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Tag: Cancer

  • The Effects of Fasting on Cancer | NutritionFacts.org

    Ever since the days of Hippocrates, 2,400 years ago, fasting has been offered as a treatment for acute and chronic diseases, based on the observation that when people get sick they frequently lose their appetite.

    Along with fever, decreased food consumption is one of the most common signs of infection. Often regarded as an undesirable manifestation of sickness, it’s actually an active, beneficial defense mechanism. As I discuss in my video Fasting for Cancer: What about Cachexia, chronic under-nutrition can impair our defenses, but data suggest that, in the short-term, immune function can be enhanced by lowering food intake.

    Researchers have shown that the blood from starved mice was nearly eight times better at killing off the invading bacteria in a petri dish, dramatically boosting the capacity of their white blood cells to kill off the pathogens. What about people? And what about cancer?

     

    Does Fasting Help Our Natural Killer Cells Fight Cancer Cells?

    When study participants fasted for two weeks on an 80-calorie-a-day diet, not only did their white blood cells show the same kind of boost in bacteria-killing ability and antibody production, but their natural killer cell activity increased by an average of 24%. This is especially interesting because our natural killer cells don’t just help clear infections, but they also kill cancer cells. In fact, that’s how the researchers measured natural killer cell activity; they pitted them against K562 cells, which are human leukemia cells.

    Fasting is said to improve anticancer immunosurveillance, or, more poetically, by “stimulating the appetite of the immune system for cancer.” So, why isn’t fasting used more to treat cancer? Because so much about cancer care revolves around keeping people’s weight up to try to counteract the cancer-wasting syndrome.

     

    What Causes Cancer Cachexia?

    Until recently, fasting therapy was not considered to be a treatment option in cancer, related to the fact that a common therapeutic goal in palliative cancer treatment is to avoid weight loss and counteract the wasting syndrome known as cachexia, which is the ultimate cause of death in many cancer cases.

    Tumors are voracious, rapidly expanding and in need of a lot of energy and protein, so cancer metabolically reprograms the body to start breaking down to feed its tumors. It does this by triggering inflammation throughout the body. It’s not just that people lose their appetite. “The fundamental difference between the weight loss observed in CC [cancer cachexia] and that seen in simple starvation is the lack of reversibility with feeding alone.”

    Therapeutic nutritional interventions to correct or reverse cachexia frequently fail. The best treatment for cancer cachexia, therefore, is to treat the cause and cure the cancer. In fact, maybe forcing extra nutrition on cancer patients could be playing right into the tumor’s hands. Like in pregnancy when the fetus gets first dibs on nutrients even at the mother’s expense, the tumor may be first in the feeding line. Maybe our loss of appetite when we get cancer is even a protective response.

     

    Is Chemotherapy Enough?

    As I discuss in my video Fasting Before and After Chemotherapy and Radiation, for the past 50 years, chemotherapy has been a major medical treatment for a wide range of cancers. Its main strategy has been largely based on targeting cancer cells, by means of DNA damage caused in part by the production of free radicals. Although these drugs were first believed to be very selective for tumor cells, we eventually learned that normal cells also experience severe chemotherapy-dependent damage, which can lead to dose-limiting side effects, including bone marrow and immune system suppression, fatigue, vomiting, diarrhea, and in some cases, even death.

    If you do survive chemotherapy, the DNA damage to normal cells can even lead to new cancers down the road. There are cell-protecting drugs that have been tried to reduce the side effects so you can pump in higher chemo doses, but these drugs have not been shown to increase survival––in part because they may also be protecting the cancer cells. What about instead fasting for cellular protection during cancer treatment?

     

    Fasting and Chemotherapy

    Many may not recognize the role fasting can play in cancer prevention and treatment. Short-term fasting before and immediately after chemotherapy may minimize side effects, while, at the same time, it may actually make cancer cells more sensitive to treatment. That’s exciting! 

    During deprivation, healthy cells switch from growth to maintenance and repair, but tumor cells are unable to slow down their unbridled growth, due to growth-promoting mutations that led them to become cancer cells in the first place. This inability to adapt to starvation may represent an important Achilles’ heel for many types of cancer cells.

    As a consequence of these differential responses of healthy cells versus cancer cells to short-term fasting, chemotherapy causes more DNA damage and cell suicide in tumor cells, while potentially leaving healthy cells unharmed. Thus, short-term fasting may protect healthy cells against the toxic assault of chemotherapy and cause tumor cells to be more sensitive––or at least that’s the theory.

    Researchers found that, in rodents, fasting alone appears to work as well as chemotherapy. What’s more, unbridled tumor growth was also knocked down by radiation therapy—and even more so after the combination of radiation and alternate-day fasting. However, alternate-day fasting alone seemed to do as well as radiation. These data are exciting, but for mice with breast cancer. What about people?

     

    Fasting Put to the Test Against Cancers

    As I discuss in my video Fasting Before and After Chemotherapy Put to the Test, several patients diagnosed with a wide variety of cancers elected to undertake fasting prior to chemotherapy and share their experiences. They reported a reduction in fatigue, weakness, and gastrointestinal side effects while fasting and felt better across the board, with zero vomiting. The weight lost during the few days of fasting was quickly recovered by most of the patients and did not lead to any discernable harm. So, overall, fasting under care seems safe and potentially able to ameliorate side effects.

    chart showing reduced chemotherapy side effects with fasting

    In a randomized clinical study, breast and ovarian cancer patients fasted from 36 hours before chemotherapy until 24 hours after, and fasting did appear to improve quality of life and fatigue. However, another study found no such beneficial effects. There did appear to perhaps be less bone marrow toxicity, given the higher counts of red blood cells and platelet-making cells. But no benefit when it came to saving white blood cells—the immune system cells—so that was a disappointment. Perhaps they didn’t fast long enough?

    A systematic review of 22 studies found that, overall, fasting may not only reduce chemotherapy side effects (like organ damage, immune suppression, and chemotherapy-induced death), but it may also suppress tumor progression, including tumor growth and metastasis, resulting in improved survival. But, nearly all the studies were on mice and dogs. The studies on humans were limited to evaluating safety and side effects. The tumor-suppression effects of fasting––for example, its influence on tumor growth, metastasis and prognosis––sadly, were not evaluated.

     

    Does Fasting Make Chemo More Effective?

    As I discuss in my video Fasting-Mimicking Diet Before and After Chemotherapy, short-term food withdrawal during chemotherapy may begin to solve the long-standing problem with most cancer treatments: how to kill the tumor without killing the patient. Short-term fasting––for example, for 48 hours before chemo and 24 hours afterwards––may reduce side effects, so-called “chemotherapy-induced toxicity.” However, the potential tumor-suppressing effects of fasting have still not been thoroughly evaluated.

    Some argue that reducing chemo’s side effects alone could improve efficacy, since patients could withstand higher doses. For example, the heart and kidney damage associated with the widely prescribed anti-cancer drugs limit their full therapeutic potential. It’s not clear, though, that maximizing the tolerated chemo dose would achieve longer survival or better quality of life. For now, I think we should just be satisfied with the fewer side effects for fewer side effects’ sake.

     

    How Does Fasting Work?

    Fasting can reduce the levels of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), a cancer-promoting growth hormone. The reduced levels of IGF-1 mediate the differential protection of normal cells and cancer cells in response to fasting and improve chemo’s ability to kill cancer but spare normal cells.

    So, reducing IGF-1 signaling may provide dual benefits by protecting normal tissues while reducing tumor progression. It may even help prevent the cancer in the first place. But fasting isn’t the only way to drop IGF-1 levels: A few days of fasting can cut levels in half, but that’s largely because protein intake is being cut. Protein is a key determinant of circulating IGF-1 levels in humans––suggesting that “reduced protein intake may become an important component of anticancer and antiaging dietary interventions,” particularly a reduction in animal protein.

     

    Lowering Protein Intake to Lower IGF-1

    If you compare those who eat strictly plant-based diets and get about the recommended daily intake of protein (0.8 grams per kg of body weight) to individuals who are just as slender but consume the higher amount of protein more typical to Americans, going on a calorie-restricted diet may lower IGF-1 a little, but eating a plant-based diet can lower it even more than going low calorie. 

    Chart showing bigger restriction of IGF-1 concentration compared to a low calorie or western diet

    So, not only may a diet centered around whole plant foods down-regulate IGF-1 activity, potentially slowing the aging process, but it may be a way of turning anti-aging genes against cancer.

    Michael Greger M.D. FACLM

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  • Heavy Metal, Headbanging, and Our Health | NutritionFacts.org

    How might we moderate the rare but very real risk of headbanging?

    If you search for heavy metal in the National Library of Medicine database, most of what you find is on heavy metal contamination in fish, which “makes it difficult to establish clearly the role of fish consumption on a healthy diet” and perhaps helps to explain the quintupling of odds of autoimmune diseases, such as juvenile arthritis. But searching for the hazards of heavy metal also pops up entries on the “risks from heavy metal music.” In this study, researchers were talking about traumatic injuries from slamming around “during a moshing session,” but you’re more likely to get injured at an alternative rock concert. (Check out some of the artists below and at 0:50 in my video The Dangerous Effects of Heavy Metal Music.)

    Certainly, music-induced hearing loss is a serious problem, but that can result from any loud music. Clinical recommendations include the “80–90 rule”—no more than 80% of the maximum volume on personal listening devices for no more than 90 minutes a day. That’s not what the science shows, however. “Do not exceed 60% of the maximum volume” may be more evidence-based, but researchers figure teens would just ignore that, so they came up with more “acceptable” advice.

    I assumed I’d see a lot of satanic panic nonsense from the 1980s, when “parents bereaved by suicide…accused Heavy Metal groups of promoting suicidal behaviours and…proceeded to sue musicians.” What kind of evidence did the parents present? There has been “little scholarly research” published until the “The Heavy Metal Subculture and Suicide” paper that tried to correlate the number of statewide heavy metal magazine subscriptions to youth suicide rates. Seriously?

