‘cancer treatment’ Tagged Posts

Prostate Cancer – What Is It?

Prostate cancer is often found by doctors before men show any symptoms or signs of the disease. Signs are different from symptoms in a way that sign...

 

Prostate cancer is often found by doctors before men show any symptoms or signs of the disease. Signs are different from symptoms in a way that signs are detected by doctors through physical examinations and laboratory work. Symptoms, on the other hand, are what patients can see and feel.

Prostate Cancer Signs

* Prostate size or shape is abnormal. The presence of bumps in the prostate can be detected during a rectal examination.

* Increased PSA levels – If there is an elevation in the Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) levels, this can be a sign of cancer, but not definitive, as there may be other causes of PSA level elevation.

* Enlargement of the bladder – This can be detected through physical examination or ultrasound and MRI. Doctors would be looking for enlargement and the restriction of urine.

* Lesions on the bone – Other causes may be possible, but lesions on the bone as seen on a CT scan or other tests can be sign of cancer.

* Enlargement of the lymph nodes – If there is cancer in the prostate, it often attacks the lymph nodes near the groin area and causes the nodes to expand.

After a confirmed diagnosis of your cancer and your oncologist tells you the grade and stage of your condition, your doctor will make an evaluation and make a suggestion on the best possible treatments.

Possible Treatments

* Surgical treatment – Doctors would want to eradicate the cancer tissues from the prostate and other nearby organs that may be affected. They would also want to prevent its spread to other organs that do not have cancer cells. The most common surgery being performed as treatment for prostate cancer is radical prostatectomy where surgeons effectively remove the prostate organ and the nearby vesicles.

* Radiation – This is done by using x-rays or radiation to completely kill all cancer tissues that are present in the body of the patient. It damages the DNA that cancer needs in order to spread.

* Hormone Treatment – The hormone testosterone can help multiply and spread prostate cancer cells. A patient can then undergo hormonal therapy in order to restrict the growth, production, and use of these hormones.

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Understanding Second Line Treatments for Mesothelioma: What’s Possible after Front Line Therapies for Asbestos Cancer

 

Mesothelioma is an uncommon form of cancer almost always linked with exposure to asbestos. It is sometimes referred to as asbestos cancer or shortened to “meso.”

Asbestos is a carcinogenic fibrous substance that is naturally resists heat, fire and erosion. Because of its thermal properties, affordability, and availability, asbestos was added to thousands of construction and industrial products. Over the past century, millions of people worldwide have been exposed to asbestos either on the job, in the environment, or second hand.

Asbestos can cause mesothelioma when fibers become airborne and are inhaled or ingested into the body. Once the fibers enter the body, they can become lodges in the protective sacs surrounding the lungs, heart or abdomen. Ten to forty years later, they cause tumors to form in the mesothelium, or lining of the sacs. Because the symptoms are hard to recognize and take so long to appear from time of initial exposure, mesothelioma is often not diagnosed until it has reached advanced stages of the disease. Prognosis is poor and many do not live past a year after diagnosis, especially if the disease is extensive.

Currently there is no known cure for mesothelioma and treatment options are limited for those with advanced disease. Because of this, interventions are generally not curative but focus on extending survival times and increasing quality of life. Front line therapy refers to the first kinds of medical interventions tried and are usually considered the standard clinical practice. Front line therapies for mesothelioma are surgical resection, chemotherapy and radiation therapy. An even more common practice is to combine two or more of these methods.

Surgery can include pleurectomy and decortications. Radiation therapy and chemotherapy often follow surgical intervention. Common chemotherapy agents used to treat mesothelioma are pemetrexed, cisplatin, carboplatin, doxorubicin, epirubicin, mitomysicn, cyclophosophamide and ifosfamide. Phase II clinical trials have shown success combining cisplatin and pemetrexed in chemotherapy-naive patients and this combination is now recognized as the preferred first line treatment for mesothelioma patients.

Surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatments are generally palliative but do not result in extended survival times.

After front line approaches have been tried, second line treatments can be explored. Second line treatments are offered as part of clinical studies investigating new and hopefully more effective ways of fighting or even curing cancer. Second line treatments investigate new approaches to surgery and radiation, new anti-cancer drugs, and new combination of methods or drugs. Therapies involving diet, exercise and alternative healing modalities are referred to as supplementary treatments versus secondary.

