Here is your chance to ask questions about modern medical practices and research, particularly about cancer research. My mother, Joanne Johnson, will answer your questions!
INTRODUCTION:
I want to introduce you to my mother, Joanne Johnson, who has been reading the Henrietta Lacks book at the same time that we have been reading it. I gave Henrietta Lacks to her for Christmas because I knew that she would really connect to things in the book and enjoy reading it. I also showed her our class blog, so she has been looking at your blogs about HeLa subjects.
My mother worked for over 20 years as a Clinical Research Nurse in a cancer research clinic in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, working with cancer patients who were being treated on clinical trials or research studies. She worked a lot with informed consent forms and the process of obtaining them from patients. She also was involved in sending blood and tissue samples to research headquarters and labs for research purposes. In addition, Joanne counseled patients on how to deal with their disease and helped to counsel family members about how to help patients and what to expect if they were dying.
She would love to help answer some of your questions about how research on human subjects is conducted and the safety and ethical measures that are in place for the protection and privacy of the patients. She can also answer your questions about cancer research today, common cancer issues, and the ways that cancer clinics like the one she worked at talks to patients and gives them choices about their treatments. You can ask her about counseling patients and family members, too.
Joanne Johnson
A MESSAGE FROM JOANNE:
Yes, I am Dr. Rebekah Johnson's mother talking to you from Iowa, in the middle of the north central United States. I have truly enjoyed reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and also your blogs related to that. I have enjoyed interacting with Rebekah about things in the book, as well as interacting with my sister in Oregon (northwest US) who read the book for a "Book Club" assignment and discussion. I enjoyed the story of the life of Henrietta and of her children, as it gave me a good picture of how life was in the South in the 1940's and 50's, and also of how it was to be Black or African American. I felt like I knew the Lacks family when I got done with the book.
Mu biggest interest, however, was in the medical treatment, HeLa blood samples and growth, and their use in medical research, especially cancer. I worked for 21 years as a Clinical Research Nurse in which I enrolled cancer patients on studies after getting their informed consent. I followed them in weekly visits and sometimes phone calls in between. I kept detailed accounts of their treatments, side effects of treatment, and benefits or outcomes of treatments. I was responsible for modifying their medicine doses when side effects were too great, and calculating their doses for each treatment according to the specific protocol they were on.
I attended meetings of Clinical Research groups around the country and learned about new cancer treatments and studies from some of the best Doctors in the field. Two of my colleagues were in Washington, DC, on 9-11-2001, at the conference where Deborah would have spoken about her mother, if the plane had not hit the Pentagon that day and cancelled all meetings and travels.
I look forward to answering some of your questions to the best of my ability and experience.
ASSIGNMENT:
Please write TWO OR MORE questions related to cancer treatment, cancer research, informed consent, new cancer medicines, research and patient's rights laws, recent findings in research, and medical advancement.
Post each question as a separate comment below and Joanne will reply to as many of your questions as she can.
**Your questions (posted as separate comments below) are due TODAY, Feb. 2**
1.What is symptom of cancer when it start ?
ReplyDeleteThere are many kinds of cancer. Pain somewhere in the body is sometimes a symptom. Then an xray of that area of the body may show a mass of cells (tumor) that is not normally there. It is best to find cancer early before there are symptoms, such as breast cancer can be found by breast exam for lumps, or mammogram, or regular examinations by a Dr. Treatment is more effective if the cancer is found early.
DeleteI like this answer. It is so clear and useful for me.
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ReplyDeleteCancer is fast growing cells. We don't really know why cells suddenly start to grow and multiply faster then normal. We do know that certain things in the environment can make it more likely to happen, such as exposure to radiation, or dust or chemicals in the air. Lifestyle things also make one more likely to get cancer, such as smoking which irritates the lungs and makes the cells more likely to start growing out of control. Foods that one eats can make a difference. It is a known fact that Asian diets with more fish and vegetables are more healthy than American diets with lots of red meat and processed foods. Another factor can be one's genes and DNA, things that you are born with. Some cancers are more common in certain families.
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ReplyDeleteHow people react when you get their informed consent?
ReplyDeleteIn my work, the doctor already had told the patient that they had cancer, and talked to them about treatment options, before I talked to them. They were sad to have cancer, but hopeful that the treatment in the research study would help them. The informed consent was usually many pages long, and included such things as who was doing the study and why. It also included the names of the drugs and which ones were provided by the study. It included all of the risks, and side effects one might have, how those would be handled, the schedule of treatments, who could see the medical records, and permission to send in samples of blood and tissue. We did not let them sign the consent that day, but had to wait at least 24 hours to sign, so that they could go home and read it carefully, talk it over with their family, and probably look up information about their cancer and this treatment on the internet. Most people signed the consent form and were glad to get in on the newest treatments.