    It got really wild, though, when researchers called psychiatric institutions, pretending to be parents worried because their son started listening to heavy metal music, even though they made it clear that their son didn’t exhibit any symptoms of mental illness, didn’t do drugs or drink alcohol, and was doing fine at school. Ten of the twelve facilities believed the son required psychiatric hospitalization. Imagine what that would do to a kid! Researchers found that, decades later, metalheads “were significantly happier in their youth and better adjusted” than their peers.

    Some studies were strange. Do Parkinson’s patients walk better listening to The Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine” or Metallica’s “Master of Puppets”? (See below and at 2:32 in my video.)

    Others were pretty nondescript. Heavy metal musicians exhibit a higher heart rate than those performing “contemporary Christian,” which isn’t so surprising, as you can see  here and at 2:40.

    Some others were kind of cute, like one that investigated the influence of music on promoting patient safety during surgery—veterinary patients, that is. Kittens got spayed with little earphones on their heads. It turns out that “Adagio for Strings” may be more relaxing than AC/DC.

    A review on music therapy for human patients warned: “Caution should be exercised…when guiding patients in selecting their music. ‘Chaotic music, such us [sic] hip-hop and metal, is not healing to human cells.’” That even had three citations, though two of them don’t say anything and the third is a nursing newsletter merely quoting someone’s opinion. I did some digging, and it turns out that stomach cancer cells like metal. If you play them Cannibal Corpse versus Beethoven, 12 hours of death metal increases their growth in a petri dish, as you can see below and at 3:28 in my video. (That’s so metal.)

    But who puts headphones on their stomach? Or their chests, for that matter? In one study, Mozart killed off one type of breast cancer cell line but not another; in another study, only Beethoven’s 5th Symphony seemed to work, and Mozart flopped when the petri dishes were surrounded by speakers. How does this stuff even get published?

    Anyway, the true danger from heavy metal is headbanging. “Headbanging is a contemporary dance form consisting of abrupt flexion–extension movements of the head to the rhythm of rock music, most commonly seen in the heavy metal genre.” Although the “number of avid aficionados is unknown…some fans might be endangered by indulging excessive headbanging.” Despite headbanging generally being “considered harmless,” several health complications have been attributed to this practice, including ripping your carotid artery, rupturing your lung, whiplash injury, neck fracture, or subdural hematoma. One man reported headbanging at a Motörhead concert, and all that “brisk forward and backward acceleration and deceleration forces” might have ruptured his bridging veins and caused him to bleed into his skull.

    As shown here and at 4:47 in my video, bridging veins bridge the gap between the brain and the covering that lines the inside of our skull, and if the veins tear, blood can build up under our skull and compress our brain.

    This bridging vein rupture has been demonstrated on headbanging cadavers (another very metal study). See below and at 5:02 in my video. It’s been likened to a “pseudo shaken-baby syndrome” in adults.

    The researchers conclude that their “case serves as evidence in support of Motörhead’s reputation as one of the most hardcore rock’n’roll acts on earth,” but I think the real takeaway is that a potentially dangerous complication like subdural hematoma can result from “a seemingly benign activity like head banging.” And some of the brain bleeds can be massive. One man complained of a “headache after headbanging at a party.” Why? As you can see in his CT scan below and at 5:35, circled in red is all blood, squishing over his brain. Amazingly, he survived; another man didn’t, headbanging and losing his life to a fatal subdural hemorrhage.

    We can tear more than just veins. There are two sets of arteries that tunnel into the skull—the carotid arteries in the front and the vertebral arteries in the back—and we can tear both sets. A 15-year-old boy “indulged in headbanging” and ripped his carotid artery, which led to a massive stroke. He presented as half-paralyzed and unable to speak, and he died in a coma within a week.

    What about the vertebral arteries in the back? They’re wedged into our skull, rendering them susceptible to shearing forces from extremes of neck motion, and that’s exactly what appeared to happen when a heavy metal drummer tore the wall of the artery. All of this is really rare, probably afflicting less than one in a thousand or so. What can metalheads do to reduce their risk? “To prevent injury due to such head-banging, the range of head and neck motion should be reduced, slower-tempo music should replace heavy metal rock, the frequency of head-banging should be only on every second beat, or personal protective equipment should be used”—like a neck brace?

    “Little formal injury research has been conducted on the worldwide phenomenon of head banging,” so researchers constructed “a theoretical head banging model” with enough physics terms to make any nerd happy: “angular displacement,” “sinusoidal motion in the sagittal plane,” and “amplitude of the displacement curve.” The study participants? Headbangers. The control group? That’s easy with easy listening music.

    The head injury curves and neck injury curves, based on headbanging tempo and angular sweep, are shown below and at 7:23.

    “An average head-banging song has a tempo of about 146 beats per minute, which is predicted to cause mild head injury when the range of motion is greater than 75º,” so something like what’s seen below and at 7:34 in my video.

    The researchers conclude: “To minimise the risk of head and neck injury, head bangers should decrease their range of head and neck motion, head bang to slower tempo songs by replacing heavy metal with adult-oriented rock, only head bang to every second beat, or use personal protective equipment.”

    “Unfortunately, it is difficult, if not impossible, to change the habits of heavy metal aficionados.” Maybe what we need are metal-studded neck braces.

    Doctor’s Note

    What about the healing potential of music? Check out Music as Medicine and Music for Anxiety: Mozart vs. Metal.

    Michael Greger M.D. FACLM

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  • Man living with cancer goes door-to-door in effort to keep research going

    SIGNATURES TO PUSH LAWMAKERS TO DO SOMETHING TO GET THAT MONEY BACK. DOCTOR PETER BRIDGMAN IS SPENDING HIS HOLIDAYS GOING DOOR-TO- DOOR CHATTING WITH HIS NEIGHBORS. HE’S THANKFUL FOR THE CANCER TREATMENTS THAT ARE KEEPING HIM ALIVE. THE 72-YEAR-OLD FORMER NEUROLOGIST WAS DIAGNOSED IN 2013 WITH MULTIPLE MYELOMA – A BONE MARROW CANCER – TREATABLE WITH INFUSION THERAPIES. HE’S DOING WELL…BUT WORRIES ABOUT THE DAY HE MIGHT NEED MORE ADVANCED TREATMENT OPTIONS CURRENTLY UNDER DEVELOPMENT AT THE “NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH” – AND THE “NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE.” THE AGENCIES ARE FORCED TO CUT BILLIONS OF DOLLARS NOW THAT PRESIDENT TRUMP’S BUDGET HAS PASSED. “NIH AND THE NCI EXPECTED SMALL CUTS LIKE FIVE OR TEN PERCENT, BUT THEY WERE COMPLETELY FLOORED BY THE 37-PERCENT CUT TO THE NCI.” “ACTIVE RESEARCH IS GOING ON AND THAT MIGHT BE CURTAILED. SO, BY THE TIME I NEED IT, IT MAY NOT BE THERE FOR ME.” SO, HE’S ASKING HIS NEIGHBORS TO SIGN AN ON-LINE PETITION CALLING FOR FUNDS TO BE RESTORED TO PREVIOUS LEVELS. “IN ORDER TO SAVE LIVES, WE HAVE TO RESTORE FUNDING TO CLOSE TO WHAT IT WAS BEFORE. IF WE LET THE FUNDING BOUNCE UP AND DOWN, RESEARCHERS WILL GO TO OTHER COUNTRIES. THEY’LL GO TO THE EUROPEAN UNION. THEY’LL GO TO CHINA. AND WE’LL LOSE ALL OF THAT. IT WOULD TAKE DECADES TO BUILD IT BACK. SO, THAT’S THE RISK. THAT’S THE SERIOUS RISK.” HIS NEIGHBOR, JOHN AUBLE WAS HAPPY TO SIGN. WAS HAPPY TO SIGN. “OVERALL, I THINK CANCER IN UNDER FUNDED SO EVERY TIME WE HAVE SOMEBODY WHO IS WILLING TO PUT IN THE TIME THAT HE DOES – IT’S REALLY TOUCHING. WE NEED MORE PETERS.” IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN LEARNING MORE ABOUT THE PETITION – YOU CAN VISIT WWW.FIGHTCANCER.ORG “NEXT TUESDAY AFTERNOON DR. BRIDGMAN AND OTHERS FROM THE AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY WILL HAND DELIVER THOSE PETITION SIGNATURES TO SENATOR SUSAN COLLINS HERE AT HER PORTLAND OFFICE. AND THEY WAIT FOR CONGRESS TO RECONVENE AND HOPE THAT RESEARCH FUNDI

    Man living with cancer goes door-to-door in effort to keep federal research going

    Updated: 12:13 PM PST Nov 29, 2025

    Editorial Standards ⓘ

    Dr. Peter Bridgman, a retired neurologist who has cancer, is a man on a mission to get funding restored for federal agencies that are conducting cancer research.Bridgman, 72, was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2013. Multiple myeloma is a bone marrow cancer that is treatable with infusion therapies.The Yarmouth resident said he is doing well and is thankful for the treatments that are keeping him alive, but he is concerned about the future of cancer research.Advanced cancer treatment options are under development at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Cancer Institute (NCI), but the federal agencies face funding cuts in the billions.”NIH and the NCI expected small cuts like five or 10 percent, but they were completely floored by the 37 percent cut to the NCI,” Bridgman said. “Active research is going on and that might be curtailed. So by the time I need it, it may not be there for me.”Bridgman is now going door-to-door and asking his neighbors to sign an online petition calling for NIH and NCI funds to be restored to previous levels.”In order to save lives, we have to restore funding to close to what it was before. If we let the funding bounce up and down, researchers will go to other countries. They’ll go to the European Union. They’ll go to China, and we’ll lose all of that,” Bridgman said. “It would take decades to build it back, so that’s the risk. That’s the serious risk.”John Auble, one of Bridgman’s neighbors, said he was happy to sign the petition.”Overall, I think cancer is underfunded. So every time we have somebody who is willing to put in the time that he does, it’s really touching,” Auble said. “We need more Peters.”People who are interested in learning more about the petition can visit fightcancer.org.On Tuesday, Dec. 2, Bridgman and others from the American Cancer Society will hand deliver the petition signatures they have collected to U.S. Sen. Susan Collins’ office in Portland. They will then wait for Congress to reconvene and hope that research funding will be restored.

    Dr. Peter Bridgman, a retired neurologist who has cancer, is a man on a mission to get funding restored for federal agencies that are conducting cancer research.

