Cancer Info

Causes, Symptoms and Treatments

2016-11-14T16:19:00.002-08:00

Breast cancer is a kind of cancer that develops from breast cells.

Breast cancer usually starts off in the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply them with milk. A malignant tumor can spread to other parts of the body. A breast cancer that started off in the lobules is known as lobular carcinoma, while one that developed from the ducts is called ductal carcinoma.

The vast majority of breast cancer cases occur in females. This article focuses on breast cancer in women. We also have an article about male breast cancer.

Breast cancer is the most common invasive cancer in females worldwide. It accounts for 16% of all female cancers and 22.9% of invasive cancers in women. 18.2% of all cancer deaths worldwide, including both males and females, are from breast cancer.

Breast cancer rates are much higher in developed nations compared to developing ones. There are several reasons for this, with possibly life-expectancy being one of the key factors - breast cancer is more common in elderly women; women in the richest countries live much longer than those in the poorest nations. The different lifestyles and eating habits of females in rich and poor countries are also contributory factors, experts believe.

According to the National Cancer Institute, 232,340 female breast cancers and 2,240 male breast cancers are reported in the USA each year, as well as about 39,620 deaths caused by the disease.

The anatomy of a female breast

A mature human female's breast consists of fat, connective tissue and thousands of lobules-tiny glands which produce milk. The milk of a breastfeeding mother goes through tiny ducts (tubes) and is delivered through the nipple.

The breast, like any other part of the body, consists of billions of microscopic cells. These cells multiply in an orderly fashion-new cells are made to replace the ones that died.

In cancer, the cells multiply uncontrollably, and there are too many cells, progressively more and more than there should be.

Cancer that begins in the lactiferous duct (milk duct), known as ductal carcinoma, is the most common type. Cancer that begins in the lobules, known as lobular carcinoma, is much less common.

A symptom is only felt by the patient, and is described to the doctor or nurse, such as a headache or pain. A sign is something the patient and others can detect, for example, a rash or swelling.

The first symptoms of breast cancer are usually an area of thickened tissue in the woman's breast, or a lump. The majority of lumps are not cancerous; however, women should get them checked by a health care professional.

Women who detect any of the following signs or symptoms should tell their doctor (NHS, UK):

A lump in a breast
A pain in the armpits or breast that does not seem to be related to the woman's menstrual period
Pitting or redness of the skin of the breast; like the skin of an orange
A rash around (or on) one of the nipples
A swelling (lump) in one of the armpits
An area of thickened tissue in a breast
One of the nipples has a discharge; sometimes it may contain blood
The nipple changes in appearance; it may become sunken or inverted
The size or the shape of the breast changes
The nipple-skin or breast-skin may have started to peel, scale or flake.

Written by Christian Nordqvist

Understanding Your Lung Cancer Risk

2016-11-14T00:05:00.002-08:00

Understanding Your Lung Cancer Risk

According to the American Cancer Society, lung cancer is the second most common cancer in both men and women (other than skin cancer). Lung cancer accounts for about 27 percent of all cancer deaths – each year, more people die of lung cancer than of colon, breast and prostate cancers combined. About 221,200 new cases of lung cancer will be diagnosed and approximately 158,040 people will die from lung cancer in the United States this year.

Although anyone can get lung cancer, the biggest risk factor is smoking. About 80 percent of lung cancer deaths are thought to result from smoking. The risk for lung cancer among smokers is many times higher than among non-smokers. The longer you smoke and the more packs a day you smoke, the greater your risk. By not smoking or quitting, you can reduce your lung cancer risk.

Other risk factors include:

Exposure to secondhand smoke – can increase the risk of developing lung cancer by almost 30 percent, and is thought to cause more than 7,000 deaths from lung cancer each year.

Age – approximately 2 out of 3 people diagnosed with lung cancer are 65 or older. Fewer than 2 percent of all cases of lung cancer are found in people younger than 45.

