Unfortunately, no person is immune from disease. The information that appeared at the beginning of this year about the terrible illness of the famous Russian singer Zhanna Friske shocked literally everyone: doctors diagnosed the ex-soloist of “Brilliant” with a malignant tumor. And until the star’s husband made official confirmation of this, many Runet users simply refused to believe that Zhanna Friske had brain cancer.
I am very glad that a huge number of Russians did not remain indifferent to the singer’s illness.
At present, we can confidently say that the events that unfolded immediately after this sad news were confirmed. Everyone wanted to support the pop star and her family morally and financially.
How dangerous is glioblastoma?
Medical experts did not deny that Zhanna Friske has brain cancer. The singer was diagnosed with glioblastoma. This pathology refers to primary brain tumors. The specifics of treatment depend on which areas are affected by the disease. If the tumor occurs in close proximity to the cerebral cortex and the disease can affect the centers responsible for movement and speech, then symptoms appear immediately. In this case, the patient often loses consciousness and becomes impaired. In such cases, a person usually immediately runs to a doctor; in most cases, the pathology can be stopped at the initial stage, and treatment here can be considered an effective measure.
However, if a malignant tumor is located in the deep structures of the cerebral hemispheres, then visual diagnosis is often very difficult.
It should be emphasized that Zhanna Friske has stage 4 brain cancer.
If we talk about primary glioblastoma, then, as a rule, it is not accompanied by metastases. So said one of the neurosurgery doctors
Many are still interested in the question of why Zhanna Friske developed brain cancer in the first place. Experts gave comments on this matter as well.
Causes
So, for what reasons could Zhanna Friske get cancer? Doctors' predictions regarding the origins of the disease boil down to the following: some claim that the singer developed it as a result of the fact that the Russian pop star spent a lot of time working in Mexico, and subsequently moved to Miami. Everyone knows that in the USA and “the homeland of tequila” there is a bright and burning sun, which could negatively affect the singer’s body.
One of the neurosurgery specialists Andrei Grin informed that in medical practice Patients who have undergone surgery to remove a malignant tumor often experience a relapse after they go on vacation to warm countries.
Other experts argue that Zhanna Friske’s glioblastoma appeared due to the fact that the former lead singer of “Brilliant” abused the use of anti-aging procedures, the purpose of which was to produce stem cells in the spinal canal. Naturally, this increased the risk of malignant tumors, which usually occur in several places at once.
Zhanna Friske probably could have foreseen it after all. There are cases when the disease does not cause any harm to a person at all, and sometimes simply “dead-end” situations arise when the doctor is unable to help his patient, and then there is only one thing left - to transform the pathology into some kind of remission in order to extend his days at least a little . This is what one of the neurosurgery specialists, Dmitry Okishev, said.
The singer did not immediately turn to doctors
According to the pop diva's relatives, she did not immediately seek medical help. In the middle of last year, her headaches became more frequent, she constantly felt drowsy and repeatedly lost consciousness. Only after these alarming symptoms did Zhanna Friske begin to show concern about her own health. She turned to doctors, who diagnosed her with a terrible illness. At the same time, American experts were sure that the singer would not live even two months. Naturally, they did not tell close relatives about this. However, their expectations were subsequently not confirmed.
Difficult choice of clinic
For Zhanna's relatives, choosing a clinic for treatment was not easy. They took her to Germany, the USA, and also to famous cancer centers in our country. Ultimately, it was decided to treat the singer in New York.
The singer's current health status
Zhanna Friske’s diagnosis shocked not only her family and friends, but also the entire Russian public. The singer’s colleagues tried their best to help her, and even took part in an event to raise money needed for treatment abroad. The fact is that it was impossible to delay with him, because Zhanna’s vision suddenly deteriorated, and she herself suddenly lost weight. It was decided to carry out treatment in the USA. Almost immediately, the singer was prescribed a course of chemotherapy, which certainly had a positive effect on the pop star’s health. However, it is still very premature to talk about Zhanna Friske’s complete healing. After using medications, swelling appeared on the singer’s body, and it is very difficult to recognize the old Zhanna in her.
Positive dynamics
Today, the singer’s condition has stabilized, her health has improved somewhat, and she is seriously considering the issue of a further treatment strategy. The singer no longer intends to undergo chemotherapy.