    Bridgman, 72, was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2013. Multiple myeloma is a bone marrow cancer that is treatable with infusion therapies.

    The Yarmouth resident said he is doing well and is thankful for the treatments that are keeping him alive, but he is concerned about the future of cancer research.

    Advanced cancer treatment options are under development at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Cancer Institute (NCI), but the federal agencies face funding cuts in the billions.

    “NIH and the NCI expected small cuts like five or 10 percent, but they were completely floored by the 37 percent cut to the NCI,” Bridgman said. “Active research is going on and that might be curtailed. So by the time I need it, it may not be there for me.”

    Bridgman is now going door-to-door and asking his neighbors to sign an online petition calling for NIH and NCI funds to be restored to previous levels.

    “In order to save lives, we have to restore funding to close to what it was before. If we let the funding bounce up and down, researchers will go to other countries. They’ll go to the European Union. They’ll go to China, and we’ll lose all of that,” Bridgman said. “It would take decades to build it back, so that’s the risk. That’s the serious risk.”

    John Auble, one of Bridgman’s neighbors, said he was happy to sign the petition.

    “Overall, I think cancer is underfunded. So every time we have somebody who is willing to put in the time that he does, it’s really touching,” Auble said. “We need more Peters.”

    People who are interested in learning more about the petition can visit fightcancer.org.

    On Tuesday, Dec. 2, Bridgman and others from the American Cancer Society will hand deliver the petition signatures they have collected to U.S. Sen. Susan Collins’ office in Portland. They will then wait for Congress to reconvene and hope that research funding will be restored.

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  • A toddler was given just 3 years to live after his mom noticed worrying symptoms. He proved everyone wrong.

    Meghan Jenkins had her hands full with her toddler, Malachi. He was energetic and inquisitive, eager to explore the world around him. He loved anything to do with the Miami Dolphins and played constantly with dinosaurs and monster trucks. He was settling in at day care while Jenkins returned to work after taking a year off. Life was busy, but happy.  

    In March 2021, Jenkins noticed Malachi was tired and lethargic. He also had a lingering cough. One day, he threw up. When Jenkins changed his diaper, she found black stool. Immediately concerned, she and Malachi went straight to the emergency room. 

    Things moved quickly then, Jenkins said. Malachi was “connected to all these cords.” Someone said he might need a blood transfusion. Hours passed with no answers. Jenkins grew more scared by the minute. Finally, Malachi was admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit, where doctors performed a bone marrow biopsy. 

    Finally, a doctor sat Jenkins down for the diagnosis: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia. She was told her little boy’s life expectancy could be just two and a half to three more years. 

    “In that moment, you question God. You ask him ‘Why did this happen?’” Jenkins said. “I was so lost. This was my only child. I was young still, going through life, trying to figure things out. And then I had a big hit.” 

    Meghan Jenkins’ son Malachi in the hospital.

    Meghan Jenkins


    What is acute lymphoblastic leukemia? 

    Acute lymphoblastic leukemia, or ALL, is a rare cancer that starts in the bone marrow, according to the American Cancer Society’s website. Only about 6,100 new cases of ALL are diagnosed a year, according to the American Cancer Society, with children under the age of 5 having the highest risk of developing the disease. 

    ALL is a fast-growing cancer that results in the body producing immature white blood cells. Malachi’s white blood cell count was more than 10 times higher than it should be. The white blood cells were crowding out healthy cells, weakening his immune system and making it impossible for his body to fight off infections. 

    ALL can quickly spread throughout the body and affect the lymph nodes, liver, spleen and other organs, as well as the central nervous system. Because the cancer grows so quickly, immediate treatment is key. 

    Malachi was already “quite sick” when he was diagnosed, said Dr. Julio Barredo, the director of pediatric cancer programs at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center. She started Malachi on chemotherapy immediately. 

    Treating acute lymphoblastic leukemia  

    For the first month of treatment, Malachi was hospitalized. The first weeks of chemotherapy are intense, so staying in the hospital is often safer, said pediatric hematologist Dr. Aditi Dhir. Malachi had side effects including nausea and fatigue. He regressed in his potty training. Jenkins needed to wear gloves to hold him because of his compromised immune system. The toddler milestones she’d expected to celebrate were nowhere to be seen. 

    “There were days I didn’t even think I was going to go on, but I had to,” Jenkins said. “It was stressful. It was depressing, constantly being in there.” 

    img-6457.jpg

    Meghan Jenkins’ son Malachi in the hospital.

    Meghan Jenkins


    Still, the chemotherapy was clearly helping Malachi, Dhir said. She recalled seeing him run around the PICU within a week of starting treatment. Barredo said that Malachi handled the chemotherapy “as well as anybody could have handled it given the circumstances.” 

    After the first month, Malachi continued chemotherapy at home. He took eight medications a day, Jenkins said, and spent several days a week in the hospital. Next came the “maintenance” phase, Barredo said. During this time, Malachi remained on oral medication and only needed to go to the hospital every few weeks, Dhir explained. The maintenance phase lasted for two years. 

    Finally, in August 2023, “the storm blew over,” Jenkins said. Malachi was able to ring the bell that signified the completion of cancer treatment. 

    “You can’t tell he ever had leukemia” 

    Today, Malachi is a “very loving” 7-year-old who excels in school, takes gifted classes and regularly appears on the honor roll, Jenkins said. He still cheers for the Dolphins and plays with dinosaurs and trucks. He’s become a big reader and loves to share fun facts. 

    Most importantly, he is in remission. With acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the highest risk of relapse is within the first year of completing therapy, Barredo said. Malachi passed that milestone with flying colors. There’s “some risk” of relapse in the second year, Barredo said, but Malachi and Jenkins marked that in August without incident. After two years, it “is quite unusual” for an ALL patient to relapse, Barredo said. Malachi has outperformed his initial prognosis, and the success of his treatment means “his life expectancy is like that of any other kid his age.” 

    img-6455.jpg

    Meghan Jenkins’ son Malachi after completing cancer treatment.

    Meghan Jenkins


    “You look at him, you can’t tell he ever had leukemia,” Barredo said. “For all practical purposes, he is pretty much cured at this point in time. … He’ll be able to do whatever he wants to do.” 

    Malachi’s immune system remains compromised, Jenkins said, but she hopes to build it up so can have a normal childhood going forward. The family is looking forward to “finally blossoming” after the years of treatment and trauma. 

    “This whole process was very hard. It’s still hard. I have moments sometimes where I’m in shock, like I don’t believe we went through this or this even happened,” Jenkins said. “But there is a brighter situation. Every situation doesn’t have this outcome. But there are brighter outcomes. There are happier days than just being in the hospital and being sad.” 

    Edited by

    Paula Cohen

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  • Prostate Cancer and Mushrooms | NutritionFacts.org

    What can reishi mushrooms, shiitake mushroom extracts, and whole, powdered white mushrooms do for cancer patients?

    “A regular intake of mushrooms can make us healthier, fitter, and happier, and help us live longer,” but what is the evidence for all that? “Mushrooms are widely cited for their medicinal qualities, yet very few human intervention studies have been done using contemporary guidelines.”

    There is a compound called lentinan, extracted from shiitake mushrooms. To get about an ounce, you have to distill around 400 pounds of shiitakes, about 2,000 cups of mushrooms. Researchers injected the compound into cancer patients to see what happens. The pooled response from a dozen small clinical trials found that the objective response rate was significantly improved when lentinan was added to chemotherapy regimens for lung cancer. “Objective response rate” means, for example, tumor shrinkage, but what we really care about is survival and quality of life. Does it actually make cancer patients live any longer or any better? Well, those in the lentinan group suffered less chemo-related toxicity to their gut and bone marrow, so that alone might be reason enough to use it. But what about improving survival?

    I was excited to see that lentinan may significantly improve survival rates for a type of leukemia. Indeed, researchers found that adding lentinan to the standards of care increased average survival, reduced cachexia (cancer-associated muscle wasting), and improved cage-side health. Wait, what? This was improved survival for brown Norwegian rats, so that the so-called clinical benefit only applies if you’re a rat or a veterinarian.

    A compilation of 17 actual human clinical studies did find improvements in one-year survival in advanced cancer patients but no significant difference in the likelihood of living out to two years. Even the compilations of studies that purport that lentinan offers a significant advantage in terms of survival are just talking about statistical significance. As you can see below and at 2:15 in my video White Button Mushrooms for Prostate Cancer, it’s hard to even tell these survival curves apart.

    Lentinan improved survival by an average of 25 days. Now, 25 days is 25 days, but we “should evaluate assertions made by companies about the miraculous properties of medicinal mushrooms very critically.”

    Lentinan has to be injected intravenously. What about mushroom extract supplements you can just take yourself? Researchers have noted that shiitake mushroom extract is available online for the treatment of prostate cancer for approximately $300 a month, so it’s got to be good, right? Men who regularly eat mushrooms do seem to be at lower risk for getting prostate cancer—and apparently not just because they eat less meat or consume more fruits and vegetables in general. So, why not give a shiitake mushroom extract a try? Because it doesn’t work. On its own, it is “ineffective in the treatment of clinical prostate cancer.” Researchers wrote that “the results demonstrate that claims for CAM [complementary and alternative medicine], particularly for herbal and food supplement remedies, can be easily and quickly tested.” Put something to the test? What a concept! Maybe it should be required before individuals spend large amounts of money on unproven treatments, or, in this case, a disproven treatment.

    What about God’s mushroom (also known as the mushroom of life) or reishi mushrooms? “Conclusions: No significant anticancer effects were observed”—not even a single partial response. Are we overthinking it? Plain white button mushroom extracts can kill off prostate cancer cells, at least in a petri dish, but so could the fancy God’s mushroom, but that didn’t end up working in people. You don’t know if plain white button mushrooms work on real people until you put them to the test.

    What I like about this study is that the researchers didn’t use a proprietary extract. They just used regular whole mushrooms, dried and powdered, the equivalent of a half cup to a cup and a half of fresh white button mushrooms a day, in other words, a totally doable amount. The researchers gave them to men with “biochemically recurrent prostate cancer”—the men had already gotten a prostatectomy or radiation in an attempt to cut or burn out all the cancer, but it returned and started growing, as evidenced by a rise in PSA levels, an indicator of prostate cancer progression.

