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Squeeze her hand for a stranger. Every person who has lost someone to cancer, and everyone who has survived it, and all of the people who watched that fight- a

Squeeze her hand for a stranger. Every person who has lost someone to cancer, and everyone who has survived it, and all of the people who watched that fight- all of us have her back and stand with her. She's fighting one of the hardest battles put to a person, and she has our respect and awe. I saw my friend at his weakest, and also when he was stronger than anyone I've ever known. It's been years but still, I'm crying. Cancer is personal. Once it touches you, and you see the enemy, you see how everyone is fighting your enemy. I'm grateful to her. We'll be cheering when the bell rings for her- all of us. Fuck cancer.

jcims 9y ago
Thanks so much for this heartfelt comment. The personification of cancer as an enemy didn't really click with me until my family was directly threatened by it. Reading through the drugs in her chemo cocktail, I come across bevacizumab. A little bit of googling and: A cancer needs a good blood supply to provide itself with food and oxygen and to remove waste products. When it has reached 1 to 2mm across, a tumour needs to grow its own blood vessels in order to continue to get bigger. Some cancer cells make a protein called vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). The VEGF protein attaches to receptors on cells that line the walls of blood vessels within the tumour. The cells are called endothelial cells. *This triggers the blood vessels to grow so the cancer can then grow.* Wait...what?!?! OK, what about this trial...atezzolblablblah.. What's it do? Programmed cell death protein 1 is a cell surface receptor that plays an important role in down- regulating the immune system and promoting self tolerance by suppressing T cell inflammatory activity. PD-1 is an immune checkpoint and guards against autoimmunity through a dual mechanism of promoting programmed cell death in T-cells in lymph nodes while simultaneously reducing cell death in regulatory T cells. ... PD-L1, the ligand for PD1, is highly expressed in several cancers *and hence the role of PD1 in cancer immune evasion is well established*. Seriously? This thing isn't just some dumb pathogen floating around that just DoSes your body. It's digging tunnels and cutting phone lines. It has strategy.
- stochastic_monk 9y ago
  This cancer is being evolutionarily selected for proliferation and resistance to regulation. It is being constantly engineered to destroy. See also epithelial to mesenchymal (ETM) transition, in which cells lose their anchors and become an entirely different kind of cell so that it can better infiltrate other parts of the body. It's pernicious and highly specialized because that's why it survives. And that's why everyone will die of cancer if something else doesn't kill you first.
  - dsjoerg 9y ago
    Are you saying that cancers that are particularly good at their job are more likely to be passed on to the next generation in other people? By what mechanism does a cancer or a cancer mutation spread to the next person? EDIT: OK I've done some reading about cancer and evolution. Clearly there is an evolutionary process happening inside each person's body that "selects" for cancers that are good at their "job". However even the most successful of those have no hope of passing beyond their host unless they also mutate a transmission mechanism for themselves, which happens much less often (but the Internet tells me it has been known to happen in dogs).
    - karmajunkie 9y ago
      There's at least a couple mechanisms. The most obvious is heredity—certain alleles of a particular gene that normally controls growth, or expresses some surface protein, mutate, leaving descendants with a greater risk of cancer. BRCA4, for example, has some variations that all but guarantee breast cancer. Mutation can happen in both somatic (body) cells and in germ-line cells; when it happens in the latter, the mutation can be passed on to offspring. Oncoviruses are another transmission vector. HPV, or human papillomavirus, is a virus that causes warts (of all kinds) in humans, and also causes several kinds of cancer, including cervical and esophageal cancers. A third way would be a pretty rare thing in humans, but is thought to be behind some of the canine cancers you mentioned: direct transplantation of cells. The tasmanian devil is on the edge of extinction thanks to a facial cancer they get from each other through this mechanism.
    - 9y ago
boie0025 9y ago
Thanks for this. My beloved aunt was diagnosed with cancer years ago, and has been fighting an awe inspiring battle against it the whole time. She was given bad news last week -- a short and definite time scale. It was hard news for me and more so for her husband, children and grandchildren, but everyone is keeping close in support of her through the hardest part of the fight so far. These battles are so hard to watch, but at the same time just as inspiring. Anyhow, that's the back story, I really just wanted to thank you for posting these words. <3 +1, Fuck cancer.
tj-teej 9y ago
- Squeeze her hand for a stranger - I'm crying, my Mom passed away almost 3 years ago, but that sentence got me. Godspeed to the Scientists and best of luck OP's wife.
max0563 9y ago
I don't normally respond to messages like this, but this one touched me. Nearly a decade ago I had to battle a Sarcoma in my leg. It changed the entire course of my life, but has made me stronger as a result. It is an experience I don't wish on anyone, and remembering the impact that it had on my family chokes me up a bit. Your comment made me cry. "Squeeze her hand for a stranger." OP, I will keep your wife in my thoughts.
SubiculumCode 9y ago
Fuck cancer.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
wiz21c 9y ago
I understand the need to use some martial metaphor but not everybody is born to see through that lens. The friends I have lost to cancer did not loose a battle. They were strong, they did everything they could, they had a "grandeur d'être" that inspires me until today. But sure, they didn't fail/loose the battle. They were just unfortunate. And their ghosts are still with me.
jcims 9y ago
(squeeze delivered btw, thanks again)
- hwillis 9y ago
  :D

