Leukemia – Causes and treatment of Leukemia

Cancer : Leukemia – Causes and treatment of Leukemia
By: Corwin Brown

Leukemia is a cancer of blood-forming cells in the bone marrow. These deranged, immature cells accumulate in the blood and within organs of the body. They are not able to carry out the normal functions of blood cells. Normal blood contains 3 major groups of cells: white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets. All 3 types of blood cells develop from one immature cell type, called blood/marrow stem cells, in a process called hematopoiesis.

In leukemia, your bone marrow produces a large number of abnormal white blood cells. They look different from normal blood cells and don't function properly. Eventually, they block production of normal white blood cells, impairing your ability to fight off infection. Leukemia cells also crowd out other types of blood cells produced by the bone marrow, including red blood cells, which carry oxygen to tissues throughout your body, and platelets, which help form blood clots.

Causes of Leukemia

Acute leukemia: In acute leukemia, the abnormal blood cells are immature blood cells (blasts). They can't carry out their normal work, and they multiply rapidly, so the disease worsens quickly. Acute leukemia requires aggressive, timely treatment.

Viruses: The human T-cell leukemia virus I (HTLV-I) is related to acute T-cell leukemia. This type of leukemia is well documented in parts of the Caribbean and Asia, but it is uncommon in the United States and Europe. Higher rates of leukemias also have been reported in workers who are exposed to animal viruses (e.g., butchers, slaughterhouse workers, veterinary practitioners).

Chronic leukemia: This type of leukemia involves more mature blood cells. These blood cells replicate or accumulate more slowly and can function normally for a period of time. Some forms of chronic leukemia produce no signs or symptoms and can go unnoticed or undiagnosed for years.

Genetics–Leukemia risk is increased 15-fold among children with Down's syndrome, which is a genetically linked chromosomal abnormality (usually an extra copy of chromosome 21). Three rare inherited disorders—Fanconi's anemia, Bloom's syndrome, and ataxia telangiectasia—also have an increased risk for leukemia.

Treatment for Leukemia

Chemotherapy: Chemotherapy is the major form of treatment for leukemia. This treatment uses chemical agents to kill leukemia cells. Depending on the type of leukemia you have, you may receive a single drug or a combination of one or more drugs. These drugs may come in a pill form, or they may be injected directly into a vein.

Interferon Therapy: Interferons are a class of proteins that are released by virus-infected cells. They help normal cells to make antiviral proteins. Interferons also help the body to reduce leukemia cell proliferation (growth and reproduction), while strengthening the body's immune response.

Kinase inhibitors: For most people with CML, the drug imatinib mesylate (Gleevec) is the first line of therapy. Imatinib mesylate is a type of cancer drug called a kinase inhibitor. It was specifically developed to inhibit the BCR-ABL protein, and it has proved effective in treating the early stages of chronic myelogenous leukemia. Several newer kinase inhibitors are in development.

Surgery is generally not used to treat leukemia. Occasionally, a person with leukemia that has spread to the spleen has the spleen removed. This is usually done only if the spleen is so large that it is causing problems for nearby organs.

Radiation therapy: Radiation therapy uses X-rays or other high-energy rays to damage leukemia cells and stop their growth. You may receive radiation in one specific area of your body where there is a collection of leukemia cells, or you may receive radiation directed at your whole body

A Should Read About A Simple Urine Test That Observes Early Prostate Cancer

Cancer : A Should Read About A Simple Urine Test That Observes Early Prostate Cancer
By: Jackson Neshah

Did you identify with the fact that the growth of human cells is unending? Well, studies have made it obvious that the cells of the human body continuously renew during a life time. This is so that the body can always replace deceased cells with new cells in the same tissues of organs to take over same functions as the dead cells once did. This is the cause of body development and longevity.

But an aberration may happen in the route of body development to stimulate cells to start growing unrestrained and thus form a mass called tumor, which can be detected as cancerous if found to be malignant. Growth refers to when cells overgrowth begins or is seen to head towards encroaching on other tissues, and if unchecked is very likely to spread all over the body and cause death.

Prostate cancer is a style of cancer that distresses the prostate gland of men so that the cells of the prostate start to duplicate without control, and may thus spread outside the prostate gland onto neighboring organs causing them harm.

There are lots of different kinds of treatments for prostate cancer depending on the extent of the cancer. As with any treatment, early uncovering through regular screening can help in treatment.

Digital rectal examination (DRE) or the course of using a gloved finger inserted in the rectum to feel and measure how big the gland has grown, to ascertain the possibility of prostate tumor, used to be the common screening method for monitoring the prostate of men, especially by age of 40, when they are thought to be more at the risk of developing prostate cancer.

Afterwards, as men arrive age 50, it is even mandatory medically that a yearly PSA test should be carried out to help detect early prostate cancer. This method is known to be more effective in diagnosing the minutest sign of cancerous cells advancement in the prostate gland.

However, even a better test for becoming aware of early prostate cancer is now a trouble-free urine test that enables the detection of the presence of the protein thymosin B15 in the urine. This is very easy to see, because only cancerous cells are known to make this particular protein that aids the spreading of cancerous cells.

About the Author :

Jackson Neshah is a skilled webmaster and has succeeded in writing several entertaining articles on issues such as Prostate Cancer Erection Free Helpful Guidepost. Get more information from the above link and learn all you need to know about Prostate cancer in its different ramafications in the United States

Ovarian Cancer – Don’t Ignore the Warning Signs

Ovarian Cancer – Don’t Ignore the Warning Signs
By: Anne Wolski

Around 1.5 percent of women are likely to develop ovarian cancer at some stage of their life. It is less common than breast cancer but is considered as the most serious and fatal of all gynecological cancers.

The reason for this is that the cancer is usually advanced before it is diagnosed, making treatment difficult. The ovaries cannot be easily examined and, because the warning signs are unclear, late diagnosis is common.

Because of the lack of screening tests available, it is imperative to know the early symptoms and the possible risk factors.

Understanding ovarian cancer

The ovaries are two small organs that are a part of the female reproductive system and they are situated each side of the uterus. These ovaries contain germ cells that become eggs which are released when the woman menstruates.

They also produce estrogen and progesterone, the hormones that adjust the menstrual cycle and have an effect on the growth of breasts and body hair as well as affecting the development of the female body shape.

What types of tumors are there?

This normally happens in an organised manner but occasionally they grow abnormally and form a growth that we know as a tumor.

This tumor may be benign or it may be malignant. If it is benign, it is not cancerous and does not spread to other parts of the body. A malignant tumor, on the other hand, is cancerous and will often spread, making mestastases or secondary cancers.

Ovarian cancer is malignant and can occur in either one or both of the ovaries. There are three main groups that are related to the cells where the cancer starts.

Epithelial ovarian cancer, as its name implies, grows in the epithelium which is the surface of the ovary. It is the most common and accounts for around 90 percent of ovarian cancer. It mainly affects post menopausal women.

Another kind of epithelial tumor is a borderline tumor which grows much more slowly than its regular counterpart. These can normally be removed successfully even if diagnosed at an advanced stage.

There is a very rare form of ovarian cancer called germ cell ovarian cancer that starts in the cells that develop into eggs. This only accounts for about 5 percent of ovarian cancers and usually occurs only in women under 30.

The other five percent of ovarian cancers are generally sex-chord stromal cell ovarian cancer that affects the ovary cells responsible for female hormones. It can affect women of all ages.

Who is at risk of getting ovarian cancer?

The cause of ovarian cancer is unknown but there are some risk factors that have been identified through research. Although having these risk factors may increase your chances of developing ovarian cancer, they do not mean that you will necessarily get the disease. However, knowledge of these risk factors can be helpful. If you are concerned by having any of these risk factors, it is important to talk to your healthcare professional.

Factors that may increase your risk of ovarian cancer include:

Age- Around 90 percent of ovarian cancers affect women over 40.

Cultural background - Caucasian women in western society have higher rates of ovarian cancer than African or Asian women.

Number of pregnancies – Women who have never been pregnant appear to have a higher risk of ovarian cancer.

Family history - Between 5 and 10% of ovarian cancers are genetic. Researchers believe that the genes responsible for breast cancer (BRCA1 and BRCA2) are involved in almost all cases of familial ovarian cancer as well as familial breast cancer. It is also thought that these same damaged genes may be responsible for some endometrial and colon cancers. If you are genetically predisposed to any ovarian, breast, endometrial or colon cancers, you may have an increased risk of getting ovarian cancer.

Infertility and taking fertility drugs – Women who have had fertility drugs may be at a higher risk although infertility itself is a risk factor so this cannot be taken as a clear indication.

Hormone Replacement Therapy – The use of estrogen only HRT which is usually when you have had a hysterectomy, has been identified as a possible risk factor for ovarian cancer, particularly if you have been on this therapy for over ten years.