    Of the 26 patients who had gotten the button mushroom powder, 4 appeared to respond, meaning they got a drop in PSA levels by more than 50% after starting the mushrooms, as you can see here and at 4:31 in my video.

    In the next graphic, below and at 4:22, you can see where the four men who responded started out in the months leading up to starting the mushrooms. Patient 2 (“Pt 2”) was my favorite. He had an exponential increase in PSA levels for a year, then he started some plain white mushrooms, and boom! His PSA level dropped to zero and stayed down. A similar response was seen with Patient 1. Patient 4 had a partial response, before his cancer took off again, and Patient 3 appeared to have a delayed partial response.

    Now, in the majority of cases, PSA levels continued to rise, not dipping at all. But even if there is only a 1-in-18 chance you’ll be like Patients 1 and 2, seen below and at 5:12, you may get a prolonged, complete response that continues.

    We aren’t talking about weighing the risks of some toxic chemotherapy for the small chance of benefit, but just eating some inexpensive, easy, tasty plain white mushrooms every day. Yes, the study didn’t have a control group, so it may have just been a coincidence, but rising PSAs in post-prostatectomy patients are almost always indicators of cancer progression. And, what’s the downside of adding white button mushrooms to your diet?

    In these two patients, their PSA levels became undetectable, suggesting that the cancer disappeared altogether. They had already gone through surgery, had gotten their primary tumor removed, along with their entire prostate, and had already gone through radiation to try to clean up any cancer that remained, and yet the cancer appeared to be surging back—until, that is, they started a little plain mushroom powder.

    Doctor’s Note

    If you missed the previous blog, check out Medicinal Mushrooms for Cancer Survival.

    Also check out Friday Favorites: Mushrooms for Prostate Cancer and Cancer Survival.

    For more on mushrooms, see Breast Cancer vs. Mushrooms and Is It Safe to Eat Raw Mushrooms?.

    For more videos on prostate cancer, check the related posts below. 

    Michael Greger M.D. FACLM

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  • Cancer Survival and Medicinal Mushrooms | NutritionFacts.org

    Did the five randomized controlled trials of reishi mushrooms in cancer patients show benefits in terms of tumor response rate, survival time, or quality of life?

    Can mushrooms be medicinal? Mushroom-based products make up a sizable chunk of the $50 billion supplement market. “This profitable trade provides a powerful incentive for companies to test the credulity of their customers and unsupported assertions have come to define the medical mushroom business.” For example, companies marketing herbal medicines “exploit references to studies on mice in their promotion of mushroom capsules and throat sprays for treating all kinds of ailments”—but we aren’t mice.

    It wouldn’t be surprising if mushrooms had some potent properties. After all, fungi are where we’ve gotten a number of drugs, not the least of which is penicillin, as well as the cholesterol-lowering drug lovastatin and the powerful immunosuppressant drug cyclosporin. Still don’t think a little mushroom can have pharmacological effects? Don’t forget they can produce some of our most powerful poisons, too, like the toxic Carolina false morel that looks rather toadstooly, while others, as you can see here and at 1:15 in my video Medicinal Mushrooms for Cancer Survival, have a more angelic look like the destroying angel—that is its actual name—and as little as a single teaspoon can cause a lingering, painful death.

    We should have respect for the pharmacological potential of mushrooms, but what can they do that’s good for us? Well, consuming shiitake mushrooms each day improves human immunity. Giving people just one or two dried shiitake mushrooms a day (about the weight-equivalent of five to ten fresh ones) for four weeks resulted in an increase in proliferation of gamma-delta T lymphocytes and doubled the proliferation of natural killer cells. Gamma-delta T cells act as a first line of immunological defense, and, even better, natural killer cells kill cancer. Shiitake mushrooms did all this while lowering markers of systemic inflammation.

    Oyster mushroom extracts don’t seem to work as well, but what we care about is whether mushrooms can actually affect cancer outcomes. Shiitakes have yet to show a cancer survival benefit, but what about reishi mushrooms, which have been used as a cancer treatment throughout Asia for centuries?

    What does the science say about reishi mushrooms for cancer treatment? A meta-analysis of five randomized controlled trials showed that patients who had been given reishi mushroom supplements along with chemotherapy and radiation were more likely to respond favorably,  compared to chemotherapy/radiotherapy on its own. Although adding a reishi mushroom extract improved tumor response rates, “the data failed to demonstrate a significant effect on tumour shrinkage when it was used alone,” without chemo and radiation. So, they aren’t recommended as a single treatment, but rather an adjunct treatment for patients with advanced cancer.

    “Response rate” just means the tumor shrinks. Do reishi mushrooms actually improve survival or quality of life? We don’t have convincing data suggesting reishi mushroom products improve survival, but those randomized to reishi were found to have “a relatively better quality of life after treatment than those in the control group.” That’s a win as far as I’m concerned.

    What about other mushrooms? Although whole shiitake mushrooms haven’t been put to the test for cancer yet, researchers have said that lentinan, a compound extracted from shiitakes, “completely inhibits” the growth of a certain kind of sarcoma in mice. But, in actuality, it only worked in one strain of mice and failed in nine others. So, are we more like the 90% of mouse strains in which it didn’t work? We need human trials—and we finally got them. There are data on nearly 10,000 cancer patients who have been treated with the shiitake mushroom extract injected right into their veins. What did the researchers find? We’ll find out next.

    Doctor’s Note

    Stay tuned for White Button Mushrooms for Prostate Cancer.

    Also check out Friday Favorites: Mushrooms for Prostate Cancer and Cancer Survival.

    For more on mushrooms, see Breast Cancer vs. Mushrooms and Is It Safe to Eat Raw Mushrooms?.

    Michael Greger M.D. FACLM

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  • Missing the first mammogram linked to increased risk of breast cancer death, new study suggests

    (CNN) — Women who miss their first screening appointment for breast cancer could have a 40% higher long-term risk of dying from the disease, according to a new study.

    I wanted to understand more about the importance of screening and the results of this large study — especially since October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The research, published September 24 in the journal The BMJ, involved more than 400,000 women in Sweden who were monitored for up to 25 years.

    When should women begin screening for breast cancer, and why could delayed initial screening result in a higher longer-term risk of cancer death? In addition to mammograms, are there other tests that women should ask for? What about breast self-exams? And what are steps women can take to reduce their risk of developing breast cancer?

    To guide us through these questions, I spoke with CNN wellness expert Dr. Leana Wen. Wen is an emergency physician and adjunct associate professor at George Washington University. She previously served as Baltimore’s health commissioner.

    CNN: How common is breast cancer?

    Dr. Leana Wen: In the United States, breast cancer is the second most common cancer among women and the second leading cause of cancer death among women, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2022, more than 279,000 new breast cancer cases in female patients were reported in the US; in 2023, more than 42,000 women died from the disease.

    A report published in February found that globally, 1 in 20 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. At this rate, researchers estimate that by 2050, there will be 3.2 million new breast cancer cases and 1.1 million breast cancer-related deaths per year.

    Early screening is crucial because the best prognosis is when breast cancer is diagnosed and treated in its earliest stages. When breast cancer is diagnosed in its localized stages — before it has spread — the five-year survival rate is more than 99%, according to the American Cancer Society. When the cancer is detected after it has spread to other organs, the survival rate drops to about 32%.

    CNN: When should women begin screening for breast cancer?

    Wen: Last year, the US Preventive Services Task Force lowered the recommended age for most women to start receiving mammograms to age 40. The guidance is that women should receive a mammogram every other year until age 74. For those 75 and above, the decision to continue screenings is a personal one to make with one’s primary care provider.

    This recommendation covers people with an average risk of breast cancer. Those with a higher risk are encouraged to speak with their health care provider to discuss whether they should begin screenings sooner and at a higher frequency than every other year. Elements that increase risk include a history of radiation to the chest, certain genetic mutations, and having a first-degree relative (like a mother or sister) with breast cancer.

    CNN: What does this new study show?

    Wen: This study tracked outcomes from 432,775 women in Sweden for up to 25 years. Among women invited to their first mammogram screening, nearly one-third did not participate. The nonparticipants continued to be less likely to participate in subsequent mammograms and more likely to have breast cancer diagnosed in advanced stages, the researchers found.

    Notably, the odds of these initial nonparticipants being diagnosed with stage 3 cancer was 1.5 times greater, and 3.6 times greater for stage 4 cancer, compared with those who did participate in a first screening. Breast cancer deaths after 25 years for this group were significantly higher compared with those who followed through on a first mammogram.

    These results are notable because of the large population that the study team monitored over a substantial period of time. Researchers point out that findings may not generalize to all populations that have different health care systems from Sweden’s, though I think that the concept of perpetually missed screenings leading to higher cancer rates probably is the case around the world. An accompanying editorial in the same journal highlighted that the decision to attend the first mammography screening is not just a short-term health check-up — it’s a long-term investment that has implications for future health and survival.

    CNN: Why does delayed initial screening result in a higher longer-term risk of cancer death in this study?

    Wen: I think the key is that the initial nonparticipants were also more likely to persistently miss subsequent follow-up screening exams. The reasons for this are likely complicated and could be a combination of factors, including lack of awareness, barriers to access and fear of finding out the result. Cultural factors may also be at play. The result is that these individuals were more likely to have their cancers diagnosed at a later stage, when survival rates are lower, and therefore tragically ended up having more deaths from their cancers.

    CNN: In addition to mammograms, are there other tests that women should ask for?

    Wen: Mammograms, which are essentially an X-ray of the breast, are the standard screening test for most women at average risk of breast cancer. Those with higher risk of breast cancer may be recommended for additional tests, such as genetic testing, breast MRI or ultrasound. Women with dense breast tissue may also wish to ask their provider if additional tests are recommended, since the mammogram is less sensitive in detecting breast cancer in these individuals.

    CNN: What about breast self-exams?

    Wen: Breast self-exams are not routinely recommended as a screening test and should not replace the mammogram. However, women should know how their breasts look and feel and be on the lookout for any concerning changes.

