Rylan DeStefano is an assistant editor working for CURE®, and has been with MJH Life Sciences since June of 2023. Rylan is a graduate from Muhlenberg College. When she’s not writing, Rylan loves to read, travel and spend time with family and friends.

Rylan DeStefano

Actress Shannen Doherty discussed hopes of a child post-diagnosis.

Actress Shannen Doherty was diagnosed with cancer in 2015. 

Doherty, 52, revealed her struggle with in-vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment prior to her breast cancer diagnosis in 2015. During this time, Doherty was married to Kurt Iswarienko.

"Not only did I want a child for myself, but I wanted it for my husband. I wanted it for our marriage, I wanted him to have that part of himself fulfilled as well," she said on an episode of her podcast, Let’s Be Clear. Because the couple met later in life, she says they "needed IVF and I did a bunch of rounds of it."

Doherty also had fears that her breast cancer was a result of IVF.

"A lot of other women that I knew that did IVF that ended up getting breast cancer as well,” Doherty said.

Read More: Shannen Doherty Gives a Cancer Update, ‘Kool & the Gang’ Member Dies From Cancer and More

"If you sort of have a cell that's a little wonky and that's sitting on the edge of maybe turning, spreading cancer … all the hormones that you're pumping into your body from IVF are only going to up that chance. That was at least my thinking.”

Doherty announced that she has also denied treatment with Tamoxifen when she went into remission in 2017.

Tom Smothers of “The Smothers Brothers” died from cancer.

Tom Smothers, of the American comedy duo, ‘The Smothers brothers” died from cancer this past Tuesday at age 86.

"Tom was not only the loving older brother that everyone would want in their life, he was a one-of-a-kind creative partner," Dick Smothers stated, according to a recent press release. "Our relationship was like a good marriage – the longer we were together, the more we loved and respected one another."

“Tom Smothers was not only an extraordinary comedic talent, who, together with his brother Dick, became the most enduring comedy duo in history, entertaining the world for over six decades — but was a true champion for freedom of speech,” National Comedy Center Executive Director Journey Gunderson said in a statement.

The Smothers Brothers made television history when debuting the show in 1967, creating a massive audience filled with young baby boomers.

“We were moderate. We were never out there,” Dick Smothers said. “But we were the first people through that door. It just sort of crept in as the ‘60s crept in. We were part of that generation.”

The brothers went on to win an Emmy for their show.

“It’s hard for me to stay silent when I keep hearing that peace is only attainable through war,” Smothers said at the 2008 Emmy Awards. He honored those “who feel compelled to speak out and are not afraid to speak to power and won’t shut up.”

The CBS original was eventually cancelled and taken off the air in 1969.

Anna “Chickadee” Cardwell’s cancer experience will be highlighted in an upcoming show.

On Dec. 9, 2023, Anna “Chickadee” Cardwell, the sister of Alana “Honey Boo Boo,” start of the reality series, “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo,” died of stage 4 adrenal carcinoma.

Now, her family’s experience with Chickadee’s cancer will be portrayed in a new reality show, “Mama June: Family Crisis,” which will air on WE tv in February. The show finished filming in November, before Cardwell’s death.

“She wanted to bring awareness to her rare type of cancer because there is still so much unknown about it and it is very rare,” Cardwell’s husband, Eldridge Toney, said to PEOPLE.

For more news on cancer updates, research and education, don’t forget to 

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From Shannen Doherty discussing in-vitro fertilization before breast cancer to "Chickadee" Cardwell's cancer experience to be featured on an upcoming TV series, here's what's happening in the oncology space this week. 

Shannen Doherty Discusses IVF, ‘Chickadee’ Cardwell’s Cancer to Be Shown on New Show and More

The first patient has been dosed to begin the phase 3 CLARIFY trial, testing the diagnostic performance of the Cu-SAR-bisPSMAfor patients with prostate cancer before receiving a prostatectomy, according to Clarity Pharmaceuticals, the manufacturer of the product.

The goal of the CLARIFY trial is to find regional nodal metastases in patients with prostate cancer who have not yet undergone a radical prostatectomy (surgery to remove the entire prostate and surrounding lymph nodes). Researchers on the trial plan on enrolling 383 patients throughout the United States and Australia.

The first patients who has begun evaluation is following a timepoint protocol, while participating in day 1 (the day of becoming administrated) and day 2 (24 hours post- administration).

