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  • How Our Immune Systems Are Used to Treat Cancer

    Our immune system best recognizes threats that originate outside of the body rather than abnormalities that originate from within, so our natural defense system doesn’t normally detect cancer. In addition, cancer cells themselves can give off substances that keep the immune system from finding and destroying them. The immunotherapy treatments being used today are ways of “waking up” our immune system, either by stimulating the patient’s own natural defenses or by using lab-made substances to assist our immune system. This enables the body to recognize and fight cancer in ways that it normally wouldn’t be able to do. 

  • Mysterious Bruises, Night Sweats — Is It Blood Cancer?

    Maybe you’ve had a bruise that appeared easily, and you can’t recall having bumped into anything that would have caused it. Perhaps you noticed a swollen lymph node that remained that way, even after a few weeks. Each ailment is easy enough to ignore, but if you’ve felt feverish as well, even experiencing night sweats, it may be time to visit your doctor. These symptoms can precede the onset of blood cancer. 

  • Expanded Screening May Catch Lung Cancer Sooner

    Current or former smokers may find themselves worrying about their risk for lung cancer. Even if you kicked the habit years ago, when should you get screened? U.S. health officials recently expanded the pool of Americans who could benefit from early detection. Now, if you’re between the ages of 50 and 80 with a history of heavy smoking (currently defined as 20 pack-years), you should be screened, according to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Those guidelines apply, even if you quit smoking up to 15 years ago.

  • Al Roker’s Prostate Cancer Diagnosis Prompts Question: When Did You Last Get Checked?

    Al Roker’s recent announcement of his prostate cancer diagnosis is a perfect example of why men in his demographic need to visit their doctor for regular exams. If cancer is found and discovered early enough, it can be managed and potentially cured. The red flag that arises during the routine screening and lab test concerns the PSA, or prostate-specific antigen, but there are also other tests that can be run with new technology to arrive at a diagnosis. For the many men who remain hesitant or anxious about a rectal exam and prostate check — especially African-American men who don’t obtain regular screenings and therefore die of this cancer in greater numbers — Roker’s diagnosis is a wake-up call with this message: Come in and get checked.  

  • Robotic Surgery for Lung Cancer

    Lung cancer is a surprisingly common cancer for both men and women. Other than skin cancer, lung cancer is the second most common form of the disease, with only prostate cancer for men and breast cancer for women diagnosed at higher rates. Lung cancer represents 14 percent of all new cancer diagnoses and is the leading cause of death for both men and women. But newer treatment options, such as robotic surgery, can improve the recovery and outcome from lung cancer surgery.

  • What to Know About Breast Reconstructive Surgery After Breast Cancer

    If you’ve been diagnosed with breast cancer, you have to make a lot of decisions about your treatment. And, if you’re preparing for a lumpectomy or mastectomy, there’s one more decision to make: if you want reconstructive surgery. You might think this is a decision you would make after your surgery and treatment are finished—and it can be. But, there are benefits to having reconstructive surgery as early as possible—perhaps even during the lumpectomy or mastectomy.

  • Your BFFs (Best Food Finds) During Pregnancy

    Want to grow the healthiest baby possible while staying within your prescribed weight gain? Then build a prenatal meal plan around fresh, lean food choices, says Dr. Meredith Watson-Locklear, an OB-GYN with Orlando Health Physician Associates.

  • It Sounds Like Good News, but Alex Trebek’s ‘Near Remission’ for Pancreatic Cancer Isn’t Typical

    UPDATE: Alex Trebek died November 8, 2020, more than a year after he was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer. He was 80.

  • Debunking Myths About HPV and Its Deadly Connection to Cervical Cancer

    Why should someone in their 30s have to make end-of-life preparations over a disease like cervical cancer, especially when we know the disease can be prevented? One reason may be misconceptions about the disease and the HPV vaccine that put women at risk until it’s too late.

  • Can Nonsmokers Get Lung Cancer? The Answer Is Yes

    Here’s an alarming statistic: While 80 percent of the cases we see in our clinic stem from those who have a history of smoking cigarettes, it might surprise a lot of people to know that the other 20 percent have never smoked cigarettes or used any form of tobacco in their lives. That amounts to about 70,000 cases of the 225,000 diagnosed with lung cancer in 2018.