    It is important to separate out screening from diagnosis. The mammogram is a screening test that is done when someone has no symptoms. But if someone detects a new mass or lump, they need to get it evaluated to see whether it could be cancer.

    Other potentially concerning changes including nipple discharge, pain or swelling in their breast, changes in the color of the nipple or breast, the nipple turning inward, painful or enlarged lymph nodes in the armpits or near the collarbone, or redness or flaky skin on the breast. People who notice these changes should not wait to make an appointment to see their health care provider.

    CNN: For women who are concerned about their risk of breast cancer, are there steps they can take to reduce their risk?

    Wen: Yes. Risk factors for developing breast cancer include smoking, heavy alcohol use, overweight and obesity. Quitting smoking, reducing alcohol consumption and keeping a healthy weight will help to reduce the risk of breast cancer. Being physically active and eating a nutritious diet can also reduce cancer risk, as well as improve health overall.

    Katia Hetter and CNN

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  • What to know about JFK granddaughter Tatiana Schlossberg’s rare cancer

    Tatiana Schlossberg, the granddaughter of former President John F. Kennedy, says the joy of new motherhood was replaced just hours after giving birth to her second child by a shattering diagnosis: a rare and aggressive form of leukemia. Dr. Jon LaPook has more.

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  • Doctor discusses cancer diagnosis for JFK’s granddaughter, Tatiana Schlossberg

    This weekend, 35-year-old Tatiana Schlossberg, a granddaughter of former President John F. Kennedy, announced she has terminal cancer. CBS News medical contributor Dr. Celine Gounder has a breakdown of the diagnosis.

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  • JFK’s Granddaughter Reveals Terminal Cancer Diagnosis, Criticizes Cousin RFK Jr.

    John F. Kennedy’s granddaughter disclosed Saturday that she has terminal cancer, writing in an essay in “The New Yorker” that one of her doctors said she might live for about another year.

    Tatiana Schlossberg, the daughter of Kennedy’s daughter, Caroline Kennedy, and Edwin Schlossberg, wrote that she was diagnosed in May 2024 at 34. After the birth of her second child, her doctor noticed her white blood cell count was high. It turned out to be acute myeloid leukemia with a rare mutation, mostly seen in older people, she wrote.

    Schlossberg, an environmental journalist, wrote she has undergone rounds of chemotherapy and two stem cell transplants, the first using cells from her sister and the next from an unrelated donor, and participated in clinical trials. During the latest trial, she wrote that her doctor told her “he could keep me alive for a year, maybe.”

    Schlossberg said the policies pushed by her cousin Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the U.S. Health and Human Services secretary, could hurt cancer patients like her. Caroline Kennedy urged senators to reject RFK Jr.’s confirmation.

    “As I spent more and more of my life under the care of doctors, nurses, and researchers striving to improve the lives of others, I watched as Bobby cut nearly a half billion dollars for research into mRNA vaccines, technology that could be used against certain cancers,” she wrote in the essay.

    Schlossberg wrote about her fears that her daughter and son won’t remember her. She feels cheated and sad that she won’t get to keep living “the wonderful life” she had with her husband, George Moran. While her parents and siblings try to hide their pain from her, she said she feels it every day.

    “For my whole life, I have tried to be good, to be a good student and a good sister and a good daughter, and to protect my mother and never make her upset or angry,” she wrote. “Now I have added a new tragedy to her life, to our family’s life, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.”

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – Nov. 2025

    Associated Press

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  • How AI helps detect lung cancer sooner, improving survival rates – WTOP News

    New artificial intelligence technology is helping diagnose the U.S.’s most deadly cancer sooner, greatly improving the chances of lung cancer patients’ survival. 

    New artificial intelligence technology is helping diagnose the U.S.’s most deadly cancer sooner, greatly improving the chances of patients’ survival. 

    The key? Detecting tiny lung nodules when doctors aren’t screening for cancer, and automating and streamlining follow-up care. While most incidentally-discovered lung nodules turn out to be noncancerous, some become malignant over time.

    The importance of catching lung cancer early is clear: The five-year survival rate for non-small cell lung cancer when detected in localized Stage 1 is 67%. However, most lung cancer is diagnosed after it has spread to other organs, when the five-year rate is 12%, according to the American Cancer Society. 

    Inova Schar Cancer Institute, based in Fairfax, Virginia, is one forward-thinking cancer center harnessing the power of AI to flag incidental lung nodules that often go unnoticed, during an emergency room CT scan or MRI for pneumonia or a broken bone. The Eon Lung Cancer Screening system uses computational linguistics and natural language processing to scan radiology reports. 

    The company says it identifies high-risk patients with 98.3% accuracy by analyzing imaging data and integrating with electronic health records in real time. 

    ‘The patient is still in the ER, we call and tell them to come right to the clinic’

    Amit “Bobby” Mahajan is the medical director of interventional pulmonology in the Inova Health System. (Disclosure: He is also the doctor who did my bronchoscopy in November 2022 and told me I had lung cancer. After four months of one-pill-a-day targeted therapy and a robotic-assisted lobectomy, I was declared cancer-free in May 2023 and have remained that way while continuing my daily pill.) 

    AI-powered technology is enabling Schar’s interventional pulmonologists and surgeons to get patients with found-by-accident nodules into cancer care months or years earlier. Mahajan heads the Incidental Pulmonary Nodule Clinic, as part of the Inova Saville Cancer Screening and Prevention Center. 

    “Whether it be an MRI, a chest CT, or abdominal CT, it takes that data, comprises it into a finding, and then makes a risk score of that being cancer,” said Mahajan, during a recent WTOP visit and demonstration of the Eon technology.

    With the AI system scanning electronic health records as data is entered, “We’re able to call the patient and say, ‘Look, I know you just had a CT scan in the ER for your abdominal pain, but we also caught a lung nodule in the bottom of your lung that is suspicious,’” Mahajan said.

    “For better or worse, we’ve had more than a handful of people who we’ve said, ‘We need to send you over to the clinic right now, because you came in for something that’s nothing to worry about, but we did find something that needs to be addressed today,’” he added.

    Traditionally, reaching a cancer diagnosis for a patient with a persistent cough or other symptoms can take weeks and requires patients and doctors to coordinate follow-up scans and labs.

    “From an AI perspective, the system will learn more from our CT scans and image reports every time it sees one, and starts picking out the word ‘spiculated,’ the word ‘nodule,’ and where it’s located,”‘ Mahajan said.

    While benign nodules usually have smooth borders, a spiculated nodule’s edges appear irregular, or spiky, which often suggests the lesion is malignant.

    “It takes that data to the very well known Brock Model for risk of lung cancer, and it will actually calculate the risk of cancer in those patients, and give us a percentage,” Mahajan said. “Anyone over 5%, we call, and get them into the clinic right away, most of the time in the same week.”

    After being notified of an incidental nodule found in ER imaging, some patients prefer to check with their primary care physician.

    “Totally reasonable,” Mahajan said.

    Streamlining the follow-up process helps reduce the risk of patients “falling through the cracks.”

    “We’ve biopsied them two days later, and gotten a diagnosis of cancer,” Mahajan said. “Luckily, most have been early stage disease and they’ve been resected afterward.”

    With lung cancer, resection is a surgical procedure to remove lung tissue affected by cancer and is regarded as the most effective treatment for cancer that hasn’t spread to other organs.

    “Our goal is to get a patient with a newly-diagnosed lung cancer evaluated as soon as possible, to get them into surgery,” Schar thoracic surgeon Melanie Subramanian said. “It’s not only better for treating the disease, but it also gives patients a peace of mind too, knowing that they have a treatment plan and a treatment team.”

    The AI system creates guideline-based care plans, and sends alerts to doctors and nurse navigators, helping patients stay on schedule for future screenings.

    ‘It’s as close to an Xbox controller as you get’

    Artificial intelligence is also enabling robotic bronchoscopy procedures.

    “Previously, when we had to biopsy these small nodules in the lung, we had to use a handheld camera, to drive down as far as we could, but the lungs and airways get smaller and smaller the further out you go,” Mahajan said.

    “Now, we have robotic platforms,” Mahajan added. “The patient is completely asleep, and we drive about a four millimeter camera down to these nodules, using a handheld controller that’s as close to an Xbox controller as you can get.”

    And AI helps navigate through the airways: “There’s advanced imaging associated as well, and with the robotic platform, we can pretty much reach anything in the lung nowadays,” he said.

    Inova Schar says 69% of lung cancers are now being detected at Stage 1 or 2, compared to only 34% without low-dose CT screening and proactive follow-up of incidental nodules.

    Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.

    © 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

    Neal Augenstein

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  • Afghan man living in Lowell speaks about ICE detention

    LOWELL — When Ihsanullah Garay was delivering food on Sept. 14, he found himself struggling to find the Starbucks he was being sent to pick up from in Methuen.

    He asked the first people he saw for directions, a man and a woman sitting in a car. The man pointed Garay in the right direction, he told The Sun Monday morning, and Garay thanked him and started walking away. Then, the two people started asking Garay questions about his nationality, and where he was born. Garay is from Afghanistan, arriving in the U.S. in the spring of 2021 on a student visa to get a doctorate in finance.

    “I said, ‘Brother, this is not related to you. You helped me, I said thank you, that’s it,’” Garay said.

    Garay then tried to walk away, but he said the man shouted at him, and continued questioning Garay’s nationality, while Garay maintained that he was in the country legally.

    After more back and forth, Garay said the man finally identified himself as a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, and ask him to produce identification, which Garay had in his car, along with an ID badge from a former job.

    Garay was soon placed in handcuffs, beginning a more than monthlong ordeal in ICE custody that brought him to three different ICE facilities in three states before he was released on bond last month. After he arrived back in Lowell, where he has been living with his cousin, Abdul Ahad Storay, Garay took some time to settle and work to get back on track with his ongoing treatment for brain cancer.

    On Monday, he sat down with The Sun in Storay’s computer store in Downtown Lowell to give his firsthand account of his experience.

    Garay said that when he was placed in handcuffs, he tried to explain his situation to the ICE agents, to no avail.

    “I said, ‘What are you doing? I have brain cancer. I have a work permit, I have Social Security, I have everything. What are you doing?’ He said nothing,” said Garay.

