Having the famous forebear can also be a burden, but this Compton,29, has already exceeded the highest Test score his grandfather, Denis, made against New Zealand in New Zealand, which was 79.

He still has some way to go to match the 17 hundreds Denis Compton made for England, and he possesses little of his dash, but he is on his way now with the almost certain guarantee of an Ashes series to add lustre to any more he might score.

His hundred here in Dunedin was chanceless, as was Cook’s, though England’s situation was perfectly tailored to his personality and style.

Needing to bat at least five sessions to save the match, after conceding a first innings deficit of 293, it was if the spec had been written specially for him, his strengths being patience and an organised mind used to plotting long innings.

His concentration was so fierce that he did not appear to notice when Brendon McCullum, in an attempt to work a wicket, posted two fielders at short mid-on and then swapped them around just as Tim Southee ran in to bowl.

Here in Dunedin, on a pitch that had gone to sleep and against an attack that had one pace bowler feeling his way back after injury (Southee), two more with 15 Tests between them and a spinner making his debut, he looked in control despite getting bogged down in the nineties.

In fact, the biggest threat seemed to come from the run-out with him and Cook having several close shaves, ones that might have been terminal had New Zealand’s fielders managed to hit the stumps direct.

Apart from those occasional mix ups, having Cook as an opening partner is clearly a solace to Compton.

England’s captain has already given his public support to him as well as extolling the virtues of having a left-right combination at the head of the order, to jog bowlers off their line.

Their stand had reached 231 when Trent Boult dismissed Cook for 116, beating the previous highest opening partnership for England against New Zealand, the 223 made by Graeme Fowler and Chris Tavare at the Oval in 1983.

It was also Cook and Compton's third 100-partnership together from ten attempts, a higher percentage, for now, than Cook and Andrew Strauss, who made 12 century stands from 117 innings.

Cook reached his hundred first, with a swept four off Bruce Martin, but it was a facsimile of so many Cook centuries of late, being based on a watertight defence and a clinical dispatch of the bad ball.

When you see him as resolutely back to business as he was yesterday, you wonder why he appeared so flaky in the first innings when, uncharacteristically for him, he was not in control of his shots striking the ball in the air several times.

Perhaps he felt the need to be positive against New Zealand in the first innings after they had won the toss and put England in to bat and, as senior partner, he had wanted to make the running.

Strauss did something similar when Cook first started and fell foul of it, a lesson the latter appears to have learnt from, given his return to old ways, in the space of an innings.

With his hundred, Cook now draws ahead of the quartet of England batsmen, which includes Kevin Pietersen, on 22 Test hundreds to join Vivian Richards, one of the great cricketers, on 24.

Cook has none of Richards' charisma or virtuosity but he tends to get the job done with a minimum of fuss, which has its attractions.

With two days to go, and a match to be saved, his job here was to see England through to stumps without loss.

He failed, just, but if most would have forgiven him the tired nibble he had at Boult with the second new ball, he was not in the mood, angrily swishing his bat in disappointment as he trudged off, his standards long set higher than everyone else.

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Having the famous forebear can also be a burden, but this Compton,29, has already exceeded the highest Test score his grandfather, Denis, made against New Zealand in New Zealand, which was 79.

He still has some way to go to match the 17 hundreds Denis Compton made for England, and he possesses little of his dash, but he is on his way now with the almost certain guarantee of an Ashes series to add lustre to any more he might score.

His hundred here in Dunedin was chanceless, as was Cook’s, though England’s situation was perfectly tailored to his personality and style.

Needing to bat at least five sessions to save the match, after conceding a first innings deficit of 293, it was if the spec had been written specially for him, his strengths being patience and an organised mind used to plotting long innings.

His concentration was so fierce that he did not appear to notice when Brendon McCullum, in an attempt to work a wicket, posted two fielders at short mid-on and then swapped them around just as Tim Southee ran in to bowl.

Here in Dunedin, on a pitch that had gone to sleep and against an attack that had one pace bowler feeling his way back after injury (Southee), two more with 15 Tests between them and a spinner making his debut, he looked in control despite getting bogged down in the nineties.

