Cancer Treatment

Spencer J. Volk has retired as president and chief executive officer of Celsion Corp. and resigned from its board of directors, the company announced yesterday. Volk, 67, was replaced as CEO by Augustine Y. Cheung, 53, founder of the Columbia developer of heat treatments for prostate disease and cancer. Cheung relinquished his position as chairman of the company. Max Link, 60, a Celsion director since 1997 and the former CEO of Sandoz Pharma and Corange Ltd., has taken over as chairman.

When a young woman is diagnosed with cancer, getting pregnant is probably the last thing on her mind. But if she wants children in the future, it's something she should think about. The chemotherapy and radiation treatments used to treat cancer can hurt a women's fertility. Nearly 10 percent of the 1.5 million diagnosed with cancer each year are of childbearing age, according to the National Cancer Institute, Dr. Melissa M. Yates, an assistant professor of gynecology and obstetrics at the Johns Hopkins Fertility Center, says these women need to think about fertility preservation before they begin treatment for cancer.

After months of chemotherapy and radiation, Susan Faber had finally finished breast cancer treatment and conquered the disease. It should have been a happy occasion. But Faber felt at a loss earlier this year as she rang the gong at Johns Hopkins Hospital, a ritual all patients who finish cancer treatment at the facility take part in. Suddenly a rush of emotions exploded from inside. Faber, 48, had been so preoccupied with treatment for her stage three cancer that she never really had a moment to truly think about the experience.

The underlying medical condition that contributed to the death of writer and filmmaker Nora Ephron and is forcing ABC news anchor Robin Roberts to get a bone marrow transplant is a rare and complicated disease that scientists are still trying to figure out. Both women were afflicted with myelodysplastic syndrome, a group of disorders caused when the body produces damaged blood cells. Abnormal cells can eventually outnumber good cells, leaving people with low blood cell counts and needing transfusions and other treatments.

The pastel-colored ball of yarn made its way from one tiny hand to another at the Camp Kesem "empowerment ceremony," with each camper unraveling their part of a common, painful thread. What bound them together was cancer — which had come barreling into the lives of the children who attended the camp hosted by Johns Hopkins University students and recent alumni. For many, this week was the first time they realized that they weren't the only ones navigating a childhood derailed by the disease.

Living with cancer is not easy, but HealingPoint Acupuncture and Healing Arts in Columbia offers services to help ease the pain. Bridget Hughes founded HealingPoint as a general acupuncture practice with her husband, Brandon, in 2001. “We had no idea at the time that we would become so integrated into the oncology community in Howard County,” she says. After a local oncologist realized one of her patients had recovered from the severe side effects associated with radiation and chemotherapy after an acupuncture treatment at HealingPoint, word spread throughout the community.

Relatives of a man killed in a drunken-driving crash asked an Anne Arundel County Circuit Court judge yesterday for compassion for the driver, the victim's friend, who is seriously ill with cancer. The request was made as Richard Vernon Green, 42, of Columbia Beach, who was charged with manslaughter, entered an Alford plea in the death of Joseph Edward Klotz, 41, of Wayson's Corner, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office said. Green did not admit guilt in the June 2, 2002, crash but acknowledged that there was enough evidence to convict him. Judge Paul A. Hackner scheduled sentencing for July 12, with the understanding that Green might not live until then or might be too ill to be imprisoned.

Looking toward the opening of its nine-story Homer Gudelsky Tower, the University of Maryland Medical Center has agreed to purchase $10 million in radiation equipment that will upgrade the speed and precision of treatments given to cancer patients.One new system will provide a three-dimensional view of a tumor, allowing doctors to tailor the delivery of radiation beams to the unique shape and size of each tumor they seek to kill.Another new system permits doctors to view the tumor and surrounding tissue as the radiation is delivered.

Maryland, the state that suffers more cancer deaths than any other, has good reason to welcome the construction of a Comprehensive Cancer Center at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. The center, to be built on the original site of the Phipps Psychiatric Clinic, will bring together all the departments involved in treating patients with cancer, including surgical specialties as well as chemotherapy and radiation therapy.That in itself would bring care for cancer patients to a new level.

LOS ANGELES -- For doctors who treat cancer there are some moments that cause great pain: When you first break the news to patients that they have cancer that cannot be cured and, as during the past several days, telling patients that reports of exciting laboratory research in cancer treatment will not help them.Right now, millions of families are struggling through the emotional roller coaster that follows the cancer diagnosis of a loved one. They have jumped at the recent news of an innovative experimental drug therapy for cancer.