DeleteThank you for answering my question, and it is interesting to understand it.
Delete2. How can we do to prevent us from getting cancers ?
ReplyDeletePrevention includes healthy diet (less fat and sugar, and more grains and fruits and vegetables), regular exercise, no smoking, and avoiding environments that have bad chemicals in the air or ground. The more healthy you are, the better your immune system works to prevent disease, including cancer. Some cancers happen even the healthiest people, however, such as even people that do not smoke sometimes get lung cancer.
DeleteGood job, it will be effected for me. i will do like this to keep health .
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ReplyDelete3.Do you think that cancers will be cured in the futrue?
ReplyDeleteI don't know if cancer will ever be totally cured, but I am hopeful that it might. I do know that some cancers are easier to cure than others. And that cancer found in an early stage is easier to cure. I have known people whose cancer was totally gone and never came back. I know some whose cancer never went away even with treatment. Many cancer survivors live for many years without cancer. And some cancers can be treated for a long time with treatment that keeps the cancer "under control" (not growing and not causing symptoms), much like a diabetic takes insulin to keep his blood sugar under control even though he is not cured of diabetes.
DeleteI agree you thinking. i hope everyone has a good health. And some cancer patient will be cured in the future.
DeleteHello, Dr. Joanne Johnson
ReplyDeleteMy name is Oumou Bah, a student from your daughter's class. I am grateful to meet you, I heard so much about you, and the good you were doing to help others. I would like to ask you a few questions that you might be able to answer because you are a Clinical Research Nurse.
1. Knowing that HeLa cells are been used to do research, did the clinic where you worked use HeLa's cell to diagnose cancer?
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Delete1. Do you know why cancer exists? Or why is it hard to treat a viral cancer disease? And what can we do to overcome this?
DeleteThe clinic that I worked at did not do the laboratory work on cells. I don't know if the research headquarters that we work under used HeLa cells or not.
DeleteCancer exists when some cells in the body begin multiplying out of control. No one knows for sure why this happens, but there are factors which seem to make it more likely, such as one's health and environment as discussed in more detail above.
I am not well acquainted with viral cancers. I do know that viruses do not respond to treatment like other things do, so they are harder to treat.
Overcoming cancer will come with healthier lifestyles, earlier diagnosis, continuing research to find more and better treatments, and better access to these treatments for all people.
wow this is really interesting, knowing that why these things happens. Anyways thank you so much for answering these questions, it means a lot.
DeleteThank You
As cancer's family members, how can they help the cancer patients to overcome cancer?
ReplyDeleteFamily members should go with the patient to Dr. visits and treatments and be just as knowledgeable as the patient about the cancer and the treatment. They should be supportive of the patient's decisions. They should be good listeners when the patient wants to talk about his cancer, symptoms, treatment, fears, concerns, needs. When the patient is not feeling good after treatment, the family can provide meals, run errands, do household tasks. Just being there for them is the most important.
DeleteThank you, I get that we can do more things for them.
DeleteWhat would you want to know about if the conference that Deborah would talk about Henrietta was not cancelled?
ReplyDeleteIt would have been fun to hear Deborah speak about her Mother, and about all that their family had been through with her and her cells, and about all of the things that Deborah had learned, and about how she had learned to cope with the information that she received over time.
Deletewell, I think it would be very interesting if the conference had held that day. I also want to listen to Deborah talking about her feelings.
Delete1. When i read the book, i was in the state of total chaos about cervical cancer and chromosomes(DNA). Is it related each others?
ReplyDelete2.How many ways we can affected in cancer?
3. Do think Henriette was only one person in the world who was affected cervix cancer?
One's chromosomes are part of your DNA, which is all part of your genes, that makes your body what it is. It is the genetic factors that you get from your mother and father. It is part of you from your very beginning. It is what you inherit from your parents genes. It is the foundation of who you are physically. It is what makes you tall, or with red hair, or athletic ability or musical talents......and sometimes more vulnerable to certain diseases.
DeleteHenrietta's genes made her more likely to get cervical cancer. But things in her lifestyle and environment also contributed to that. She is definitely not the only person in the world to be affected by cervical cancer. We don't hear so much about cervical cancer now days because with women having Pap smears of cervical cells (which are looked at under a microscope by experts) done regularly (usually every year), cervical changes and cancer is found very early and treated with medicines or surgery before it grows so much, and it hardly ever causes death any more.
