Friend of ThyCa Shares Inspirational Stones for Pediatric Backpack Project

Doug Foster of Ashland, Oregon, has made and donated pendants and “lucky stones,” mostly from agate, jasper, and petrified wood, to give to children and teens with thyroid cancer, as well as their parents, as part of ThyCa’s free Pediatric Backpack Project. Previously, Doug gave stones and pendants to all the attendees at the 18th International Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Conference. 

Doug first became interested in rocks when a big flood dumped tons of rocks on his and his wife’s hay pasture, including chunks of jasper and petrified wood. This flood, in early 1997, came a few months after he completed chemo for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. 

Because of complications from the chemo, he was still staying close to home then, so rock hunting in the pasture offered reliable stay-at-home fun.” 

When he took a big chunk of petrified wood to be cut at the local rock club, and saw how different it was on the inside than the outside, he was hooked. And when he learned to identify the genus (type) of petrified wood using a 20X lens, he swallowed hook, line, and sinker. 

For the last 10 years he has served as Curator of Fossil Wood for a natural history museum in southern Oregon. 

Several years ago Doug started giving lucky stones to war veterans, because the Veterans Administration ruled that his cancer was caused by Agent Orange exposure when he flew helicopters for the Army in Vietnam. 

About the same time, he started giving lucky stones to friends of friends who were diagnosed with cancer. His sister-in-law, Cherry Wunderlich, a longtime volunteer for ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, inspired him to take on this project for thyroid cancer survivors. 

Thank you, Doug.

  

  
Doug Foster stands by his three biggest rock saws, which have big tanks holding cooling oil so the diamond disk blades don’t overheat. Industrial diamonds are necessary because jasper, agate, and petrified wood are harder than steel.
 

Doug digging for petrified wood. He unearthed all the exposed rocks with a pick and shovel.

 

 

A pendant and a “lucky stone” from Doug.

 

Physicians specializing in endocrinology, nuclear medicine, and surgery headline the upcoming 15th Annual Mid-Atlantic Thyroid Cancer Workshop, sponsored by ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc., on Saturday, May 21 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Holy Cross Hospital, 1500 Forest Glen Road, Silver Spring, Maryland. 

This event is free. Patients, caregivers, friends, and everyone interested are invited to come and learn from experts and take part in discussion roundtables with other thyroid cancer survivors and families.   

Everyone interested is welcome to attend for all or part of the day. Walk-in attendees are welcome, or register online in advance. Free parking is available in the residential area across from the hospital, and paid parking is available next to the hospital. 

Physician speakers include:

  • Kenneth D. Burman, M.D., Endocrinologist, MedStar Washington Hospital Center, Washington, DC. ThyCa Medical Advisor

  • Jacqueline Jonklaas, M.D., Endocrinologist, MedStar Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC 

  • Naris Nilubol, M.D., Endocrine Surgeon, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD

  • Jennifer Rosen, M.D., Surgeon, MedStar Washington Hospital Center, Washington, DC 
       
  • Douglas Van Nostrand, M.D., Nuclear Medicine Physician, MedStar Washington Hospital Center, Washington, DC, and ThyCa Medical Advisor 

The physicians’ presentations and question-and-answer sessions will focus on thyroid cancer care and research. The program will also include discussion roundtables led by thyroid cancer survivors. Roundtable topics will include coping with thyroid cancer in the short and long term, vocal cord issues, stress and fears around testing and treatment, and complementary approaches for well-being. 

Host groups for this free event are four ThyCa Support Groups: ThyCa Baltimore, ThyCa Northern Virginia, ThyCa Rockville, and ThyCa Washington, DC. 

Visit ThyCa’s Conferences page for details, including the workshop flyer and free online registration.

For more information, e-mail Washington_DC@thyca.org or thyca@thyca.org or phone 301-493-8810. 

ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc. www.thyca.org is an international nonprofit 501 (c)(3) organization of thyroid cancer survivors, family members, and health care professionals, advised by internationally recognized thyroid cancer specialists and serving people worldwide since 1995. For more information e-mail to:  thyca@thyca.org; write to:  PO Box 1102, Olney, MD 20830-1102; call toll-free:  1-877-588-7904; or visit our website.

Press Contact: Cherry Wunderlich, cwunderlich@thyca.org, 301-493-8810
ThyCa Director of Publications and Outreach 

This spring marks the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear accident and brings renewed attention to long-term health impacts of the event. 

The accident took place on April 26, 1986 in northern Ukraine near Belarus. The reactor at Chernobyl had an archaic design and lacked a containment dome. The winds carried massive amounts of radiation over a large area of northern Europe. The substances released included many types of radioactive materials, including iodine 131. 

A large increase in childhood thyroid cancer in areas near Chernobyl began 4 years after the accident. The time from exposure was shorter than the 10 years or more that had previously been assumed for developing radiation-related thyroid cancer. 

The children lived in northern Ukraine, Belarus, and western Russia at the time of the accident. In Belarus, 333 children were diagnosed between 1986 and 1994, compared to only 7 children in the 9 years before the Chernobyl accident. The main source of exposure was considered to be the children’s consumption of fresh cow’s milk containing radioactive iodine from the fallout, which fell onto the grass that the cows ate. 

Between 1990 and 2002, more than 4,000 Chernobyl-area children had been diagnosed with differentiated thyroid cancer, the type resulting from the I-131 fallout. A 2013 article from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center estimated that 6,000 cases of thyroid cancer had been caused by the Chernobyl disaster. 

“The risk of developing thyroid cancer is especially high among children younger than 10 at the moment of radiation exposure,” wrote James John Figge, MD, in the reference book Thyroid Cancer: A Guide for Patients.

Genomic Study 

In 2013, an international study, led by James Fagin, M.D., of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, reported on the first comprehensive genomic analysis from patients who developed thyroid cancer after exposure to radiation from Chernobyl. The findings were reported in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. 

Most of the patients were under age 10 at the time of the Chernobyl accident and had developed thyroid cancer as adolescents or young adults. The study’s findings reveal two important things,” said Dr. Fagin In an interview for a MSKCC publication. “One, that radiation causes a particular type of genetic damage that is associated with characteristic cancer genes; and two, that those genes turn on the activities of pathways that are critical for the formation of thyroid cancer.” 

Risk Study 

In another study, an international research team led by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, found a clear dose-response relationship, in which higher absorption of radiation from the Chernobyl fallout of I-131 led to an increased risk for thyroid cancer. The risk had not appeared to diminish as of 2011. 

The study represented the first prospective examination of thyroid cancer risk in relation to the I-131 doses received by Chernobyl-area children and adolescents. Results appeared in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives on March 17, 2011. 

The researchers found that the cancer risk continued for those who had lived in the Chernobyl area at the time of the accident.  However, a previous analysis of atomic bomb survivors and medically irradiated individuals had found that cancer risk began to decline about 30 years after exposure, although it was was still elevated 40 years later.  

Therefore, the researchers believed that continued follow-up of the participants in the Chernobyl study would be needed to determine whether a decline in the risk level is likely. 

Looking Ahead—Awareness for Early Detection 

Because thyroid cancer is usually treatable when found early, ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc. invites people to help raise awareness of thyroid cancer and to ask their physician to do a neck check during a routine medical appointment. A neck check takes only a minute. 

Most thyroid nodules are benign, not cancer. Signs to discuss with the physician include a lump in the neck, lymph node swellings, fullness in the neck, voice changes that persist, or difficulty breathing or swallowing. 

ThyCa sponsors Thyroid Cancer Awareness Month, the worldwide observance, each September, as well as year-round awareness campaigns. 

