A NEW YEAR'S COUNTING GAME

 This beautiful quilt was created by my lovely wife shortly before ovarian cancer took her life.  I have it displayed on a wall in my living area here in the Willows, and I often sit in my recliner and admire it.  Moreover, I play a game: how many squares can I see?  The number is surprisingly high, but I won’t tell you the answer.  Count them yourself, then post the answer.  (I won’t screw up and say “Yeah, got it!  That would reduce the incentive for others to do their own count.)  If you get it right I will donate some cash to Linda’s fund at Fred Hutch in your name.

I can see that the bottom few red-bordered squares are indistinct, so I will tell you that all 12 such squares have nine little squares inside ‘em .

So, happy counting and remember – squares, not rectangles.

And Happy New Year!

This beautiful quilt was created by my beautiful wife shortly before ovarian cancer took her life.  I have it displayed on a wall in my living area here in the Willows, and I often sit in my recliner and admire it.  Moreover, I play a game: how many squares can I see?  The number is surprisingly high, but I won’t tell you the answer.  Count them yourself, then post the answer.  (I won’t screw up and say “Yeah, got it!  That would reduce the incentive for others to do their own count.)  If you get it right I will donate some cash to Linda’s fund at Fred Hutch in your name.

I can see that the bottom few red-bordered squares are indistinct, so I will tell you that all 12 such squares have nine little squares inside ‘em .

So, happy counting and remember – squares, not rectangles.

And Happy New Year!

A SECOND SURGERY?

                           Linda and her snug little home.

                                            Courting days

                 Murphy, the Prince of Darkness, lurked inside

Linda received what I believe was the standard treatment for advanced ovarian cancer in 2008:  surgery to remove all visible tumor, followed by weeks of platinum-based chemotherapy.  She had the benefit of cutting-edge medical practice at the SCCA (Seattle Cancer Care Alliance), which includes the Fred Hutch cancer research people.  Her surgeon was a leader in the field;

 Linda died three years later, but only after we enjoyed a lengthy period of remission during which time we traveled to Egypt and northern Mexico, and enjoyed quality time at our place in Borrego Springs.  At the time that her remission broke down (her cancer returned) her hair had grown out to a fine, beautiful shade of gray.  After remission she was subjected to additional chemo, but to no avail.  In common with most 3C OVCA patients, she died after only about three years following diagnosis.

The research outlined below seems to show that a second round of “cytoreduction surgery”, following remission and accompanied by more chemo, may add as much as 20 or so months to overall survival time.  Also, it is implied, the quality of this additional life is or can be high.

I asked about a second surgery when Linda relapsed but was told that it would be of no real value.  Maybe now, with new wrinkles in tumor detection and better chemo a second surgery would be useful.  Nevertheless, as I relive Linda’s pain and misery after surgery, which I recall painfully after 13 years, I am cautious.  OVCA is a terrible, cruel, implacable disease.  Society should concentrate on early detection, effective treatment, and ultimate cure (or even prevention, if such a thing is possible).  In the meantime, I guess that studies such as these that lead to greater remission time are valuable.

 God!, how I hate that f…ing disease!

https://consumer.healthday.com/cytoreductive-surgery-plus-chemo-better-for-recurrent-ovarian-ca-2655898360.html 

 

LOMA LINDA

 Linda, after an exhausting five mile, steeply uphill hike

                            Why she didn't divorce me I'll never know

Loma Linda is a town in what I regard as a conspicuously unpleasant patch of Southern California: near San Bernadino, Riverside, Colton, Redlands, etc.  I grew up in that area and, as a kid, I remember it as a pleasant land of small towns surrounded by citrus orchards, rimed by beautiful mountains, and enjoying fresh air and sunshine.  Now, of course, it has evolved into a land of chronically smog-plagued lower middle class housing developments, connected by freeways that roar day and night.  Such is Californian progress, I guess: glad I live up here.

Anyway, Loma Linda has a university.  It was founded by, and is supervised by, the Seventh Day Adventist Church.  I tend to be skeptical of universities that are closely tied to religious bodies, but Loma Linda University seems to be totally legit.  (I once ran into one of their geology field trips.  The kids were bright, knowledgeable – and agreed that the earth is a lot more than 6,700 years old.)