Gender – the chances of a man developing lung cancer in his lifetime is about 1 in 13; for a woman, the risk is about 1 in 16. These numbers include both smokers and non-smokers, but the risk for smokers is much higher.

Race – black men are about 20 percent more likely to develop lung cancer than white men, while the rate is about 10 percent lower in black women than in white women. Both black and white women have lower rates of lung cancer than men.

Exposure to asbestos.

Exposure to radon, a naturally occurring radioactive gas that results from the breakdown of uranium in soil and rocks.

Family history.

Rates of survival in people with lung cancer vary depending on the stage of the cancer when it is diagnosed.

Often, lung cancer does not cause any symptoms until it is at an advanced stage, but symptoms do occur in some people with early stage lung cancer.

Symptoms of lung cancer can include:

A cough that does not go away or gets worse. Chest pain that is often worse with deep breathing, coughing, or laughing.
Hoarseness.
Weight loss and loss of appetite.
Coughing up blood or rust-colored sputum (spit or phlegm).
Shortness of breath.
Feeling tired or weak.
Infections such as bronchitis and pneumonia that don’t go away or keep coming back.
New onset of wheezing.

Many of the symptoms listed above can be caused by conditions other than lung cancer. However, if you are experiencing any of these symptoms, it’s important to see your doctor right away.

Dr. David Shersher is a Thoracic Surgeon, Lung Cancer Center, MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper

Risk Factors for Cancer

2016-11-13T23:59:00.002-08:00

Risk Factors for Cancer

It is usually not possible to know exactly why one person develops cancer and another doesn’t. But research has shown that certain risk factors may increase a person’s chances of developing cancer. (There are also factors that are linked to a lower risk of cancer. These are sometimes called protective risk factors, or just protective factors.)

Cancer risk factors include exposure to chemicals or other substances, as well as certain behaviors. They also include things people cannot control, like age and family history. A family history of certain cancers can be a sign of a possible inherited cancer syndrome. (See the Hereditary Cancer Syndromes section for more information about inherited genetic mutations that can cause cancer.)

Most cancer risk (and protective) factors are initially identified in epidemiology studies. In these studies, scientists look at large groups of people and compare those who develop cancer with those who don’t. These studies may show that the people who develop cancer are more or less likely to behave in certain ways or to be exposed to certain substances than those who do not develop cancer.

Such studies, on their own, cannot prove that a behavior or substance causes cancer. For example, the finding could be a result of chance, or the true risk factor could be something other than the suspected risk factor. But findings of this type sometimes get attention in the media, and this can lead to wrong ideas about how cancer starts and spreads. (See the Common Cancer Myths and Misconceptions page for more information.)

When many studies all point to a similar association between a potential risk factor and an increased risk of cancer, and when a possible mechanism exists that could explain how the risk factor could actually cause cancer, scientists can be more confident about the relationship between the two.

The list below includes the most-studied known or suspected risk factors for cancer. Although some of these risk factors can be avoided, others—such as growing older—cannot. Limiting your exposure to avoidable risk factors may lower your risk of developing certain cancers.

Source: www.cancer.gov

The image of the cancer experience needs a reality check

2016-08-30T01:07:00.001-07:00

Do we really have a more formidable foe than cancer? By the end of this year, The National Cancer Institute estimates that nearly 1.7 million people in the United States will be newly diagnosed with cancer. They say that another 600,000 people will die from it in the US. Cancer comes in many forms and attacks many systems within the body, but in 2015 one of the most commonly diagnosed has been breast cancer. Nearly 300,000 people are expected to be diagnosed in the US by the end of this year, according to Breastcancer.org. In fact, one in eight women will develop breast cancer within her lifetime.

With awareness levels higher than ever, translating into faster diagnosis and better treatments, Breastcancer.org estimates that only 40,000 women will die of the disease this year. This is a large decrease from the 1980s, and as such, breast cancer is often labelled the ‘good’ cancer.

