 Having helped thousands of hematology and oncology patients over the past 30 years, Kenneth D. Nahum, DO, was four times voted one of New Jersey Monthly Magazine’s Top Doctors. Treating patients at Regional Cancer Care Associates, LLC, in Howell, New Jersey, Dr. Kenneth D. Nahum maintains active membership with the American Society of Hematology (ASH).
ASH recently published a study in its medical journal Blood that reported an increased risk of heart attack and stroke in the months prior to a cancer diagnosis. People with lung cancer, colon cancer, and other cancers in late stages are among those most likely to experience a cardiac event or stroke due to increased blood clots. The largest and most systematic study of heart attacks and strokes in advance of a cancer diagnosis, the research was compiled with information from a Medicare database connected to the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) registry. The study included 748,662 Medicare beneficiaries who were newly diagnosed with a wide variety of cancer types from 2005 to 2013. Overall, the study concluded that a person’s risk of experiencing a heart attack or stroke rose by 70 percent in the year before his or her eventual cancer diagnosis, with the highest risk time reported as the month before the diagnosis.
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 For more than three decades, Kenneth D. Nahum, DO, has been practicing hematology and oncology. A physician at Regional Cancer Care Associates, LLC, in Howell, New Jersey, Dr. Kenneth D. Nahum has treated thousands of patients and studied a range of medical conditions, including breast cancer.
A recent study discovered that acupressure is an effective, low-cost way of relieving common side effects associated with breast cancer treatment. The study was completed by researchers at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center and served as a follow-up to their 2016 study revealing that acupressure reduced fatigue after breast cancer treatment. Since survivors of breast cancer rarely experience only fatigue, the current research examined acupressure’s role in reducing anxiety, depression, chronic pain, and poor sleep after breast cancer treatment. To gather their data, researchers looked at 288 patients from the original 424 participants who reported experiencing symptoms in addition to fatigue. For several weeks, these participants were asked to report on their sleep quality, depressive symptoms, fatigue, pain, and anxiety. After six weeks, those patients who underwent relaxing acupressure, a type of acupressure traditionally used for insomnia, had fewer sleep problems and depressive symptoms than patients who received either standard care or stimulating acupressure. On top of that, anxiety and pain were reduced significantly more among the group of patients who received either type of acupressure when compared to those who received standard care. And improving symptoms of depression improved both sleep quality and fatigue in most patients. This suggests that tailored treatment is more important when helping survivors manage their post-treatment symptoms.  An accomplished clinician, teacher, and researcher, Kenneth D. Nahum, DO, has been recognized as a Top Doc four times by New Jersey Monthly Magazine. Currently treating patients at Regional Cancer Care Associates, LLC, in New Jersey, Dr. Kenneth D. Nahum uses his 30 years of experience in hematology and oncology to give patients the best care possible.
Hematologists are physicians who specialize in treating blood disorders that affect patients’ red or white blood cells, platelets, bone marrow, lymph nodes, spleen, or clotting proteins. Common hematological conditions include anemia, hemophilia, polycythemia vera, and sickle cell disease. People with blood disorders may experience symptoms such as fatigue, shortness of breath, recurring fevers or infections, abnormal bleeding or bruising, or excessive blood clotting. Hematologic oncologists specialize in the treatment of cancers that occur in the blood or blood-forming tissues, such as leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma, and myelodysplastic syndromes. Hematologists at Regional Cancer Care Associates treat both cancerous and non-cancerous blood disorders with the most advanced treatment options available, including new clinical trials.  A hematologist and oncologist with Regional Cancer Care Associates (RCCA) in New Jersey, Kenneth D. Nahum, MD, has been practicing medicine for more than 30 years. In addition to treating patients, Dr. Kenneth D. Nahum has served as the principle and co-investigator on dozens of drug studies for the treatment of unresectable cancers.
Cancer that cannot be fully removed by surgery, unresectable cancer is not the same as untreatable cancer. Further, some tumors are initially deemed unresectable but later become removable. Several factors contribute to a tumor being unresectable, including the tumor's size and location. When a tumor is large, removing it with surgery may require the removal of a large portion of an essential organ. This will negatively impact the function of the body and make safe removal of the growth difficult. The same is true if the tumor is intertwined with vital blood vessels. Certain tumors may also be deemed unresectable because of their spread. Since surgery is a local treatment, it is not a viable option for tumors that have spread to other areas of the body. Chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and other systemic treatments that kill cancer cells in numerous areas of the body are preferred.  A hematologist and an oncologist with Regional Cancer Care Associates, LLC, Kenneth D. Nahum, DO, divides his time between treating patients and participating in clinical research. In addition to his involvement in clinical studies, Dr. Kenneth D. Nahum has co-written publications about different therapies for conditions like Waldenstrom’s macroglobulinemia (WM).
Seen in about six people per 1 million, WM is a type of lymphoma. People who have this condition produce too much immunoglobulin M (IgM), a type of protein. As a result, the blood becomes thicker than normal and moves through the blood vessels slower. WM cells can grow in the spleen, liver, bone marrow, or lymph nodes and are easily controlled due to their slow spreading. The symptoms that appear with WM vary from person to person and may not appear for several years. Weakness is the most common symptom of WM since it results from having too few red blood cells in the body. This occurs when WM cells push out normal cells in the blood marrow. Weight loss, loss of appetite, and neuropathy, a pins-and-needles sensation in the legs, are also common for WM. Many of these symptoms are similar to certain types of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. More aggressive cases of WM are often characterized by more extreme symptoms, known as B symptoms. These include severe skin itchiness, heavy sweating, and unexplained fever.  Hematologist and oncologist Dr. Kenneth D. Nahum practices with Regional Cancer Care Associates (RCCA) in New Jersey. Possessing more than 30 years of experience in medicine, Dr. Kenneth D. Nahum has treated thousands of patients and studied new treatment options for metastatic cancers.