In fact, the biggest threat seemed to come from the run-out with him and Cook having several close shaves, ones that might have been terminal had New Zealand’s fielders managed to hit the stumps direct.

Apart from those occasional mix ups, having Cook as an opening partner is clearly a solace to Compton.

England’s captain has already given his public support to him as well as extolling the virtues of having a left-right combination at the head of the order, to jog bowlers off their line.

Their stand had reached 231 when Trent Boult dismissed Cook for 116, beating the previous highest opening partnership for England against New Zealand, the 223 made by Graeme Fowler and Chris Tavare at the Oval in 1983.

It was also Cook and Compton's third 100-partnership together from ten attempts, a higher percentage, for now, than Cook and Andrew Strauss, who made 12 century stands from 117 innings.

Cook reached his hundred first, with a swept four off Bruce Martin, but it was a facsimile of so many Cook centuries of late, being based on a watertight defence and a clinical dispatch of the bad ball.

When you see him as resolutely back to business as he was yesterday, you wonder why he appeared so flaky in the first innings when, uncharacteristically for him, he was not in control of his shots striking the ball in the air several times.

Perhaps he felt the need to be positive against New Zealand in the first innings after they had won the toss and put England in to bat and, as senior partner, he had wanted to make the running.

Strauss did something similar when Cook first started and fell foul of it, a lesson the latter appears to have learnt from, given his return to old ways, in the space of an innings.

With his hundred, Cook now draws ahead of the quartet of England batsmen, which includes Kevin Pietersen, on 22 Test hundreds to join Vivian Richards, one of the great cricketers, on 24.

Cook has none of Richards' charisma or virtuosity but he tends to get the job done with a minimum of fuss, which has its attractions.

With two days to go, and a match to be saved, his job here was to see England through to stumps without loss.

He failed, just, but if most would have forgiven him the tired nibble he had at Boult with the second new ball, he was not in the mood, angrily swishing his bat in disappointment as he trudged off, his standards long set higher than everyone else.

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Compton was under pressure from the emergence of Joe Root and his first innings duck, which followed a steady, if unspectacular, tour to India.

But he can now look forward to a chance to play against Australia this summer, 50 years since his grandfather, Denis, hit the runs which win the Ashes at the Oval in coronation year.

Despite a nervous start he ended the day 102 not out after setting an England record opening stand against New Zealand with Alastair Cook, who scored his 24th Test hundred typically leading from the front after his side’s first innings disaster.

“To get to this moment is something special,” said Compton, who added 231 with Cook for the first wicket. “I never thought I would be sitting here right now with a Test hundred. I kept believing it even though it has been a long time. It is a strange feeling.

“I was well aware of that [pressure]. Joe is a fantastic talent. He has played brilliantly over the last year. You don’t need to read the press. You instinctively know what you need to do.

I felt this innings was very important and I needed to pull something out. It was great that I could. I will probably look back and wonder how it happened but I just tried to keep my head down and focus.”

His father, Richard, was picked out by the television cameras at the ground in tears as Compton reached his century.

Compton said the family have had a hard time in recent years, his sister Alex was left paraplegic after a car accident five years ago, and the weight of the occasion was palpable as he batted through the 90s.

A direct hit would have run him out on 94 when he went for a risky single and he almost edged a seaming delivery from Tim Southee when he was three short of his hundred.

But a single tucked through midwicket off Southee brought up his century and an outpouring of relief shortly afterwards.

“I was holding back the emotions,” he said. “It was one of those where I was itching to have a flap at the spinner [to get to his hundred] before the new ball but obviously the bigger picture – drawing the game – was something Cooky reminded me of. I managed to reign myself in. I tried to hold my nerve and here I am.”

Compton is always proud of talking about his grandfather, Denis, but this is his time and he understandably wants to forge his own identity in cricket.

“I am sure it is nice to do something my grandfather did but right now I am happy for myself and obviously my family,” he said. “I had a few family issues back home. I am proud he [father] is here and to give that to both my parents to take home with them.”