That’s a mistake, according to Jenn Alter, a woman from St Louis in Missouri, who beat breast cancer two years ago but remains on heavy medications to prevent a relapse. As she put it:

Right after my diagnosis, this woman I worked with told me: ‘Oh don’t worry. Breast cancer is a good cancer to get. Nobody dies from breast cancer anymore.’ I always tell people that everyone is aware of breast cancer. Unfortunately, people don’t seem to be aware that the treatment is downright medieval, and that people still die from it.

Fed up with the ‘pinkification’ of her pain, Alter posted photos of just one snippet of her battle, her radiation burns after her double mastectomy, on her Tumblr. Those photos went viral, sparking a different kind of awareness – awareness of a ‘cure’ that’s more than just the wave of a magic wand.

‘I’ve heard people say it’s like getting a free boob job,’ Alter continued. ‘But it’s not. Chemo was rough. The hair loss, the pain, the nausea. It was burning out my veins in my feet and hands. They were red and inflamed for months. It made my toenails fall off.’

Photo by Digg.com

After chemotherapy, Alter went through more than a month of radiation, which left her skin permanently weakened and damaged. Her cancer was hormone-positive, meaning it responds to oestrogen, so she now takes tamoxifen, a hormone therapy that binds to oestrogen receptors so that it is blocked from attaching.

It comes with a host of possible side effects, the most common being hot flashes, tiredness, weakness, headaches and dizziness, vaginal discharge, nausea, thinning hair, and eye problems like cataracts. Less common side effects include blood clots, strokes, endometrial and uterine cancers, bone loss, mood swings and depression. And Alter must take the medication for 10 years, or her risk of redeveloping cancer stands at 50 per cent, according to her doctors.

Hormone therapy is just one of the hard treatments cancer patients must face in their long battle. The American Cancer Society cites studies that link both radiation and chemotherapy to memory loss, fuzzy thinking, difficulty concentrating and even personality changes, due to a side effect called ‘chemo brain’, which can last mere hours, but often years.

Meanwhile, strides are being made in cancer immunotherapy, considered the next big step in Stage 4 cancer treatment. Immunotherapy is far less toxic than chemotherapy, and holds promise for elongating lifespan or even providing a cure, but the side effects for some can be devastating, too. A recent study by researchers at Cornell University listed liver damage (hepatotoxicity), chronic inflammation of the bowel and diarrhoea (colitis), and hypo-/hyper-thyroidism (endocrinopathies). These life-altering medical conditions result from an over-active immune system, and can be counteracted with some success by corticosteroid immunosuppression. Still, the toll on the human body is sometimes great.

The cheery, upbeat picture for survivors might be false, but few will forgo life-saving therapy because the going gets tough. When it comes to the new immune checkpoint inhibitors, ‘given the great potential for life-sustaining effect and high rates of tumour response in certain diseases, I think the treatment absolutely favours benefit over risk,’ says the medical oncologist Michael Postow of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

The oncologist Vincent DeVita, former head of the US National Cancer Institute and co-author of The Death of Cancer (2015), adds that ‘patients must be told the truth as kindly and as gently as possible’. For a metastatic cancer such as lung cancer, the 20 per cent potential for a cure with some newer therapies truly lessens the downside risk.

Immune therapy, in particular, is less toxic than chemotherapy, but even when a new therapy comes with worse side effects, patients tend to ‘select the option that offers the best possibility of cure’.

Of course – but where does that leave the patient? Alter’s answer is: ‘We are expected to be happy that we survived, despite whatever mental and physical health issues we may still be experiencing.’ And she finds it distressing to see how the Stage 4 women (and men) get left out of the new, upbeat cancer story, when most of them are going to die.

Edited by Pam Weintraub/digg.com

A tasty way to help prevent cardiovascular disease, cancer, and dementia

2015-04-17T19:55:00.001-07:00

Up until a few decades ago, blueberries didn't have the superfood status they rightfully claim now. As a matter of fact, they were considered lacking in nutrition. Since then, serious testing and analysis have proven blueberries are truly tasty, medicinal foods.