    Garay’s first stop was the ICE field office in Burlington, where many of those detained by the agency in Greater Lowell are being brought. Since the spring, allegations of extremely poor conditions inside the building have been made by detainees and their attorneys, as it is designed primarily as an office building, not a long-term detention facility.

    Garay could not speak much to the conditions inside, as he said he was only at the facility for roughly an hour before he was transferred to another facility in Rhode Island. In that short time, though, Garay said he was asked by ICE officials for proof that he has brain cancer, which he was able to show them through his MyChart app when they brought him his phone, which they had confiscated along with his ID and other belongings. When the ICE officials saw the medical documents, Garay said they seemed shocked he was telling the truth.

    While still in Burlington, Garay said he suffered a couple medical episodes which lasted about two minutes, though he was unsure whether these were seizures or something else stemming from his brain cancer.

    Garay spent about 28 days in the facility in Rhode Island, and at one point he said similar medical episodes would occur on a near nightly basis, bringing him to the point of needing a wheelchair to move around, but the medical care available at the facility was not sufficient, he said. After he was moved to Georgia, where he was given the Oct. 21 court hearing that resulted in his release, Garay said he experienced more of the same.

    “They have no neurosurgeon, they have no oncologist, they have no neurologist, nothing,” said Garay.

    Through all of this, Garay was missing key appointments in the course of his cancer treatment. He was supposed to start a new medication at a Sept. 24 appointment at Boston Medical Center, but he missed it while in custody and was not able to start the medication on time. Even after reaching out to his doctors, Garay said the medicine did not arrive before he was moved to Georgia. In the meantime, he said he was prescribed Keppra, an anti-seizure medication he was supposed to take in the morning and evening, but it was only ever brought to him for the night dose while he was in Rhode Island.

    In Georgia, Garay said he saw a slight improvement to that end, as they gave him both daily doses of the anti-seizure medication, though at that facility he still lacked the medical care he needed.

    After he was released on bond, the police brought Garay to the airport, where he was denied boarding because his identification had been taken by ICE in Massachusetts, despite reassurance from the police and ICE he would be allowed on the plane.

    After Storay called local police to help his cousin, Garay was brought to Jacksonville, Florida, where he got on a bus for the multi-day journey back north to Lowell.

    Now home, Garay is doing much better. He is able to walk around without the need for a wheelchair, and his cancer treatment is moving back on track after he met with his doctors at the end of October. His next appointment is an MRI at Boston Medical Center later this month, and he has multiple other appointments scheduled with his doctors before the end of the year.

    Still, his ICE ordeal continues with a court hearing on Dec. 11 in Georgia, but Garay and his attorneys are working on getting it moved up to Massachusetts. He hopes to remain in the U.S., not only because of his ongoing medical treatment, but also because both he and Storay, himself a U.S. citizen, would not be safe returning to Afghanistan, which fell back to Taliban control in 2021, months after Garay left the country.

    As his home country fell, and the U.S. completed the withdrawal of its military forces, Garay applied for asylum that August on top of his student visa, fearing what would happen to him if he were to return.

    “If the U.S. will give me nationality, I will accept it. If not, I will go somewhere else,” said Garay. “When the Taliban suddenly came, I had no choice but to apply for asylum.”

    Garay’s asylum case has been pending ever since. So when Temporary Protected Status was offered to Afghan citizens living in the U.S. the following spring after the Taliban retook control, Garay did not apply for TPS due to his open asylum case. TPS for Afghanistan was terminated in July this year.

    “They (ICE) told me my visa expired in September 2021. I asked them how this was possible when I came in April,” said Garay.

    Even without the Taliban, Garay said he could not return because Afghanistan lacks the medical infrastructure he needs to treat his cancer.

    Now that he is back in Lowell, Garay is looking for other work that is not food delivery.

    In addition to delivering food, Garay said he had been working at Lahey Hospital as a receptionist, but he left that job just a couple weeks before his arrest after they could not give him enough hours.

    Friends of Garay also left Afghanistan after he did, but some went to Canada, he said, and once there they asked him to join them.

    “I said no … I don’t want to be in some country illegally, so that is why I am here,” said Garay.

    Garay credited Storay for getting him back to Lowell.

    “He knows my situation. Nobody can even imagine my situation … He also knows what he has been spending on me. Only he knows,” said Garay.

    An ICE spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment Friday. When previously asked about Garay’s case in October, ICE Boston spokesperson James Covington said in a statement Garay is “an illegal alien from Afghanistan,” and claimed he lawfully entered the U.S. in April 2021 with permission to remain until Sept. 7, 2021.

    “However, he violated the terms of his lawful admission when he refused to leave the country. Garay will remain in ICE custody pending the outcome of his removal proceedings,” Covington said in the Oct. 11 statement.

    In addition to Garay’s current work permit, Storay was also able to show The Sun Garay’s original student visa, which was issued in April 2021 and expired one year later, seven months after Covington claimed it did.

    Peter Currier

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  • A mild symptom was bothering a young dad. He had Stage IV lung cancer.

    Endurance athlete Kevin Humphrey was used to discomfort. He regularly participated in ultramarathons and other intense events. Swimming, biking and running dozens of miles at a time was standard for him. His two young sons also kept him active even when he wasn’t training. But in January 2024, a persistent back pain kept bothering him. 

    The pain “just would not go away,” Humphrey said. He couldn’t sleep on his back. At the same time, he started coughing. He was diagnosed with pneumonia, but his symptoms lingered even after treatment. A chest CT scan found “something going on” in his left lung. A biopsy of the organ came back inconclusive, Humphrey said, but he kept pushing for answers. 

    “I knew something was off. It just didn’t feel right,” Humphrey said. 

    Humphrey traveled from Michigan to Chicago to seek a second opinion at Northwestern Medicine in May 2024. A bronchoscopy found shocking results: There was a tumor in his lung that was crushing the left side of his windpipe, causing the coughing and pain. 

    “I was really in disbelief,” said Humphrey, who had never smoked and had no family history of lung cancer. “It wasn’t even on my radar as a possibility. It wasn’t even an option in my mind.”  

    Kevin Humphrey. 

    Kevin Humphrey


    “A very concerning and dire situation” 

    Humphrey was diagnosed with Stage IV non-small cell adenocarcinoma, joining the growing number of young, non-smoking patients diagnosed with lung cancer. The rise may be driven by environmental or lifestyle factors, Dr. Jonathan Villena-Vargas, a thoracic surgeon at NewYork-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medicine, previously told CBS News. Villena-Vargas, who did not treat Humphrey, said there is no definitive reason for the increase. 

    Further tests found that the cancer had spread beyond Humphrey’s lung and had likely been growing for at least a year, Humphrey said. The disease typically has a 37% 5-year survival rate at that point, according to the Cleveland Clinic. 

    Humphrey’s tumor was “pretty advanced” and too large for surgery at first, said Dr. Daniel Dammrich, the Northwestern Medicine oncologist who treated him. But doctors were able to identify a “driver mutation” that was encouraging the cancer’s growth. These mutations are more common in young, non-smoking patients, Villena-Vargas said. 

    Identifying the mutation “really opened the door for some of our more nuanced, targeted therapies,” Dammrich said, and “turned a very concerning and dire situation into a much more optimistic one.”  

    Dammrich and Humphrey agreed on an aggressive plan that would combine targeted immunotherapy with chemotherapy, in the hopes that the medications would shrink the tumor enough for surgery. Humphrey began immunotherapy immediately, then had chemotherapy in summer 2024. By August, the cancer was operable.   

    img-4760.jpg

    Kevin Humphrey receives chemotherapy at Northwestern Medicine.

    Kevin Humphrey


    “The biggest question mark”   

    Removing the cancer meant taking out about half of Humphrey’s left lung. The athlete wasn’t sure what that would mean for his passion. 

    “You just had no idea. Can you run again, can you bike, can you do all these endurance sports that I’ve loved doing?” Humphrey said. “That was the biggest question mark going into surgery.” 

    Despite the unknowns, he focused on the future. Michigan’s Ironman 70.3 race — which included a 1-mile swim, 56.1-mile bike ride and a 13.2 mile run — was scheduled to take place a year and a day after his surgery. Humphrey decided to sign up, despite his fears. 

    img-4764.jpg

    Kevin Humphrey in the hospital.

    Kevin Humphrey


    Humphrey had surgery in mid-September. The operation removed most of the cancer, Dammrich said. Recovery was its own battle. Broken ribs and a “pretty big” incision made it difficult for Humphrey to do simple tasks like get out of bed or walk more than a few steps. Running was out of the question for months. But he kept putting one foot in front of the other until his strength and endurance began to slowly return. Even on the hardest days, the upcoming race kept him motivated. 

    “It was a great mental thing to put on the calendar and train for,” Humphrey said.

    “Across the finish line” 

    On Sept. 14, Humphrey was one of over 1,600 athletes who took part in the Ironman. He finished in just under five and a half hours, coming in 411th place. The race was exhausting and emotional, Humphrey said. 

    “You’re replaying everything that’s happened over the past year and the whirlwind it’s been,” Humphrey said. “For me, when I got to the point of knowing ‘I’m going to finish this race’ and thinking about my young boys, my wife, the family and the community and support system we’ve had throughout the whole year, and how grateful I am to not only be here but to continue to do these types of races and events. I certainly did not think that was going to be the case when I received the diagnosis in May of ’24.” 

    screenshot-2025-11-05-at-12-07-08-pm.png

    Kevin Humphrey’s son gives him a high-five during the Ironman 70.3 Michigan.

    Kevin Humphrey


    Humphrey’s medical situation is also positive. He had a complete response to the treatment, and there is currently no evidence of disease in his body, Dammrich said. Regular CT scans and blood tests watch for any new tumor growth. Humphrey remains on immunotherapy with few side effects. 

    On Oct. 12, less than a month after the Ironman, Humphrey ran the Chicago marathon for the sixth time. Over 53,000 runners participated in the race. Humphrey placed 25,395th, finishing in about seven and a half hours. It was “40 or 45 minutes slower” than when he ran the same race in 2023, Humphrey said, but he was proud to have finished. 

