TARGET THERAPY in Gallbladder Cancer treatment

Gallbladder treatment, chemotherapy has been found to show limited or very less results. Researchers are coming up with a new line of treatment , known as TARGET THERAPY. These drugs are used in combinations of chemotherapy  drugs are now being tested for people with gallbladder cancer.

TARGET THERAPIES

These kind of therapies, are usually drugs or substances that targets the specific molecules in cancer cell growth. In contrast to the chemotherapy drugs, who act against cell division to stop their growth.

These drugs are target oriented and target parts of cancerous cells or  around their neighboring environments. Many of these new drugs target cells with specific changes in gene(s).

One such target are the tumor blood vessels. Gallbladder tumor require the new blood vessels to grow beyond a certain size. Such target drugs are said to really effective especially  in the treatment of Gallbladder cancer. For instance  Bevacizumab (Avastin®) and pazopanib (Votrient®) are examples of drugs that target blood vessel growth and are being studied for their use against gallbladder cancer.

Many other drugs have different targets For example, a protein, EGFR found in high amounts on certain types of cancer cell, is said to be helping the cancer cells in their growth. Drugs such as lapatinib (Tykerb®) and cetuximab (Erbitux®), are now being studied for  their usage in patients with gallbladder cancer,  along with chemotherapy and other targeted drugs.

Drugs such as MEK inhibitors, selumetinib and such as trametinib (Mekinist®) and, are also being studied for their use in the treatment of gallbladder cancer.

Courtesy: www.cancer.org

When you have CANCER?

Dealing with yourself,  is always easy. We say it all the time. "If it had been me…then it would be easy".

But when you are just told that you have CANCER. Various emotions float- scary, bad and very bad! You may be  disappointed and feel unfortunate. But it definitely brings out the lost emotion- Inner strength. You are a fighter and will not give up!

It is natural, to feel hopeless and low- when you know that you have cancer and may be just have few more months with your loved ones. You may feel that your life has just hit the rock bottom.

My father was to be operated, when by chance it was discovered that he had cancer. I was the first one to be told. But I wanted to hide from my father-just like he would have from me. After all now, it was my time to take care of him. However my mother could not control her emotions, so papa came to know about it.

He was shocked. He didn’t know what to say-just like we all din’t know how to react? But after 2 days, he spoke and said - it's  just like any other illness and he will get well. He was confident.

As time passed, he lost hope. And he somewhat made peace with his approaching death.

He openly acknowledged, he now wanted to die. I remember him feeling dejected just once- when he said, Why me? rest he was very hopeful throughout the treatment .

He making peace with his going away -I hated it and was really annoyed. According to him, he was making things easy for me. He wanted me to stop trying!And let him go. And now when I look back- he was suffering too much. The feeling that he was making my life "difficult" was taking over him and he felt it was "worthless"- eventually, he had to go!. 

Gradually he deteriorated- he spoke very less, and smiled very less. But there were certain things which I really want to share with people who are fighting cancer in some way- patient or family.

• Papa, never really gave up. He kept on trying till the end came. 
• He took active part in his own treatment.
• All  through the treatment, he was very tolerant-both at emotional and physical level.
• He was always hopeful and  kept faith.
• Lastly, he always said that he was fortunate to say good bye to all his loved ones.

To conclude, I will say-Its okay to cry, its okay to be silent or be angry. But don't give up. 

Dealing with cancer is very difficult especially when you know the result. But all you have to do keep trying. That’s what papa always said and true to his word- he kept trying. He lost the battle, but I am so proud of you papa!

Happy Makar Sakranti Papa!

When one of your parent has cancer

I still remember the most difficult time of my life was when papa, was detected with cancer. There was so much going on in my head. I was sad. I was anxious. I was scared. I was angry. I was completely lost. I wanted to ask so many questions. But whom to ask and what to ask? I was completely baffled

I became overemotional, I would cry at the drop of a hat. I would get irritated easily and was in constant frustrated mode. The next few days passed just like this. I was battling with myself. I wanted to help papa, but how ? when I was restless myself. I needed to calm myself.I needed to get over my thoughts to help my family and start with the treatment.

I visited this Cancer Hospital, and my thoughts took a drastic change. It was a hospital completely dedicated to people suffering from cancer. Thousands of people visiting daily from different parts of the world. Different cancer. Different pain. Different stories. At the same time, all of us were related. Cancer patient and families-we all were struggling and were dealing with our pain in our own way without saying anything to anyone.

When someone you love has cancer, things will definitely be different. And they become more painful when it is one of your parent. The first thing you need to do is to get hold of yourself and your wandering thoughts. It is important that you realize that for the next few months you will play a  very important role in building an environment that is not only motivational for your parent but also calm and peaceful for yourself and your family.

It is a tough time and you need to be strong for your loved ones. They need your support. Both at emotional and at mental level. Sometime even financially. 

For the parent-  who has just been diagnosed with cancer, it is the most sad phase of life. They can become irritated, and don't want to talk. Don't feel bad. Try to help them by distracting. You can do a lot of things to help, for instance 

• Try spending more time 
• Read a book of their choice
• Play music of their choice as long as they are comfortable
• You can treat them with luxuries
• Help them with their medication/treatment

As a child you always know what your parents really like, same way as they know what you like. You can find different ways to divert them from cancer. You can do all this, but only if you are in the right frame of mind. Create a support system for yourself. While you take care of your parent, don’t forget to take care of yourself. It’s okay to cry and let your emotions out. Don’t be guilty. It’s not you fault.

Taking care of yourself can make a big difference to the way you feel about yourself  as the caretaker and  your ability to perform these new roles and responsibilities in a more responsible manner.

Papa, miss you- It is easier said then done, but I tried and still trying!

Cancer by bad luck!

Cancer- happens due to 'bad luck'...says a study conducted by Johns Hopkins Medicine research study. How lame is that? Are we talking about "luck" in this age? 

I am sure they must have reasons which support their findings, but are they telling us- that the maid working at my home doesn't say...33 year old Pramila's daughter has cancer, when asked she said-  "Kismat kharab hai madam"(it was bad luck, that my daughter has got cancer).

Ofcourse being ill  is bad luck- but whose bad luck? In my case, I, lost my father to cancer. So whose bad luck was it - Papa or me? He left and I am here! The theory of "bad luck" can be attributed to any disease, why limit it to cancer only? Being someone who believes in the power of science- I could not relate to it( Bad luck theory).

I am not convinced, by the 'bad luck theory', however I agree with them -to focus more on detecting cancer at early stage when it is curable. 

For people who are interested in reading the article can read here. It is a great article, i suggest everyone should read it. The classification is done nicely and most of the reasons and risk explained are true.

Happy New Year, Papa!