Free awareness and education materials are available from ThyCa at any time, by emailing to thyca@thyca.org or by downloading publications from the Raise Awareness page. http://www.thyca.org/how-to-help/awareness/ 

For More Information

We’re excited to announce that tri-colored thyroid cancer awareness wristbands are now available from ThyCa in the thyroid cancer awareness colors: purple, teal and pink, as well as in 2 sizes: 6″ for youths and 7″ for adults. A package of 5 is available for $5 plus postage. You can mix and match the 2 sizes. 

The proceeds will benefit ThyCa’s thyroid cancer research grants and support services.

View and order the wristbands on the ThyCa Spirit Merchandise page.

 

A 29-member international research panel has concluded that some thyroid tumors are not cancer if they are a variant called “encapsulated follicular variant of papillary thyroid cancer” (EFVPTC) and if they do not have any capsular or vascular invasion. The panel proposed that these tumors be renamed “noninvasive follicular thyroid neoplasm with papillary-like nuclear features (NIFTP).”

Their study is presented in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Oncology, and described in the April 14, 2015, New York Times. Yuri Nikiforov, M.D., the lead author, is vice chairman of pathology at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Dr. Nikiforov is a ThyCa Medical Advisor.

The researchers note that this reclassification does not apply to all tumors of this variant. Some of the tumors are cancer, because they have capsular invasion, vascular invasion, or both.

Here are a few of the questions raised in the last few days in ThyCa local support groups, online groups, and e-mails, plus information based on the two articles linked above. If you have any questions about your diagnosis and/or care after reading this article, we encourage you to consult with your physician.

  1. Does this reclassification apply to every thyroid tumor that is encapsulated follicular variant of papillary thyroid cancer (EFVPTC)?

    No. This reclassification is specifically only for EFVPTC with no invasion. The researchers concluded that this reclassification does not include invasive EFVTPC.

  2. Does surgery need to be done?

    Yes, at least the part of the thyroid that contains the tumor needs to be removed so that the pathologist can examine the tissue to determine whether the tumor is completely surrounded by a capsule of fibrous tissue and whether there is capsular or vascular invasion. The results of the tissue analysis will determine whether there is invasion, and, therefore, whether the reclassification applies.

  3. Will a patient with a noninvasive tumor of this variant need further treatment after the surgery?

    The articles note that patients whose tumors will be classified as not cancer will not need further surgery such as a completion thyroidectomy, and will not require radioactive iodine (RAI). All the patients in the study who fit the criteria for reclassification were free of disease during the entire follow-up period of from 10 to 26 years after their initial surgery. None received RAI.

  4. What will be the follow-up over the long term?

    The articles focus on the reclassification rather than on overall long-term care. Individuals should consult with their own physician regarding their care.

    As noted in earlier articles in this Bulletin, during regular medical and dental appointments, ThyCa encourages neck checks to find thyroid nodules. According to the Academy of General Dentistry, brief head and neck evaluations are a standard of care for dental appointments.

  5. Do these findings apply to all papillary thyroid cancer?

    No. The reclassification does not apply to most papillary thyroid cancer. It applies only to encapsulated follicular variant of papillary thyroid cancer (EFVPTC), and only to noninvasive EFVPTC, not all EFVPTC. From the articles, the reclassification applies to about 10,000 of the 64,300 people expected to be diagnosed with thyroid cancer in the United States in 2016.

  6. Is this new classification official?

    The authors of the medical journal article proposed this reclassification and the new name. An editorial in the same issue of the journal also recommends renaming these tumors. The New York Times article says that “eight leading professional societies from around the world signed on to the declassification and to the new name.”

The eight societies are the American Academy of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, American Head and Neck Society, Brazilian Society of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Brazilian Society of Head and Neck Surgery, British Association of Endocrine and Thyroid Surgeons, International Neural Monitoring Study Group, Japanese Thyroid Association, Latin American Thyroid Association, and World Congress on Thyroid Cancer.

The researchers have also submitted an editorial about this research to Thyroid, the journal of the American Thyroid Association.