Researchers are hoping that the final results of the study will lead to an FDA approval of Cu-SAR-bisPSMAas a diagnostic agent for patients with prostate cancer before they undergo a prostatectomy.

"We are excited to have successfully dosed the first participant in the CLARIFY trial with our optimized SAR-bisPSMA agent. The trial is driven by the compelling findings from our PROPELLER trial, which highlighted the robust safety profile and superior performance of 64Cu-SAR-bisPSMA compared to standard of care imaging (68Ga-PSMA-11) with imaging on the day of administration, with two to three times the amount of product taken up in the lesions,” stated Dr. Alan Taylor, Clarity’s executive chairperson, in the release.

“The longer half-life of copper-64 based diagnostics, in comparison to the currently used gallium-68 and fluorine-18 based products, also allows for delayed imaging. These unique features have the potential to enable detection of additional lesions compared to standard of care imaging and may address the significant shortfall in sensitivity of these agents. Additionally, the extended shelf-life of 64Cu-SAR-bisPSMA of up to 48 hours, in contrast to the short shelf-life of currently available PSMA PET tracers, not only enhances scheduling flexibility for clinics, but also addresses a critical need for diagnostics in geographic areas with limited access to the current generation of radiopharmaceuticals.”

The safety, tolerability and consistency of Cu-SAR-bisPSMA PET will be evaluated within he CLARIFY trial, with an ongoing dose of 200MBq and a two-day starting timepoint.

"Clarity is steadfast in addressing the high unmet need for diagnostics and therapies in the prostate cancer domain. Our optimism is rooted in the belief that our SAR-bisPSMA product can redefine diagnostic standards and improve patient outcomes. As we progress with the CLARIFY trial, we anticipate validating and building upon the positive data accumulated so far. Our vision is a future where enhanced diagnostic tools empower clinicians to make more informed decisions, ultimately shaping the optimal course of treatment for their patients.

The first patients has been dosed within the new CLARIFY trial for patients with prostate cancer awaiting prostatectomy. 

Phase 3 Trial for Prostate Cancer Doses First Patient

A recent study found that breast cancer-specific survival outcomes were worse for patients with invasive lobular carcinoma when compared with patients with invasive ductal carcinoma within the first 10 years after becoming diagnosed.

The main objective of the study, which was published in 

, was to examine long-term survival outcomes within premenopausal patients with invasive lobular carcinoma or invasive ductal carcinoma. Patients included in the study had to become diagnosed between 1990 and 2015, with stage 1 through three 3 invasive lobular carcinoma or invasive ductal carcinoma.

Database information from SEER, KBCR and AMCR were used.

Within the SEER database, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and other factors such as race were analyzed while investigating the cancer type differences, while the KBCR database focuses on obtaining mortality data. Survival and cause of death were found within this database for patients involved within the study.

The AMCR database was able to detect what kind of treatments these patients received. Alongside this, the database also picked up features of breast tumors, treatment, recurrence and death information.

Patients with either invasive lobular carcinoma or invasive ductal carcinoma who were younger than 50 years old were evaluated within the study, for breast cancer-specific survival. The primary outcome of the study focused on breast cancer-related mortality, while also investigating other causes of death.

Data from 170,352 patients were taken from the SEER database; 45,782 patients in the KBCR database; and 9,804 patients in the AMCR database. The age median for the SEER database group was 42.7, 41.8 in the KBCR database and 41.8 in the AMCR database. The median follow up time was 90 months in the SEER database, 94 in the KBCR database and 120 in the AMCR database.

Breast cancer–specific survival was lower for patients with invasive lobular carcinoma. Specifically, it was 27% lower according to data from the SEER database, and 50% lower in the AMCR database in comparison to invasive ductal carcinoma. These results were accounting for other factors factors such as age, cancer stage, tumor grade and hormone receptor status.

When analyzing the hormone receptor status, patients with invasive lobular carcinoma showed worsened survival in comparison to invasive ductal carcinoma after 10 years post-diagnosis.

Invasive ductal carcinoma also increased when it came to recurrence rates throughout the first five years of diagnosis, alongside the hazard rate, while invasive lobular carcinoma showed increasing recurrence rates within the first years of diagnosis.

Several other studies had been previously evaluating the outcomes of both invasive lobular carcinoma and invasive ductal carcinoma.