There are many different cancers.....different locations in the body (lung, breast, colon, brain, skin, prostate, etc)... and many different types of cells that form these cancers,.... all of which need different kinds of treatments....from surgery, to radiation, to chemotherapy (drugs).
thank you for giving my answer. i cannot believe that you give all of them answers. you are a nice person because you are very careful your time maintain. thanks again.
DeleteWhen the cancer patients refuse treatment or are negative to treatment, how can their family members modify them?
ReplyDeleteMedical personnel need to be sure that both the patient and their family understand all of the good and the bad, the risks and the benefits, of having a treatment......or of not having any treatment. If the patient refuses treatment because of not understanding it, or because of being afraid of it, then the nurses have not given them enough information about how things will be handled. If the patient understands, but still refuses, then he has the right to that decision, and the medical people and the family should support it. Most of the time it is because of fear of the unknown that one refuses to participate. However, if the patient knows that the treatment may or may not work, and at best will give only 6 months more of life, but that life may be full of misery from side effects, then maybe they are being sensible to refuse that treatment.
DeleteYes, when we clearly understand what will be happened, it can reduce much pressure.
DeleteThank you.
hi! Dr. Joanne Johnson.
ReplyDeleteI'm a one of Rebekah Johnson's studens.
Thanks for introducing about you.
And I'm surly, the family of a cancer patient and the patient have difficult time spending hard time.
Is there any program that enlighten for the patients' families about the patients' cancer and what steps of treatment the doctors treat for the cancer patients?
How the families take care of the patients that they really have to do and not have to do?
A cancer diagnosis is very hard for a patient and their family. First, the word cancer means certain death to many people. That is no longer true, but it brings up a lot of fears. Then they see many doctors, maybe have surgery, and before they even recover from that they see a cancer specialist who gives them way more information than they can deal with, and several options or choices for treatment. One way to help this is for them to ask questions until they understand all of what is being said. They are often given books or brochures to read more about these things. Informed consents give a lot of information about specific treatments. Some other good resources are the American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute, which have web sites in which one can put in drug names, cancer types, etc. to learn more about the diseases and treatment choices.
DeleteFamilies should ask questions of the doctors and nurses for specific things. Ask for printed materials about the disease and treatment, and how to care for the patient. They should help the patient keep a written account of how they feel each day and of what is bothering them or what side effects they are having (no one ever remembers when they felt sick to their stomach, or how many loose stools they had, without writing it down each day). They should also write out the questions that they want to ask the doctor or nurse when they see them next time. If the patient is having any problems, the patient or a family member should call the nurse, because there is always something that can be done to control nausea, mouth sores, loose bowels, or pain. They do not have to wait until their next appointment to get things taken care of.
Thank you for answering.
Deletethis is good information for me.!
have a great day.!
The cancer's family members would have a lot of pressure, how can they release themselves?
ReplyDeleteYes, it is very stressful for families......sometimes just as much or more than for the actual cancer patient. Family members will need someone to talk to, just to talk out loud about their fears and stresses. They can talk to the nurses and doctors that are caring for their loved one. If they have a religious faith, talking to someone such as a pastor, priest, rabbi, or Iman will help. Also note in the answer above about reading materials and web sites that are helpful.
DeleteThank you.
Deletehello Dr. Joanne Johnson !
ReplyDeletewas emotional difficult work with cancer patients?
People often asked me if it was depressing to work with cancer patients, and yes, it was stressful at times because I felt sad for people in that situation. However, most of the time I felt good offering help and hope to cancer patients. I met so many wonderful people. I saw them deal with such hard things, but they learned to cope and survive. I even learned to be comfortable talking about death and dying. I saw people prepare for death and even accept that, and be ready for that. That was harder on the family members, but they, too, learned to let go of their loved one at the right time, and see death as a relief for the patient and for themselves. Of course, they had to deal with a big loss when a loved one died, but cancer patients and their families had time to prepare, as opposed to a sudden death of a heart attack or car accident.
Deleteyes, it should be really difficult to work with cancer patients but I can see that it is also a big learning for life.
Deletethanks Dr Joanne Johnson for answering my questions !
Good evening Dr Joanne Johnson
ReplyDeleteMy name is Edline Rigueur, a student from professor Rebekah Johnson .I would like to ask you a few question about cancer research .thank you for your time
1-is cancer contagious?
