CancerGuide: Site Map

About CancerGuide

About CancerGuide Section Home
About CancerGuide and Steve Dunn.
What's New On CancerGuide
About Steve Dunn's CancerGuide
Who I am, why I built this website, and who supports it.
Contacting Steve Dunn
What on earth does that logo mean, anyway?
... hint - it's about survival and statistics.
CancerGuide's Privacy Policy
Very, very boring.

Cancer Basics - Start Here

Cancer Basics Section Home
Basic information about cancer. A good place to start!
Understanding Cancer Types and Staging
"Cancer 101" - if you are just starting your search, READ THIS FIRST!.
The Biopsy Report: A Patient's Guide
Adjuvant Chemotherapy
Understand the why of treatment to prevent your cancer from recurring.
Second Opinions: Why, When, and Who
You may be surprised how often it makes sense to get another opinion.
Fear and Loathing in the ICU: Thinking Rationally About Side Effects
Based on my own experience with a treatment so drastic it was given in ICU.
Obtaining and Reviewing Your Medical Records By Katherine Hufnagel
An essential early step in understanding your case.
General Books on Cancer

Researching Your Options

Research Section Home
Articles on how to research the best treatments for your cancer.
Pros and Cons of Researching Your Cancer
Researching isn't for everyone. Is it for you? Find out here!
Where to Get Basic Information About Your Cancer On-Line
A focused tour of essential places to gather basic information on your cancer. If you are just starting your search, take the tour now!.
How to Research the Medical Literature
Overview of the research process.
How to Access MedLine
Learn how to search the world's most powerful medical database for technical information!
- Steve's Medline Tips
  Steve's tips on using medline.
- Hints on using PubMed and MedLine
  Expert advice from Helen Stanbro, who has worked as a MedLine indexer for over 18 years.
How to Find and Use a Medical Library
Think all the info you need is online? Think again!
Searching Professional Society Meetings for the Latest Technical Information
I Just Heard About a New Treatment in the Media: How do I Research it?
Find the details fast - even if you remember nothing about the story!
Medical Search Services
Where to find experts who do the work of finding information for you.
Attending a Professional Conference to Research Your Cancer
Sound extreme? It is, but it can also be valuable for the right person.
Endpoints: How the Results of Clinical Trials are Measured
Essential information for understanding the research, and often your doctor too.
- Stable Disease - A Problematic Endpoint
  Why claims of benefit based on stable disease can be very misleading!
Research Tools
Medical Dictionaries, Drug Information, and other tools to help you understand the medical literature and your medical reports.
Understanding Cancer Drug Dosing
Technical information on how drug doses are measured, and how drugs are given.

Clinical Trials and Experimental Treatments

Clinical Trials Section Home
An intensive exploration of the clinical trial system.
What are Clinical Trials and Why Investigate Them?
When to do a Clinical Trial Search
You may miss opportunities if you don't search now! Find out why.
Finding Cancer Clinical Trials on the Internet
Includes a link to a database of over 1800 trials at the National Cancer Institute!
Steve's Strategic Guide to the Clinical Trial System
Clinical Trials: The Evidence and Where to Find It
Learn where to find the evidence you need to make a good choice.
A Guide to Informed Consent for The Active Patient
How to use the informed consent meeting to get really informed!
Clinical Trials Dictionary
Learn the technical jargon of clinical trials.
Off-Protocol: Getting New Treatments Outside a Clinical Trial
There are times when this is appropriate and there are many ways to do it.

Specific Cancers, Problems, and Treatments

Specific Cancers, Problems, Treatments, and Situations
CancerGuide information and links for specific cancers.
Some Advice on Dealing With a Rare Cancer
Find out about how to research it, special databases, second opinions, and more.
Getting Information on Brain Tumors
Pointers to information and support.
Prostate Cancer Resources
Pointers to information and support on and off the net.
Bone Marrow Transplant Information
Pointers to information and support.