Findings show that invasive lobular carcinoma shows poorer results when in comparison to invasive ductal carcinoma, according to the recent study presented in 

A recent study found that breast cancer–specific survival in patients with invasive lobular carcinoma was inferior compared to patients with invasive ductal carcinoma.

Patients With Invasive Lobular Carcinoma Tend to Have Worse Outcomes

For individuals who have breast cancer, it is important to focus on nutritional needs that can benefit each patient in a customized way. A recent study evaluated nutritional need within this patient population to ensure that quality of life was impacted.

 (SABCS), researchers found that patients who wanted to receive nutritional needs improved their health-related quality of life compared with patients who wanted nutritional support but failed to receive it due to mental and physical health barriers.

Experts Sue Weldon, founder and CEO of Unite for HER and Elif Andac-Jones, senior director of Research at Cancer Support Community, discuss the study’s components, alongside the results that could possibly impact the patient population being affected.

Q: How are nutritional support and mental health related when it comes to breast cancer?

 We do know that nutrition issues are important for all patients with cancer. But, for some cancer types, this is a more obvious connection than others. For example, the head and neck cancer patients might have direct referral to a nutrition service before they start getting treatment. That is not necessarily the case for breast cancer patients. That's not one of the first things oncologists or patients think about. “Oh, what kind of nutritional support this patient might over the course of their treatments.” Since we know that, combined with the side effects of cancer, such as major GI issues, fatigue, not having the right nutrition or access to the nutrition they need, can exacerbate mental health issues for patients. Fatigue is a major issue, we hear from our patients that with that excessive fatigue, they're also not able to comfortably cook they food they need or go out and buy the food they need. Having access to nutrition, helps patients overall, stick to their treatments, feel better overall, which also helps them.

 They already are starting to think about their day from the time they wake up, the emotional burden, that they feel that they know that this drug is going to hurt them in a way, that they can't get out of the house because they have excessive diarrhea, and they have to plan for that transportation ride to the office. They're going to present at an office function. It is a mental and emotional side effect that where you can actually have the resources of a registered dietician and get skills that can actually help you do better, have resources to a social worker or a professional counselor that could teach you tapping and how to quiet the mind.

Q: How can patients advocate for their mental health and nutritional support their career?

 The more they learn the connection between nutrition and their quality of life and mental health, the more I think they're going to go and request that to be part of their services across the board. So that process, we do have some educational materials, for example at the Cancer Support Community, we do have broader “eating well with cancer” information. But we want to go beyond and above that and studies like that are quite important, for that matter, such as organizations like Cancer Support Community, take on that advocating for the patient's role as well and push for changes throughout the system.

 And it is one-on-one and comprehensive, and that's why we raise those funds to get it right to those patients. What they also can is tell the physicians what they want, it's important for that physician to hear, “Tell me about nutrition services that are available.” The more that they are voicing that they know that this is completely linked with them doing better and going into treatment, helping their GI issues, helping them maintain the chemotherapy regimen, the more physicians are going to actively known to recommend certain types of services.

 One thing you'd like to tell patients to start asking your care teams for a referral to a certified dietitian as part of your treatment services. Also, knowing how important that is for the course of your treatment, your quality of life, mental health and your physical functioning. Start asking if you haven't done already, and then go from there.

 It is a complement to overall outcomes when you have integrative care as a part of the plan. Integrative care helps patients do better. We have seen these outcomes and the studies over and over again at both of our organizations. Showing that when you implement this type of wellness offerings for mental health, whether it's counseling, sexual health nutrition, fitness, acupuncture, yoga, massage therapy, it helps them deal with their side effects and symptoms in a way that allows them to hear the treatments. It gives them better overall emotional wellbeing, it gives them control, again, over what they had no control over. And that's what's so valuable when we do posters like this. And SABCS, that data comes to the forefront, we get so much of the patient voice, CSC is mining and looking at that data and reporting on it. Together, we have this incredible report that we want to get out to the community. We have this incredible report that we want to get out to the community, so that they can see the value and that it needs to be covered.

Research focuses on the importance of quality of life and nutritional needs for patients with breast cancer.

Rylan DeStefano

Shannen Doherty Discusses IVF, ‘Chickadee’ Cardwell’s Cancer to Be Shown on New Show and More

Phase 3 Trial for Prostate Cancer Doses First Patient

Patients With Invasive Lobular Carcinoma Tend to Have Worse Outcomes

Patients With Breast Cancer ‘Benefit From Nutritional Support’

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