2- how common is cancer?
3-is cancer treatment worse than cancer?
4- can cancer be prevent?
5- can injuries cause cancer?
6-can stress cause cancer?
Cancer is NOT contagious. It is not passed on from person to another.
DeleteCancer seems to be a common disease, and more so than it used to be many years ago. One reason for that is that people live longer, and the older a body is, the more likely to have cells start growing out of control. Another reason is that cancer is diagnosed more often, partly because people go to doctors more than they used to, and partly because we have such better ways of testing and xraying to find cancer.
Sometimes it seems like the cancer treatment is worse than the cancer disease itself. Many side effects such as nausea, diarrhea, fatigue, infections due to low blood counts, etc., are very miserable. However, much can be done to help such things become more tolerable.
Things like healthy diet and healthy lifestyle can help prevent cancer. (see prior answers).
Generally cancer does not come from injuries. However, skin cancers like Melanoma can come from damage to the skin from exposure to sun and sunburns. That is why fair skinned people should use sun screen when outdoors.
Stress reduces ones own immune system (which fights disease) and makes one vulnerable to many diseases, including cancer.
Good morning Dr Joanne Johnson.
DeleteHow u doing ?i think everything is fine for you
i just want to say thank you for answer those questions
and i would like to say thank you to professor Rebekah Johnson too .God Bless you and your family have a wonderful day .
it is possible that an experimental treatment harm the patient instead cure him?
ReplyDeleteIt is possible to cause harm with any treatment, especially something that has not been used enough to know it's potential. In the case of Henrietta, the continued radiation to her body burned her skin badly. But back then they did not know what else to do. Had they realized that her cancer was growing rapidly in spite of the radiation, they might have stopped doing it sooner.
DeleteIn clinical trials now days, the treatments have been used quite a lot in closely monitored settings before it is available to use for the general public. There are very careful and specific guidelines for the treatment, and when and how to modify the treatment before damage is done.
hii...Joanne Johnson
ReplyDeletehow are you today..?
I just want to know the most exciting story of your cancer research.
Thank you for asking that question. Probably one of the most exciting story I can tell you is about a man who had lung cancer which we treated with chemotherapy for a very long time. He got to feeling better, but his chest xray always showed a mass where his cancer was in the lung. Finally the doctors decided to take him to surgery and find out what was in his lung. They found that it was a mass of dead cells with no cancer cells left in it. The chemotherapy had killed all of the cancer. They removed that mass and the man was cured of cancer for the rest of his life. It is exciting because lung cancer is not often cured. I became good friends with this man and his wife after so many years of treatments. I had the fun of attending their 50th Wedding Anniversary celebration several years ago.
Deletethat was really an interesting story... :D
Deletethank you very much...
do you know what was the first cancer case in history?
ReplyDeleteI really don't know the answer to that question. I am sure that cancer has been around for a very long time. Years ago it just was never diagnosed, and the patient was said to have died of "stomach trouble" or some such thing.
DeleteHi joanne johnson
ReplyDeleteIt is my pleasure to ask about cancer research.
while i was reading a book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, it describes that when people got cancer they usually die, what percentage of people can be considered cured of cancer?
I know that cancer can spread in our body when it occured but how it can be transfered to other body parts?
It is true that many years ago, most people who had cancer died. I don't know the exact percent of cancer survivers now, but it improves every year. Many have many cancer free years after treatment. Some are considered cured after 10 years or 20 years without cancer. Even 5 years cancer free is a good milestone, as cancer is most likely to come back within 5 years if it is going to.
DeleteThe most likely cure comes when the cancer is found early (before it has spread to other body parts), can be removed by surgery, and then is followed up with some chemotherapy or radiation, to be sure that there are no cells left in the body.
Cancer can spread in the body as it grows over a long period of time. It can spread because it grows beyond the organ it starts in. Also cancer cells can travel through the blood stream, or through the lymphatic system (fluids in the tissues). Since blood travels from the lungs to the brain, lung cancer sometimes shows up in the brain. Cancer in the stomach or bowels can travel to the liver because all of the lower body's blood is cleansed in the liver. If cancer is spread to other body areas, it is much harder to cure. Surgery can't remove all of it, and radiation can only be given to a specific place. Chemotherapy is the only treatment that can travel throughout the whole body through the blood. Cancer that has spread will often show up again sometime, somewhere in the body.
thank you for your answer. after reading your answer i searched about chemotherapy and saw a video that how patient treated from cancer. also doctors say that it might occur side effects so we have to know what might occur next.
