Battling Cancer

The liver is the largest internal human organ. If the liver completely shut down, we would die within 24 hours. This is because the liver has so many vital functions in human life.

Functions of the liver: More →

During his 1970 inaugural address, American President Richard Nixon declared a War on Cancer. Promising to allocate at least $100 million in funding to investigate the causes for what was then the second-leading cause of death in the United States, Nixon followed through in 1971 by signing the National Cancer Act. Key objectives of this act included infusing basic sciences research funding, ramping up clinical trials and making the National Cancer Institute a free-standing body under the National Institutes of Health.

Nearly forty years later, physicians and scientists are making great strides in better understanding the etiology, management and treatment in all forms of cancer. Recently, the American Society for Clinical Oncology released a report entitled, Clinical Cancer Advances 2007: Major Research Advances in Cancer Treatment, Prevention, and Screening. This annual review, which is available as a .pdf, podcast, and slideshow at the People Living With Cancer website, includes the following highlights: 

Primary Liver Cancer Patients Get the Option for Systemic Treatment: Until recently, surgical techniques were the first line of treatment in liver cancer patients because response to chemotherapy was so poor. In 2007, results of a large study showed that advanced liver cancer using sorafenib (Nevaxar), a targeted chemotherapeutic, lived 44 percent longer than patients who did not. More →

Former rock groupie JO JO LAINE, ex-wife of WINGS guitarist DENNY LAINE, has been diagnosed with liver cancer.

The brunette beauty, 53, is reeling after the recent diagnosis, but hopes to fight it. Jo Jo, whose former boyfriends include JIM MORRISON and ROD STEWART, says, “Doctors tell me they have found a tumour. “In two weeks, I begin chemo so I’ll lose my hair like KYLIE MINOGUE. “But that’s a small price to pay as long as I’m alive. I’m on 11 pills a day and frequently visit Addenbroke’s Hospital in Cambridge (England). I couldn’t have better doctors.”

Source: NEWS JO JO LAINE DIAGNOSED WITH CANCER Music, movie & Entertainment News

Curtis Salgado, the singer and bluesman who was the visual inspiration for John Belushi’s Blues Brothers act, has liver cancer and has suspended concerts.
Salgado, who grew up here and lives in Portland, was diagnosed with cancer three weeks ago. The 52-year-old performer expects to begin radiation treatment in May and eventually hopes to have a liver transplant, said longtime manager Shane Tappendorf.

“We’re just staying optimistic,” Tappendorf said. “As we take each treatment, we’ll know more.”

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