Netflix's 'Halston' & The Designer's Cancer Battle
- American designer Halston, who died of cancer in 1990, is the subject of a new hit series on Netflix.
- Halston passed after a 1.5-year battle with AIDS and AIDS-related lung cancer. He was 57 years old.
- Lung cancer treatment options include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, targeted drug therapy, and immunotherapy.
In it, Halston is portrayed by actor Ewan McGregor. The Scottish actor is transformative in the role, and the internet is loving him in it, along with his costars, like Krysta Rodriguez who plays Liza Minnelli.
Read MoreHalston’s Kaposi’s Sarcoma Battle
Halston died in 1990 after a 1.5-year battle with AIDS and AIDS-related lung cancer called Kaposi sarcoma. According to the Mayo Clinic, “People infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) the virus that causes AIDS have the highest risk of Kaposi sarcoma. The immune system damage caused by HIV allows cells harboring HHV-8 to multiply. Through unknown mechanisms, the characteristic lesions form.”Kaposi sarcoma is a cancer that develops from the cells that line lymph or blood vessels, according to the American Cancer Society. The cancer generally presents as lesions on the skin or mucosal surfaces such as inside the mouth. The lesions — purple, red or brown blotches – can also develop in the lymph nodes, the lungs or digestive tract.
Kaposi sarcoma lesions may bleed, and when the lesions are found in a person’s lungs, it may lead them to cough up blood. It can also cause shortness of breath if the lesions are blocking part of an airway. Lesions in other parts of the body, like the stomach or intestines, can cause bowel movement problems for people with this disease.
There is currently no recommended screening test to look for Kaposi sarcoma in people who are not at a high risk of developing the disease. For people with HIV, health experts recommend they be examined regularly to look for signs of this disease.
What Late Stage Lung Cancer Patients Should Know About Immunotherapy During Coronavirus
Coping with a Cancer Diagnosis
A diagnosis like Kaposi sarcoma and other cancers can feel devastating and overwhelming but it doesn’t’ have to be. Treating mental health side effects that accompany a cancer diagnosis such as anxiety, depression, and overwhelm is important.
Related: A Major Step in the Cancer Journey: Learning to Deal With Vulnerability
Dr. Scott Irwin explains the significance in an earlier interview. He says, “For prescribing medications for depression in the context of cancer, I often try to choose medications with the lowest side effect profile. If patients are getting hormonal therapy, there’s particular antidepressants that we can’t use, because they may lower the effectiveness of that hormonal therapy.”
“And so we choose antidepressants that don’t impact the cancer care,” says Dr. Iriwn. “Depression and stress make it harder to treat cancer, make it harder to tolerate the treatments. Actually, there’s data that if you have extra stress or depression that you may not recover or you have a higher risk of recurrence, so that in treating the depression, we’re actually impacting the cancer care outcomes.”
Treating Depression After a Cancer Diagnosis
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