    “My goal was just to get across the finish line, and that’s what we did,” Humphrey said. “I was just grateful for the ability to be out there and to run and be doing the things that I’ve loved doing for such a long time.” 

    screenshot-2025-11-05-at-12-06-23-pm.png

    Kevin Humphrey’s sons cheer him on during the Chicago marathon.

    Kevin Humphrey


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  • The #1 Food Category Linked To Colon Cancer In Women Under 50

    Cancer cases in young adults have surged nearly 80% worldwide over the past three decades. And while population growth accounts for some of that increase, the trend is undeniable: more people in their 20s, 30s, and 40s are developing diseases we once thought of as problems for our parents’ and grandparents’ generations.

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  • Ultra-processed foods linked to colon cancer risk in new study



    Ultra-processed foods linked to colon cancer risk in new study – CBS News










































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    Dr. Celine Gounder explains a new study that found a possible link between ultra-processed foods and a higher risk of colon cancer.

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  • Lifelong drugs for autoimmune diseases don’t work well. Now scientists are trying something new

    Scientists are trying a revolutionary new approach to treat rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, lupus and other devastating autoimmune diseases — by reprogramming patients’ out-of-whack immune systems.

    When your body’s immune cells attack you instead of protecting you, today’s treatments tamp down the friendly fire but they don’t fix what’s causing it. Patients face a lifetime of pricey pills, shots or infusions with some serious side effects — and too often the drugs aren’t enough to keep their disease in check.

    “We’re entering a new era,” said Dr. Maximilian Konig, a rheumatologist at Johns Hopkins University who’s studying some of the possible new treatments. They offer “the chance to control disease in a way we’ve never seen before.”

    How? Researchers are altering dysfunctional immune systems, not just suppressing them, in a variety of ways that aim to be more potent and more precise than current therapies.

    They’re highly experimental and, because of potential side effects, so far largely restricted to patients who’ve exhausted today’s treatments. But people entering early-stage studies are grasping for hope.

    “What the heck is wrong with my body?” Mileydy Gonzalez, 35, of New York remembers crying, frustrated that nothing was helping her daily lupus pain.

    Diagnosed at 24, her disease was worsening, attacking her lungs and kidneys. Gonzalez had trouble breathing, needed help to stand and walk and couldn’t pick up her 3-year-old son when last July, her doctor at NYU Langone Health suggested the hospital’s study using a treatment adapted from cancer.

    Gonzalez had never heard of that CAR-T therapy but decided, “I’m going to trust you.” Over several months, she slowly regained energy and strength.

    “I can actually run, I can chase my kid,” said Gonzalez, who now is pain- and pill-free. “I had forgotten what it was to be me.”

    CAR-T was developed to wipe out hard-to-treat blood cancers. But the cells that go bad in leukemias and lymphomas — immune cells called B cells — go awry in a different way in many autoimmune diseases.

    Some U.S. studies in mice suggested CAR-T therapy might help those diseases. Then in Germany, Dr. Georg Schett at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg tried it with a severely ill young woman who had failed other lupus treatment. After one infusion, she’s been in remission — with no other medicine — since March 2021.

    Last month, Schett told a meeting of the American College of Rheumatology how his team gradually treated a few dozen more patients, with additional diseases such as myositis and scleroderma — and few relapses so far.

    Those early results were “shocking,” Hopkins’ Konig recalled.

    They led to an explosion of clinical trials testing CAR-T therapy in the U.S. and abroad for a growing list of autoimmune diseases.

    How it works: Immune soldiers called T cells are filtered out of a patient’s blood and sent to a lab, where they’re programmed to destroy their B cell relatives. After some chemotherapy to wipe out additional immune cells, millions of copies of those “living drugs” are infused back into the patient.

    While autoimmune drugs can target certain B cells, experts say they can’t get rid of those hidden deep in the body. CAR-T therapy targets both the problem B cells and healthy ones that might eventually run amok. Schett theorizes that the deep depletion reboots the immune system so when new B cells eventually form, they’re healthy.

    CAR-T is grueling, time consuming and costly, in part because it is customized. A CAR-T cancer treatment can cost $500,000. Now some companies are testing off-the-shelf versions, made in advance using cells from healthy donors.

    Another approach uses “peacekeeper” cells at the center of this year’s Nobel Prize. Regulatory T cells are a rare subset of T cells that tamp down inflammation and help hold back other cells that mistakenly attack healthy tissue. Some biotech companies are engineering cells from patients with rheumatoid arthritis and other diseases not to attack, like CAR-T does, but to calm autoimmune reactions.

    Scientists also are repurposing another cancer treatment, drugs called T cell engagers, that don’t require custom engineering. These lab-made antibodies act like a matchmaker. They redirect the body’s existing T cells to target antibody-producing B cells, said Erlangen’s Dr. Ricardo Grieshaber-Bouyer, who works with Schett and also studies possible alternatives to CAR-T.

    Last month, Grieshaber-Bouyer reported giving a course of one such drug, teclistamab, to 10 patients with a variety of diseases including Sjögren’s, myositis and systemic sclerosis. All but one improved significantly and six went into drug-free remission.

    Rather than wiping out swaths of the immune system, Hopkins’ Konig aims to get more precise, targeting “only that very small population of rogue cells that really causes the damage.”

    B cells have identifiers, like biological barcodes, showing they can produce faulty antibodies, Konig said. Researchers in his lab are trying to engineer T cell engagers that would only mark “bad” B cells for destruction, leaving healthy ones in place to fight infection.

    Nearby in another Hopkins lab, biomedical engineer Jordan Green is crafting a way for the immune system to reprogram itself with the help of instructions delivered by messenger RNA, or mRNA, the genetic code used in COVID-19 vaccines.

    In Green’s lab, a computer screen shines with brightly colored dots that resemble a galaxy. It’s a biological map that shows insulin-producing cells in the pancreas of a mouse. Red marks rogue T cells that destroy insulin production. Yellow indicates those peacemaker regulatory T cells — and they’re outnumbered.

    Green’s team aims to use that mRNA to instruct certain immune “generals” to curb the bad T cells and send in more peacemakers. They package the mRNA in biodegradable nanoparticles that can be injected like a drug. When the right immune cells get the messages, the hope is they’d “divide, divide, divide and make a whole army of healthy cells that then help treat the disease,” Green said.

    The researchers will know it’s working if that galaxy-like map shows less red and more yellow. Studies in people are still a few years away.

    A drug for Type 1 diabetes “is forging the path,” said Dr. Kevin Deane at the University of Colorado Anshutz.

    Type 1 diabetes develops gradually, and blood tests can spot people who are brewing it. A course of the drug teplizumab is approved to delay the first symptoms, modulating rogue T cells and prolonging insulin production.

    Deane studies rheumatoid arthritis and hopes to find a similar way to block the joint-destroying disease.

    About 30% of people with a certain self-reactive antibody in their blood will eventually develop RA. A new study tracked some of those people for seven years, mapping immune changes leading to the disease long before joints become swollen or painful.

    Those changes are potential drug targets, Deane said. While researchers hunt possible compounds to test, he’s leading another study called StopRA: National to find and learn from more at-risk people.

    On all these fronts, there’s a tremendous amount of research left to do — and no guarantees. There are questions about CAR-T’s safety and how long its effects last, but it is furthest along in testing.

    Allie Rubin, 60, of Boca Raton, Florida, spent three decades battling lupus, including scary hospitalizations when it attacked her spinal cord. But she qualified for CAR-T when she also developed lymphoma — and while a serious side effect delayed her recovery, next month will mark two years without a sign of either cancer or lupus.

    “I just remember I woke up one day and thought, ‘Oh my god, I don’t feel sick anymore,’” she said.

    That kind of result has researchers optimistic.

    “We’ve never been closer to getting to — and we don’t like to say it — a potential cure,” said Hopkins’ Konig. “I think the next 10 years will dramatically change our field forever.”

    —-

    The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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  • James Van Der Beek to sell ‘Dawson’s Creek’ memorabilia amid cancer battle – National | Globalnews.ca

    James Van Der Beek is parting ways with some of his Dawson’s Creek memorabilia amid his cancer battle.

    The 48-year-old actor, who has been battling Stage 3 colorectal cancer, is selling several items from TV teen drama Dawson’s Creek and movie Varsity Blues in a partnership with auction website Propstore, where interested buyers can place their bids.

    “I’ve been storing these treasures for years, waiting for the right time to do something with them, and with all of the recent unexpected twists and turns life has presented recently, it’s clear that the time is now,” Van Der Beek told Propstore in a statement.

    “And while I have some nostalgia tugging at me as I part with these items, it feels good to be able to offer them through Propstore’s auction to share with those who have supported my work over the years.”

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    Van Der Beek, who starred as Dawson Leery in the hit show, is auctioning off items including wardrobe, props and set pieces, like Dawson Leery’s flannel, the necklace he wore in the series before he gifted it to Joey Potter (Katie Holmes) and Van Der Beek’s chair back from the set of the series.


    (L-R:) Dawson Leery’s (James Van Der Beek) flannel from the series ‘Dawson’s Creek’ and Leery’s necklace to Joey Potter (Katie Holmes).

    Propstoreauction.com

    The items will go on sale through Propstore’s annual Winter Entertainment Memorabilia Live Auction, running from Dec. 5 to Dec. 7.

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    All of the proceeds from the items sold will go to Van Der Beek to help “with the financial cost of fighting cancer,” People reports.

    Van Der Beek first revealed that he had been diagnosed with colorectal cancer last November in an interview with People.

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    “I have colorectal cancer. I’ve been privately dealing with this diagnosis and have been taking steps to resolve it, with the support of my incredible family,” the star told the publication. “There’s reason for optimism, and I’m feeling good.”

    The actor did not give further details on his diagnosis, but shared in an Instagram post: “I’m in a good place and feeling strong.”

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    “I’ve been dealing with this privately until now, getting treatment and dialing in my overall health with greater focus than ever before,” he continued on Instagram. “It’s been quite the initiation, and I’ll tell you more when I’m ready.”

    In the post, he said he decided to make the announcement before he’d planned, explaining that while he wanted to talk about it “at length” with People, another publication was getting set to run the story.

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    “That plan had to be altered early this morning when I was informed that a tabloid was going to run with the news,” Van Der Beek wrote.