Lifestyle factors – Obesity is a risk factor associated with ovarian cancer as is a diet that is high in fat.

Can I reduce the risk of ovarian cancer?

Currently, there are no known procedures to prevent or detect early ovarian cancer but there are ways to reduce the risks. Some of these are:

Oral contraceptives - Research has found that the use of oral contraceptives can cut the risk of ovarian cancer by up to 60 percent if taken for a period of five years during your life.

Pregnancy and breastfeeding – Breastfeeding delays ovulation after childbirth and therefore decreases your risk of ovarian cancer. However, there is no guarantee that breastfeeding will stop you from developing ovarian cancer.

Enjoy a low fat diet – A high fat diet has been identified as a risk factor in ovarian cancer. Therefore, it makes sense to stick to a low fat diet with lots of fresh fruit and vegetables.

Tubal ligation or hysterectomy – These operations are only performed with a valid medical reason but it is believed that they both reduce the risk of ovarian cancer.

People with a strong family history of ovarian cancer may opt to speak to a genetic counselor that can assess whether you are at risk of developing the disease. If your family history suggests the damaged genes associated with ovarian, breast, endometrial, or colon cancer, it may be wise to have genetic testing. If these tests show the damaged BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes, you may be refe.rred to a gynecological oncologist to consider ways to reduce your risk.

Early symptoms of ovarian cancer

Because there is no screening test available for ovarian cancer, it is recommended that you have a regular pelvic vaginal checkup to see if there are any changes in your ovaries. It is also vital that you consult your healthcare specialist if you notice any possible signs of this illness. Because the symptoms are often common to many other medical conditions, diagnosis of ovarian cancer can be difficult

However, if you have any of the following symptoms that are unusual for you and that persist for more than a week, see your doctor without delay.

Some symptoms of ovarian cancer may include:

Stomach discomfort of pain in the pelvic area

Persistent nausea or wind.

Feeling constantly bloated or ‘full’.

Unexplained weight gain.

Loss of appetite or unexplained weight loss

Bowel changes

Frequency or urgency in urination

Lethargy.

Pain during intercourse.

Unexplained vaginal bleeding.

Sometimes, ovarian cancers are wrongly diagnosed as irritable bowel syndrome or menopause so if you are concerned, ask to be referred to a gynecological oncologist who can order tests to rule out ovarian cancer. It is rare that these symptoms will be ovarian cancer but if it is, early detection gives an excellent chance of survival.

Diagnosing ovarian cancer

If your doctor suspects ovarian cancer, you will be referred to a gynecological oncologist who will organize tests which may include any or all of the following:

An internal pelvic examination.

Blood tests

Chest and stomach x-rays.

A barium enema to rule out bowel problems

Ultrasound scans

If the results show a likelihood of ovarian cancer, you will be recommended to have an operation to confirm the diagnosis (none of the abovementioned tests can be sure). During the operation, if the surgeon finds ovarian cancer, they will normally remove the cancer as well as the ovaries.

It is important to understand before the surgery that this may happen so learn all you can about your illness and the outcomes before the operation.

About the Author :
Anne Wolski has worked in the health and welfare industry for more than 30 years. She is a co-director of http://www.magnetic-health-online.com and http://www.betterhealthshoppe.com which are both information portals with many interesting medical articles. She is also an associate of http://www.timzbiz.com which features many articles on internet marketing and resources

Helping Fight or Cause Lung Cancer

Cancer : Helping Fight or Cause Lung Cancer

Since Beta Carotene breaks down into Vitamin A in the body, it has basically the same antioxidant qualities of Vitamin A and may affect the chances of getting lung cancer. For a long time it was thought that mega doses of Beta Carotene would help prevent cancer and even fight cancer because it's an antioxidant.
It is shown that low to moderate doses of Beta Carotene reduce the risk of cancer in people. Recently, scientists carried out studies to test the theory that regular higher doses of Beta Carotene and Vitamin A can be even more effective. The studies were the Alpha-Tocopheral, Beta Carotene Cancer Prevention Trial and the Beta Carotene and Retinol Efficacy Trial (CARET) and the Physician's Health Study.

The Cancer Prevention Trial invited male smokers between the ages of fifty and sixty nine to take part in a study to determine if certain vitamin supplements would prevent lung and other types of cancer. They were given a pill with either 50mg of a form of Vitamin E, 20mg of Beta Carotene or a placebo daily for five to eight years.

CARET studied if the combination of Beta Carotene and Vitamin A supplements would actually prevent lung and other cancers in both genders between the ages of fifty to sixty nine who were smokers or former smokers and men between the ages of forty five and sixty nine who had been exposed to asbestos.

The Physician's Health Study tested whether Beta Carotene supplements and low-dose aspirin reduced the risk of cancer and heart disease in American male doctors, only 11 percent of the participants smoked.

Each of these trials showed that Beta Carotene wasn't helping many of its smoking participants and was in fact hurting some of them. The CARET interim results showed that there were twenty eight percent more lung cancers in the group taking Beta Carotene and Vitamin A. While there were seventeen percent more deaths for the Beta Carotene takers. These results were so similar to the Cancer Prevention Trial final results from 1994 that they told the participants to stop taking the supplements twenty one months before the trial was scheduled to end. The Cancer Prevention Trial showed eighteen percent more lung cancer and eight percent more deaths. While the Physician's Health Study showed that there were no significant benefits or problems associated with taking Beta Carotene.

Ultimately these trials showed that while Vitamin A and Beta Carotene are antioxidants in moderate amounts and even helped to lower the risk of cancers in nonsmokers in the case of smokers it gives a higher risk of lung cancer. There are several possible theories for why it does this but the leading thought is that it acts as a pro oxidant in cells exposed to the tar created over time by smokers, and exacerbating the oxidative damage that's already been done and causing changes in the cell which lead to abnormal cell growth.
Author Vincent Platania represents the Stanley Home Products. Stanley Home Products has been in business since 1936, and offers high quality home and personal care products to keep your home and your body clean. Visit http://www.stanleybeautycare.com/

Lifestyle Choices May be a Predictor of Bladder Cancer

Bladder Cancer : Lifestyle Choices May be a Predictor of Bladder Cancer
by: Jon M. Stout

The thought itself is astounding: a way possibly exists to predict if a person could possibly contract bladder cancer in the future. In recent studies, debate is emerging in regards to one theory – that lifestyle choices and the impact of living life a certain way may be related to bladder cancer. A recent study by the Department of Preventive Medicine of Nagoya University School of Medicine indicates that there might, in fact, be a strong and credible link between lifestyle and bladder cancer.

The department studied 258 bladder cancer patients in order to determine if lifestyle choices played a role in allowing medical professionals to prognosticate the possibility that patients might be susceptible to bladder cancer. This was a follow-up study of patients who had suffered from bladder cancer in metropolitan Nagoya, Japan and were recruited for study. Their personal survival information was derived from a database that was maintained by the Nagoya Bladder Cancer Research Group.

After reviewing the tests and their results, researchers were able to pinpoint several key factors that impact the occurrence and reoccurrence of this type of cancer. Univariate analysis showed that there was a significant relationship between 5 year survivorship and the level of education a person possessed, their marital status, drinking habits, and the degree of green tea consumption in males. Additional factors were the age at which the cancer was diagnosed, the histological type and grade of the any tumors, the degree of metastasis, and the state of metastasis in both sexes.

The results were adjusted for age, stage, histology (histological type and grade), and distant metastasis by means of a proportional hazards model.The consumption of alcoholic beverages was also significantly associated with the prognoses of bladder cancer in males. The ratio of adjusted hazard was 0.46 with a 95% confidence interval of 0.26 – 0.79 among males that consumed alcoholic beverages.

Detailed analysis revealed that former drinkers and every level of current drinkers exhibited hazard ratios smaller than unity, although no correlation between dosage amounts was detectable. Other factors, such as smoking habits, uses of artificial sweeteners and hair dye, and consumption of coffee, black tea, matcha (powdered green tea), and cola were detected, leading one to believe that it is reasonable to conclude that drinking any type of beverage, not just alcohol, plays a significant role in the development or reoccurrence of bladder cancer.

The significance of this is vague in terms of prognosis, although that ratio seems to indicate that at least among those who participated in the study and were bladder cancer survivors, drinking alcohol is not a very good idea. Additionally, the study showed that the higher risk factor in regards to bladder cancer and males can be correlated directly to drinking in terms of reoccurrence propensity. If you are male and have had bladder cancer, along with dietary changes and other lifestyle choices, avoiding alcoholic beverages might increase the possibility of avoiding the sickness in the future.

This, however, is not, and should not be considered conclusive, but merely the very compelling result of one specific study. Also, the indication that other factors, such as smoking, did not seem to increase the risk of reoccurrence, should not be construed as rock solid justification for those behaviors.