Loma Linda University has a medical school that is quite highly regarded.  They do a lot of cancer research; the (SCCA) oncologist who treated Linda was active there for a time.  The Loma Linda cancer clinic has just produced the video transcribed below, and you should watch it.  It is highly generalized but quite useful nonetheless.  It covers cancer in general but does mention breast and ovarian.  Go to it.

https://news.llu.edu/patient-care/half-century-of-research-clinical-advancements-culminate-preserving-patient-lives

NOT EXACTLY A CHRISTMAS LETTER

                   Linda, her Mom, and a Jolly Old Elf

This will serve as my Christmas Letter.  I am living in The Willows, a posh “retirement facility” that features all the amenities, including hundreds of old ladies to have dinner with!  I am holding up okay in most regards, although inexorably time is having its way.  I miss family and friends a lot, and am pleased as punch for visits.  And, of course, I daily anathematize whatever or Whoever took Linda away from me so early and in such an unnecessarily cruel manner.  But, what the hell?  I still look forward to at least another year of blogging, chatting and snoozing in my recliner.  I hope you all have a good 2020.

So, to make this blog worthwhile, I am going to toss in some science.  As you all know, we all are merely mock-ups of the ideal creature coded in our genes.  Evolution is supposed to work by eliminating useless and/or inadaptive genetic mutations.  Now, humans and rodents are both mammals, but our “lines” split at least 50 million years ago, hence our genomes are markedly dissimilar.  However, we have a number of genes in common.  These are termed ultra conserved  genes, and the supposition is that they perform some functions that are absolutely essential.  “But what or which” always has been the question.  Now it appears that some smart people at Fred Hutch have provided an answer, using CRISPR gene editing technology.  There answer, summarized below, is interesting and understandable.  Read it yourself, with another cup of egg nog.

https://www.fredhutch.org/en/news/center-news/2020/01/bradley-poison-exon-essential.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=hutchnewsjan2020 

A -DISCOVERY, AND A PUZZLEMENT

 Linda, showing off her cast, the resuly of a nasty skiing accident'

Apparently immunotherapy does not work very well as a weapon against ovarian cancer.  According to this article, emerging from research performed at the Wistar Institute, a prominent biomedical facility located in Philadelphia, this is because OVCA protects itself against the immune system by means of the activities of several rogue genes, which the Wistar people identify.  It is hoped that this discovery will lead to more effective therapies.

To me, it is a puzzle how genetic defects like these can avoid being eliminated from the gene pool by normal evolutionary processes.  After all, to my perhaps primitive way of thinking evolution will preserve and propagate mutations that confer a survival advantage.  How can a genetic change that contributes to the death of its host be beneficial?  Maybe these genes help get a woman past puberty and reproduction age, and then go bad?  Beats me.  But I am thankful for the scientists who come up with these facts and conundrums.  We will beat the SOB yet!

https://www.news-medical.net/news/20211130/Study-identifies-two-genes-that-play-key-role-in-protecting-ovarian-cancer-from-the-immune-system.aspx

 

CHEMO-PREVENTION

                    A young Linda in happier times

                                  Where?  When?  Beats me.

Several times lately I have poured cold water on the notion of cancer prevention.  The point I was trying to make is that, ultimately, cancerous cells arise because of mistakes made in vital genetic processes, and that we have no control over them.  Well, a brief article I just read in The Week (“all you need to know about everything that matters” – my kind of rag) leads me to a new understanding.  We might not be able to prevent dangerous mutations, but maybe we can teach the immune system to recognize them early-on – and rub them out!  This promises to be a tricky, and sensitive, endeavor.  After all, we don’t want our killer T cells to mistake our, say, liver cells, for bad guys, do we?

But – given enough effort – this could come about.  Not soon, and not without massive funding, but maybe someday.  Fondly to be awaited, that's for sure.

Trouble is, I can’t seem to find a way to lead you to the article that set this off.  It is in the latest issue of The Week, and will take you about two minutes to read.  In lieu of that, here is a more general article about “chemo-prevention”.  Not great, but the best I can do.

https://www.oncolink.org/risk-and-prevention/prevention-screening/what-is-chemoprevention 

A WORTHY TAX DEDUCTION

                           The Roy and Marion Joyce family

                               All dolled up for a special occasion

        Probably the marriage oh Marion to the redoubtable Burton Doolittle

Well, yes, it’s that time again.  If Santa Claus is just over the horizon, can the IRS be far behind?  Even as we speak, the tax people in D.C. and elsewhere are hiring staff specifically to audit your tax returns to death and beyond.  Thus, those of you who itemize deductions should be in search of worthy charitable deductions – and I have a winner for you.  Fight ovarian cancer by donating directly to Fred Hutch using Linda’s personal web page:

https://secure.fredhutch.org/site/TR/PersonalFundraisingPages/General?px=1148821&pg=personal&fr_id=1573

Thanks.  You can do no better.

