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Cancer research is one of the cornerstones of Penn’s Abramson Cancer Center’s mission to eradicate cancer and it has helped distinguish the cancer center from other facilities across the country.

Because Abramson Cancer Center researchers work side-by-side with clinicians, these multidisciplinary cancer treatment teams are able to bring new discoveries from the lab to the clinical setting faster than ever.

Breast cancer research seeks to find new ways to prevent, detect and treat cancer.
Clinical trials at Penn may test new drugs and treatments, new screening methods, seek to determine genetic influence in a cancer diagnosis, or seek to improve the quality of life in cancer patients with nutrition, exercise or group therapy.

In the last four years, more than 800 breast cancer survivors have participated in breast cancer research at the Abramson Cancer Center. These studies have allowed Penn researchers to generate important knowledge that is used to improve the care for breast cancer survivors.

Here are some of the research highlights from research in complementary medicine and therapy for breast cancer.

Improving Communication Between Primary Care Physicians and the Cancer Team

Oncology and primary care communication can be difficult to manage. Recognizing the need to address these issues, researchers designed a study asking breast cancer survivors to identify areas where their primary care physicians could improve the quality of care for survivors. Because of this research, clinicians and researchers at Penn and in United States are working hard to enact change based on the patients’ input and concerns.
Mao JJ, Bowman MA, Stricker CT, DeMichele A, Jacobs L, Chan D, Armstrong K. “Primary Care Physicians’ Delivery of Survivorship Care: Perspectives of Breast Cancer Patients.” J Clin Oncol. Feb 20 2009; 27(6):933-8.

Integrating Complementary Therapies into Cancer Care

In this study, Penn researchers discovered the majority of the breast cancer survivors endorse the provision of therapies such as acupuncture, massage, and yoga for survivorship care. Because of this research, the Abramson Cancer Center continues to grow its patient-centered Integrative Medicines and Wellness Program.
Bonner-Millar L, Casarett D, Vapiwala N, DeMichele A, Stricker C, Velder L, Mao JJ, “Integrating complementary therapies into an academic cancer center: The perspective of breast cancer patients.” Journal of Society for Integrative Oncology. Summer 2010, 8(3), pp.106-113.

Genetic Links to Treatment Side Effects

The most recent research has led to the identification of a novel genetic variation that can be used to predict who may develop side effects to aromatase inhibitors. With this knowledge, researchers at Penn hope to create ways to determine which patients are most likely to benefit from aromatase inhibitors as well as those who may develop side effects. This effort will allow for the administration of individualized cancer care to improve quality of life and the survival of breast cancer survivors.
Mao JJ, Su HI, Feng R, Horn M, Aplenc R, Rebbeck TR, Stanczyk FZ, DeMichele A. “Association o f functional polymorphisms in CYP19A1 with aromatase inhibitor associated arthralgia in breastcancer survivors” Breast Cancer Res. 2011 Jan 20;13(1):R8.

The Abramson Cancer Center appreciates those patients who participate in this important research. Together, researchers and breast cancer survivors can make a difference in the lives of millions of women and their families whose lives have been touched by breast cancer.

Learn more about breast cancer research at Penn Medicine.
Search for a clinical trial on OncoLink’s Clinical Trials Matching Service.
Learn more about breast cancer treatment at Penn in Philadelphia.

Penn's Abramson Cancer Center is a national cancer center in Philadelphia providing comprehensive cancer treatment, clinical trials for cancer and is a cancer research center. The National Cancer Institute has designated the Abramson Cancer Center a Comprehensive Cancer Center, one of only 40 such cancer centers in the United States.

Lorraine Gordon is a patient advocate for people with melanoma. Her family established the Roger A. Gordon Melanoma Research Fund in 2007 following her husband's diagnosis of stage 4 melanoma.  The Gordon family works in conjunction with Penn's Abramson Cancer Center (ACC) to increase melanoma awareness and secure research funding. In the second of two posts, she talks about the recent ACC-sponsored Focus On Integrative Medicine and Wellness Conference.

In my first post, I talked about how patients with cancer and cancer survivors are using integrative therapies to improve their quality of life during cancer treatment.  This time I want to share with you the message of two guest speakers, Daniel Gottlieb, PhD, and Michael Baime, MD.

Dr. Gottlieb was in a near fatal automobile accident in 1979, which left him paralyzed from the chest down.  A noted author, columnist, and radio host, his greatest gift to his audience is the understanding that all humans long for human contact, compassion and understanding. While he has not had cancer, he has been through this medical journey. He is a survivor, and all of us attending the program were inspired, motivated and moved by his presentation.

Michael Baime, MD, speaking at the Focus On: Integrative Medicine and Wellness Conference

“That nowhere place, where things come out of nowhere, it’s everywhere,” Dr. Gottlieb said.  "People with cancer feel different, isolated. Others look at you differently, you feel alone. There is a difference between the mind and the body: A disconnect between who you were and who you are now. Let go! Learn to tolerate your own vulnerability. You feel as vulnerable as you are."