For instance, the fact that smoking does not apparently increase the risk bladder cancer does not in any way obviate the fact that smoking has been risked to other diseases or maladies such as heart disease, lung cancer, strokes, or degradation of blood circulation. All of these conditions are just as life-threatening as bladder cancer.

One significant factor seems to be that dosage amounts of alcohol do not seem to correlate with the propensity of reoccurrence. In fact, this study seemed to show that among moderate to heavy drinkers, the reoccurrence rate was unaffected. If one were to take this at face value, one could conclude that any drinking at all increases the chances of bladder cancer coming back.

About The Author :
Jon M. Stout is the Chairman of the Golden Moon Tea Company. Golden Moon Tea carefully selects the finest rare and orthodox teas, which are processed slowly and handcrafted with extreme care. At their website, you can learn more about their current tea offerings, including their exceptional green tea, white tea, black tea, oolong tea (also known as wu-long and wu long tea) and chai. Visit http://www.goldenmoontea.com/ for all details concerning the Golden Moon Tea Company's fine line of teas.

Health Benefit of Green Tea: Cancer Prevention

Health Benefit of Green Tea: Cancer Prevention
by: Patricia Hammond

There have already been numerous studies that prove that green tea helps protect drinkers against cancer. Statistics show that cancer rates are lower in countries where people regularly drink green tea. Research has shown that polyphenols are one source of the health benefit of green tea. Researchers believe that these substances found in green tea are influential in preventing the development of cancer.

Studies involving animal tests have shown that green tea reduces the formation of tumors for cancers of the skin, esophagus, bladder, pancreas, ovary cancer and prostate. The antioxidant activity in green tea has been reported to produce such results. Researchers are also of the belief that polyphenols are essential in destroying cancerous cells and stopping their progression.

Skin Cancer

Scientific research suggests that the main polyphenol in green tea, which is called epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), and other green tea polyphenols possess anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties. One study has been done on the health benefit of green tea on the skin. The study showed that drinking tea helps prevent the onset and growth of skin tumors.

Esophageal Cancer

Animal studies have also been conducted and they showed that green tea polyphenols help stop the growth of esophageal cancer cells. However, studies done on people have various results regarding the health benefit of green tea. One study showed that green tea consumption is an effective way to be protected from esophageal cancer, specifically among women. But another study showed that drinking green tea increased the risk of developing esophageal cancer. This shows that before green tea can be recommended for esophageal cancer prevention, more research has to be done.

Bladder Cancer

A few studies have been conducted on the health benefit of green tea on the human bladder. Research has been done to determine if there’s a connection between bladder cancer and consumption of green tea. One study revealed that women who drank green tea reduced their probability of developing bladder cancer. The study was followed with another one revealing that patients with bladder cancer, specifically men, who consumed green tea had a significantly improved chance of surviving compared to those who did not drink tea.

Pancreatic Cancer

Research has also been done on the health benefit of green tea on the pancreas. A study found that men and women who drank green tea had lesser chances of developing cancer in the pancreas. However, the study didn’t particularly point out that green tea was exclusively responsible for reducing the risk of pancreatic cancer. Researchers still need further studies before they can start recommending green tea for pancreatic cancer prevention.

Ovarian Cancer

In China, a study was conducted on patients with ovarian cancer. It was observed that women who drank a cup of green tea a day were able to survive longer and lived the longest compared to women who did not drink tea at all.

Prostate Cancer

Green tea extracts have been shown in laboratory studies to prevent the development of prostate cancer cells in test tubes. A large study showed that people who drank green tea with increasing frequency, quantity and duration reduced their risk of developing prostate cancer.

About The Author :
Patricia Hammond is an green tea enthusiast. Get her FREE 7-Day GREEN TEA eCourse at http://www.yourhealthcenter.info/greentea/ or visit her site at http://www.yourhealthcenter.info for more health tips on weight loss, sleeping disorder, and others

New Method To Test For Lung Cancer Developed

Cancer : New Method To Test For Lung Cancer Developed
ScienceDaily (Apr. 4, 2008) — Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine have developed a new 'clinicogenomic model' to accurately test for lung cancer. The model combines a specific gene expression for lung cancer as well as clinical risk factors. These findings currently appear on-line in the journal Cancer Prevention Research.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States and the world, with more than one million deaths worldwide annually. Eighty-five to 90 percent of subjects with lung cancer in the United States are current or former smokers with 10 to 20 percent of heavy smokers developing this disease.

A previous study by the same researchers reported a gene expression biomarker capable of distinguishing cytologically normal large airway epithelial cells from smokers with and without lung cancer. However, the biomarker has limited sensitivity depending on the stage and the location of the cancer.

Studying current and former smokers undergoing bronchoscopies for suspicion of lung cancer, the researchers compared the likelihood of the subjects having lung cancer using the biomarker, the clinical risk factors and a combination of the two -- clinicogenomic model. They found patients using the clinicogenomic model had increased sensitivity, specificity, positive value and negative predictive value of their cancer compared to the other methods.

"Our data suggests that the clinicogenomic model might serve to identify patients who would benefit from further invasive testing, thereby expediting the diagnosis and treatment for their malignancy," said senior author Avrum Spira, MD, an assistant professor of medicine and pathology at Boston University School of Medicine.

According to the researchers, it is hoped this prediction model will expedite more invasive testing and appropriate therapies for smokers with lung cancer as well as reduce invasive diagnostic procedures for individuals without lung cancer.

Funding for this study was provided by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and National Institutes of Health and National Cancer Institute grants.

Spira is a pulmonary and critical care medicine physician at Boston Medical Center and is one of the founders of Allegro Diagnostics Inc., a molecular diagnostics company that plans to market the gene expression biomarker.

Adapted from materials provided by Boston University.

What to Expect If You Require Surgery for Colon Cancer

Cancer : What to Expect If You Require Surgery for Colon Cancer
by: Matt Murren

If you have been recently diagnosed with Colon Cancer you are probably looking into and researching possible treatments. If your condition is advanced you will more than likely require Colon Cancer Surgery to remove the tumor or growth.

How Does Colon Cancer Develop?

Colon cancer typically develops from polyps found in the colon and rectum. These tumors un-detected can turn into very advanced forms of cancer and can spread throughout the body.

What Does the Surgery Entail?

There are multiple types of Colon Cancer surgeries to remove the cancerous tumor. Most often, curative surgery methods are used which entails removing the polyp from the colon. If your tumor is in an advanced stage, it will require that the section containing the cancerous growth is removed and the remaining parts of your colon are fused together.

Before the surgery begins, the colon is cleansed completely in order to reduce any risk of infection. The cleansing is done using strong laxatives and enemas or by drinking one gallon of a cleansing fluid the night before the surgery.

The surgery is always done under general anesthesia while the patient is asleep. With new medicinal technologies like laparoscopy, the incision is hardly noticeable once it heals. After the abdomen is entered, the infected part of the colon is removed by surgery and the remaining parts of the colon are connected, fused or anatomized together.

If the cancer occurs in the lower rectum or anus, the doctor might have to make another incision in the rectum or near it. Since the cancer occurs towards the end of the rectum, there may be no colon left after the surgery to attach the remaining colon to. If such an incident occurs, then the remaining colon is rerouted to outside the abdomen. This is known as colostomy. This is usually done when the surgeon thinks that the anastomosis will not be successful or if the colon is not clean enough.

What can I expect after surgery?

Depending on the severity of your case, you may require chemotherapy to continue the treatment of the cancerous growth. If you have detected the cancer early enough, the simple removal of the polyp may be enough and you will not require chemotherapy.

Your doctor and surgeon will want you to follow-up with several exams to determine the success of your surgical procedure.

Your post operative follow-ups are critical to the healing process. It is important during this period that you verify all the cancer has been removed and has not metastasized to other parts of your body.

The key is early detection.

What can I eat after my operation?

It is not advisable to become eating directly after your procedure. More than likely you will be fed with a feeding tube to let your GI and small intestines heal properly in the first few days following your surgery.

The proper diet is critical to your healing process. A good diet will help your immune system and will help you decrease the risk of infection which can occur after your surgical procedure.

Your physician will help lay out a solid diet with a nutritionist. Make sure you follow their advice. You will notice that your appetite will vary from day to day after the surgery, but do the best you can to eat normal and do not force yourself to eat if your body is telling you not to. Smaller meals might be better than three large meals while you are healing.

Try your best to avoid greasy foods. These will upset your stomach after your operation. In addition, fluids are extremely important. Make sure you get at least eight (8) glasses of water a day and plenty of fluids while you recover.

About The Author :
Matt D Murren owns and operates http://www.colon-cancer-surgery-advisor.com Colon Cancer Surgery

Can A Cyst Become Cancerous?

Cancer : Can A Cyst Become Cancerous?
by: Hillary Templeton

Can a cyst become cancerous? Now, here’s the big question.