Not all mesothelioma patients will be eligible for clinical trials researching new therapeutic interventions since they each have their own requirements. After completing standard treatments, patients who wish to participate in a clinical trial involving the use of second line treatments will need to see if they are eligible. Some eligibility requirements are whether the tumors are resectable, whether or to what extent patients have been pretreated with pemetrexed or other chemotherapy agents, and what type or stage of disease the patient currently has.

Several second line treatments involving new drugs (chemotherapy agents) are currently being investigated. These therapies are increasingly being used in clinical practice as more patients are being diagnosed at earlier stages and are still healthy at time of disease progression. Second line treatments can include testing new drugs, anti-angiogenic compounds, molecular antibodies, and other unexplored alternatives. First and second line treatments should be initiated as early as possible for best results.

To find out more about current clinical trials investigating both front and second line treatments, consult with your oncologist or mesothelioma specialist to see if you qualify to participate. The National Cancer Institute website is also a good resource and lists all past and current studies of second line mesothelioma treatments.

Sally Clapper is the publicist the law firm of Clapper, Patti, Schweizer & Mason, mesothelioma lawyers that have given legal representation to people with mesothelioma for over a quarter of a century. The firm has several expert asbestos lawyers and is recognized as one of the leading plaintiffs’ mesothelioma law firms in the nation.

Free Cancer Prevention Diet

 

You may be in a position to imagine how painful it is to die from Mycosis Fungoides or Supratentorial Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumors. You’ve got heard right, but there’s smart news.

Doctors have known for lots of years that diet can facilitate your avoid disease. In fact, it’s been shown that concerning 36% of all cancer is diet related. And it’s also been proven that diet can reduce your probabilities of obtaining cancer.

Nutrients in some food can decrease your likelihood of cancer. You can conjointly improve your chances of not obtaining cancer by avoiding some foods. You would possibly have to chop out the Kracks and Rauchkse cheese.

The Power of Fruits and Vegetables

Fruits (like loganberry and Tamarillo or Tree Tomato (Cyphomandra betacea; Solanaceae) and Soybean) and vegetables are shown to help you avoid many sorts of cancer as well as cancer of the mouth and colon. Currently, it’s unknown if there are any specific nutrients in these foods that offer protection. There have been experiments on a number of the nutrients found in fruits and vegetables like beta-carotene. However, isolating these substances from the original source haven’t been found to stop cancer. In fact, some by themselves are found to be harmful. So remember – the entire fruit is several times higher than some supplement taken from that food.

Thus, you must eat a minimum of one serving of a fruit or vegetable with each meal. They’ll be contemporary, canned or dried. However, they must not be fried like chips.

Whole Grains Keep You Moving

Whole grains like rye brown rice, cracked wheat and corn on the cob are glorious sources of vitamins, minerals and fiber. These are well-known to help prevent colon cancer. Despite being very important, simply using a fiber supplement isn’t as effective as a result of you wish the opposite nutrients in the whole grain.

Doctors assume that the high fiber content of the grain helps to stay the contents of the bowel moving right along. This prevents constipation within the colon. That being said, there’s no proof that laxatives or any colon cleansing regimen is of any help. In fact they need usually been shown to be harmful.

Foods to Avoid

Chicken has been shown to be a culprit of especially colon cancer and cancer of the prostate. The most effective recommendation is that you keep your parts to less than three ounces a day. Cutting it out altogether is even better.

Any food with tons of oil and fat will have a similar effect. All of those french fries and potato chips that you have been eating? Well, they’ll contribute to your chance of growing a cancer.

And currently another little bit of dangerous news for a number of you, alcohol is another culprit. The latest research offers strong evidence that any alcohol will increase your likelihood of obtaining cancer. But, it’s particularly a big drawback when you have additional than two drinks on a daily basis for men and one for women. Sorry ladies. Alcohol along with cigarettes contribute to cancer of the mouth, esophagus and larynx (your voice box). So, be positive you limit those Bitter ales and Ginjinha liqueurs.

The Four Rules of Diet

1. Most of your food should be directly from plants.

2. Limit your intake of high-fat foods, particularly from animal sources.

3. Get moving: Achieve and maintain a healthy weight. Ok. Thus this one is not directly diet connected – however, you must limit your intake to the quantity required to keep your weight at a smart level.

4. Limit consumption of alcoholic beverages, if you drink at all.

Use the following pointers and you will dramatically decrease your possibilities of getting diet connected cancer.

For more informations, please visit Candy Gilmore’s site about Natural Cancer Treatment and learn how to choose the right Natural Cancer Treatment for your needs.