Metastasis refers to cancer that has spread from one organ to other parts of the body. This occurs when cancer cells break from the original tumor and move through the lymph system or bloodstream to new locations. Most of the time, cancers of varying types metastasize to the lungs, brain, bones, and liver. However, cancer cells can grow in other areas, including the skin, adrenal gland, and muscle. The location of metastatic cancer largely affects the symptoms a patient experiences. In certain cases, metastasis is not accompanied by any symptoms. Because of this, the condition can be difficult to diagnose if patients do not have a follow-up care plan.  For more than three decades, Dr. Kenneth D. Nahum has treated patients with blood disorders and cancer as a hematologist-oncologist. Practicing at Regional Cancer Care Associates, Dr. Kenneth D. Nahum has cared for thousands of patients over the years, in addition to undertaking clinical research on such conditions as multiple myeloma.
A type of blood cancer, multiple myeloma causes the body to release too much protein, which builds up and eventually damages the organs. Although scientists have not identified a specific cause, they have linked the condition to the presence of an abnormal plasma cell in the bone marrow. This abnormal cell rapidly multiplies and overwhelms healthy cell production, pushing healthy cells out of the bone marrow and leaving a high number of multiple myeloma cells. This abnormal cell may be the result of either a mutation in the oncogenes, a part of the DNA that contains instructions for how to grow and divide cells, or an abnormality in the chromosomes. Several studies have revealed that people with multiple myeloma are missing parts of the 17th chromosome in their DNA, while others have found that people with the condition have one chromosome switched with another.  Specializing in treating patients with blood cancers and other blood disorders, Kenneth D. Nahum, DO, has served as a hematologist and oncologist with Regional Cancer Care Associates, LLC, since 2012. Continually honing his education in the field, Dr. Kenneth D. Nahum belongs to the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).
A recent study featured in JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association shows that economic background can play a significant role in the quality of cancer care that patients receive. ASCO President Monica M. Bertagnolli, MD, FACS, FASCO, commented on the study’s findings by affirming the conclusion that advances in cancer care have not always translated into better outcomes, especially for those who come from low-income backgrounds. ASCO also joined JAMA researchers in urging policymakers and other stakeholders to push for public health initiatives targeting underserved areas to help them get access to better cancer care. The organization has been partnering with local health departments to provide smoking cessation courses and says it will continue to work with other public health entities to address other issues, such as smoking, obesity, and lack of physical activity, that tend to be more prevalent in patients from lower-income backgrounds.  Award-winning physician Kenneth D. Nahum practices with Regional Cancer Care Associates (RCCA) as a hematologist and oncologist. Possessing more than three decades of experience, Dr. Kenneth D. Nahum has helped thousands of patients with various disorders, including hemophilia.
An inherited disorder on the X chromosome, hemophilia prevents the proper clotting of blood. Since women inherit two X chromosomes, one from each parent, they are less likely to develop hemophilia than men. The presence of a second X chromosome prevents the development of this condition in many women, providing a second copy of the same genes. Men do not have this second copy since they have one X chromosome and one Y chromosome, which allows the mutated X chromosome to have more of an impact. In most cases, women are carriers of hemophilia. However, about a third of these women also display mild hemophilia symptoms, such as impaired blood clotting. These women may have approximately 30 to 70 percent of the blood-clotting ability of someone who is not a carrier of the hemophilia mutation. Carriers may experience heavy menstrual periods characterized by clots larger than a quarter, bleeding for more than seven days, or a large amount of blood that limits daily activities. Heavy bleeding from childbirth or dental surgery is also common among women who carry the hemophilia mutation. Some women are diagnosed with hemophilia because they either inherited a mutated X chromosome from both parents, meaning they have two mutated X chromosomes, or their non-mutated X chromosome is either inactive or missing. This situation is extremely rare, but it does result in hemophilia symptoms similar to the symptoms in males with hemophilia.  A Howell, New Jersey, medical practitioner, Kenneth D. Nahum, DO, provides knowledgeable hematology and oncology care for patients living with cancer and blood disorders. Areas in which Dr. Kenneth D. Nahum has extensive experience include autologous stem cell transplantation, which involves the replacement of the blood stem cells, which are needed to generate new blood cells.
Typically undertaken in tandem with high-dose chemotherapy associated with lymphoma, the process starts before chemotherapy with the collection and storage of one’s own blood stem cells. This requires “mobilization,” or the transfer of stem cells from the bone marrow into the bloodstream, and is accomplished via daily injections of G-CSF or a similar naturally occurring growth factor. This stimulates the bone marrow to produce more stem cells than usual and encourages their movement into the bloodstream. With growth factor injections lasting 7-10 days, side effects are usually minimal and include bone and muscle aches and pains. Once a sufficient number of stem cells have accumulated in the bloodstream, a cell separation device is employed to separate stem cells from blood extracted from one arm before returning the blood to the other arm. This stem cell material is then stored until after chemotherapy when it can be returned to the bloodstream and used to replenish the body’s stores. |
AuthorA practicing partner of Regional Cancer Care Associates, Dr. Kenneth D. Nahum, DO, has over 30 years of experience treating cancer patients in New Jersey and surrounding areas. Archives
December 2018
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