Updates from ASCO and ESMO 2021 Add to Successes in Hodgkin Lymphoma Research and Treatment

Updates from ASCO and ESMO 2021 Add to Successes in Hodgkin Lymphoma Research and Treatment By Kathleen Hoffman, PhD, MSPH In 1832 Sir Thomas Hodgkin described a morbid condition of the glands and spleen which in 1865 was named Hodgkin disease by Samuel Wilkes. It was a fatal disease. Yet it has become, as this Inspire patient describes, highly treatable.1 my first oncologist, trying to reassure me and make me feel better, told me that if someone said to him it was DEFINITE that he had to get cancer, but he could choose what kind, he would, [...]

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Oct 2021By |0 Comments

Will New Medication Guidelines For Rheumatoid Arthritis Improve Patient Satisfaction With Treatment?

Will New Medication Guidelines For Rheumatoid Arthritis Improve Patient Satisfaction With Treatment? By Kathleen Hoffman, PhD, MSPH Despite the advances and diversification of disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) to treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a recent report surveying current RA patients showed that the majority are not satisfied with their treatment experience. In a study of 258 patients, all of whom were taking at least 1 DMARD, only 26% were satisfied with the results of their treatment. In fact, 43% reported taking pain relievers daily or almost daily, and 44% said that they were currently having a flare.1 [...]

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Oct 2021By |0 Comments

What Are Patients and Caregivers Talking About? Lung Cancer Biomarkers

What Are Patients and Caregivers Talking About? Lung Cancer Biomarkers By Kathleen Hoffman, PhD, MSPH Since the FDA approved the first targeted treatment for NSCLC in 2003, treatment decisions for NSCLC are increasingly made based on individual genomics.1,2  There are now 20 distinct biomarkers that serve as identification points differentiating cancer cells from healthy cells and distinguishing one expression of cancer from another. Science has progressed from identifying tumor cells on a slide to genetic and biochemical identification of NSCLC’s driving agents. Pharma companies are developing and improving increasingly targeted treatments.3 The science is also revealing just [...]

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Sep 2021By |0 Comments

Impressive Advances in Treating Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

Impressive Advances in Treating Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia By Kathleen Hoffman, PhD, MSPH Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) is the most prevalent form of adult leukemia, with about 20,000 new diagnoses per year in the United States alone.1  While it can occur at earlier ages, it is primarily a disease of older adults, with 70 years as the average age at diagnosis. Most of those who are diagnosed have no symptoms.2 CLL is often discovered when patients have a regular CBC test, and the findings indicate that the white blood cell (WBC) count is elevated. Under a microscope, the [...]

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Sep 2021By |0 Comments

Undertreated Psoriasis Patients Need Answers

Undertreated Psoriasis Patients Need Answers By Kathleen Hoffman, PhD, MSPH A 2021 study concluded that psoriasis continues to be a common inflammatory disease, affecting more than 7.5 million adults in the US alone --  3.0% of the US adult population.1  By far the most common form (80% of cases)2 is plaque psoriasis, which intermittently creates patches of scaly and itchy skin, often on the scalp, knees, or elbows, but there are multiple distinct types with different presentations. The inflammation that creates psoriasis is also linked with an increased risk for other conditions, by a process that is [...]

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Sep 2021By |0 Comments

Positive News for Triple Negative Breast Cancer

Positive News For Triple Negative Breast Cancer By Kathleen Hoffman, PhD, MSPH Almost 150,000 patients and caregivers have interest in, have joined communities, have searched and posted about breast cancer and advanced breast cancer on Inspire. Almost 22,000 posts have been written about breast cancer research. There has been intense interest in finding medications that can penetrate the 10-20% of breast cancers that don’t respond to the medications that target three hormone and protein receptors on the tumor cell’s surface. When a breast tumor cell lacks the receptors for estrogen, progesterone, or HER-1 or -2 on the [...]

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Aug 2021By |0 Comments

“I need to breathe” — Living with Asthma: Patient Experiences, Old Challenges, New Drugs

"I need to breathe" — Living with Asthma: Patient Experiences, Old Challenges, New Drugs By Kathleen Hoffman, PhD MSPH Earlier this month, the American Lung Association (ALA), Inspire’s partner for the “Living with Asthma” online community, announced that it is looking for patient panelists to participate in a PFDD (Patient-Focused Drug Development) meeting on Pediatric Asthma, to be held virtually on 9/20/2021. “The meeting will consist of an overview of pediatric asthma, an explanation of the Food and Drug Administration’s PFDD meeting process, and two panel sessions,” explained Annette Eyer, the ALA’s National Assistant Vice President [...]

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Aug 2021By |0 Comments

Out of Nowhere: Kidney Cancer

Out of Nowhere: Kidney Cancer By Kathleen Hoffman, PhD MSPH Of the estimated 1.9 million cancers diagnosed each year in the US, around 4 percent are kidney cancers, the most common are renal cell carcinomas (RCC). Around 76,000 new cases will occur in the US in 2021, 48,0000 in men and 27,000 in women. Kidney cancer can occur at any age, but is most likely to be diagnosed between the ages of 55 - 75.1,2,3 Out of the Blue Patients and caregivers describe sudden and unexpected diagnoses of kidney cancer: My husband was just newly diagnosed [...]

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Aug 2021By |0 Comments

Engaging with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer and Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients and Caregivers

Engaging with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer and Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients and Caregivers By Kathleen Hoffman, PhD, MSPH The word “Earth” doesn’t reflect the complexity and diversity of the planet. Similarly, the term “lung cancer” only identifies the location of the cancer. There are two general categories, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and small cell lung cancer (SCLC), differentiated by cell size, characteristics, treatments and prognosis. Genetic research continues to differentiate lung cancers at a molecular level, revealing subtypes within those categories, creating opportunities for increasingly targeted therapies. For example, since eight driver mutations have been [...]

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Jul 2021By |0 Comments

Patient Perspectives on an Invisible Disease: Lupus and Lupus Nephritis

Patient Perspectives on an Invisible Disease: Lupus and Lupus Nephritis By Kathleen Hoffman, PhD, MSPH Imagine going to see a doctor when you are exhausted and enduring multiple kinds of pain, and they recommend a “psych” evaluation. When they “can’t find anything,” the medical professional you looked to for help decides you must be making it up. Many patients with conditions that mimic other disorders describe facing this challenge. Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE or lupus) is one such condition. Members of the LupusConnect Support Community on Inspire describe going through Herculean efforts to find help, only to [...]

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Jul 2021By |1 Comment