American media reported that the Russian pop diva decided to be treated with an experimental nanovaccine in one of the medical centers located in Los Angeles.
Since the girl sees poorly, she is forced to wear dark glasses. The reason for the deterioration of the singer’s vision is obvious: Zhanna Friske has brain cancer. A malignant tumor certainly affects the optic nerve. As soon as doctors manage to reduce the affected area, vision will be restored, experts report.
It should be emphasized that doctors have already made some progress in this direction. There is a possibility that it is possible to completely “overcome” cancer.
Zhanna Friske's family is next to her
Today, next to the singer are the people most dear to her: mother - Olga Vladimirovna, husband - Dmitry Shepelev, son Platon and friend from the musical group “Brilliant” - All of them provide every possible support to the singer.
The singer's father, Vladimir Borisovich, also informed Russian print media that his daughter refused chemotherapy procedures. As for the new drug, which is specifically designed to combat glioblastoma, only its name is known - ICT-107 and the fact that the vaccine was recently successfully tested in medical laboratories in Los Angeles.
Opinion of Russian experts
Russian doctors do not believe that it was necessary to send the singer “abroad” for treatment, since similar vaccines were created by Russian scientists.
When the public was actively discussing what happened to the singer, the capital’s oncologists expressed disapproval that Zhanna Friske chose to be treated by their foreign colleagues, reproaching her for lack of patriotism. As the chief oncologist of the Russian capital said, in our country there is better treatment, and it is also completely free.
In addition to this, experts recognized that the developed drugs belong to the experimental category, therefore they are not always used and are not always effective.
On June 15, 2015, Zhanna Friske, the ex-soloist of the group “Brilliant”, a popular singer and actress, passed away. The cause of Friske’s death was a malignant brain tumor - the singer struggled with an incurable disease, brain cancer, for two years. Doctors' opinions were divided as to what exactly caused Zhanna's illness.
Progress of the disease
The fact that Zhanna Friske was suffering from inoperable brain cancer became known shortly after the singer gave birth to her son Plato - in early June 2013. The diagnosis put an end to all hopes: glioblastoma, an inoperable brain tumor. The first symptom was headaches, but the disease progressed rapidly. Soon Zhanna stopped appearing in public. In January 2014, family and relatives confirmed in a statement on the singer’s official website that Zhanna was seriously ill. The singer’s diagnosis was confirmed by the chief oncologist of the Russian Federation, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences Mikhail Davydov. According to doctors, the singer had no more than a month to live.
Around the same time, Friske left for treatment in the United States - she underwent the necessary procedures at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. This was followed by rehabilitation in Latvia, another course of treatment in China, again a course in an American hospital (this time in Los Angeles) and, finally, treatment in Moscow, at the Russian Oncology Research Center named after N. N. Blokhin. Although the latest drugs gave Friska almost 2 years of life, in the last months of her life doctors could not help the singer. For the last three months before her death, Friske was in a coma, without regaining consciousness.
What caused Zhanna Friske's cancer
Doctors began arguing about what caused Friske’s cancer at the beginning of 2014, when the singer’s family confirmed her diagnosis - and they continue to argue to this day. For a long time, one of the most popular versions was the version associated with the rejuvenation procedures that Zhanna allegedly underwent. The procedures involved the injection of stem cells into the spinal canal - and as a result of the body’s rejection of “foreign” tissues, the development of a tumor could well begin.
However, some representatives of medicine also called even more ridiculous versions - for example, that brain cancer is provoked by too much exposure to the sun, in fact, by solar radiation.
Could IVF cause the disease?
After the funeral of Zhanna Friske, discussion of the causes of cancer flared up with renewed vigor. A number of medical experts have put forward a new version - according to doctors, the cause of brain cancer in Friske could have been an IVF (in vitro fertilization) procedure.
Having celebrated her 30th birthday, the singer began to dream of a child, but could not get pregnant for several years in a row. Zhanna underwent the IVF procedure several times after meeting Dmitry Shepelev, her husband, and doctors claim that it could have caused a malignant brain tumor.