That’s again the cancer fear that all women have. The answer, I’d say is no. This has been looked at pretty, pretty extensively. There was a rather large study I think it was in Sweden. They looked at something like 90,000 - they’ve got a very sophisticated system of registry in Sweden where they can look at data. And something like ninety thousand women were paired with 90,000 normal ones and the various kinds of cysts, endometriomas, the functional cyst, the non-functional cyst. And they said “Well what’s the likelihood any of these women come back for ovary cancer”? And there was no difference. If you had an ovary cyst that was benign you had no increased incidence of having cancer later. The only difference in this was endometrioma which had a slight increase difference. And possibly the reason for that is something to do with estrogen sensitivity around the ovary. But again it’s, it was somewhat more common but it’s nothing to say “My gosh, I’ve got endometrioma, by now! I’ve got to have cancer”. That should be the farthest thing from a persons mind. So I’d say without question your –

The fact that one has a cyst it is not going to develop to, you do not have an increased cancer risk. Now certainly the cystadinomas it’s felt that some of these, these are the benign tumors. Can these cystadinomas develop into cystoadnocarsonoma? The answer is, yes probably. But, once you’ve removed it, the cystadinoma, as well as removing the dermoid cyst, which are very rarely cancer you’ve eliminated that risk. If a woman is going to have a cancerous cyst it’s going to be there from a cancerous cyst per say. She most likely is over the age of fifty and their, in general the reproductive years do not have, a woman does not have to be concerned that a cyst is going to transgress, develop into a cancer.

There was something else I wanted to mention. I’m sure we’ve got several questions, yet I do want to go through these. I think that’s pretty much my overview on cysts and the various diagnoses of cysts, the types of cysts. The treatment we can summarize that at the end.

What happens when a cyst is likely to rupture?

This is probably the number one life threatening complication that New York OB/GYN Christopher Freville has to deal with on an almost basis. A cyst can rupture be it a, most likely it’s a follicular cyst or a corpus luteum cyst. These are the so-called functional cysts, or the functional cyst with pregnancy. When they rupture generally nothing happens. In fact, there’s usually a pressure relief.

Because any distended cyst is often what gives, as a cyst's nerves are increased by the distension, by the fluid, that’s often what causes the pain. The relief of the pain comes whenever it ruptures. Often like, unfortunately a ruptured appendix. Sometimes when a patient feels an appendix ballooning up and brings him to the doctors the fact that the appendix becomes distended. Immediately after that there’s a rupture and they don’t feel the pain. Unfortunately what causes the problems with ruptured cysts is if the cyst has a very rich blood supply and that blood supply, the arteries start pumping blood and don’t seal off and the abdomen can fill up with blood. And I’ve dealt with many cases both as an ectopic pregnancy, but the conditions usually much worse, but also, as a, rarely as a ruptured cyst that’s bleeding off a cystic pregnancy. And often times the abdomen can literally become distended. In a severe case woman can go into shock meaning their blood pressure falls out, it’s an emergency, life threatening situation that if undiagnosed can be fatal. Fortunately, with emergency rooms being equipped the way they are, doctors being as smart as we are - we rarely miss this. But once in a great while this is a complication. And when the cyst ruptures it doesn’t, you can usually preserve the ovary. Usually it can be sutured over, quarterized. The ovary stays in tact and even in a rare case if it had to be removed, again that does not affect fertility

About The Author :
Hillary Templeton gives advice to women of all types of ovarian cysts on her website. Click here for more information on ruptured ovarian cysts http://www.ovariancystshelp.com

A Metaphysical Perspective on Breast Cancer

Cancer : A Metaphysical Perspective on Breast Cancer
by: Catherine Poole

We all see the Susan G. Kolman pink ribbons for breast cancer awareness. I would like to address breast cancer from the metaphysical perspective. Breasts are directly linked to nurturing -as is the color pink. Breasts also represent mothering, whether of our children, our family, our spouse or the world in general. Issues with the breasts, whether experienced by a man or a woman, indicate insecurity about our ability to provide for others or protect them.

Both my mother and her mother learned from breast cancer. They both experienced cancer in the right breast; which I will explain in a moment. Breast disorders can also occur when you tend to ask too much of yourself and then feel that you cannot deliver to everyone’s satisfaction. According to Lisa Bourbeau in her book “Your Body is Telling You Love Yourself!” “If you are right handed, the right breast is linked to your partner, your family or those close to you. Your left breast is linked more closely with your child, your inner child. If your left hand is dominant the opposite is true.

In my experiences, I have found that the left breast can indicate issues to do with care giving, nurturing, motherly type feelings. The left side of the body is the feminine side, and also addresses receiving. When lessons in cancer develop on the left side first, then it is time to examine attitudes that deal with those areas in your life.

I find that many women, including my mother and grandmother, develop lessons in their right breasts after a period of stress created by care giving. When I speak, I often explain that cancer is based on deep issues of guilt or resentment; much anger is accumulated within those cells. In the case of breast cancer I have discovered that the high ration among caregivers is neither due to resenting the care giving nor resenting those you are caring for. Cancer is linked to the guilt one places on self due to the RELIEF felt after the death, however brief there is still a sense of relief when one we love transitions. I receive many reactions to this perception, but through many years of spiritual counseling as well at my own experiences I believe in the importance to recognize and release this understandable human reaction.

The right also represents how we present our self to the world (masculine or “man’s world” issues. When a male spouse transitions, we assume the role of being in charge, hence the relationship with masculine energies. Right is also about releasing and issues of letting go, so that is to be examined as well.

Understanding that the breast is about nurturing and nourishment, I look at issues of mother initially regardless of which side issues such as cysts or tumors manifest. There is a direct correlation with the way you were mothered and issues developed in the breasts (this is true for me or for women). Rather than pushing yourself in order to “forget about it”or on the other end of the spectrum lamenting about what you are going through, stop and objectively begin to realize that you weren’t put on this earth to protect and feed everyone you love! It is about caring and loving self first. I equate this to the oxygen mask on the airplane, you must assist yourself first in order to be of help to anyone else.

If others ask you for help and it is within your power to help, don’t hesitate. But do it with love, joy and pleasure. Not out of a sense of obligation or with resentment. If helping at a given time is beyond your limitations in any way or you just don’t want to do it, admit it both to yourself and to them and allow yourself to step back. It is OK to say “no”.

I often tell clients, and practice this myself, the only way to gain control of your life is to let go! Your maternal love and basic nurturing will always be there to sustain those you love without your feeling obliged to be actively (s)mothering them.

About The Author :
Catherine Poole http://www.catherinepoole.com offers her unique services as a Medical Intuitive to help provide insight for individuals seeking to understand the "why" of their present circumstances or illness. She is the Metaphysical Director of Integrated Health Concepts, which she co-founded with James H. Schrenker, M.D. in 2004. She has presented her color expertise in workshops and seminars on the uses and effects of color in contexts such as advertising, packaging design, art therapy, healthcare, and workplaces

What You Need To Know About Lung Cancer.

Cancer : What You Need To Know About Lung Cancer.
by : Michael Sanford

Cancer is a disease in which certain body cells don’t function right, divide very fast and produce too much tissue that forms a tumor. A leading cause of cancer deaths in both men and women is probably lung cancer. This is the number one cause of cancer deaths surpassing breast cancer as the leading cause of deaths in women. Cancers that begin in the lungs are divided into two major types, the non-small cell lung cancer and small cell lung cancer depending on how the cells look under a microscope.

Cigarette smoking is known to be a cause of lung cancer. The risk of developing the disease increases with the number of cigarettes smoked particularly if the person starts to smoke at a young age. The person’s risk of developing lung cancer may be reduced slightly if you smoke filtered and low tar cigarettes, but it is still far greater than that of a non-smoker. Lung cancer has always been more common in men, particularly those over the age of 40, as more men used to smoke than women. Considerably, there are a growing number of women having lung cancer since women have started smoking. About 90% of all lung cancer deaths among women are from smoking. The risk of lung cancer goes down quite quickly if the person stops smoking and after about fifteen years, the person’s chances of developing the disease are similar to that of a non-smoker. Passive smoking or the breathing in other people’s cigarette smoke, slightly increases the risk for lung disease and lung cancer, although the risk is still much less that if you smoke yourself.

Usually, the symptoms of lung cancer do not appear until the disease is in an advanced stage. Some are diagnosed early because they are found as a result of tests for other medical conditions. Screening examinations are done to detect a disease in people without symptoms of the disease. And since lung cancer usually spreads beyond the lungs before causing any symptoms, an effective screening program to detect the cancer early could save many lives. So far there is not screening test that has been shown to prevent the ill person from dying of the cancer. It has been concluded that the tests could not find many lung cancers early enough to improve a person’s chances for a cure. Because of this, lung cancer screening is not a routine practice for the general public or even for people at increased risk like smokers.

