Langerhans Cell Histiocystosis
Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis (LCH) Is a rare form of cancer caused by an excessive amount of Langerhan cells in the body. These cells form granulomas which can have a detrimental impact on the bones, spleen, liver, skin, lymph nodes, central nervous system, lungs, and other organs. Treatment for LCH varies greatly depending on the patient. Some people require no formal treatment at all while others depend on surgery, chemotherapy, steroids, or other therapies to lessen the impact of their condition.
Hannah Carlin’s Story
Hannah Carlin was diagnosed with LCH at just 16 months old. The disease caused her to lose some of her vertebrae. It also resulted in seven lesions within her skull. She required 18 months of chemotherapy which included intravenous as well as at-home oral treatments. She also was prescribed steroids and had to undergo multiple surgeries.
Her mother, Beth Heinz, was her primary caregiver during this time. The mom of two, while continuing to work full-time, managed all of Hannah’s at-home treatments.
After the chemotherapy was complete, Hannah had to wear a back brace every single day for the next 3.5 years.
Thankfully, Hannah Carlin is now thriving. She is currently a fourth year college student studying microbiology. She is also a director of her schools Colleges Against Cancer group. Though she doesn’t remember much her experience battling LCH, she still feels a great deal of empathy for others going through similar diagnoses, and can fully relate to the patient/caregiver experience.
A New Device
Researchers at the University of Minnesota Medical School have recently created a new device which could help improve outcomes for cancer patients like Hannah. Basically, it helps to monitor the treatment the patient must undergo while not at the doctor’s office. It can be hard to remember if you’ve taken a pill or not, especially when you take numerous every single day. In fact, that’s been one of the biggest setbacks in terms of transitioning chemotherapy to an oral treatment- there isn’t any surefire way to make sure the patient receives the full dose of treatment. Until now?
This device works by placing a tiny sensor, the size of a grain of salt, on each pill the patient must take. Then, the patient wears a monitor on their stomach, which receives the information from the sensors. This data is then transferred to an app from which the patient, their caregivers, and their doctor can keep track of it.
In addition to documenting which pills are taken, these sensors can also monitor vital signs such as the patients heart rate. It can even keep track of physical activity.
Researchers believe this device, made by Proteus Digital Health, could be so beneficial because it would eliminate much of the stress, worry, and doubt for patients and their caregivers. For instance, had this device been around when Beth Heinz was trying to keep track of her daughter Hannah’s chemotherapy treatments, the mother would have felt much more comfortable administering them to her child. In their case, the patient was relying solely on the caregiver, as a 16 month old clearly can’t take medications by themselves. But this puts an uncanny amount of stress on the caregiver, as they know they are solely responsible for another humans life.
This device could help alleviate that stress and make everyone more comfortable. In addition, it could help physicians by providing them a more comprehensive view of their patients life. Cancer patients don’t spend their entire life in the doctor’s office, but knowing everything that’s going on outside of that time could improve patient outcomes by ensuring physicians have the full picture.
You can read more about this potential new device for monitoring at-home chemotherapy treatments here.
