy. 

See you on Wednesday. 

Dee 
#gyncsm Community Co-founder
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Supplements / Vitamins Are they helpful? May 8, 2019 Chat

We were pleased to have Stacy Kennedy MPH,RD (@stacykennedyrd) join us for this informative chat on vitamins and supplements.  You may find ...