He described Cook’s pre-match assessment of his opening partner’s intense character as a “fair appraisal”. There have been many players with the talent to succeed but unable to free themselves from the pressure to thrive in Test cricket and there were fears Compton was heading the same way.

He has waited a long time for his chance, spending a decade on the county circuit, and you sensed it would have been a crushing blow to him if he had let this chance to play in the summer’s Ashes series slip by.

But now an English Ashes summer is likely to again feature the name Compton.

“You just don’t want to let yourself down,” he said. “It is something you have worked towards for a long time and want to make most of the opportunity. This is a great England team to be part of and you want to stay part of it too.

“I have always been someone who has analysed myself quite a lot and probably to my detriment, but in some ways it has also got me where I am. That hunger that drive. I had a lot of time to think in the field [about his first innings duck].

It is a good wicket out there. I just had to find a way. It was not always pretty. I knew I had it in me. It was just something I needed to prove to myself. How you get them doesn’t really matter as long as you have got them.”

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The Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance would like to thank Shelia Philyaw, the Advocate of the Month for March. In an interview with Shelia, we learned how cancer has affected her family, with mesothelioma affecting her mother. As a nurse, Shelia has been a key caregiver for her family and wanted to share her story, knowledge and support with the MCA community.

MCA: Has cancer affected you in some way? If so, in what way? Tell us about your experience.

Shelia Philyaw: I am a retired registered nurse and have worked with cancer patients and their families throughout my career. My paternal grandfather had prostate cancer, a paternal aunt had colon cancer, a maternal uncle had bone cancer, and my mother suffered from mesothelioma cancer. Being in the field of caring, I was enabled to be a strong support for my family, as well as caregiver for my mom.

MCA: How has this shaped you as the person you are today?

Shelia: I have learned so much about mesothelioma, I feel like an expert. I also believe support systems are very important for the patient, family and primary caregivers. Mesothelioma is a terrible disease and if one life can be spared, then I am happy. My faith in God is stronger, He gave me 21 months to tell my Mom goodbye, give her love and the best care possible.

MCA: If you were affected by cancer, what are the two biggest things you learned through this experience?

Shelia: Research and clinical trial participation is imperative to move forward to find the cure for all cancers. Mesothelioma is so rare statistically that we must be proactive with this Alliance to get more done.

Unfortunately, there comes a time to let go and families need support through this process. Cherish every moment with a loved one because in the blink of an eye, they may be gone!

MCA: What was your motivation to become the MCA Advocate of the Month?

Shelia: My motivation to MCA Advocate of the Month was to honor the memory of my mother who died Dec. 14, 2010 from mesothelioma. She was my best friend and mentor.

MCA: If you could say one thing to the world about mesothelioma specifically, what would it be?

Shelia: Awareness of asbestos and what diseases it can cause, especially mesothelioma is imperative. Other than commercials by lawyers, there is limited information for the public.

MCA: Is there anything else you would like to say to the MCA community?

Shelia: I want anyone who has mesothelioma or their family to be compassionate, trust in the medical professionals, do your own research, talk to someone who has been in the same or a similar situation, lean on others, and have faith.

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A cancer diagnosis can bring out the fighting spirit in many patients. Despite grim statistics and difficult treatments, read these inspirational stories of women who looked their prognosis in the eye and kicked cancer's butt! Their diagnosis not only inspired these strong women to fight for their life, but it also inspired them to give back to the cancer community in huge ways. By starting organizations, businesses, and events to name a few, these women are spreading awareness and hope to so many fighting similar battles.

When Denise McCroskey was diagnosed with Stage 3 triple positive breast cancer in October 2012, she began a blog so she could inform family and friends of her progress. Denise had no idea that her blog would impact and inform over 60,000 people about breast cancer from 126 countries in one year. Denise chronicled her journey with over 100 blog posts about her mastectomy, five months of chemotherapy, 33 radiation treatments, and lymphedema as a result of lymph node involvement. While writing, she gives helpful tips sprinkled with a little humor to help others navigate the tumultuous journey of breast cancer.

Over 500 women have contacted Denise for a listening ear. The majority of women and men who write are enduring chemotherapy and need encouragement to get through it. Breast cancer survivors frequently contact Denise because they need assistance in how to adjust to their new lives after cancer. Visit Denise's blog at denise4health!