    An increasing number of younger people are being diagnosed with colorectal cancer in Canada and the United States — even though overall cases and deaths have fallen in recent years.

    According to a 2023 study from the American Cancer Society, one in five cases diagnosed in 2019 were in people under 55, almost double the rate of 11 per cent in 1995.

    It’s a similar situation in Canada, where colorectal cancer is the fourth most commonly diagnosed cancer, according to the Canadian Cancer Society.

    Colorectal cancer starts in the colon or rectum, which are part of the large intestine, and can also spread to other parts of the body.

    Unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, smoking and alcohol consumption increase the risks for this type of cancer, but family history is also a contributing factor.

    — With files from Global News


    &copy 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

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  • Your breath could show if you’re prone to cancer; Portable ‘sniffer on a chip’ would help monitor health at home – WTOP News

    Dogs can be trained to detect oncoming seizures, migraines and even identify potential cancer — researchers at Virginia Tech are developing a device that can help humans monitor their health just by breathing.

    A Personalized Integrated Mobile Exhalation Decoder patent from Massoud Agah, a professor at Virginia Tech.(Courtesy Virginia Tech)

    Dogs can be trained to detect oncoming seizures, migraines and even identify potential cancer — researchers at Virginia Tech are developing a device that can help humans monitor their health just by breathing.

    Dogs have 60 times the number of olfactory receptor neurons in their nose as humans. Professor Masoud Agah is working to give everyone the same sniffing power with a portable device; his newest conceptual patent is for the Personalized Integrated Mobile Exhalation Decoder, or PIMED.

    Agah is working on a “sniffer on a chip,” which analyzes volatile organic compounds in a person’s breath and a microelectromechanical sample collector. Using an absorbing agent, it picks up the components for identification by the analyzer.

    “For example, if you have diabetes, the level of acetone goes up in your breath,” Agah said. In a home device, or small checkup station similar to public blood pressure cuffs in pharmacies, a person could receive their own breath signature.

    “And that smell print or breath print can be used as an identification, to show whether your are prone or showing signs of cancer, or not,” he said.

    Agah said the patented decoder could be integrated in a number of devices.

    “The whole art is actually what’s happening behind it, and how the information is being translated and provided to the doctors, or to lab technicians, or to the patient,” Agah said.

    In the same way that a person can monitor their blood pressure at home, Agah said the PIMED could help a person and their doctor try to stay ahead of diseases before they become visible on a scan or other lab test.

    “You can actually see the progression of the changes that are happening in your own signature,” Agah said.

    The technology could also be used to help rule out diseases. For instance, an inexpensive breath test “can give some sort of fast analysis and fast screening,” which could help rule out diseases that currently require more expensive and time consuming office or laboratory visits.

    Monitoring a person’s breath signature over time could show if cancer is spreading, or how well a cancer treatment is working.

    “You have a known parameter — the disease,” Agah said. While monitoring over time, “Now let’s see how much closer your breath print gets to the normal version of yourself. That shows the efficacy of the treatment, without visiting the lab, or getting blood, or anything like that.”

    It will take a while before you’d be able to have a disease-sniffing device at home. Agah, and his longtime collaborator John Michalek, are now working to bring the patented device to real-world prototypes.

    While a Breathalyzer can only detect blood alcohol content, Agah and Michalek’s work, including PIMED, has focused on miniaturizing analytical technology, through gas chromatography.

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    Neal Augenstein

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  • FDA names longtime cancer scientist Pazdur to lead drug center

    WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday named a longtime regulator of cancer medicines to lead the agency’s drug center, replacing the former drug director who was recently ousted after an ethics complaint.

    Dr. Richard Pazdur, a 26-year veteran of the agency, will become director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, the FDA’s largest unit. A cancer specialist, Pazdur has previously served in numerous FDA roles, most recently leading the agency’s Oncology Center of Excellence.

    Pazdur’s appointment comes just over a week after Dr. George Tidmarsh abruptly departed the agency after federal ethics lawyers began reviewing “serious concerns about his personal conduct,” according to a government statement. Tidmarsh, a former pharmaceutical executive and scientist, had been recruited to the agency by FDA Commissioner Marty Makary.

    A lawsuit filed early this month alleged that Tidmarsh used his position at the FDA to pursue a “longstanding personal vendetta” against the chairman of a Canadian drugmaker’s board of directors. The two men had previously worked as business associates at several pharmaceutical companies, according to the lawsuit.

    Tidmarsh has denied any wrongdoing in media interviews. He did not respond to requests for comment sent by The Associated Press to him and his lawyer.

    Pazdur is one of the last remaining members of the FDA’s senior leadership to survive months of retirements, firings, resignations, and other actions by the Trump administration that forced longtime employees out of the agency.

    He’ll be tasked with bringing stability to a unit that has been riven by low morale, return-to-office orders and turf battles with other parts of the agency, including the vaccine and biologics center led by Dr. Vinay Prasad.

    The FDA’s drug center has lost more than 1,000 staffers over the past year to layoffs or resignations, according to agency figures. The center is responsible for the review, safety and quality control of prescription and over-the-counter medicines.

    Pazdur will also inherit several new initiatives announced by Makary, including a voucher program that aims to review drugs that are deemed a “national priority” in just one to two months. Previously, the FDA’s fastest drug reviews required six months.

    As the FDA’s top cancer specialist, Pazdur previously oversaw efforts to expedite the approvals of experimental cancer therapies based on early measures, such as tumor shrinkage. That approach has been criticized by many in academia, including Prasad, who spent years publishing papers scrutinizing the FDA’s approach to cancer medicines before joining the agency earlier this year.

    ___

    The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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  • Sally Kirkland, stage and screen star who earned an Oscar nomination in ‘Anna,’ dies at age 84

    NEW YORK (AP) — Sally Kirkland, a one-time model who became a regular on stage, film and TV, best known for sharing the screen with Paul Newman and Robert Redford in “The Sting” and her Oscar-nominated title role in the 1987 movie “Anna,” has died. She was 84.

    Her representative, Michael Greene, said Kirkland died Tuesday morning at a hospice in Palm Springs, California.

    Friends established a GoFundMe account this fall for her medical care. They said she had fractured four bones in her neck, right wrist and left hip. While recovering, she also developed infections, requiring hospitalization and rehab.

    “She was funny, feisty, vulnerable and self deprecating,” actor Jennifer Tilly, who co-starred with Kirkland in “Sallywood,” wrote on X. “She never wanted anyone to say she was gone. ‘Don’t say Sally died, say Sally passed on into the spirits.’ Safe passage beautiful lady.”

    Kirkland acted in such films as “The Way We Were” with Barbra Streisand, “Revenge” with Kevin Costner, “Cold Feet” with Keith Carradine and Tom Waits, Ron Howard’s “EDtv,” Oliver Stone’s “JFK,” “Heatwave” with Cicely Tyson, “High Stakes” with Kathy Bates, “Bruce Almighty” with Jim Carrey and the 1991 TV movie “The Haunted,” about a family dealing with paranormal activity. She had a cameo in Mel Brooks’ “Blazing Saddles.”

    Michael Douglas, left, and Sally Kirkland appear with their awards for best actor for “Wall Street” and best actress for “Anna,” at the 45th Annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Jan. 24, 1988. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)

    Her biggest role was in 1987’s “Anna” as a fading Czech movie star remaking her life in the United States and mentoring to a younger actor, Paulina Porizkova. Kirkland won a Golden Globe and earned an Oscar nomination along with Cher in “Moonstruck,” Glenn Close in “Fatal Attraction, Holly Hunter in “Broadcast News” and Meryl Streep in “Ironweed.”

    “Kirkland is one of those performers whose talent has been an open secret to her fellow actors but something of a mystery to the general public,” The Los Angeles Times critic wrote in her review. “There should be no confusion about her identity after this blazing comet of a performance.”

    Kirkland’s small-screen acting credits include stints on “Criminal Minds,” “Roseanne,” “Head Case” and she was a series regular on the TV shows “Valley of the Dolls” and “Charlie’s Angels.”

    Born in New York City, Kirkland’s mother was a fashion editor at Vogue and Life magazine who encouraged her daughter to start modeling at age 5. Kirkland graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and studied with Philip Burton, Richard Burton’s mentor, and Lee Strasberg, the master of the Method school of acting. An early breakout was appearing in Andy Warhol’s “13 Most Beautiful Women” in 1964. She appeared naked as a kidnapped rape victim in Terrence McNally’s off-Broadway “Sweet Eros.”

    Sally Kirkland arrives at the Multicultural Motion Picture Association annual Oscar week luncheon in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Feb. 22, 2008. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, File)

    Sally Kirkland arrives at the Multicultural Motion Picture Association annual Oscar week luncheon in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Feb. 22, 2008. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, File)

    Some of her early roles were Shakespeare, including the lovesick Helena in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” for New York Shakespeare Festival producer Joseph Papp and Miranda in an off-Broadway production of “The Tempest.”

    “I don’t think any actor can really call him or herself an actor unless he or she puts in time with Shakespeare,” she told the Los Angeles Times in 1991. “It shows up, it always shows up in the work, at some point, whether it’s just not being able to have breath control, or not being able to appreciate language as poetry and music, or not having the power that Shakespeare automatically instills you with when you take on one of his characters.”

    Kirkland was a member of several New Age groups, taught Insight Transformational Seminars and was a longtime member of the affiliated Church of the Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness, whose followers believe in soul transcendence.

    She reached a career nadir while riding nude on a pig in the 1969 film “Futz,” which a Guardian reviewer dubbed the worst film he had ever seen. “It was about a man who fell in love with a pig, and even by the dismal standards of the era, it was dismal,” he wrote.

    Kirkland was also known for disrobing for so many other roles and social causes that Time magazine dubbed her “the latter-day Isadora Duncan of nudothespianism.”

    Kirkland volunteered for people with AIDS, cancer and heart disease, fed homeless people via the American Red Cross, participated in telethons for hospices and was an advocate for prisoners, especially young people.

    The actors union SAG-AFTRA called her “a fearless performer whose artistry and advocacy spanned more than six decades,” adding that as “a true mentor and champion for actors, her generosity and spirit will continue to inspire.”

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