Although IVF has been used in medical practice since 1978, the health risks of this procedure have not yet been fully studied. The procedure itself consists of “external” fertilization of eggs, after which the resulting embryos are grown in a special incubator and only then transferred to the mother’s uterus. IVF is a complex treatment method that involves the constant use of hormonal medications to stimulate ovulation and subsequent pregnancy management.
It is precisely because IVF treatment involves the constant use of hormonal drugs that it disrupts a woman’s natural hormonal balance - and can provoke many health problems. In the rarest cases, indeed, these diseases can threaten not only the health, but also the life of a person - as, apparently, happened to Zhanna Friske.
The singer and actress, who in half a month would have turned only 41 years old.
Zhanna for two years: brain cancer was discovered in the singer almost immediately after her son Plato was born. The boy recently turned 2 years old.
They tried to treat the actress in the best clinics in Germany and the USA. At some point, it seemed that the disease had receded, but it only lay low. The singer's father, after she died, admitted that for the last three months Zhanna had been in a coma.
In recent days, in medical circles, doctors have been discussing in a half-whisper the reason that provoked brain cancer in a young and seemingly healthy woman (moreover, in its rare form - glioblastoma).
The director of the Center on Kashirskoe Highway in Moscow (where Zhanna was recently treated) - the chief oncologist of Russia, Mikhail Davydov, admitted in an interview with MK: Zhanna, alas, had no chance to survive. According to him, the maximum that a person with such a disease can live is one and a half years.
When asked by a correspondent whether Zhanna’s pregnancy (in particular, IVF) could provoke this terrible disease, Davydov replied: “IVF only accelerated the growth of a tumor already existing in the brain. In general, any pregnancy acts as a provocateur of many diseases, to which a person has a predisposition. And especially IVF, when there is a powerful hormonal attack on the body. And even more so if a person has a tumor (Friske could already have one).”
“Perhaps this tumor was very small. IVF provoked its growth. After all, her headaches began immediately after the birth of the child,” explained the chief oncologist of Russia.
Other doctors partly agree with his opinion. Thus, in an interview with Sobesednik, oncologist Olga Fadeeva noted: “A malignant formation does not appear in a week or two - it usually “ripes” for years. So childbirth cannot cause cancer, but it can provoke a sharp growth of a tumor that formed even before pregnancy. - Yes".
Gynecologist-reproductologist Ivan Barinov, for his part, reports that extensive examinations of patients who resorted to in vitro fertilization (IVF) were carried out in the USA and Europe. According to him, “the same data were obtained everywhere - in vitro conception does not increase the risk of developing cancer.”
However, Barinov notes, not every woman who has had cancer in the past is allowed to undergo IVF - the decision on this is made by the oncologist.
“However, if a healthy girl who became a mother through artificial insemination is diagnosed with cancer soon after giving birth, then this disease was probably missed even before pregnancy,” says gynecologist-reproductologist Ivan Barinov. “Although, by law, all patients must undergo IVF before the IVF procedure.” examination by specialists of various profiles."
In a commentary on this topic to Komsomolskaya Pravda, obstetrician-gynecologist Vera Balan explained: “Cancer “matures” for 15-20 years. And it cannot appear just like that after an IVF procedure! It’s a different matter if the tumor has been hiding for many years without causing any complaints, then during pregnancy it could begin to grow. After all, pregnancy is a serious hormonal and immune change, everything in the body changes."
At the same time, the doctor noted that during the IVF procedure, the existing tumor might not have been noticed. According to her, “IVF and pregnancy cannot be the CAUSE of brain cancer, but any hormonal “storm” can accelerate the development.
The day before with Zhanna Friske at the Moscow concert hall "Crocus City Hall". With the singer... June 18 in the Moscow region.
The director of the oncology center on Kashirka, Mikhail Davydov, said that Zhanna had been treated there for the last three months
In the last months of her life, she underwent treatment at the Oncology Center on Kashirskoe Highway in Moscow. The director of the Center, the chief oncologist of Russia, Mikhail Davydov, told us about this. According to Mikhail Ivanovich, Zhanna, alas, had no chance to survive.
— Mikhail Ivanovich, at the beginning of last year, Zhanna Friske turned to you to confirm (or refute) her terrible diagnosis - brain cancer, its rare form - glioblastoma. And then Zhanna passed away. Was this ending inevitable?