In 1999, Mary Treacy O’Keefe was diagnosed with breast cancer. Within days of her mastectomy, she developed life-threatening infections. Besides good medical care, she credits healing touch with her dramatic recovery. This holistic treatment was her first exposure to the integrative therapies that helped foster healing of mind, body and spirit. Mary also used guided imagery and support groups to deal with the fear and anxiety that so often accompany a cancer diagnosis. As a result of her own and others’ positive experiences with complementary therapies, Mary co-founded Well Within, a nonprofit wellness resource center in 2004. Thanks to many caring volunteers (including Mary), Well Within offers low cost and free holistic therapies, workshops, retreats and support groups to anyone seeking healing and wellbeing. An author and speaker, Mary also hosts the Hope, Healing and Wellbeing internet radio show. For more information, please visit Well Within or Mary's website.

Tari is a cancer survivor and yoga teacher since 2003. She is the founder of Yoga4Cancer and the Retreat Project (nonprofit) -businesses that are bringing specialized yoga to cancer survivors through classes & retreats. Also she leads a robust teacher training program to enable yoga teachers to adapt all styles to fit the unique needs of cancer patients & survivors.

“I found yoga a powerful tool to manage the daily challenges of cancer treatments as well as the side effects and life-long vulnerabilities they create. Yoga gave me emotional support & spiritual comfort so needed during recovery. I was curious why yoga was doing so much for me. My research made it clear why yoga strengthens the immune system, thus providing, among other things, protection against a cancer recurrence.”

Through research, she has developed a carefully constructed system of yoga poses and sequences, each one based on the unique needs of cancer survivors. Her practical guide to the benefits of yoga for all cancer patients will be published in her book, "Yoga Prescription: Using Yoga to Reclaim Your Life During and After Cancer" out later this year.

For more information, please visit y4c.com

A breast cancer survivor and Las Vegas Showgirl, Alisa Savoretti was 38 and without insurance at the time of her diagnosis. Following a mastectomy and only 5 months after finishing her chemotherapy, she returned to the Las Vegas stage and her career as a professional dancer – this time however, minus one breast. Alisa had to wait nearly 3 years to acquire her own reconstruction. She realized then that there is a huge gap in treatment that existed for “uninsured” women suffering from a mastectomy. Founded by Alisa in 2003, My Hope Chest helps women with the last step in breast cancer treatment – reconstruction. The national organization is the only one of its kind that links women who need reconstructive surgery with surgeons who are willing to do the work on a pro-bono basis.

When diagnosed with melanoma skin cancer, the most deadly type of skin cancer, at age 23, Katie was scared, confused, and felt guilty. An avid tanning bed user as a teen, she felt responsible for her cancer. She also felt discouraged by her friends who continued to use tanning beds after they learned of her diagnosis. In 2012, Katie launched her blog, Pretty in Pale, with the mission of educating young people about skin cancer without sounding preachy. In February 2013, she testified in support of a tanning bed ban for minors in Oregon, and she's coordinating the 2nd Annual Portland Melanoma Walk. Katie is currently cancer free and hopes to continue advocating for early detection and prevention of skin cancer.

At the age of 36, and only 3 ½ months after giving birth to her first and only child, Heather Von St. James was diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma. With a prognosis of 15 months if she decided to forgo treatment, Heather knew she had a rough road ahead of her. Her quest to survive in order to be there for her daughter led her to Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston where she underwent a risky and fairly new surgical procedure called an extrapleural pneumonectomy.

Today, Heather is a seven-year survivor and continues to share her story as a means of inspiration for mesothelioma. Because mesothelioma has such a grim prognosis, Heather carries out her mission to be a beacon of hope for those afflicted with mesothelioma by sharing her story of faith, hope and courage both as a keynote speaker at conferences and through social media forums. Every year, on the anniversary of her surgery, Heather celebrates "Lungleavin Day" It's a celebration of life and hope, and each year the guest list grows. What started out as a celebration with family and loved ones has now become an event for the greater mesothelioma community with money being raised for mesothelioma research. Her blog is a place of inspiration for so many people dealing with mesothelioma.