Michael Baime, MD, is clinical associate professor of medicine at Penn and director of the Penn Program for Mindfulness.  A nationally recognized expert in stress management, he has created a variety of programs for patients in all stages of treatment and recovery for Penn's Abramson Cancer Center.

Dr. Baime shared his own experiences with mindfulness and its role in dealing with his own vision problems.
“You are totally alive, NOW,” he said. "You may wonder how you can be OK. You say, 'I had cancer: I’m always looking over my shoulder.' Let go! We have to celebrate what we have NOW. We don’t have to hope, because we have this moment of NOW. Do something about making the most for yourself. Believe it is possible. Take a chance.

"Mindfulness brings all of your awareness into the present moment," Dr. Baime said. "You can’t wait for the right moment or worry about tomorrow. You are present in the present moment. Letting go has to be conscious and mindfulness is the key to your survival."

Penn's Integrative Medicine and Wellness Program educates and empowers patients to actively manage symptoms and side effects of conventional cancer treatments (such as nausea, vomiting, fatigue and joint pain) in order to maximize the benefits of conventional treatments while maintaining desirable quality of life. Integrative therapies and complementary and alternative medicine are not a replacement for conventional cancer treatment.

Visit the Abramson Cancer Center website for more information about Integrative Medicine and Wellness and to view the podcasts of the 2011 Focus On Integrative Medicine and Wellness conference. 

Lorraine Gordon is a patient advocate for people with melanoma. Her family established the Roger A. Gordon Melanoma Research Fund in 2007 following her husband's diagnosis of stage 4 melanoma.  The Gordon family works in conjunction with Penn's Abramson Cancer Center (ACC) to increase melanoma awareness. In the first of two posts, she talks about the recent ACC-sponsored Focus On Integrative Medicine and Wellness Conference.




I didn't know a lot about integrative medicine and I was impressed and touched by this uplifting and supportive conference. Many patients said they feel they have greater control of their illness and develop new ways of coping with the distress and uncertainty of their illness using integrative medicine. Had we known about these therapies I think my family's experience would have been quite different.

Integrative medicine and complementary and alternative therapies focus on the whole person. Therapies are usually performed by practitioners outside the conventional system in combination with traditional treatments.

Attendees at the Abramson Cancer Center's Focus On: Integrative Medicine and Wellness Conference

Based on a recent Penn study, an estimated 66.5 percent of cancer survivors have used integrative therapies to improve their quality of life during cancer treatment.

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) refers to the use of non-conventional therapies that complement conventional medicine, including:

• Acupuncture
• Yoga
• Nutrition
• Mindfulness-based stress management
• Reiki
• Massage

Jun Mao, MD, MSCE, assistant professor and director of integrative medicine at Penn, and the conference chair, is a licensed acupuncturist.  He told us that like all complementary therapies, acupuncture is not used as a primary cancer treatment.

"Acupuncture is used in combination with chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy," Dr. Mao said.  "You need to have the courage to try something new and be comfortable with the concept.  After receiving chemo or radiation you can be very fatigued, but acupuncture can help you get more energy."

Kathryn Schmitz, PhD, MPH, associate professor at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and a member of the Abramson Cancer Center’s Cancer Prevention and Control Research Program, discussed the benefits of exercise. As an exercise interventionist who has led multiple trials, she told us exercise makes the journey very different.

Her research has shown:

• 180 minutes of walking each week reduces the reoccurrence of breast cancer.
• Survivor risk is cut in half by exercise.

She recommends patients try to exercise between treatments if they are not too tired or sick. Dr. Schmitz has performed extensive research into the benefits of exercise for breast cancer patients. Dr. Schmitz heads the Strength After Breast Cancer Program, a physical therapy program for breast cancer survivors.

Kimberly Fleisher, MSEd, RMT, founder and director of the Reiki School and Clinic in Philadelphia and leader of the Reiki volunteer program at Penn, said it is OK to be skeptical about complementary therapies. She said Reiki is a state of internal balance and harmony and does not involve manipulation, invasiveness or touching.  It encourages:

• Peace
• Nurturing
• Nourishing
• Balance

Gabriel Rocco, MA, is a staff instructor for  Penn's Program for Mindfulness and teaches classes based on the practice of mindfulness meditation. To help begin healing from within, he told us to find a comfortable position while finding the source of our own healing.  Letting go of unnecessary tensions allows us to connect with our own hearts and be at peace with our compassion. We must take care of ourselves as we would take care of a loved one, with the same compassion.

This conference really was an amazing experience for me. In the next post I will talk about two speakers and how they encouraged us to "live in the moment."

Penn's Integrative Medicine and Wellness Program educates and empowers patients to actively manage symptoms and side effects of conventional cancer treatments (such as nausea, vomiting, fatigue and joint pain) in order to maximize the benefits of conventional treatments while maintaining desirable quality of life. Integrative therapies and complementary and alternative medicine are not a replacement for conventional cancer treatment.

Visit the Abramson Cancer Center website for more information about Integrative Medicine and Wellness and the 2011 Focus On Integrative Medicine and Wellness conference.