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ReplyDeleteHi, my name is melida. Eventually, you were involved in those subjects that it is interesting to know opinions or experience from a profesional person like you.
ReplyDeleteAt this time, Is still Hela's cell use for curing cancer?
Actually, people with cancer think they will die and do not want treatment and others make decision to being treatment.
How do patientes react to knowing they got cancer ?
I don't know for sure, but my guess is that HeLa cells are still growing and still being used for research.
DeletePeople diagnosed with cancer used to die, but that is not true anymore. There are many options for treatments. They need to see a cancer specialist (oncologist)to learn about all the choices, and then make an informed decision. (See some of the answers above that go into more detail).
Patients normally react negatively to hearing that they have cancer. They are afraid that they are going to die, and that they will have a lot of pain. Fortuneatly, most doctors, after giving a diagnosis of cancer, will immediately follow up with a discussion of things that can be done, and where and when that process will start.
Regarding pain, no one should have to endure pain at any stage of cancer with all of the good pain medications that are available now days.
I agreed with you that now,there are treatments can help patient with cancer to stop or relief their pain.
DeleteI really appreciate you for taking some of your value minutes to answer my questions. Thank you so much.
Hi Dr. Johnson my name is Juan, I live in New York, but I am from the Dominican Republic. Since reading the book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, I have been intrigued to know more about cancer research that will help in the future. Thanks in advance for your time, dedication and kindness. May God bless you.
ReplyDeleteMy question to you is: Is chemotherapy the safest and best way to treat cancer or there should be another method?
Every case and situation is different and is considered individually regarding treatment. If the cancer is only in one place and can be removed, surgery is the first answer. Often surgery is followed up with chemotherapy and/or radiation. If the cancer can't be removed with surgery, such as if it has spread to other areas, then chemotherapy is the answer, as it can reach all areas of the body through the blood. There are as many different kinds of chemotherapy drugs as there are different types of cancer. It is safe to treat patients with chemotherapy, especially on a research study, because they are watched very carefully, followed carefully for any side effects, and are treated by a very specific written protocol of instructions of how much and how often.
DeleteHellow Mrs.Joanne Johnson! My name is Mook. I am so glad to talk to you in this blog and thank you so much giving a chance to ask you questions to us. Before I read the book, i've not thought about researching cells, informing consent and patient's rights laws. While I was reading the book, I felt so sorry to henrietta and her family. Whenever i read the book, I've tried to think the situation in her family's place. What would i do if it happened to me or my family. it is even hard to imagine for me.
ReplyDeleteI have two questions.
1. I think when the doctors or researchers had felt sorry or thought that it was wrong to do research without consent at the time in early to middle 1900s but they did. On the other hand, I think some doctors might not research without consent at that time because of ethic problems or patients' rights. I understand that there was no laws about ethics or patients' right. However, In my opinion, the doctors have to have responsibility and apologize to Henrietta's family. What do you think about it as cancer researcher
2. What is the most difficult thing when you work in cancer research clinic?
In the early days of research, no one thought about the patient's rights or about getting the patient's informed consent. Informed means that they have been told everything about the treatment that is being offered, the side effects, the benefits, who is doing the research, who is paying for the drugs, what the benefits might be, if there will be blood or tissue samples taken or sent somewhere, if they will be asked to do a questionnaire. I am very glad to tell you that informed consent is always done now, and is regulated by both private and government agencies, to be sure that it is done, and done properly.
DeleteIn Henrietta's case, she did sign a paper allowing surgery, but I don't think that it told her every thing that she needed to know. At least she did not fully understand it all, and did not tell her family about it. And I am not sure that she knew that her cells would be taken, examined, or grown in a culture, or used in research.
I am sure that the doctors at Johns Hopkins felt that it was their right to use her cells, since they were providing her with free treatments. It would not have become an issue if Henrietta's cells had died after multiplying 50 times like most cells did. But since they lived on and on, their use spread though out the US and the world. Dr. Gey and Johns Hopkins did not receive any money for sharing her cells. It was only later that someone charged for sharing HeLa cells.
I think that Henrietta's family did have a right to know about the immortal cells and about what they were being used for, but no one thought of that. It would have been nice if Johns Hopkins would have at least offered free care to the Lacks family for Henrietta's contribution to research and medicine.
The most difficult thing in working with cancer patients is finding out that someone's cancer has come back after a period of being cancer free. Cancer is much harder to control after it comes back again. The patient goes from hope to despair again, but the second time it is even harder than at the first diagnosis.