Special Kidney Cancer Section

Steve Dunn's Kidney Cancer Page
Over 40 articles on kidney cancer!
What's New in the Kidney Cancer Section
Kidney Cancer Section Map
Kidney Cancer Resources
Websites, organizations, online support, and books.
Guide to Staging and Grading of Renal Cell Cancer
Essential basic information you need to understand your situation!
Subtypes of Renal Cell Cancer
Kidney cancer is not just one disease... you need to know what you have.
Localized Kidney Cancer: An Overview
Overview of non-metastatic kidney cancer.
- Surgery (and other treatments) For The Kidney Tumor
  You may have more choices than you realize!
- Nephrectomy Tips
  Patient friendly tips for getting through your surgery.
- Adjuvant Therapy
  Treatment to prevent recurrence - nothing is standard but trials are an option.
  - An Adjuvant Tumor Lysate Vaccine From Germany
    A non-toxic adjuvant therapy with real results.
  - Autolymphocyte Therapy - A Promising Adjuvant Therapy Trial
    Relatively non-toxic and not hard to qualify for.
  - An Adjuvant Chemotherapy from Japan
    An interesting study which hasn't been replicated.
Metastatic and Recurrent Kidney Cancer
Overview of Metastatic Kidney Cancer.
- Surgery for Metastatic Renal Cell Cancer
  Surgery for limited metastasis can be pushed further than most realize!
  - Steve Dunn's Review of Surgery for Metastatic Renal Cell Cancer
  - Mike Fischer's Review of Surgery for Metastatic Renal Cell Cancer
  - Metastatic Disease: Surgery and Immunotherapy Combined
    To get the most from immunotherapy you must also consider surgery.
- Interleukin-2
  An overview of IL-2 immunotherapy.
  - Classic High Dose Interleukin-2
    Detailed information on the FDA approved high dose regimen.
  - Outpatient Interleukin-2
    Overview of outpatient IL-2 treatments.
    - The Atzpodien Regimen and Beyond
      An outpatient IL-2 therapy with long term results.
  - Important Randomized Trials Involving High-Dose IL-2
    Overview of trials comparing high dose IL-2 to outpatient IL-2.
    - The NCI Randomized Trial of High Dose IL-2 vs. Low Dose IV IL-2 vs. Low Dose Subcutaneous IL-2 for Metastatic Renal Cell Cancer
      Very detailed analysis of this important trial.
    - The Cytokine Working Group Randomized Trial of High Dose IL-2 vs. Outpatient IL-2 + Interferon
      One of only two randomized trials of high dose versus outpatient IL-2.
  - Nutritional Supplements and Interleukin-2
    Supplements which may make IL-2 more effective or less toxic.
  - SPECIAL NOTICE TO CANADIAN, AUSTRALIAN, AND BRITISH CITIZENS
    Obtaining Interleukin-2 in these countries.
- Interferon-Alpha
  A commonly used immunotherapy which I think is rarely the best treatment.
- Clinical Trials for Advanced Kidney Cancer : Promise and Peril
  A clinical trial saved my life, but clinical trials vary greatly in their promise.
- New, Promising, and Experimental Treatments For Metastatic Kidney Cancer
  Overview of newer treatments.
  - BAY 43-9006 (Sorafenib)
    A promising oral targeted drug being tested in a terrible trial.
  - Avastin (bevacizumab)
    An Antiangiogenic Drug with Promise in Kidney Cancer.
  - SU11248
    An oral targeted drug with very promising early results.
  - Nonmyeloablative Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplant for Renal Cell Cancer
    A new therapy which is both promising and risky.
  - Thalidomide and Thalidomide Combination Therapies For Renal Cell Cancer
    Thalidomide is an oral drug which is looking less promising now.
  - The German "Fusion" Vaccines: Promising Preliminary Results and Controversy
    Although this became the subject of a scientific scandal it might still have promise.
    - How the German Dendritic Cell − Tumor Cell Fusion Vaccine Works
    - The Controversy over the German Fusion Vaccine
      A major scientific scandal... but is there still promise?
    - Fused Cell Vacccine Abstracts and References
- Brain Metastasis
  Options if kidney cancer spreads to the brain.
Hereditary Kidney Cancer
Most kidney cancer isn't inherited, but find out if yours might be.
Why You Should Consider Freezing Your Tumor
In the near future, gene expression profiling may yield life-saving information.
Notes from the 2004 ASCO Meeting
Your faithful correspondent reports from the world's biggest clinical cancer meeting.