Blueberries are native to North America. The American Indians, who used them as food and medicine, showed early Massachusetts European colonists the bushes containing them. Prior to that, Europeans only knew of blueberries' cousin - bilberries.

Although fresh blueberries are considered the best way to go, it's been proven that fresh frozen blueberries also have the same antioxidant capabilities as fresh blueberries, possibly more. [1] But you might make sure the package feels loose, indicating they were not thawed and refrozen after their original freezing.

The recommended consumption level is around a half-cup to a cup daily, without added milk and sugar, which interfere their intrinsic health values. But as usual, the studies that determined milk was detrimental did not consider raw milk. After all, it is illegal and thus non-existent in the minds of most researchers. [2]

Every day may be too ambitious for most of us. But a major epidemiological survey determined that consuming blueberries three days a week was enough to reduce heart health risks by one-third. [3]

Cardiovascular health and lowered blood pressure

Two recent studies over the past couple of years, one at Florida State University (FSU) [4] and the other at Appalachian State University in North Carolina (NC) [5] very thoroughly analyzed the results of blueberry extracts on humans using blueberry powder extracts in random double blind testing.

The most modern state of the art device for measuring arterial stiffness was used at FSU, and both studies supported the following attributes of consuming blueberries:

Nitric oxide in blood levels was increased up to 68%, dilating blood vessels to accommodate easier blood flow, which in turn lowers blood pressure (BP) or hypertension.

After eight weeks, women in the FSU study experienced an average reduction of 5.1% with their systolic reading, the top number indicating pressure from the heartbeat, and a 6.8% lower diastolic reading, the lower number that indicates BP between heartbeats.

The same postmenopausal women in the FSU study experienced a 6.5% reduction in arterial stiffness, a symptom of arteriosclerosis. The NC study used both men and women with sedentary life styles with similar results after six weeks of using blueberry extract powder.

And that study also showed that natural killer (NK) cells of foreign invaders, including excess cancer cells, were increased significantly. [6]

Blueberries help resist cancer and dementia

University of Alabama, Birmingham (UAB) Department of Nutrition Sciences associate professor Laura Newton suggested a cup a day of blueberries could eliminate cellular damage linked to cancer after reviewing several studies on blueberries and cancer. [7]

Neuroscientist James Joseph, PhD, lead scientist at Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University said, "Call the blueberry the brain berry," after their animal study (rats) with blueberry extracts in 2005.

They tested rats that were equivalent in age to humans at 65 to 70 years and challenged them with memory response and neuromotor regimens. By the end of 10 weeks of testing, rat ages were in the 70 to 75 year range of human equivalency.

One group of rats was fed a control diet, another group was fed spinach extract, another group given strawberry extract, and the test group was given blueberry extract equivalent to a half-cup daily for humans. The blueberry rats had fewer problems with memory and/or coordination problems associated with old age and dementia.

Brain tissues examined after their deaths showed higher levels of dopamine in the blueberry rats. And another Tufts study soon after revealed the mechanism for protecting brain cells from damage, the heat shock protein, remained intact in older blueberry fed rats after inflammatory stimuli.

source by naturalnews.com

Bulsulfite DNA Sequencing Determines Base Methylation in Epigenetics Research

2012-11-22T03:55:00.001-08:00

Epigenetics involves the study of external factors that have an effect on the ordering and organic phenomenon while not sterilisation the bottom sequence. It involves the link between base methylation patterns and histones. Methylation causes desoxyribonucleic acid to wrap tightly round the simple protein complicated. This hides this desoxyribonucleic acid from the transcription method, so silencing the sequence. Active and silent genes ar outlined by the operate of the cell as cells become a lot of and a lot of specialised. Liver cells have one specific cluster of active genes whereas skin cells have a unique cluster of active genes. Methylation and binding to the simple protein complexes ar functions that confirm once cells become a lot of differentiated.

