The main highlights for breast cancer and cancer from Google Alerts, for the week ending 26 September 2014.
At the risk of being known as the cancer blog devoted to dogs sniffing out cancer, item 1 this week is about a labrador who detected his owner’s breast cancer. I think this must make the fourth time I’ve seen this reported in the news this year, and I think it is remarkable that there is this amazing resource out there which is under-utilised. I wish I had one of these dogs. It would make it so much easier to know what’s going on without scans or blood tests.
Item 9 is about a researcher who is crowd-funding to develop a patent-free cancer drug. This has significant implications for the US, where there is no central body that regulates or negotiates with the drug companies to get the best deal for cancer patients. It is a travesty that drug companies can charge what they want.
A case in point is a recent expose by the CBS news reportage programme, 60 minutes, of the high-cost of cancer drug pricing in the US and how the doctors at Memorial Sloan-Kettering refused to prescribe a drug that they considered overpriced and more toxic than a competitor drug. Watch the recording here: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-eye-popping-cost-of-cancer-drugs/
Missy the Labrador, who detected his owner’s breast cancer. Image credit: expressnewspaper.
BisforBananasCisforCancer 