Statistics

Statistics and Cancer Section Home
These articles will help you understand the research literature and your prognosis.
Why Statistics Matter
The Median Isn't the Message
***** The Best Thing Ever Written About Cancer and Statistics! *****.
Survival Curves: The Basics
How Where you are on a Survival Curve Changes the Odds
(Conditional Survival)!
How the magic of time changes your survival odds, usually for the better!
- A Study of Conditional Median Survival in Advanced Cancer
  Actual data showing prognosis improves over time even with advanced cancer.
Survival Curves: Tales of the Tail
A guide to the surprisingly tricky business of interpreting the end of the curve.
Survival Curves: Accrual and The Kaplan-Meier Estimate
A bit technical, but important if you'll be looking at real survival curves.
The Significance of Statistical Significance
Learn what "statistically significant" really means (and doesn't mean), and learn the lingo, including "p values", and the "p<.05", that you find in research papers.
Why Good Results From Small Trials Often Don't Pan Out (And what to do about it)
A technical note on why in the end, many new treatments prove not to be as good as they looked to be initially.

Financial and Practical Aspects

Practical and Financial Issues Section Home
Articles on Insurance, Disability and the Like.
Cancer and Disability by Bruce Wallace
A concise guide to several different kinds of disability insurance.
Be Smart About Group Insurance
If you have insurance through work, making right choices can make all the difference.
Traveling for Treatment
You can get from here to there even if short on cash. Save on air travel, driving, and lodging.

Alternative and Complementary Therapies

Alternative and Complementary Therapies Section Home
How to evaluate alternatives plus articles on specific therapies.
Some Thoughts on Alternative Therapies
Some of my ideas on evaluating therapies and avoiding traps.
Separating the Wheat from the Chaff (will open in new window!)
Thoughts on Filtering Worthwile Alternative Therapies from Nonsense.
PSK: A Non-Toxic Polysaccharide Drug
A mushroom derived immunestimulating drug with real evidence, including randomized trials.
- MedLine Search: PSK, a non-toxic anti-tumor polysaccharide
Bovine Cartilage
An interesting immunotherapy with some real evidence.
- MedLine Search: Bovine Cartilage
Antineoplastons/Burzynski Clinic
A very controversial alternative drug treatment. I think there's something to it.
- MedLine Search: Antineoplastons
Coley's Toxins / Issel's Fever Therapy
This early immunotherapy was called quackery for years, but in fact it was pioneering work.
Sun Farms Vegetable Soup
An herbal "soup" with some evidence particularly for lung cancer.
- MedLine Search: Lentinan, an anti-tumor polysaccharide from the Shitake mushroom
- MedLine Search: SMANCS
Elixir Vitae
A little known herbal therapy.
- MedLine Search: Side Effects of Hypericin
Simone Shark Cartilage Protocol
An example of how shark cartilage is used: Not an endorsement.
Gerson Therapy
Essiac Information
An incredibly popular herbal therapy... but does it work?
Hulda Clark's "Cure for All Cancers"
- Leandra Smith's Experience with Hulda Clark
  Report of conditions at this clinic in 1996.
Alternative and Complementary Therapy Links
Books on Alternative Therapies
- Cancer and Natural Medicine: Reviewed by David Ungar, MD

Mind and Attitude

Mind and Attitude Section Home
Thoughts on how to cope and how attitude matters.
Attitude with an Attitude!
Get all of the gain from the mind-body approach with none of the blame!
Scan and Test Anxiety: A Guide for the Newcomer
You get nervous when scans are coming up? So do I. Read this!
Support Groups on (and off) the Internet
Find hope and information from others in the same boat. You are not alone.
A Commentary on Certain Aspects of Spiritual Healing
A biblical view of healing, including connections to mind-body healing.
Mind: The Ignored Element
How the medical system ignores a potentially critical part of the the cure.