— Unfortunately, with such a diagnosis, yes. The maximum that a person with this disease can live is one and a half years.
— Is there really no salvation anywhere in the world from this terrible glioblastoma?
- Alas, nowhere yet.
— Why then do all people with cancer strive to get treatment abroad (in Germany, the USA), where, by the way, Zhanna was treated? What is missing in Russia that is there?
- “There” is the same as here. Cancer treatment regimens are the same everywhere, they have already been worked out to the smallest detail: radiation and chemotherapy are used. Some people say that chemical medicines are better abroad. But we also have the same imported drugs.
Why exactly did Zhanna Friske go to the USA for treatment and then to Germany? Her friends took care of this, raised money, Zhanna is a famous person in Russia. , they wanted what was best. And, thank God, today a person has the opportunity to choose where to receive treatment. But, I repeat, the methods of treating cancer both in Russia and abroad are the same.
— Zhanna, as far as I know, was treated at your center?
— Yes, she has been receiving outpatient treatment with us for the last three months. We used all possible supportive therapy for this. But, unfortunately, she didn’t help either.
— What could have caused Friske’s cancer? Could her pregnancy, in particular IVF, have had an impact?
— IVF only accelerated the growth of a tumor already present in the brain. In general, any pregnancy acts as a provocateur of many diseases, to which a person has a predisposition. And even more so IVF, when there is a powerful hormonal attack on the body. And even more so if a person has a tumor (Friske could already have one). Perhaps this tumor was very small. IVF provoked its growth. After all, her headaches began immediately after the birth of the child.
— What other factors can provoke cancer in a person, besides the well-known ones - radiation, heredity? Is there any suggestion that even a mobile phone can affect the growth of cancer cells?
— There is no reliable evidence of this yet.
“It is known that of all cancers, brain tumors account for only one and a half percent. Is it difficult to detect? Or are there other reasons?
— Indeed, a brain tumor is a rather rare disease. Especially in adults. More often detected in children. Approximately 20% of children have tumors of the central nervous system. But it doesn’t show up right away for everyone.
— What symptoms should you pay attention to?
— Prolonged headache, dizziness, blurred vision (this was also the case with Friske), impaired sensitivity of the limbs, nausea, vomiting, drowsiness, impaired memory and speech should be on your guard.
On April 7, 2013, Zhanna Friske gave birth to a son, Plato. On June 7 of the same year, Zhanna's father learned that the singer had a brain tumor. It all started when Zhanna began to complain of headaches. And when I was in Miami, I went swimming and didn’t return for a long time. Then it turned out that she had confused heaven and earth. Zhanna often went to bed and darkened the rooms with curtains. And there was a case when she tried to put Plato to sleep, holding him upside down.
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Zhanna fainted. The worst thing is that at these moments, according to Vladimir, she was “severely crippled,” and the doctors feared that she would break her spine. Therefore, Zhanna began to be tied up.
In New York they found a very expensive medicine that helped Zhanna. So much so that her tumor began to disintegrate. As Friske explained, it was impossible to get rid of the tumor surgically - it was too far away and there was a risk that after the operation Zhanna would “become a vegetable,” as Vladimir put it. The same drug had a miraculous effect on the singer.
Vladimir advised Dmitry Shepelev to consolidate his success and invite the director of the Institute of Virology to help, but the TV presenter refused. And two months later Zhanna began to relapse. Friske said that when her daughter could no longer speak, she was asked who to leave Plato with. And Zhanna chose her friend Olga Orlova.
According to Friske, at the end of her life Zhanna realized what kind of person Dmitry Shepelev was. When he came (and, as Vladimir said, in two years the presenter was with her for 56-60 days), Zhanna turned away, her pulse even quickened.
Friske’s friend Alena Premudroff also appeared in the studio of the show “Secret for a Million”. She stated that Zhanna suffered from headaches long before pregnancy. And she even fainted. She advised her to visit a doctor, but she did not listen to her.
After giving birth, when the disease progressed, Zhanna, according to her friend, became simply unbearable. According to Alena, it was impossible to communicate with the singer; they often quarreled, and over trifles. Vladimir Friske admitted that his wife’s parents and older sister died of cancer.