Something else that was difficult was to encourage a patient to go through a very rigorous treatment plan that included radiation twice a day, with chemotherapy in between. The patient became very ill, couldn't eat, lost a lot of weight, got discouraged, but she made it through and it cured her lung cancer, and she is still cancer free to this day.
Thank you for answering the questions Mrs.Joanne Johnson! i think it's really hard work to take care of the patients in the hospital. i hope all you the best!
Deletewhy people get cancer?
ReplyDeleteIt is unknown why many cancers happen, but lifestyle things like diet make a difference, and environmental things like things in the air, soil, and water can affect it. Also your genetic make-up can make one more vulnerable to things that "run in the family". (See further explanations in prior answers).
DeleteThank you! for you answered my question.
Deletehow can people without getting cancer?
ReplyDeleteI have included ways to prevent cancer in previous answers...things like healthy diet and lifestyle, no smoking, having regular health check ups.
Deletethank you! I will tell my parents about health check ups in every year. thank you! If I still have question I will ask in the future.
Deletehi ^^ i am so glad to meet you. when professor tells about you, i just guess that someday, we have to make a question to you :)
ReplyDeletethese days many different types of cancer come out and it make people are anxious. how can we free from cancer? than, you know all of result such as side effects. If you have chance of taking medical treatment, could you do willing the research for medical treatment? And I wonder how you act if your family members want to try medical-treatment,are you following their decision? Or do you make them stop?
I think that I have already answered your first questions about different types of cancer, prevention of cancer, and side effects of treatment. But your questions about whether I would participate in a research study for treatment or encourage my family members to do so.......is a very good question. Sometimes I have thought, knowing all I know about cancer treatment, maybe I would not want to go through it. But, on the other hand, I am not afraid of it, because I know what to expect, and that there is good help to endure side effects, that the benefits could be a cure.
DeleteIt would depend on circumstances......if I was old and ill anyway, maybe it would not be worth it to go through a heavy treatment plan. If I was young and raising a family, I would definitely try anything and everything that I could to stay alive as long a possible. Most people have a great will to live and would take the treatment if at all possible. I would encourage my family members to consider all the facts, and then decide. And I would honor and support their decision, whether it was to treat or not treat.
Thanks for answering!! Yes I already read answer all of yours. Its really help to us.
DeleteI didn’t know that people have a lot of questions of this book. Wow~~~^^
I like your answer. I do agree, and I would be like you if I have same situation. And than I just little afraid of side effects but if I don’t have choice, I might be like you. Get treatment, if at all possible. ^^
Hi, Dr. Joanne Johnson,
ReplyDeleteThe causes of Parkison's disease are not specific known, but do researchers have any clue? I heard it could be caused by carbon monoxide poisoning, heavy metal poisoning, and MPTP. Are there other possibles for getting this disease?
Another question, Is it Clinical Research groups' responsible developing the vaccine to against any epidemic?
I am not an expert on Parkinson's disease, but I think that the cause is unknown, just as we have said about cancer, but that there are things that can make one more vulnerable to it. Anything that causes changes in the cells in the brain, such as the things that you have listed could do that. There are medications that can help control symptoms of Parkinson's. There is research being done, and new developments every day.
DeleteI specifically worked in cancer research, but there are other research groups who are working on other medical issues, such as vaccines. Every year they develop new flu vaccines that work for the specific flu varieties for that year. Remember that Dr. Jonas Salk developed the polio vaccine years ago using HeLa cells in his research. When new epidemics occur, scientists and doctors work to develop vaccines for those diseases......such as Bird Flu, the
Asian flu, the Swine flu a few years ago.
We have tried some vaccine type of treatments for some cancers such as Melanoma, but they did not seem to provide as much benefit as other treatments.
Interesting information,thanks for your help!
DeleteHi Dr.Joanne Johnson
ReplyDeleteHope you are enjoying life in Iowa.
It's great to know about you and your contribution to cancer research. It is a really a great job. I am also enjoying Professor Dr.Rebekah Johnson's class and she is absolutely a nice professor.
While after reading "The Immortal Life of Henrrietta Lacks" By Rebecca Skloot and doing some blog work I have following questions.
Question:1
We know cancer cells caused two types of tumors
1. Malignant tumors.
2. Benign tumors.
How do Bening tumor turns to Malignant tumor by the cancer cells? What causes have researchers found for this?
Question:2
What kind of awareness should people have to avoid the type of cancer that Henrietta had?
