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American Morning
Paging Dr. Gupta: Medications Ease Side Effects of Cancer Treatment
Aired October 20, 2003 - 08:45 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I know, actually, you have some information for women who are faced with breast cancer, and I want to talk to you about that as well this morning, Sanjay, while we've got you. What do you have for us?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, with the diagnosis of cancer, Soledad, comes the possibility of operations, chemotherapy, radiation. It's enough to make most people ill just thinking about it. But it doesn't always have to be that way.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA (voice-over): When most people think of chemo, they think of getting sick, throwing up, losing their hair. No one knows better than Dolores McMullins. She took the drugs for breast cancer 20 years ago.
DELORES MCMULLINS, BREAST CANCER PATIENT: From the chemotherapy, there was the actual vomiting, which was just awful.
GUPTA: Even worse, she has cancer again. Today, therapy is much easier.
MCMULLINS: I can go to lunch. I can go to work. I can go play, so to speak. And that, for me, has made this time different.
GUPTA: It's different because of new medicines that fight nausea, infections and other side effects.
DR. RUTH O'REGAN, WINSHIP CANCER INSTITUTE: Over the last 10 years we have these new anti-nausea medicines that have, really, I think, revolutionized the way we get chemotherapy.
GUPTA: Radiation therapy often follows chemo therapy and can leave patients like Carolyn Runowicz feeling fatigued.
CAROLYN RUNOWICZ, BREAST CANCER PATIENT: I thought there was something wrong with me, that maybe my disease had spread and that that was why I was so tired.
GUPTA: But, here again, recent improvements in the form of targeted therapy allow precise treatments that can reduce some of the fatigue and skin irritation.
DR. LAWRENCE DAVIS, EMORY UNIVERSITY: There are better ways to direct the radiation to the parts of the breast that should have the higher doses of radiation, so that it's more focused.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA: So, a lot of the chemotherapy and radiation treatments are actually exactly the same. But what's changing now, Soledad, is some of the other treatments to try and control the nausea, control a lot of the feelings of sickness that oftentimes are associated with these things, those have gotten a lot better. People are getting out of the hospital on chemo, doing their jobs, living their lives -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Well, Sanjay, good news for folks who have to undergo these treatments, of course, because obviously the nausea is such a horrible part of the life-saving treatment potentially.
GUPTA: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Do most people undergo both chemo and radiation? Do they do one or the other? And in what order? I have to imagine that it does matter.
GUPTA: It does matter. And it really depends on the grade of tumor that somebody has. Somebody can get one or the other, and the order is usually chemo first, then radiation, oftentimes. But both of them can have significant side effects. The chemo is the one that's typically more associated with your hair falling out, feeling ill -- things like that.
In a nutshell, the reason these therapies work is because they target fast-growing cells; in this case, tumor cells. But there are also other fast-growing cells, including in your intestines and your hair, which is why you have problems there. These medications should make a difference.
O'BRIEN: All right, Sanjay, thanks for that update.
GUPTA: Good to see you. Take care.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Treatment>
Aired October 20, 2003 - 08:45 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I know, actually, you have some information for women who are faced with breast cancer, and I want to talk to you about that as well this morning, Sanjay, while we've got you. What do you have for us?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, with the diagnosis of cancer, Soledad, comes the possibility of operations, chemotherapy, radiation. It's enough to make most people ill just thinking about it. But it doesn't always have to be that way.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA (voice-over): When most people think of chemo, they think of getting sick, throwing up, losing their hair. No one knows better than Dolores McMullins. She took the drugs for breast cancer 20 years ago.
DELORES MCMULLINS, BREAST CANCER PATIENT: From the chemotherapy, there was the actual vomiting, which was just awful.
GUPTA: Even worse, she has cancer again. Today, therapy is much easier.
MCMULLINS: I can go to lunch. I can go to work. I can go play, so to speak. And that, for me, has made this time different.
GUPTA: It's different because of new medicines that fight nausea, infections and other side effects.
DR. RUTH O'REGAN, WINSHIP CANCER INSTITUTE: Over the last 10 years we have these new anti-nausea medicines that have, really, I think, revolutionized the way we get chemotherapy.
GUPTA: Radiation therapy often follows chemo therapy and can leave patients like Carolyn Runowicz feeling fatigued.
CAROLYN RUNOWICZ, BREAST CANCER PATIENT: I thought there was something wrong with me, that maybe my disease had spread and that that was why I was so tired.
GUPTA: But, here again, recent improvements in the form of targeted therapy allow precise treatments that can reduce some of the fatigue and skin irritation.
DR. LAWRENCE DAVIS, EMORY UNIVERSITY: There are better ways to direct the radiation to the parts of the breast that should have the higher doses of radiation, so that it's more focused.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA: So, a lot of the chemotherapy and radiation treatments are actually exactly the same. But what's changing now, Soledad, is some of the other treatments to try and control the nausea, control a lot of the feelings of sickness that oftentimes are associated with these things, those have gotten a lot better. People are getting out of the hospital on chemo, doing their jobs, living their lives -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Well, Sanjay, good news for folks who have to undergo these treatments, of course, because obviously the nausea is such a horrible part of the life-saving treatment potentially.
GUPTA: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Do most people undergo both chemo and radiation? Do they do one or the other? And in what order? I have to imagine that it does matter.
GUPTA: It does matter. And it really depends on the grade of tumor that somebody has. Somebody can get one or the other, and the order is usually chemo first, then radiation, oftentimes. But both of them can have significant side effects. The chemo is the one that's typically more associated with your hair falling out, feeling ill -- things like that.
In a nutshell, the reason these therapies work is because they target fast-growing cells; in this case, tumor cells. But there are also other fast-growing cells, including in your intestines and your hair, which is why you have problems there. These medications should make a difference.
O'BRIEN: All right, Sanjay, thanks for that update.
GUPTA: Good to see you. Take care.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Treatment>
