If I could wave a wand this Halloween or conjure a spell it would be to uncloak a better life for those with cancer. Well, abracadabra…the treat this year is that we are finally tricking this disease. You can stand firm and just watch the Zombies with amusement. You are in the super hero cape as new advancements are forging paths to make cancer disappear!

So lets dig deep into the bucket and pull out a handful! In cancer care right now there are so very many new and exciting options.

For years patients would be dismayed with a new diagnosis. “All of my blood work was normal, Doc!” Because cancer isn’t found in the routine blood work….. enter the new “liquid biopsies!” We just started using this new blood biopsy for finding metastatic disease as well as primary cancers. This week they are even being offered on trial for brain cancers so that patients do not have to undergo a biopsy of the brain. This is truly magical now, less invasive and can help detect cancer at early stages- not just when metastatic.

No more “chemo and hormones for all!” Other amazing tests can check your blood to see if your cancer (breast or prostate) makes you a candidate for more aggressive treatment. If it shows that there is increased risk of metastasis 10 years from now, you will be offered chemo and or hormones. Even better, if there is minimal benefit, you can avoid these toxic treatments with greater assurance. Decisions are being managed through new testing with much greater data and finesse.

If a biopsy reveals cancer, there are more micro tests performed on the specimens to determine if you can receive a highly targeted agent which will kill the tumor wherever it hides.

Just as there are improvements in surgery with robotics and shorter recover time, there are changes to chemo and immunotherapies that extend life dramatically. Even radiation, while more focused and “stereo-tactic” for the past several years, has a brand new method of delivery: “Hocus Pocus FLASH”. It’s almost like a magic trick. Faster, high -powered radiation in a flash is demonstrating outstanding results. “Flash radiation” is in trials but will move quickly to the clinics.

Theragnostics are rapidly entering the armamentarium: New testing drives the followup delivery of IV drugs tagged with radiation that target cells (bone metastasis, metastatic prostate cancer) and are growing in use in cancer centers.

What an amazing time to practice with these exciting options available. The recovery is quicker with new modalities. Even with oligo metastasizes (few lesions away from the primary cancer) people are having their disease controlled for years. The “stage IV” diagnosis is not always a grim reaper event. You become a work in progress. The goals have changed and are moving from comfort care to real sustained treatment that prolongs life.

For those of you and your loved ones facing this disease, have hope and be assured every effort is being made to continue to enhance your well being and even cancer control. Nothing is 100% and no gain is forever, but what an amazing time. From one Halloween to the next, how we have uncloaked the cancer cells and found targets for cure unlike ever before. This isn’t just hope. It isn’t a message of the future. The magic is happening now. So plan to enjoy this holiday season with excitement for your very own renewed “spirit”.