Cancer cells are malignant cells, and they cause malignant tumors. Benign tumors are NOT cancer and NOT malignant. A tumor is either malignant or benign. Benign tumors do not turn into malignant tumors, as far as I know.
DeleteHenrietta's cancer was cervical cancer, located in the cervix, or neck of the uterus or womb. It was first thought to be non-invasive or "carcinoma in situ". It turned out later to be invasive cervical carcinoma, a cancer that grew quickly and spread quickly. Cervical cancer is easily diagnosed and treated if it is found early. Dr. Papanicolaou developed the Pap test, which involves taking a smear of cells from the cervix and looking at the cells under a microscope for precancerous changes. Most women have this done regularly, probably every year at their Dr.'s office when they have their annual physical exam. This will find cells that are changing, even before they become cancer. Then appropriate treatment can be started before any cancer cells grow or spread. So women, get your Pap test done every year.
Thank you so much DR.Joanne Johnson
DeleteI was scared about Benign tumors. Many of my family members and me have tumors in different parts of our body. Those tumors aren't bigger and do not cause any pain or anything else. All these look like a kind of little knot in side the skin. One of my uncles took blood from one of the tumors and tested in a laboratory. The reports was not negative, but I was seared that it could turn to Malignant tumors.Thanks God nothing bad happen yet.
However, if you know any thing about those tumors that I explained, please feel free to suggest us. I will be proud of you and let my family members know about that . Its also would be grateful if you let us know what kind of awareness we should do for any kind of dangerous situation with those tumors.
It would be good to have the cells of those tumors checked by a pathologist in a laboratory to be sure of what they are. (like your uncle did). Sometimes lumps and bumps are just fluid filled cysts or fat filled lypomas. The most important thing is to watch for changes in these tumors...if they begin to grow or cause pain, then it is time to have a doctor check them.
DeleteThank you Dr. Joanne Johnson
DeleteI really appreciate your great advice and fast response.
Hope your advice would work to stop scaring about those tumors and increase our awareness.
Hello! Dr. Joanne Johnson.
ReplyDeleteI’m one of Dr Rebekah Johnson's students.
Nice to hear about you from doctor Johnson and thank you for your time to give the answers.
Is there various types of cancer that people can have if yes? What kinds of cancer are common to occur the most?
Is there any way that the person can know if they are having a cancer without even getting the examination?
What are the indications of cancer and how does the radiation therapy work?
Yes, there are various types of cancer, and many different kinds of cancer cells, each of which are treated differently. The most common cancers are Lung, Colon, Breast (women, but men can have breast cancer, too), and Prostate (men).
DeleteYou can not know that you have cancer without being examined by a doctor, and also probably having blood tests and xrays. But you can't know for sure that you have cancer unless the tumor is biopsied (some cells taken for examination) and the cells looked at under a microscope by a pathologist, an expert in this. Once it is determined that you do have cancer, and what cell type it is, then the appropriate treatment can be found.
Some things that might alert one to go a doctor for an exam are pain, nausea, weight loss, bowel changes, or difficult breathing.
Radiation therapy works by killing cancer cells in a very specific area. It uses a dose of radiation to a small area, given only to that area briefly for many days in a row. It is calculated carefully to hit only cancer cells, and not damage normal cells.
Chemotherapy is most often drugs given into the veins, and the drugs travel through the blood system through out the body, thus affecting every organ and every part of the body. Sometimes chemotherapy is given in a pill form, more so now days that it used to be.
Thank you for your nice answer Dr Joanne Johnson! I really appreciate you had a wonderful experience about cancer treatment.
DeleteI hope that I have not completely overwhelmed you. Thank you for your questions. I have enjoyed talking with you about cancer and sharing some of my experiences. I have thought about a couple of things to mention that might be of interest to you.
ReplyDeleteRegarding patient's medical records and right to privacy: No one can look at a patient's records without that patient's permission. The informed consent includes giving the researchers, and specific people and organizations permission to view the records. We promised the patients in our clinic that we would not send their name anywhere outside of our clinic. So we took their name off of anything that we sent in to the study headquarters, and labeled it with their specific study assigned number and their initials. This was true for forms, reports, blood samples, tissue samples, xrays. I spent a lot of time whiting out or blacking out names, and labeling with numbers and initials.
After the HIPAA privacy law came into effect, we could not get information from hospitals or doctors offices without specific written permission, so much of our follow up of study patients was done by phoning the patient personally to find out their health status.