Symptoms of lung cancer could be continuing cough or change in a long-standing cough; a chest infection that does not get better; increasing breathlessness; coughing up blood-stained phlegm; a dull ache or a sharp pain when coughing or taking a deep breath; and loss of appetite and loss of weight. If you think you are having any of these above stated symptoms, then it is important to have your condition checked by your doctor even if you know that any of these symptoms may be caused by illness other than cancer.

Treatment for lung cancer could be through surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy which may be used separately or together depending on what your physician requires you to undergo with. Basically, the doctor will plan your treatment, taking into account your general health condition, the type of lung cancer you have and the size of the tumor as well as its stage. There are differences in the treatment for different people depending on their needs. You should not be afraid to ask your doctor and it often helps making a lot of queries about the disease and your condition from your doctor.

About the author:
For more information about lung cancer please goto http://www.cancer-resource-center.com/

After the Cancer Diagnosis: How to Support Yourself and Your Spouse

After the Cancer Diagnosis : How to Support Yourself and Your Spouse
by: Jayne Hutchinson

Everyone is shocked when they first hear the word cancer. Some people may feel they know the test results before they hear them, but it's still a shock to hear the words spoken out loud. It's usually very difficult to hear or remember anything else after hearing that your loved one has cancer.

For many people, the first few weeks after diagnosis are the most difficult. After you hear the word cancer, you may have trouble listening to what is being said, and asking questions that you may have. When you are at home, you may have trouble thinking, eating, or sleeping. Remember, you are not always going to feel this way. We all struggle to figure out how and why this happened. What went wrong? We want answers, and it can make you crazy. Every cancer is different and there just aren't any answers.

You and your loved one will have many feelings after you hear the word cancer. These feelings can change from day-to-day, hour-to-hour, or even minute-to-minute. Some of the feelings you may both go through include:

Anger

Once you accept that your loved one has cancer, you may feel angry and scared. It is normal to ask Why us? and be angry at:

The cancer
Your healthy friends and loved ones
If you are religious, you might even be angry with God

Anger sometimes comes from feelings that are harder to show--such as fear, panic, frustration, anxiety, or helplessness. If you feel angry, don't pretend that everything is okay. Talk to someone about your anger. Most of the time, talking will help you feel better. A lot of times caregivers don't feel like they have the right to these feelings, that only the cancer patient does. Cancer definitely affects the entire family, and you must acknowledge these feelings and work through them, for everyone's sake.

Fear

The word 'cancer' frightens everyone I know! You may be afraid or worried about:

Taking care of your loved one
Taking care of your family
Paying your bills
Keeping your own job while taking care of your loved one
Losing your loved one

Most people feel better when they know what to expect. You will feel less afraid when you learn more about the specific kind of cancer and its treatment....so read as much as you can and learn as much as you can about your loved one's cancer. Don't let the word cancer disempower you. Knowing the facts, and recommended treatments will reduce your fear, and make you a stronger partner for your loved one.

Stress

Your body may react to the stress and worry of your loved one's cancer. You can learn to handle stress in many ways, like:

Talking to people in the same situation as you are
Exercising
Listening to music
Reading books, poems, or magazines
Relaxing or meditating
Talking about your feelings with family and close friends
Writing your feelings down in a journal to get further clarity around them

The key is to find ways to control stress and not to let it control you.

Lack of Control

When you first learn that your loved one has cancer, you may feel as if your life is out of control. You may feel this way because:

You are now focused on doctor visits and treatments
You feel helpless
You feel like you don't have time to do the things you normally do

Stay focused on what you can do, right now, to improve the situation. And remember, it won't always be this way.

Loneliness

You may find that your friends or friends don't know how to deal with your loved one's cancer and they may not ask about it or know what to say. You may not have the energy or focus to take part in the hobbies and activities you used to enjoy. And sometimes, even when you are with people you love and care about, you may feel that no one understands what you are going through as everyone is focused on your loved one.

Consider joining a support group or talking to a close friend or family member that understands. It always help to know that you are not alone.

Hope

Once you have accepted that your loved one has cancer, you will often feel a sense of hope. There are many reasons to feel hopeful.

People with cancer can (and do) lead active lives, even during treatment
Your chances of your loved one's living with--and living beyond--cancer are better now than they have ever been before Many doctors and most alternative practitioners think that hope may help the body deal with cancer. Scientists are looking at the question of whether a hopeful outlook and positive attitude helps people feel better. If you are hopeful, that will help your loved one be hopeful as well.

Here are some ways you can build your sense of hope:

Write down your hopeful feelings and talk about them with others
Plan your days as you usually have done
Don't limit the things you like to do
Consciously look for reasons to hope

You will experience so many feelings as you learn to live with your loved one's cancer diagnosis. It's OK to take time to mourn and let the diagnosis sink in. It may feel like a loss of freedom and safety, but it won't always be this way. Life moves forward, and your loved one's cancer becomes just one more thing in your life that you have to deal with. Once you tackle this cancer head on, there's nothing you can't do!

About The Author:
Jayne Hutchinson was immersed into a new world after her husband was diagnosed with cancer. She found there was little information and support available for spouses and partners. She created the My Loved One Has Cancer web site to fill that gap.This web site features comprehensive resources and tools to make the cancer journey easier for the spouse or partner of a loved one with cancer. http://www.mylovedonehascancer.com

Stomach Cancer

Cancer : Stomach Cancer

What is stomach cancer?

Stomach cancer (also called gastric cancer) can develop in any part of the stomach and can spread throughout the stomach and to other organs. It can grow along the stomach wall into the esophagus or small intestine. It also can extend through the stomach wall and spread to nearby lymph nodes, and to organs such as the liver, pancreas, and colon. Stomach cancer also may spread to distant organs, such as the lungs, lymph nodes above the collar bone, and the ovaries.

Symptoms of stomach cancer

Stomach cancer can be hard to find early. Often there are no symptoms in the early stages and, in many cases, the cancer has spread before it is found. When symptoms do occur, they are often so vague that the person ignores them.

Stomach cancer can cause:

Indigestion or a burning sensation (heartburn);
Discomfort or pain in the abdomen;
Nausea and vomiting;
Diarrhoea or constipation;
Bloating of the stomach after meals;
Loss of appetite;
Weakness and fatigue; and
Bleeding (vomiting blood or having blood in the stool).

Any of these symptoms can be caused by cancer or by other, less serious health problems, such as a stomach virus or an ulcer. People who have any of these symptoms should see their doctor.

Diagnosis of stomach cancer

Fecal occult blood test - A check for hidden (occult) blood in the stool. It may be tested in the doctor's office or sent to a laboratory. This test is done because stomach cancer sometimes causes bleeding that cannot be seen.

Upper GI series - X-rays of the esophagus and stomach (the upper gastrointestinal, or GI, tract). The x-rays are taken after the patient drinks a barium solution, a thick chalky liquid. (This test is sometimes called a barium swallow.) The barium outlines the stomach on the x-rays, helping the doctor find tumors or other abnormal areas.

Endoscopy - An exam of the esophagus and stomach using a thin, lighted tube called a gastroscope, which is passed through the mouth and esophagus to the stomach. Through the gastroscope, the doctor can look directly at the inside of the stomach. If an abnormal area is found, the doctor can remove some tissue through the gastroscope. This procedure, removing tissue and examining it under a microscope, is called a biopsy. A biopsy is the only sure way to know whether cancer cells are present

Treatment Option

Surgery

Surgery is the most common treatment for stomach cancer. The operation is called gastrectomy. The surgeon removes part (subtotal or partial gastrectomy) or all (total gastrectomy) of the stomach, as well as some of the tissue around the stomach. After a subtotal gastrectomy, the doctor connects the remaining part of the stomach to the esophagus or the small intestine. After a total gastrectomy, the doctor connects the esophagus directly to the small intestine. Because cancer can spread through the lymphatic system, lymph nodes near the tumor are often removed during surgery so that the pathologist can check them for cancer cells. If cancer cells are in the lymph nodes, the disease may have spread to other parts of the body.

Adapted from : http://www.chansurgery.com.sg/

Surgeon's Preferences Dictate Choice of Kidney Cancer Surgery

Cancer : Surgeon's Preferences Dictate Choice of Kidney Cancer Surgery

By Amanda Gardner
HealthDay Reporter
Monday, March 10, 2008; 12:00 AM

A surgeon's skills and preferences may dictate treatment choices for kidney cancer more than clinical factors such as tumor size or the patient's general health, a new study finds.

This means many patients who are candidates for less radical surgical procedures, such as a partial nephrectomy where only part of the kidney is removed, may not be getting them, the California researchers said.