jcims 9y ago

Thanks so much for this heartfelt comment. The personification of cancer as an enemy didn't really click with me until my family was directly threatened by it. Reading through the drugs in her chemo cocktail, I come across bevacizumab. A little bit of googling and: A cancer needs a good blood supply to provide itself with food and oxygen and to remove waste products. When it has reached 1 to 2mm across, a tumour needs to grow its own blood vessels in order to continue to get bigger. Some cancer cells make a protein called vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). The VEGF protein attaches to receptors on cells that line the walls of blood vessels within the tumour. The cells are called endothelial cells. *This triggers the blood vessels to grow so the cancer can then grow.* Wait...what?!?! OK, what about this trial...atezzolblablblah.. What's it do? Programmed cell death protein 1 is a cell surface receptor that plays an important role in down- regulating the immune system and promoting self tolerance by suppressing T cell inflammatory activity. PD-1 is an immune checkpoint and guards against autoimmunity through a dual mechanism of promoting programmed cell death in T-cells in lymph nodes while simultaneously reducing cell death in regulatory T cells. ... PD-L1, the ligand for PD1, is highly expressed in several cancers *and hence the role of PD1 in cancer immune evasion is well established*. Seriously? This thing isn't just some dumb pathogen floating around that just DoSes your body. It's digging tunnels and cutting phone lines. It has strategy.

stochastic_monk 9y ago
This cancer is being evolutionarily selected for proliferation and resistance to regulation. It is being constantly engineered to destroy. See also epithelial to mesenchymal (ETM) transition, in which cells lose their anchors and become an entirely different kind of cell so that it can better infiltrate other parts of the body. It's pernicious and highly specialized because that's why it survives. And that's why everyone will die of cancer if something else doesn't kill you first.
- dsjoerg 9y ago
  Are you saying that cancers that are particularly good at their job are more likely to be passed on to the next generation in other people? By what mechanism does a cancer or a cancer mutation spread to the next person? EDIT: OK I've done some reading about cancer and evolution. Clearly there is an evolutionary process happening inside each person's body that "selects" for cancers that are good at their "job". However even the most successful of those have no hope of passing beyond their host unless they also mutate a transmission mechanism for themselves, which happens much less often (but the Internet tells me it has been known to happen in dogs).
  - karmajunkie 9y ago
    There's at least a couple mechanisms. The most obvious is heredity—certain alleles of a particular gene that normally controls growth, or expresses some surface protein, mutate, leaving descendants with a greater risk of cancer. BRCA4, for example, has some variations that all but guarantee breast cancer. Mutation can happen in both somatic (body) cells and in germ-line cells; when it happens in the latter, the mutation can be passed on to offspring. Oncoviruses are another transmission vector. HPV, or human papillomavirus, is a virus that causes warts (of all kinds) in humans, and also causes several kinds of cancer, including cervical and esophageal cancers. A third way would be a pretty rare thing in humans, but is thought to be behind some of the canine cancers you mentioned: direct transplantation of cells. The tasmanian devil is on the edge of extinction thanks to a facial cancer they get from each other through this mechanism.
  - 9y ago

boie0025 9y ago

Thanks for this. My beloved aunt was diagnosed with cancer years ago, and has been fighting an awe inspiring battle against it the whole time. She was given bad news last week -- a short and definite time scale. It was hard news for me and more so for her husband, children and grandchildren, but everyone is keeping close in support of her through the hardest part of the fight so far. These battles are so hard to watch, but at the same time just as inspiring. Anyhow, that's the back story, I really just wanted to thank you for posting these words. <3 +1, Fuck cancer.

tj-teej 9y ago

- Squeeze her hand for a stranger - I'm crying, my Mom passed away almost 3 years ago, but that sentence got me. Godspeed to the Scientists and best of luck OP's wife.

max0563 9y ago

I don't normally respond to messages like this, but this one touched me. Nearly a decade ago I had to battle a Sarcoma in my leg. It changed the entire course of my life, but has made me stronger as a result. It is an experience I don't wish on anyone, and remembering the impact that it had on my family chokes me up a bit. Your comment made me cry. "Squeeze her hand for a stranger." OP, I will keep your wife in my thoughts.

SubiculumCode 9y ago

Fuck cancer.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

wiz21c 9y ago

I understand the need to use some martial metaphor but not everybody is born to see through that lens. The friends I have lost to cancer did not loose a battle. They were strong, they did everything they could, they had a "grandeur d'être" that inspires me until today. But sure, they didn't fail/loose the battle. They were just unfortunate. And their ghosts are still with me.

jcims 9y ago

(squeeze delivered btw, thanks again)

hwillis 9y ago
:D