Stress

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Stress Cancer Projects Spring/Summer2004
Volume 1 Number 2 I asked for strength was
given difficulties to make me strong. I asked
for wisdom was given problems to solve. I
asked for courage was given danger to overcome.
I asked for love was given troubled people to
help. I asked for favors was given
opportunities. I received nothing I wantedI
received everything I needed. -Author Unknown,
Poem read by Stefanie Speilman at 2003
Annual Community Gathering

• Overview of Community Gathering 2003
• Thank you to all of you who attended our 4th
  Annual Reception. The theme was Celebrate the
  Champion Within. The guest speakers included
  breast cancer survivor advocate Stefanie
  Spielman, Dr. Charles Emery, who spoke about the
  benefits of regular exercise, Principal
  Investigator Dr. Barbara Andersen, who is
  featured in our Spotlight section found on page
  2.
• The reception was a great success again this
  year, the success of the project itself could
  not be completed without all of you. Thank you!
• Upcoming Events
• We are only 4 months away from our 5th
  Anniversary Annual Community Gathering! Mark your
  calendars for 10/4/04. The theme for this years
  event will be Escape for an Evening will
  feature a fun, tropical atmosphere. We will also
  provide you with a copy of one of our most recent
  publications accepted June 2004.
• We had such a great turnout last year, hope to
  see even more of you this year. You are always
  welcome to bring a guest, so even if you have
  never attended before, please come see what you
  have been missing. We promise this will be one of
  our best gatherings yet!

• Just For You!
• The Comprehensive Cancer Center chronicle,
  Frontiers, sent with this newsletter comes to you
  compliments of the Stress and Immunity Cancer
  Project. It contains several articles that may be
  of interest to you, including those featuring
  SIBCPs principal investigator Dr. Andersen,
  concerning psychological studies, a
  Co-investigator for the project Dr. Carson, which
  concerns immunotherapies. These articles may be
  found on pages 24 20, respectively.
• Project News
• Research Assistant Lyne Charbonneau, who was
  responsible for much of the behind the scenes
  work for the project has recently moved with her
  husband, cancer researcher Dr. Martin Guimond,
  who has accepted a position at the NIH in
  Washington D.C. Dr. Deanna Golden-Kreutz, after
  over 11 years of devoted service to the project,
  will be working in the hospital with clinical
  trials but will remain available to the project.
  We thank them both for their dedication and hard
  work.
• Also, we have had two new Research Assistant
  additions to the Project Staff. Please help us in
  welcoming Carolyn Hagopian, who will be seeing
  some of you at your next assessment, Theresa
  Paulin who will be assisting in data management.

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Spotlight Dr. Barbara Andersen
Principal Investigator of SICP
Professor of Psychology, Obstetrics,
Gynecology Receives Distinguished Lecturer
Award

• Dr. Barbara Andersen
• The Ohio State University Distinguished Lecture
  Series annually recognizes two senior faculty
  members for their outstanding academic
  achievement, particularly, but not exclusively,
  in research, scholarship, or creative activity.
  Each recipient presents a scholarly lecture, open
  to the university community and to the public,
  followed by a reception.
• Barbara Andersen is an individual who is
  recognized internationally for her outstanding
  and pioneering contributions to the field of
  psychosocial cancer research, wrote Francis J.
  Keefe, professor of psychiatry and behavioral
  sciences at Duke University Medical Center. In
  the early 1980s, Barbara was one of the first
  psychologists to study how women adjust to
  gynecologic cancer. Overall, her programmatic
  research is outstanding and serves as the gold
  standard against which others can be compared,
  Keefe wrote.
• Susan Folkman, professor of medicine and
  director of the Osher Center for Integrative
  Medicine at the University of California at San
  Francisco, wrote Medical educators are just
  beginning to respond to the public demand for
  more humane medical care. Work such as Professor
  Andersens is invaluable in these efforts.
  Medicine is waking up to the fact that
  psychological well-being is not a trivial outcome
  of cancer treatments. Professor Andersens work
  will help lead the way to interventions of this
  sort for diverse cancer populations.

Andersen received her bachelors, masters and
doctoral degrees in clinical psychology from the
University of Illinois and joined Ohio States
faculty in 1989. Her publications include three
books and more than 125 empirical and scholarly
articles. In 2000, she received Ohio States
Distinguished Scholar Award. This is a
wonderful and very unique honor, Andersen said.
It is also a tribute to the patients, graduate
students, staff and my oncology and psychology
colleagues who have breathed life into our cancer
research. The story of living with cancer is an
important one. To view the lecture online,
please visit http//www.osu.edu/lecture/archive
/index.html Please Remember! ? Also, if you
are coming to OSU Hospital for your next
assessment please note the move of the CRC from
Rhoades Hall to Dodd-Davis Hall. You should have
received a map in the mail, however, if you have
any questions or are in need of a new map, please
dont hesitate to call! ? To assist with an
easier blood draw, drink plenty of water avoid
caffeine fruit juices 12-24 hours before your
next assessment! ?You can keep up to date on
all of the latest SICP information and
publications by visiting our website at
www.meaningoflifestudy.org
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Recent Publications