"The world of medicine is slow to incorporate new technology," acknowledged Dr. Patrick Lowry, an assistant professor of surgery at Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine. "It's kind of like a family tree. When more people are trained in it, they go out and spread it to others."

"Partial nephrectomy is more difficult and has more potential complications, and people may shy away from it," added Lowry, who's also section head of laparoscopy and endourology at Scott & White Memorial Hospital in Temple.

Radical nephrectomy, or removing the entire kidney, remains the gold standard for treating early-stage kidney cancer. While the procedure has a greater than 90 percent cure rate, it increases the risk of developing chronic kidney disease, the study authors said.

Over the past two decades, partial nephrectomy and laparoscopy (minimally invasive surgery) have started to make inroads in the field. These newer alternatives are easier on the patient and equally effective at controlling the cancer, yet not used anywhere nearly as often as radical nephrectomy, the researchers noted.

"On a national level, less than half of patients are getting one or the other [partial nephrectomy or laparoscopy] for small tumors," said study author Dr. David Miller, a clinical instructor in urology at the University of California, Los Angeles. "The question is whether there's some reason at a patient level, or that physicians are not doing these procedures for one of any number of a variety of reasons. We tried to quantify that."

For the study, the researchers looked at 5,483 Medicare beneficiaries who had undergone surgery for localized kidney cancer between 1997 and 2002. The study was part of the Urologic Diseases in America Program, funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

Slightly more than 11 percent of the patients had a partial nephrectomy (43 performed laparoscopically) while the vast majority -- 88.9 percent -- had the entire kidney removed (515 laparoscopically).

The findings will be published in the April 15 issue ofCancer.

"For partial nephrectomy, the only thing that explained more of the variation in use than the surgeon you saw was the size of the tumor," Miller said. "For laparoscopy, the surgeon was more important than any other characteristic."

"If we believe as a specialty and as a society that newer procedures are beneficial, we have to think about how to tackle it," he added.

Patients also have a role to play in guiding their care, Miller said.

"Patient education and understanding and self-advocacy are important in discussing, with the primary doctor or urologist or surgeon," the treatment options, he said.

For instance, patients can ask questions like: "'What are the different treatment options available for this tumor? I've heard about partial nephrectomy. Is that a possibility in my case and, if it's not, why isn't it? If you think the whole kidney needs to be removed, what about the possibility of having it done with less invasive surgery?'" Miller said.

More information :
The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more on kidney cancer.

The Skin Cancer You Haven't Heard About

Cancer : The Skin Cancer You Haven't Heard About
by : Marc Garnick, M.D., Harvard Medical School

As daylight's savings brings more daylight into our lives, it's a good time to start thinking about protecting your skin from the sun's rays. Though most people have heard of melanoma, and some have heard of basal cell cancer, fewer have heard of squamous cell cancer. But it's an important cancer to know about—it's three times as common as melanoma (some 200,000 new cases each year versus 62,000) and squamous cell is more serious than basal cell because it is likely to spread (metastasize).

As you'll see when you read the article below, first printed in Harvard Women's Health Watch, there is some good news about squamous cancer—it can be cured much of the time. Interestingly, while most of these cancers arise on sun exposed portions of the skin, squamous cancers can also arise in other portions that are generally covered by clothes, such as the female genital labial area, the penis and scrotum in a male, and the skin surrounding the anal area and anus itself. Many of these latter type of squamous cancer can be associated with infections with viruses, such as the well know HPV (Human papilloma virus). Thus, the emphasis here is to recognize any skin abnormality as potentially being a cancer and seeking attention of a medical professional if there are new abnormalities or persistent ones. For the cancer that arise on the skin, prevention is important. Treated early, the cure rate is over 90%, but metastases occur in 1%–5% of cases. After it has metastasized, it's very difficult to treat. Now, here's the article from Harvard Women's Health Watch.

What it looks like
Squamous cell cancer involves the runaway growth of keratinocytes, cells in the outermost layer of skin, which produce the protein keratin. Squamous means scaly; in 60%–80% of cases, the lesions emerge on or near scaly patches called actinic keratoses that develop from sun-damaged skin.

Typically, such lesions are hard (from the keratin), well-defined, and occasionally crusty. Some you might mistake for a wart, only flatter. And there are those that are soft and fleshy. You can see examples of squamous cell carcinomas on the Medline website from the National Institutes of Health.

Risk factors
Exposure to sunlight is the main risk factor for skin cancer. For melanoma, sporadic instances of intense exposure seem to be triggers. For squamous cell cancer, cumulative exposure and possibly the intensity of the sunlight may be more significant. As with all skin cancers, skin color is relevant; those with darker skin (African Americans, Africans, Asians) have lower rates of squamous cell cancer than Caucasians—and among Caucasians, lighter-skinned people are more vulnerable.

Organ transplant recipients are especially vulnerable to squamous cell cancer. European research suggests that heart and kidney recipients are 65–250 times more likely to get squamous cell cancer than the general population. The most likely explanation is that the drugs that transplant patients take to suppress their immune systems and prevent organ rejection also make them vulnerable to this skin cancer. A history of sun exposure before or after the transplant heightens the risk.

Chronic inflammation is another risk factor. The squamous cell skin cancers sometimes emerge from chronically inflamed scars or sores.

Treatment
Treatments for squamous cell cancer all have the same goal: Get rid of the cancer cells, while avoiding unnecessary harm to surrounding skin.

Cryotherapy (rapid freezing) and radiation are used if the lesion is small and not likely to metastasize. Cryotherapy is fast and inexpensive but can leave a whitish mark. Radiation gives the doctor pinpoint control, minimizing damage to healthy skin, but it's expensive, involves many visits, and could result in a more aggressive case if the cancer recurs. Ointments are useful if there are many lesions but can cause stinging, burning, and oozing.

Surgery is the main therapy for larger lesions, and Mohs surgery is becoming the standard, especially for lesions on the face, where cosmetic results matter. Dr. Frederic Mohs, of the University of Wisconsin, developed the procedure during the 1930s and '40s. It involves shaving thin, horizontal slices from the lesion and microscopically examining each one for cancer cells.

This cut-examine-cut-examine technique has two advantages. First, it takes the guesswork out of how deep to cut, so the surgeon is less likely to remove healthy tissue while operating. Second, it's less likely to leave cancer cells behind, which may explain why it tends to have a higher cure rate than other techniques.

Drawbacks include cost and time. It's done on an outpatient basis, and patients may spend hours waiting while the surgeon inspects each slice. Some doctors believe the technique may be overused and should be restricted to high-risk or cosmetically sensitive lesions.

Prevention
Sun safety is fairly straightforward. Avoid being outdoors between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m., when the sun is most intense. Remember that exposure doesn't just happen at the beach. By some estimates 80% of it is incidental to everyday activities like walking the dog, running errands, and so on. Noses, ears, and necks are especially vulnerable, so wear a wide-brimmed hat. A baseball cap offers no protection to your ears and neck (or, if it's worn backwards, your nose and face).

Sunscreen isn't a magic shield. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) says the evidence that it prevents squamous cell skin cancer is only "fair." (For basal cell cancer and melanoma, the NCI says there is inadequate evidence to know if sunscreen is preventive.) In fact, some argue that by preventing sunburn, sunscreens offer a false sense of security, encouraging people to stay in the sun too long. Sunscreen users should buy one with a sun protection factor (SPF) of at least 15. Be sure to put on enough lotion. You need almost three tablespoonfuls on your face, neck, arms, trunk, and legs per application. At least a teaspoon should go on your face and neck.
What do you do to protect yourself from skin cancer?

About the author : Marc Garnick, M.D., is an internationally renowned expert in medical oncology and urologic cancer, with a special emphasis on prostate cancer. He is a Clinical Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and maintains an active oncology practice at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Dr. Garnick serves as Editor in Chief of Perspectives on Prostate Diseases, a quarterly report from Harvard Health Publications.

Cancers in the mouth

Cancer : Cancers in the mouth

According to the 2003 National Cancer Registry, in Malaysia, there are over 600 new cases of tongue, mouth, gums, salivary glands and oropharyngeal cancer every year. I WAS in Singapore the other day, in a 7-11 shop. I noticed that on the shelves behind the counter, all packs of cigarettes carry rather grotesque photos on them. On closer inspection, these were photos of people with mouth cancer. I didn’t know smoking causes mouth cancer. I only thought it causes lung cancer.

Yes, smoking does cause mouth cancer as well. It is called oral cancer, which comes under a broader group called oropharyngeal cancer (cancer of the mouth or throat).

It’s quite a common cancer. In the United States, there are 30,000 new cases a year. Out of these, 80,00 people will die.

In Malaysia, there are about over 600 new cases of tongue, mouth, gums, salivary glands and oropharyngeal cancer every year, men and women combined, according to the 2003 National Cancer Registry.

