Categories for Diagnostics

An attractive woman sits on a field during sunset with her two young suns, smiling.

8 Ways to Advocate for Your Cancer Care – This Could Save Your Life

Published by on June 1, 2018 2 Comments

Do you really need a cancer care advocate or is the basic care you receive from your public oncologist good enough? Read on to find out the truth about standard care and decide for yourself. Joan was 45 years old when she was diagnosed with stage IV metastatic melanoma. Her public oncologist gave her the option of standard chemotherapy, which, according to studies, would’ve given her approximately less than a year to live. Since her disease would not respond to standard treatments, her oncologist told her that there were no other treatment options. She was told to get her affairs in order. But Joan wasn’t ready to accept this – so she and her husband reached out to CTOAM. Our cancer experts helped them to access the...
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Why Precision Oncology Works – Even if Some Reports on Targeted Therapies Say Otherwise

Published by on May 1, 2018 | Share your thoughts

Why You Should Trust Precision Oncology  Precision oncology and, more specifically, targeted therapies have been under attack since their inception. There’ve been numerous studies and reports claiming that targeted therapies have NOT lived up to expectations and are still inferior to standard therapies. However, a more detailed look at these so-called ineffective studies reveals many design flaws in their methodologies. When the data is presented accurately, precision oncology produces significant benefits in both overall survival and reduced side effects for cancer patients. Problem #1: Using Targeted Drugs Without the Required Biomarker One issue with many studies involving targeted therapies is the use of targeted therapies without prior testing to ensure the relevant biomarker is present in that patient’s tumour tissue. While this may seem like...
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5 Reasons Why You Need Liquid Biopsies for Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment

Published by on April 2, 2018 | Share your thoughts

Recently the CBC ran an article called, “Blood Test for Early Detection of 8 Cancers Looks Promising.” The article went on to discuss how this promising new blood-based liquid biopsy was able to identify cancers in people. However, as is typical with new medical advancements, the article requires some further clarification and explanation. The article described the results of the test like this: “The blood tests found about 70% of eight common types of cancer in the 1,005 patients. The rates varied depending on the type – lower for breast tumours but high for ovarian, liver, and pancreatic ones”. The author went on to explain that the liquid biopsy test detects mutations in 16 genes tied to cancer. And it also measures eight proteins that are...
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