Regarding sending blood and tissue samples: (after signed informed consent) Blood had to be sent in triple protected containers (plastic tube, in a ziplock bag, in a styrofoam container, in a cardboard box. It could be sent in the mail or by Fed Ex. Sometimes it was sent room temperature, sometimes with a cold pack, and sometimes frozen and in dry ice.....depending of the study specifications. Tissue samples were obtained from the hospital pathology department where the tissue and/or cells were taken for examination after a biopsy or surgery. Tissue samples were always in a paraffin wax block, so that thin slices of cells could be cut from the block and looked at under a microscope.
The new treatment drugs were usually provided by the pharmaceutical companies who developed them, to the research studies, because they wanted to help prove that their drug was beneficial. This was one of the big benefits to a patient on a research study, because new drugs cost thousands of dollars per dose. Another benefit to the patients being treated on a research study is that they get to be treated with the newest and greatest drugs, even before they are available to the general public.
Joanne Johnson
Dr. Johnson,
ReplyDeleteThroughout the years that you had tracked these patients in the clinical research, are there patients that backed out of the research and what are the reasons that they discontinued the research?
We followed patients for life in many studies. As survival after cancer became more common, some studies limited follow up to 10 or 20 years, so that they could complete their statistics sooner. Most patients were very willing to continue their follow up as long as needed. It got harder as people moved to new locations and/or had new doctors. That is when we often just called the patients themselves. It got to be fun to call many of them once a year and see how they were doing. I built up a long standing friendship with many. Very few ever refused follow up or backed out. The few that did, just did not want to be bothered any more. For those people, we asked them to sign a form to retract their consent.
ReplyDeleteOvernight I thought about your question some more, and thought that maybe you were wondering if patients ever quit during treatment. That has seldom happened, but it could. The informed consent form always had a statement that said that a person could stop their participation in the study any time. Most of the time if a patient wanted to quit a treatment, it was because of side effects, and those could almost always be controlled, or the dose of the medications could be reduced, thus reducing the side effects.
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Deletethank you for answer my questions!
DeleteI had another thought about exciting stories from my experiences. It was always exciting to offer patients the newest and most recently discovered treatments. It was especially exciting when a new treatment worked very well, both because it gave the patient an improved benefit over standard treatment, and because it often then became the new standard treatment. It was very special to have a part in finding new and better treatments for cancer.
ReplyDeleteHi!!! Dr. Joanne Johnson. Nice meeting you!
ReplyDeleteMy name is Grace Ng, I'm from Colombia but my parents are Chinese. I have heard that you enjoyed reading the book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks also enjoyed answering our questions related to the book. I just got few questions, so i hope you will answer them. I'm sorry for the lateness. Please accept my apologies!
-Does radiation,and surgery actually cure cancer in some people, or do cancer patients heal themselves? And why some of the cancers disappear by themselves, without medical treatment?
Surgery can be a cure if the cancer cells have not spread any where else beyond the original place. Then it can be cut out, and is gone, thus a cure. Often cancer cells have grown for a long time before the tumor (or mass of cells) is big enough to cause any symptoms or be seen on examination or xray. One area in which tumors can be found early is with breast cancer, if the patient checks regularly and notices a new bump or lump in the breast tissue. Then it can be removed by surgery. Even then, the area where the lump was is usually treated with radiation, just to be sure that any cancer cells that were left in the area have been killed. And if the tumor was a larger size or if cancer cells are found to have traveled to lymph nodes near by, then chemotherapy is also recommended. Since cancer cells can travel through the lymph fluid system, the first place that spreading breast cancer cells would likely be found is in the lymph nodes in a person's arm pit. These treatments can bring a cure, or at least many years of cancer free survival.
ReplyDeleteCancer can and does sometimes disappear without treatment, but that is quite rare. Sometimes cancer cells are killed by one's own immune system before we even know that they were there. In fact, many people believe that we can have cancer cells growing in our bodies quite often, but that our immune systems eliminate them when there are just a few cells, and we never have symptoms or evidences of them ever being there.
I really appreciate your dedication and time to respond all this questions and all the information you just gave me. Because, it has helped me to understand more of how cancer can be treated. I hope you’re having a wonderful time over there and have nice day ;)
DeleteIt has been fun for me to read your responses to my answers and to accept your thanks. I am so glad that I had this opportunity to help many of you understand cancer and cancer treatments better. Just remember, if you ever have to deal with cancer yourself, or with a family member, there is a lot of help available. There are things that can be done. Best wishes to you all.
ReplyDeleteJoanne Johnson