Oral cancer includes cancer of the lips, mouth, tongue, gums and salivary glands. This is fortunately one of the best cancers to detect early, because it presents in a part of your body that is so prominent and easily seen by yourself or, even if you fail to identify it in a mirror, your family and friends.

When detected early, oral cancer is almost always cured. But unfortunately, so many people still present with it at such a late stage.

Oral cancer is more common in men than women because men tend to smoke more frequently.

If it’s such a ‘good’ cancer to have, relatively speaking, and it’s so easy to detect, then why do so many people present so late with it?

Oral cancer can be easily mistaken for other common diseases of the mouth. This is because this type of cancer is usually confused with other mouth, lips, tongue, cheek and throat diseases. Often the cancer is only discovered with it has spread to other organs, such as the neck lymph nodes.

Another reason is that oral cancer is usually painless. So the hapless patient might think that innocent-looking swelling in her cheek is due to an ingrown wisdom tooth rather than cancer.

How does oral cancer look like? How will I know I have it? A relative I know had a little growth on her upper lip, which she mistook for a cold sore. When she finally went to the doctor six months later, he told her it was cancer.

This is the unfortunate thing about oral cancer. It can manifest like a lot of other common diseases. Most oral cancers are on the lips (easy to see), tongue (easy to feel) or the floor of the mouth (easy to feel).

Things you have to look out for include :

*A sore in your mouth that doesn’t heal. Or if it keeps on increasing in size (mouth cancer).
*Lumps in your mouth that don’t go away (mouth cancer).
*White, red or dark patches inside your mouth that persist, or anything out of the ordinary that wasn’t there before (mouth cancer)
*Persistent pain in your mouth (mouth cancer).
*Repeated bleeding in your mouth.
*Thickening of your cheek (mouth cancer, growing inside the soft tissue).
*Difficulty chewing, swallowing or moving your tongue (tongue cancer, mouth cancer, oropharyngeal cancer).
*Difficulty moving your jaw, swelling or pain in your jaw (mouth cancer, salivary gland cancer).
*Soreness in your throat or the feeling that something is caught in your throat (oropharyngeal cancer).
*Pain around your teeth (gum cancer).
*Loosening of your teeth (gum cancer).
*Numbness of your tongue or elsewhere in your mouth (tongue cancer, mouth cancer, gum cancer, salivary gland cancer).
*A lump in your neck (salivary gland cancer).
*Bad breath

We know that smoking is one of the causes, as anti-smoking campaigns have made very clear.

Are there any other causes?

Anything that can damage the internal cell structure and nucleus (DNA) of your mouth, tongue, lips etc and cause them to mutate into cancer cells can cause this cancer.

Tobacco use is one cause, which can be either smoking or chewing tobacco. Chewing tobacco exposes your inner cheek and inner surface of the lips to mutation.

Another is excessive alcohol drinking. Apparently, about 90% of people who have oral cancer have used some form of tobacco. And about 75% of the same people here are frequent drinkers of alcohol.

If you use both tobacco and alcohol, your risk is much higher than either group who uses them singly. Another risk factor is chronic denture irritation caused by poorly fitting dentures. If you smoke and drink alcohol on top of that, these ill-fitting dentures might trap the tobacco and alcohol particles and prolong your mouth’s exposure to them.

If you expose yourself to excessive ultraviolet light (sunlight), it may also cause oral cancer, particularly on the lips.

It has been found that one out of three people with lip cancer have jobs or lifestyles that necessitate them being outdoors for long periods of time.

The HPV (human papillomavirus) is also linked to oral cancer. This is especially common with people who have oral sex a lot. The HPV is linked with cervical cancer, usually, and is a sexually transmitted virus.

About the Author : Dr YLM graduated as a medical doctor, and has been writing for many years on various subjects such as medicine, health advice, computers and entertainment. The information contained in this column is for general educational purposes only. Neither The Star nor the author gives any warranty on accuracy, completeness, functionality, usefulness or other assurances as to such information. The Star and the author disclaim all responsibility for any losses, damage to property or personal injury suffered directly or indirectly from reliance on such information. Article from : http://www.thestar.com

Brain Tumor – Types With Their Treatments

Cancer : Brain Tumor – Types With Their Treatments

The brain and spinal column make up the central nervous system (CNS), where all vital functions of the body are controlled. When tumors arise in the central nervous system, they are especially problematic because a persons thought processes and movements can be affected. These tumors can also be difficult to treat because the tissues surrounding a tumor that may be affected by surgery or radiation may play a vital role in functioning.

There are two main types of brain cancer. Primary brain cancer starts in the brain. Metastatic brain cancer starts somewhere else in the body and moves to the brain. Brain tumors can be benign, with no cancer cells, or malignant, with cancer cells that grow quickly.

Alternative treatments have not been shown to cure brain tumors and should never be substituted for conventional therapy. However, complementary therapies (used with, not instead of, standard treatments) can help some patients cope with the stress of their illness and side effects of their treatment.

Meningiomas grow from the meninges. They are usually benign. Because these tumors grow very slowly, the brain may be able to adjust to their presence; meningiomas often grow quite large before they cause symptoms. They occur most often in women between 30 and 50 years of age.

Treatment:
Surgery is the preferred treatment for accessible meningiomas and is more successful for these tumors than most tumor types. For those with minor symptoms or an inaccessible tumor, close observation may be the first course of action. If the entire tumor is not removed surgically, or if it recurs, additional treatment such as radiation may be used. Stereotactic radiation is often preferred to reduce damage to healthy tissue. The effectiveness of chemotherapy and hormone therapy is being investigated in clinical trials.

Malignant brain cancer is one of the most lethal types of cancer in adults and is the second leading cause of cancer death in children. Many current ways of treating the disease fail to provide long-term management because they ineffectively target tumor cells and harm the health and vitality of normal brain cells.

Treatment:
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy consists of a series of drugs that interfere with the normal functioning of the rapidly dividing cells of the tumor. This prevents the tumor from growing. Most of these chemotherapy drugs are given in combination so that they are most effective. Research is being conducted to determine the best combination of chemotherapy drugs to combat brain tumors. Some chemotherapy drugs are injected directly into the bloodstream while others can be taken by pill, at home.

The KetoCal diet gets around this dilemma by essentially starving the brain tumor cells of the sugary molecules on which they rely for growth and survival. Because of its special composition, the diet deprives the tumor cells of the glucose they need; at the same time, the diet provides normal brain cells with ketones, a class of organic compounds they can metabolize effectively but the tumor cells cannot.

Complementary and Alternative Medicines:
Complementary medicine is thought of as treatments used in addition to the conventional therapies your doctor may prescribe, such as using tai chi or massage in addition to prescription medicine for anxiety.

Alternative medicine is generally thought of as being used instead of conventional methods. For example, this might mean seeing a homeopath or naturopath instead of your regular doctor.

by.Pradeep Chauhan, http://www.losangeleschronicle.com/

Obese Women At Greater Risk Of More Aggresive Breast Cancer

Breast Cancer : Obese Women At Greater Risk Of More Aggresive Breast Cancer

Women with breast cancer have more aggressive disease and lower survival rates if they are overweight or obese, according to findings published in the March 15 issue of Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

"The more obese a patient is, the more aggressive the disease," said Massimo Cristofanilli, MD, associate professor of medicine in the Department of Breast Medical Oncology at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. "We are learning that the fat tissue may increase inflammation that leads to more aggressive disease."

Cristofanilli and colleagues observed 606 women with locally advanced breast cancer. These women were classified by body mass index into the following three groups: normal/underweight (24.9 or below), overweight (at least 25 but less than 30) or obese (more than 30). Body mass index is calculated by dividing a person's weight by their height.

At five years, overall survival was 56.8 percent among obese women, 56.3 percent among overweight women and 67.4 percent among normal weight women. The 10-year survival rate was 42.7 percent among obese women, 41.8 percent among overweight women and 56.5 percent among normal weight women.

The rate of inflammatory breast cancer, previously shown to have worse outcomes than non-inflammatory breast cancer, among obese women was 45 percent compared with 30 percent in overweight women and only 15 percent in women considered normal weight, researchers found.

Risk of breast cancer recurrence was also higher in obese or overweight women. By five years, 50.8 percent of obese women reported a recurrence compared with 38.5 percent of normal weight women. By 10 years, the rate of recurrence was 58 percent among obese women and 45.4 percent among normal weight women.

"Obesity goes far beyond just how a person looks or any physical strain from carrying around extra weight. Particular attention should be paid to our overweight patients," Cristofanilli said.
Cristofanilli said physicians need to pay close attention to breast cancer patients because commonly used drugs, such as tamoxifen, tend to increase weight gain during treatment.

"We have actually become quite good at managing acute side effects such as nausea in our chemotherapy patients and it goes away within a couple of days," Cristofanilli said.