ThyCa’s web site and future issues of this newsletter will add more information about this topic.

Do you have questions? If so, please e-mail to publications@thyca.org.

You’re invited to give your input in this brief survey about future conference locations. 

ThyCa’s 19th International Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Conference will take place October 21-23, 2016, in Los Angeles, California. We’re pleased to announce that the 20th International Thyroid Cancer Survivors Conference will be held October 6-8, 2017, in Baltimore, Maryland. 

As we begin to make plans for future conferences, we would like your feedback about the factors that you deem most important when deciding to attend. Whether or not you have ever attended a conference, your input will be valuable. This survey will be anonymous unless you choose to provide your contact information. Three randomly identified participants who provide their contact information will receive a ThyCa shirt as a thank you. The survey should take less than 5 minutes to complete. 

Please share the survey link with others you know who have been touched by thyroid cancer, including survivors, caregivers, family members, or friends.  

We are honored to introduce 7 new members of our Medical Advisory Council (MAC). These distinguished thyroid cancer specialists are joining our 47 other medical advisors. 

Our medical advisors review and edit our materials, provide valuable counsel, and support ThyCa’s goals in education, treatment, and research. 

For biographies of all 54 of our medical advisors, visit this page. www.thyca.org/medical-professionals/thyca-medical-advisors/ 

Our thanks to all our medical advisors for your dedication and support.

  • Peter Angelos, M.D., Ph.D., Endocrine Surgeon, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
  • Ezra E.W. Cohen, M.D., Oncologist, Moores Cancer Center in San Diego, San Diego, California
  • David Goldenberg, M.D., Head and Neck Surgeon, Penn State Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, Pennsylvania
  • Ann W. Gramza, M.D., Oncologist, MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, Washington, DC
  • Mimi I. Hu, M.D., Endocrinologist, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
  • Sareh Parangi, M.D., Surgeon, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts
  • Ralph P. Tufano, M.D., Endocrine Surgeon, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, Maryland

Sanofi Genzyme has introduced two financial assistance programs to support patient access to Thyrogen® (thyrotropin alfa for injection), used when preparing for radioactive iodine.

The Thyrogen® Co-Pay Assistance Program helps with out-of-pocket costs that exceed $100 for eligible patients with commercial insurance.

In addition to Co-Pay Assistance, financial assistance is available for eligible patients with no insurance or with insurance that does not cover Thyrogen®.

For patients who do not qualify for these financial assistance programs, case managers are available to help them connect with independent co-pay assistance foundations that can support out-of-pocket costs associated with Thyrogen®.

For more information, call ThyrogenONE® at 1-888-497-6436, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. EST, or visit the Thyrogen® web site.

We’re excited to introduce some of the speakers confirmed for our free spring workshops.

You’re invited to attend the entire event or join us for part of the day. 

Get details and the online registration form on our Conferences/Workshops page.

April 23: Midwest Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Workshop in Kansas City, Missouri

  • Teresa Day, Day Insurance Solutions, Topeka, KS
  • Uzma Kahn, M.D., Endocrinologist, University of Missouri School of Medicine, Columbia, MO

May 21: Mid-Atlantic Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Workshop in Silver Spring, Maryland

  • Jacqueline Jonklass, M.D., Endocrinologist, MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, Washington, DC
  • Jennifer Rosen, M.D., Endocrine Surgeon, MedStar Washington Hospital Center, Washington, DC
  • Douglas Van Nostrand, M.D., Nuclear Medicine Physician, MedStar Washington Hospital Center, Washington, DC; Co-Editor, Thyroid Cancer: A Guide for Patients. ThyCa Medical Advisor.

CURE magazine recently published an article on thyroid cancer, the importance of neck checks, and ThyCa’s services and resources. CURE is the largest consumer publication in the United States that focuses on cancer.

The article is entitled, “Six Survivors Share Their Thyroid Cancer Stories.” 

Read it here.