Cancer

B.C. study offers a ray of hope for incurable cancer patients

Retired teacher Daphne Quance has incurable colo rectal cancer, and she's putting a big chunk of faith for survival on a study she has joined that uses high doses of vitamin D.

Vitamin D is naturally derived from exposure to the sun. It can also be taken as a pill. Yet many studies have shown that Canadians have less than optimal vitamin D levels, especially during the winter.

Research has suggested vitamin D may play a role in preventing cancer or extending life once diagnosed.

Doctors use immune therapy against cervical cancer; 2 of 9 women see tumors disappear

Two years ago, Arrica Wallace was riddled with tumors from widely spread cervical cancer that the strongest chemotherapy and radiation could not beat back. Today, the Kansas mother shows no signs of the disease, and it was her own immune system that made it go away.

The experimental approach that helped her is one of the newest frontiers in the rapidly advancing field of cancer immunotherapy, which boosts the body's natural ways of attacking tumors.

Brain cancer victim confronted Ontario government about why Avastin, a drug paid for elsewhere, would not be funded for her

Kimm Fletcher was never one to back away from a challenge. While many terminally ill patients understandably retreat to put their lives in order and wait for the end, the Ontario wife and mother of two chose to fight publicly for a treatment that might have prolonged her life.

Cancer as comeuppance

While making my way through Lymphomaland, I try to spend as little time as possible in the State of Blame. But sometimes I take a wrong turn, and there I am.

What did I do wrong? How did I give myself cancer? Was it years of disordered eating? Was it growing up in a high-strung, unpredictable family? Too much sugar or aspartame? Year-round barbecuing? Having children late? Inhaling the fumes in too many new cars?

AVIVA RUBIN Reports

UBC prof has designs on fighting cancer

A University of B.C. costume design professor has created a collection of 10 ball gowns to get people talking about cancer.

The gowns, inspired by microscopic photos of cancer cells and cellular systems, are also aimed at getting people to discuss beauty and body image while creating alternative imagery for discussions of cancer.

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