OCRA AND THE "DREAM TEAM"

 Linda visiting her mother at Friendship Village,        Kalamazoo, Michigan

               Much like The Willows, where I now reside

Have I said enough about OCRA, the Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance?  Probably not.  OCRA is a non-profit that seems to operate much like our more local organization, the Marsha Rivkin Center for Ovarian Cancer Research.  That is, it raises money by hook or crook, then funds research projects selected by a committee of experts.  Both OCRA and the Rivkin Center also do good work by simply getting OVCA out into the public eye, harassing Congress for more funding, and so forth.  I tend to favor Rivkin because I once volunteered there, and its founder, Saul Rivkin, is one of my heroes.  Actually, when I donate I usually go straight to the front line by sending my contribution to Fred Hutch, using Linda’s web page:

https://secure.fredhutch.org/site/TR/PersonalFundraisingPages/General?px=1148821&pg=personal&fr_id=1573

Anyway, the link at the bottom of this blog will tell you about some research funded by OCRA and performed by their “dream team”, which includes a U. Washington researcher with whom I have had some contact – Elizabeth Swisher.  Swisher is, as we once were wont to say, the real deal.  You may find this article a bit technical, but if you persevere you will obtained some useful insights.  Go for it!

https://standuptocancer.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Scientific-Abstract-Ovarian-cancer1.pdf 

MORE GOOD INFO ON GENETICS

                Linda as a paleomagnetic field assistant

                                                            Southern Chile

There is nothing cute or light-hearted that I can think of to ease us into this topic.  Get up the link given below and read a very informative discussion of the role of genetics in all sorts of cancers, including OVCA.  Then search your memory for evidence that a member of your family has undergone a bout with any form of cancer (you can skip the skin cancers, except for melanoma).  If you find such a relative, seriously consider getting your genes sequenced – by a reputable lab, under the supervision of an oncologist or genetics counselor.  Costs for such procedures have sharply diminished but  are still high, I am afraid.  But the result may well be worth it.  I impatiently await the day when an enlightened society routinely scans the genome of every baby at birth.  Expensive, yes, but worth it - to my way of thinking.

https://www.fredhutch.org/en/news/center-news/2021/11/beyond-brca-breast-cancer-risk-genetics.html?utm_campaign=hutchnews_nov21&team=marcom&utm_source=luminate&utm_medium=email&creator=fh&version=control  

 

BAD NEWS FOR BREAKFAST LOVERS

                   Linda and Carolyn in Split Mountain gorge

                                                             Happy days

You all probably are aware that I tend to be deeply skeptical about suggestions that diet plays an important role in contracting cancer, especially ovarian.  (But, then, as always: what do I know?)  Clearly, over-eating is risky, because it may lead to obesity, which may then cause inflammation, which thus may aid and abet cancer.  (Lots of “mays” in that statement, but nevertheless it seems to be true.) 

But what about specific foods?  Well, it turns out that researchers in England and Canada have collaborated in a meta-analysis of diet and ovarian cancer and discovered an unsettling correlation between OVCA and the consumption of coffee and eggs!  A meta-analysis is a study in which the results of a bunch of other studies are combined in some statistically slick manner to arrive at various conclusions.  Note that in general what results from such an activity are correlations, not conclusions about cause and effect.  So there is hope for those of you who, like me, are addicted to large, greasy breakfasts.  Thank the Lord for small favors!

However for the most part I continue to believe that the root cause of cancer are genetic mistakes occurring when cells divide, and in general nothing we can eat or drink can make much of a difference in that process.

But regardless of my mutterings you should read the article below.  It seems to be part of a diet enthusiasts web site called Eat This, Not That.  Not my cup of tea – or coffee for that matter.

https://www.eatthis.com/news-coffee-eggs-cancer-risk-study/