"Following the nausea, our patients tend to overeat, which further increases their risk of weight gain. We need to implement lifestyle modifications interventions and develop better methods to follow these patients closely."

---Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.---

The study was funded by the Susan G. Komen Foundation, the Nellie B. Connally Fund for Breast Cancer Research and the Inflammatory Breast Cancer Research Group

Breast Cancer

Occurs when cells in the breast begin to grow out of control enabling them to invade nearby tissues or spread throughout the body. Collections of these out of control tissues are called tumors. However, not all breast tumors are considered cancerous since certain types of large cells just cannot be spread or threaten a person’s life and this kind of tumor is called benign tumor. On the other hand, the tumors that can spread all throughout the body or invade nearby tissues are considered cancerous cells and are malignant. Cancer cells usually comes from either ducts or glands in the breast that is why it may take months or even years for a tumor to be notice in the breast. Breast tumors are screened with the use of mammograms that are rather accurate in screening tumor or cancer cells.

Women are much prone to develop breast cancer that men. Only 1% to 2% of men have been known to have cases of breast cancer. The early onset of menstruation in women at the age of 12 increases the risk for a breast cancer on the other hand an early menopausal period may reduce the risk of breast cancer. The risk for women to have breast cancer increases with age in fact a study shows that women over 50 are more likely to develop breast cancer. Nevertheless, the incidence of breast cancer among younger women is also increasing in an alarming rate that is why more women of ages 20s to 30s have subjected themselves to be diagnosed. Breast cancer is not only acquired but also can be inherited. For women who have genetic mutation such as BRCA1 or BRCA2 has an 80% risk of developing breast cancer. Women who have first-degree relative diagnosed to have breast cancer increase their risk of also acquiring breast cancer. Moreover, women with first-degree relative that are diagnosed to have breast cancer before menopause increase the risk for them in acquiring breast cancer.

Some factors contribute to the occurrence of breast cancer and these are as follows: smoking, alcohol and radiation exposure. Women who are smoking will increase their chances to have breast cancer. Aside from that, high intakes of alcohol have been found to be a source of breast cancer. Radiation exposure is another factor that contributes to breast cancer. Studies have shown that women as well as children who have undergone high-dose radiation therapy have a much higher chance of having breast cancer.

About the author: Khloe Penelope
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Mesothelioma Cancer : Early Warning Signs And Causes

Would you like to find out what those-in-the-know have to say about Cancer? The information in the article below comes straight from well-informed experts with special knowledge about Cancer.

The best time to learn about Cancer is before you're in the thick of things. Wise readers will keep reading to earn some valuable Cancer experience while it's still free.

Abstract: Malignant mesothelioma is a devasting, rare and deadly form of cancer, caused by exposure to asbestos. If you've lived under working conditions that exposed you to asbestos, or had a household member that worked near or with asbestos, you should bring this to the attention of a medical doctor and seek free legal counsel.

What is Mesothelioma?

Chances are you may never have heard of mesothelioma cancer unless you or a relative have the disease. Still considered as a rare cancer, it has been popularized by its linkage to asbestos.

Exactly what is mesothelioma cancer or malignant mesothelioma? Malignant mesothelioma is a deadly cancer of the mesothelium, or lining of the lung and chest cavity. However, it sometimes can be a deadly cancer of the peritoneum (the lining of the abdomen). It is almost always caused by exposure to asbestos, and is slow forming – often taking between 20-50 years to develop after exposure to asbestos.

Malignant Mesothelioma Symptoms

Symptoms of malignant mesothelioma in the lung and chest cavity are as follows:
- Shortness of breath - Cough - Weight Loss - Chest Pain

Symptoms of malignant mesothelioma in the abdomen are as follows:
- Abdominal swelling and pain - Weight Loss

Wondering How You Could Have Gotten Mesothelioma Cancer?

Several diseases are associated with exposure to asbestos. They include: malignant mesothelioma, asbestosis, pleural effusion, pleural plaques and thickening, and lung cancer. Prior to 1975 asbestos fibers were commonly used. You could have been exposed to asbestos while working at any number of different industries. Chief among the possibilities would be jobs at asbestos mining and milling plants, shipyards, fireproofing and heating, construction, automotive repair, insulation, pipefitting and boilermaking.

If you did not work in one of these industries or another that used asbestos, it is also possible that you could have been exposed if someone in your household worked with asbestos and carried asbestos fibers home on his or her clothing, hair or body. You may also have been exposed indirectly by living near asbestos mines.

Although it is true that most patients with malignant mesothelioma, lung cancer or other asbestos-related diseases likely had prolonged exposure to asbestos over a long period of time, it is also possible for one to develop one of these diseases from a brief exposure to asbestos.

The odds of developing lung cancer from smoking also increases significantly from exposure to asbestos. Although most people with lung cancer are told that their lung cancer was caused from smoking, if you or someone you know has lung cancer and also worked in an environment that gave you exposure to asbestos, it is highly recommended that you contact an attorney that specializes in handling mesothelioma and lung cancer cases caused by exposure to asbestos. The justice system has been very generous in its rewards to people who suffer diseases caused by asbestos exposure.

To learn more about mesothelioma cancer I recommend you visit http://www.mesothelioma-cancer-online.com (Mesothelioma Cancer Online).

Sometimes it's tough to sort out all the details related to this subject, but I'm positive you'll have no trouble making sense of the information presented above.

About the Author : Craig Whitley is a widely-published author, publisher of numerous e-books and articles about a wide variety of subjects, and owner of the popular search engine Seek Dolphin. He routinely scouts the Internet for excellent online resources like Mesothelioma Cancer Online when writing articles about mesothelioma cancer and other health-related subjects.

Mesothelioma Cancer

Do you ever feel like you know just enough about All About Cancer to be dangerous? Let's see if we can fill in some of the gaps with the latest info from All About Cancer experts.

If you don't have accurate details regarding All About Cancer, then you might make a bad choice on the subject. Don't let that happen: keep reading.

Mesothelioma is a rare type of cancer in the general population. However, in individuals that were exposed to asbestos, it is not as rare. There are experts that have speculated on other causes. There are incidences of Mesothelioma with no known asbestos exposure. Mesothelioma is not a lung cancer. Smoking does not cause it. It is a cancer of the mesothelial cells.

Causes of Mesothelioma
The only known, established cause of Mesothelioma is asbestos. The asbestos fibers are breathed in, travel through the lung and become lodged in the pleura, the thin, saran wrap-type membrane that lines that encases the lung. The pleura, produces a special lubricating fluid that facilitates the ability of the lungs to move inside the chest during breathing. The process of irritation from the infiltration of the asbestos fibers creates changes in the cells, which causes the Mesothelioma. This is known as pleural Mesothelioma. Less common is peritoneal Mesothelioma, which is a cancer of the membrane that encompasses the lining of the abdomen.

Symptoms of Mesothelioma
An individual with Mesothelioma experiences chest pain usually caused by a build-up of fluid in the pleural space called an effusion and shortness of breath. Since many doctors may not have expertise in the area of asbestos-related diseases, these symptoms are often believed, at first, to be attributable to other medical problems. A biopsy of the pleural tissue or fluid may reveal the cancer of the mesothelial cells and a proper diagnosis can thus be established. A history of the individual’s occupational exposure shall be taken. Since there is no “safe” level of exposure to asbestos, even brief, low level exposures may be enough to cause Mesothelioma.

Occurrence of Mesothelioma
Mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer and its incidence is actually increasing day by day. There is presently no known cure for Mesothelioma. As the disease progresses, the cancerous cells harden the pleura and spread. As time passes, breathing, sleeping and eating become more difficult and eventually it becomes increasingly more challenging for the victim to engage in normal activities and enjoy life.

Treatments of Mesothelioma
A number of treatments have been established to help contain the spread of the disease and reduce the pain associated with it. Chemotherapy, radiation and radical surgery to remove the lung and pleura are among the options that have been explored by the treating physician.

Prevention is better than Cure
Mesothelioma is a preventable disease. Many of the corporations that manufacture and make profit from the sale of asbestos-containing products are aware of the hazards of asbestos. Alternative fibers are available that could be used instead of asbestos. But asbestos is cheap, and available, and is a good filler and binder.

To Sum up
The varied and non-specific symptoms associated with Mesothelioma, can delay detection and diagnosis The cancer has a very long latency period, which means that it could be thirty years or more before the person even realizes that they have contracted the cancer .The onset of symptoms can take up to fifty years or more in some cases, but once the symptoms have manifested the lifespan of the person can be as short as several months. So, if you or a loved one is experiencing any of the above symptoms, consult your doctor right away. Make sure that your physician is aware of any previous asbestos exposure, and occupational risk factors.

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About the author :
Rob Mellor owns the free to use http://www.mesotheliomasupportonline.comwebsite helping people find out more about mesothelioma. Please visit the site for more information on mesothelioma cancer