• This study represents the first instance of
  long term immune benefits in response to taxane
  administration, a finding that runs counter to
  currently held beliefs about the effects of
  chemotherapy on immune function.  This is just
  another important example of how your
  participation in this project has contributed to
  basic research in cancer, research that provides
  important information about the benefits of a new
  cancer treatment, such as taxol.  BRAVO to you
  all!
• Andersen B. L., Carson III, W. E. Crespin, T.
  R., Shapiro C. L., Thornton, L. M. Cellular
  Immunity in Breast Cancer Patients Completing
  Taxane Treatment Clinical Cancer Research Journal
  Volume 10, May 15th edition.
• Summary of The Gynecologic Oncology Consult
  Symptom Presentation and Concurrent Symptoms of
  Depression and Anxiety
• This article examines the relationship between
  gynecologic symptoms and socio-demographic
  variables and symptoms of depression and anxiety
  among women referred to gynecologic oncologists
  for evaluation, all of whom were eventually
  diagnosed with either gynecologic cancer or
  benign gynecologic disease. 
• Results indicated that women in both disease
  groups experienced significant levels of
  depression and anxiety during their initial visit
  to the oncologist.  Data analyses revealed that
  women who were younger, without a spouse/partner,
  and who had more gynecologic symptoms, such as
  vaginal bleeding, reported higher levels of
  distress.  For those women with partners,
  lengthier relationships appeared to offer
  protection from this distress during oncology
  consultation.
• Andersen, B., Carpenter, K., Fowler, J.,
  Golden-Kreutz, D., and Gupta, P. The
  Gynecologic Oncology Consult Symptom
  Presentation and Concurrent Symptoms of
  Depression and Anxiety

Summary of Cellular Immunity in Breast Cancer
Patients Completing Taxane Treatment
Chemotherapy is believed to suppress immune
function .  However, most research to date has
not been conducted with actual patients but
rather by adding chemotherapy drugs to blood
samples taken from small numbers of individuals,
often times non cancer patients.  In addition,
immune function in these studies is only examined
over a short span of time (days).  The data from
the Stress and Immunity Breast Cancer Project, on
the other hand, provided Drs. Carson and Shapiro
the opportunity to conduct a study which could
make an important, new contribution.  For this
study we combined patients from both study
arms--women who participated in the intervention
groups as well as women who did not.  We then
divided everyone into one of two groups--women
who received  any taxane-based chemotherapy
(taxol) and women who did not.  We measured
immune function two ways (1) natural killer cell
cytotoxicity, the ability of natural killer (NK)
cells to lyse (kill) target cells, and (2) T-cell
blastogenesis, the ability of T-cells to
proliferate (reproduce themselves) in response to
PHA (phytohemagglutinin a plant chemical
commonly used to stimulate T-cell reproduction).
  Both NK and T cells are believed to be
important in the body's natural defense against
cancer.  We also measured immune function at two
time-points when you began the study (right
after your surgery) and 12-months later.  These
time points also correspond to the time before
beginning chemotherapy and a time when
chemotherapy had ended. Our statistical analyses
showed that the women who received taxane-based
chemotherapy (taxol) had higher immunity at 12
months than women who did not receive taxol. 
There was higher PHA-induced blastogenesis and
higher NK cell cytotoxicity (i.e., women's T and
NK cells were more effective at dividing and
multiplying and more effective at killing 'bad'
cells).
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Odds Ends

• What does it all mean?
• Here are some definitions to help make
• it all come together!
• Taxanes- A group of chemicals found in various
  types of yew trees. They have shown to be
  effective in combating some types of cancer,
  especially when combined with other types of
  chemotherapy.
• Lymphocyte- A white blood cell which is present
  in the blood, lymph and lymphoid tissue.
• Blasto-genesis- The transformation of
  lymphocytes into larger cells capable of
  undergoing mitosis.
• Cyto-toxic- Something that is toxic to cells, as
  in cancer cells.
• NK (natural killer) cell- Immune cells that can
  recognize and kill both non-self (e.g. bacteria)
  and self (e.g. tumor) cells. They contain
  granules filled with potent chemicals, and kill
  on contact.
• T-cell- A specific type of white blood cell. All
  white blood cells are born inside of your bones,
  in the bone marrow, and at this point, they're
  called "stem cells." Some mature in the bone
  marrow and become B-cells, while other stem cells
  migrate from the bone marrow to an organ called
  the thymus-a chestnut sized gland at the base of
  the throat-where they mature into T-cells. Both
  B-cells and T-cells are crucial for the immune
  system to help fight infections and disease.

• Heres to your health!
• Enjoy Summers bounty of fresh healthy fruits
  in this tasty desert from the American Cancer
  Societys Healthy Eating Cookbook!
• Summer Strawberry Shortcake
• 2 pints strawberries, washed, hulled,
  halved
• ½ c regular or sugar-free strawberry
  preserves
• ¼ c honey
• 1 TBS lemon juice
• 3 c low-fat or fat-free whipped topping
• 1 loaf fat-free pound cake, sliced into 12
  pieces-(toasted if desired)
• Set aside a few strawberries to use as a
  garnish. Combine strawberries, preserves, honey,
  lemon juice in a medium bowl. Place 1 slice of
  pound cake onto dessert plate. Spoon some of the
  strawberry mixture over cake spread 2 TBS.
  whipped topping over mixture.
• Top with another slice of pound cake, spoon more
  of the strawberry mixture over cake top with a
  dollop of whipped cream garnish with reserved
  strawberries. Serve immediately, serves 6.

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