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Among the many challenges of managing malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is reliably assessing the response of the disease to our treatment. We don’t want to discard a treatment that is effective, nor do we want to have patients continue on a treatment that isn’t helpful but is causing significant side effects. In oncology, we typically grade our work by comparing an imaging study like a computerized tomography (CT) scan of the chest done after 2-3 cycles of systemic therapy (usually covering a 6-9 week interval) to a baseline scan performed prior to the start of treatment. As you’d suspect, significant tumor shrinkage is good, while growth is bad, and stable disease is somewhere in between. Typically, we want to continue our treatment in the absence of significant progression or prohibitive side effects.

So why is it so difficult to measure response in MPM? Unlike most solid tumors, MPM doesn’t typically appear on scans as a well circumscribed sphere that can be easily measured. Instead, it appears as a rind around the lung, often with irregular contours, sometimes areas of benign plaques from asbestos exposure, and collections of pleural fluid filling the cavity between the outside of the lung and the inner chest wall. Patients who have undergone a palliative pleurodesis, an intervention in which there is deliberate inflammation within the pleural space in order to cause scarring and close off that space (and thereby prevent fluid from filling there), will typically have marked thickening in that area that represents inflammation and scarring (the desired effect of the pleurodesis) that can be remarkably difficult to distinguish from active cancer.

There are various ways to contend with the challenges of measuring response to treatment for MPM. First, metabolic/functional imaging with positron emission tomography (PET) scanning along with fused CT images is often employed, as it can be instructive to see the level of metabolic activity decrease or increase as an indicator of response or progression, respectively, particularly when the thickness of the rind of tissue thought to represent MPM is not obviously increasing or decreasing in thickness. It is worth noting, however, that a pleurodesis is also expected to transiently increase PET activity in the pleural space in the weeks and perhaps even months after this procedure is performed, so it is necessary to be cautious about interpreting changes in PET uptake that have developed following a pleurodesis. Another clue can come from changes in a patient’s symptoms: many patients with MPM will experience chest wall pain from their underlying disease, and changes in a patient’s symptoms are another helpful indicator of the direction that the cancer is moving in when imaging is notoriously ambiguous. Finally, a blood test such as levels of soluble mesothelin-related proteins (MSRP) can potentially serve as a serum-based indicator that the cancer is responding or progressing.

Ideally, we would hope to have a test for assessing treatment response in MPM that is widely available and well validated. We are limited in the relative infrequency of the disease, with patients treated in a wide range of settings with varied levels of expertise in interpreting imaging results that are often ambiguous and complex. In this setting, it is often necessary to accept greater ambiguity, to be pleased to see an absence of convincing progression, and to utilize additional clues such as the trajectory of a patient’s cancer-related symptoms and potentially serum-based testing such as MSRP levels to provide greater direction as we do our best to make good judgments about the value of the treatment being administered.

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Presenting Up-to-Date Mesothelioma Topics

Today, February 4th, is World Cancer Day. Tag your loved one who is fighting, has survived, or has lost the battle to cancer on our Memory Candle and SHARE it to keep the flame burning!

Last year, the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance shared this photo via Facebook in support of World Cancer Day and received over 18,000 likes and was shared over 220,000 times. This year, we hope to continue to share our virtual candle to support World Cancer Day and spread awareness for victims, survivors, and loved ones affected by mesothelioma.

World Cancer Day was founded by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) as a day for raising awareness for all types of cancer to encourage education, detection, treatment, and prevention. This year’s mission of World Cancer Day is focused on Target 5 of the World Cancer Declaration—to dispel the myths and misconceptions about cancer. These myths are:

Myth 1) Cancer is just a health issue.
Myth 2) Cancer is a disease of the wealthy, elderly and developed countries.
Myth 3) Cancer is a death sentence.
Myth 4) Cancer is my fate.

This year on February 4th, tag your loved one who is fighting, has survived, or has lost the battle to cancer on our candle and SHARE it to keep the flame of our Memory Candle burning!

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