Snowbirds Living in the Philippines : Causes of Lung Cancer of Non Smokers and Treatment-An Update

Sunday, August 21, 2016

Causes of Lung Cancer of Non Smokers and Treatment-An Update

Several days ago, I posted an article on possible causes of lung cancer of non-smokers. I wrote that article after I received a note that a close relative of Macrine was just diagnosed with lung cancer although she had never smoke a cigarette in her life. In that posting she does not know the stage and type of cancer she had.

Today she went to see her oncologist for the results of her PET scan last week. She was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer. Fortunately there is a treatment plan available that will likely contain the spread of the cancer. The pill that she will take appears to be highly effective because of three conditions: she’s Asian, has no history of smoking, and she has metastatic non small cell lung cancer.

The drug prescribed for her is Gefitinib (Iressa). The drug has very tolerable side effects, namely, skin rashes and diarrhea. An alternative drug in the same class is Erlotinib ( Tarceva). According to the clinical literature, Erlotinib has been found to have improved overall survival rate than Gefitinib.

Tarceva is also indicated for stage 4 non small cell pancreatic cancer.

Last November, Tagrisso (omisertinib; formerly AZD9291) obtained FDA approval for the treatment epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients whose tumours carry the T790M mutation. The drug is a third-generation EGFR inhibitor, which is designed to overcome resistance to other drugs in the class such as Roche/Astellas' $2bn-a-year Tarceva (erlotinib), AZ's Iressa (gefitinib) and Boehringer Ingelheim's Giotrif (afatinib).

For details on Iressa and Tarceva read the following:

https://www.drugs.com/iressa.html and https://www.drugs.com/tarceva.html

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Joys of Retirement

I have been retired from USFDA since 2002. At first, I feel I have lost my identity as an individual or have lost my contribution to society. However, within a few weeks all these feelings were gone. It started when my wife and I started baby sitting one of our grandchildren. As some economics professor states: "Your children are your capital investments, but your grandchildren are your profits. That is why you love your grandchildren more than your children". I really agree with the statement. Retirement also gives you lots of time to do things you like to do, such as your hobbies and of course travel. In my case, I turned my hobby of gardening and landscaping into a small business in the Philippines. This endeavor was planned about five years before 2002. That year my wife and I started construction of our retirement home in Boac, Marinduque , Philippines. The next year we built a beach house, followed by a Conference Hall two years later. Needless to say, planning and executing the landscaping was a challenge and very enjoyable. With the help of local labor, I not only enjoy the time gardening and landscaping, but also help improved the economic situation of the province by providing work and jobs to the local residents. With plenty of time, I have engaged into two specific activities as follows: First, I created a website for my small business. By trial and error, I created and design the website, www.chateaudumer.com I have never been a computer nerd or expert. But with plenty of time and patience, the fruits of my labor could be enjoyed if you visit the website above. The second activity, I have not done before was to utilize on-line activities, such as shopping, paying bills ( save you stamps) and playing computer games in the Internet. I really enjoyed playing duplicate bridge on line. You play with players all over the world and can chat in between games. But be careful, you are not spending too much time in the computer. It is very addictive. With a lots of time, my wife and I devoted more time on our favorite humanitarian project. For the last 15 years, we have been involved with medical mission to the province of Marinduque. For details please visit the website: www.marinduqueinternational.org As a summary, the joy one gets on retirement is very specific for an individual. Some enjoy their free time by learning new activities, getting involved with humanitarian projects or spending more time with their grandchildren. Others hate it, since they missed their former jobs and co-workers. Others with no children still enjoy retirement by traveling, turning their hobbies into business or more community involvement. Of course those that retire and hate it, is believe to die earlier than those that enjoy their retirement years. So, plan your retirement as early as you can. The happier you are on retirement, the longer you will live.