Inspirational Patient Stories

Inspirational Patient Stories
You are not alone... find out how others have coped.
CancerGuide Story Guidelines
I invite you to submit your story to CancerGuide.
Steve Dunn - Widely Metastatic Kidney Cancer
- Postcards from Beyond The Zero
  A statistical tour of survival curves showing how my prognosis went from dreadful to excellent.
- The Hint
  The data that convinced me I had a real chance doesn't look like much. Until you understand.
Positive Thoughts by Leandra Smith
Leandra Smith - Metastatic Synovial Sarcoma
Terry Healey - At Face Value: My Struggle With A Disfiguring Cancer
Barbara Bagley - Stage I Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
Chuck Crawford - Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
Bonnie Steele - Limited Small Cell Lung Cancer
Tom Sipila - Limited Stage Small Cell Lung Cancer
Kenneth Shapiro - 25+ Year Survivor of Widely Metastatic Melanoma
Larry Loose - Metastatic Melanoma Long Term Survivor
Linda Carpenter - Duke's Stage B2 Colon Cancer
Eric Roberts - Colon Cancer with Liver Metastases
Ed Mitchell - Long Term Survivor, Stage III Esophageal Cancer
Brent Galster - Testicular Cancer
John Martin - Stage IV Prostate Cancer
Rosemary Grimm - Stage IIc Ovarian Cancer
Eveyln MacDonald - Stage III Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma
Lonna Williams - Stage I Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma of the Breast
Amy Ardito - Stage IV follicular Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma
Donna Nowak - Stage IIIb Hodgkin's Disease
Yodfat Glazer - Stage IIIB Hodgkin's Lymphoma
Laurie Hillstock - Stage II Hodgkin's Lymphoma
Paul Leverett - Grade 4 Brain Stem Glioblastoma Multiforme & Burzynski's Antineoplastons
Lisa Liscomb - Stage III Malignant Glioma
Robert McVea- My Journey with God (Throat Cancer)
Goh Lye Choon - A Prayer Answering God (Nasal Cancer)
Karma Jessen - My Breast Biopsy: Wire Localization and Patient Empowerment
Symptoms: A Cautionary Tale of Misdiagnosis by Jim Daniel
Norma Downes - Metastatic Kidney Cancer
Gerald White: A Guided Walk Through Renal Cell Cancer
Ken McGhee - Spontaneous Remission from Stage IV Renal Cell Cancer
Gustavo Perez - Widely Metastatic Kidney Cancer
Richard Watkins − Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma
From a British patient, who tells how he was able to reduce treatment delays by months.
Robert Norcross, Stage IV Kidney Cancer
Jim Ward - Stage IV Renal Cell Carcinoma
Robert Clawson - Stage IV Renal Cell Cancer
Clifford Sanderson - Renal Cell Cancer Metastatic to the Hip
Harry Nimon - Stage 1 Renal Cell Carcinoma
Life with Stage II Kidney Cancer: Sub-Type Chromophobe
LaDonna Backmeyer - Stage IV Leiomyosarcoma of the Kidney
Ardeth F. 25+ Year Survivor of Leiomyosarcoma
Rosalie's 20+ Year Journey with Leiomyosarcoma
Orland Hetherington - High Grade Leiomyosarcoma Of The Small Intestine
Augusto Perez - LMS at 27, I should have played the Lotto!

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