Vicky Tan Reading time: 3 minutes Whilst the current attention of many healthcare workers is devoted to battling COVID-19, another epidemic is quietly brewing in the background. Dakota Stephenson is a 15-year old from Sydney, Australia, who was recently admitted into an intensive care unit for three days as her lungs were filling up with... Continue Reading →
Does HIV Lead to Cancer?
Daniel Zhong Reading time: 3 minutes Roughly 37.7 million individuals on Earth by the end of 2020 have been living with HIV — human immunodeficiency virus — which targets and weakens the human body’s immune system when not properly controlled or treated. As a result, this impaired immune system can cause people to become immunodeficient,... Continue Reading →
Integrating Race, Ethnicity, and Now Ancestry Into Cancer Research—Why Does it Matter?
Reading time: 4 minutes Aileen I Fernandez Cancer health disparities are prevalent in the United States and are defined as “adverse differences between certain population groups in cancer measures”. It is well known that there are variations in cancer burden associated with racial/ethnic identity and that this is due to many factors. Among these are... Continue Reading →
Cancer Research and Care Under the Biden Administration
Reading time: 5 minutes Michael Marand In the third most-viewed TED talk of all time, Simon Sinek explained: people do not care what you do, they care why you do it. He asserted great leaders inspire action by communicating their why. For many of us involved in cancer research or cancer care, our work comes... Continue Reading →
Black in Cancer: Not Just a Week-long Event, but an Ongoing Movement
Reading time: 6 minutes Jessica Desamero Black in Cancer week, held from October 11-17, is a week-long event full of highlighting amazing Black scientists in cancer research and medicine, addressing cancer myths and disparities in the Black community, and discussing ways to diversify the cancer workforce. The Black in Cancer event was hosted by the... Continue Reading →
OncoBites Statement in Support of Black Lives Matter
This is not a normal week in America, and yet, in many ways, it is. Protesters have taken to the streets across the country and around the world to demand justice for the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd, three Black Americans who have been murdered in the past month, two of... Continue Reading →
When It Comes to Cancer, Could Prevention Be the New Cure?
Larissa Biggers Reading time: 3 minutes A cure for a disease such as malaria, polio, or cancer is a treatment that eliminates it. A cure can work on an individual level or a group level. If a treatment is effective for a group such that no disease is left in the population, the condition is... Continue Reading →
Ulcers after Cancer Therapy – New Directions
Reading time: 5 minutes Kate Secombe Cancer treatment- it’s not fun! The treatment can take hours in the hospital, it makes you feel fatigued and has a range of difficult side-effects, including nausea, vomiting, hair loss, and memory problems. But today, I want to focus on one, in particular, mucositis, and look at the research... Continue Reading →
The Gender Dilemma
Reading time: 3 minutes Bekah Schulz It is well known that biological sex is an important factor in certain types of cancer. Obvious cancers that fall into this category are breast, prostate, uterine, and cervical cancer. These depend on sex-specific organs, as well as hormone levels, that vary between men and women. A previous Oncobites... Continue Reading →
Obesity-related cancers are on the rise
Reading time: 4 minutes Morgan McSweeney Did you know that there is a link between excess weight and increased risk of getting cancer? The International Agency for Research on Cancer has recognized a link between being overweight and having an increased risk of cancer in 13 sites of the body. Strikingly, the CDC reported that... Continue Reading →
Your Health Plan Affects Your Access to Cancer Care
Reading time: 3 minutes Manisit Das It is said that cancer is a great equalizer. Unfortunately, however, the same can’t be said about cancer care. Where you live, how much money you make, and the kind of health plan you have can determine if you will receive the care you need to manage your cancer... Continue Reading →
Malignant Costs of Cancer Care
Reading time: 6 minutes Nisitha Sengottuvel So far, a lot of the articles we have been discussing here on Oncobites have been revolving around bench research regarding cancer biology and therapeutics. On the public health side of cancer care, there are a lot of emerging fields: one of which investigates the economic burden of cancer... Continue Reading →
Colorectal cancer is on the rise in adults < 50 years old
Reading time: 4 minutes Morgan McSweeney Note: Throughout this article, I will use phrases such as "patients with overweight/obesity" instead of "overweight/obese patients." This is because the field is trying to move away from using disease states as descriptors. Another example would be a preference for saying "patients with diabetes" instead of "diabetics." I know... Continue Reading →