External factors may influence the epigenome. ultraviolet and chemicals found in harmful agents like tobacco have an effect on methylation patterns. Cells that lose their specialised functions might also lose the mechanisms that management cell division. fast cellular division results in cancer and neoplasm development. a higher understanding of the epigenome and base methylation method might give a higher understanding of cancer. within the past, cancer was believed to be caused by mutation or was the results of specific viruses. currently it's understood that epigenetic harm can even result in cancer. it's one reason cancer might develop in one among 2 genetically similar individuals like twins, however not within the alternative one. Epigenetics analysis has light-emitting diode to new directions in cancer treatment with variable success. however however do researchers confirm methylation patterns once comparison traditional and cancerous cells? Basic Sanger sequencing doesn't differentiate between alkyl bases and non-methylated bases.

What Determines Base Methylation

DNA becomes progressively alkyl throughout development as teams of cells differentiate into cells with specific functions. In general, aminoalkanoic acid bases that ar followed by nucleoside bases ar alkyl on the 5-prime carbon, so forming a alkyl CpG. The cellular genetic mechanism provides the knowledge the cell has to confirm that bases eventually become alkyl. desoxyribonucleic acid methyltransferases facilitate maintain correct methylation as cells divide in order that the female offspring cells perform constant functions because the parent cells.

Bisulfite Treatment of Genomic desoxyribonucleic acid

Researchers use a method known as bisulfite sequencing to spot alkyl bases. Genomic desoxyribonucleic acid undergoes treatment with bisultfite. This converts non-methylated aminoalkanoic acid bases to U. alkyl bases don't seem to be littered with bisulfite treatment. Once bisulfite treated desoxyribonucleic acid is amplified by the enzyme Chain Reaction (PCR), U bases ar replaced by T. U is that the ribonucleic acid equivalent of T. Comparison of desoxyribonucleic acid that's untreated with bisulfite and desoxyribonucleic acid treated with bisulfite shows bases transitioning from aminoalkanoic acid to T as non-methylated bases. The aminoalkanoic acid bases that stay unchanged ar alkyl. Genomic desoxyribonucleic acid is that the supply for bisulfite treatment. Fragments amplified by PCR can't be treated with bisulfite as a result of the methylation patterns ar lost throughout amplification. this is often the fundamental method employed by researchers to work out methylation patterns in desoxyribonucleic acid for epigenetic studies.

Genetic Study Divides Breast Cancer Into 4 Distinct Types

2012-09-23T18:34:00.003-07:00

In findings that are fundamentally reshaping the scientific understanding of breast cancer, researchers have identified four genetically distinct types of the cancer. And within those types, they found hallmark genetic changes that are driving many cancers.

These discoveries, published online on Sunday in the journal Nature, are expected to lead to new treatments with drugs already approved for cancers in other parts of the body and new ideas for more precise treatments aimed at genetic aberrations that now have no known treatment.

The study is the first comprehensive genetic analysis of breast cancer, which kills more than 35,000 women a year in the United States. The new paper, and several smaller recent studies, are electrifying the field.

“This is the road map for how we might cure breast cancer in the future,” said Dr. Matthew Ellis of Washington University, a researcher for the study.

Researchers and patient advocates caution that it will still take years to translate the new insights into transformative new treatments. Even within the four major types of breast cancer, individual tumors appear to be driven by their own sets of genetic changes. A wide variety of drugs will most likely need to be developed to tailor medicines to individual tumors.

“There are a lot of steps that turn basic science into clinically meaningful results,” said Karuna Jaggar, executive director of Breast Cancer Action, an advocacy group. “It is the ‘stay tuned’ story.”

The study is part of a large federal project, the Cancer Genome Atlas, to build maps of genetic changes in common cancers. Reports on similar studies of lung and colon cancer have been published recently. The breast cancer study was based on an analysis of tumors from 825 patients.

“There has never been a breast cancer genomics project on this scale,” said the atlas’s program director, Brad Ozenberger of the National Institutes of Health.

The investigators identified at least 40 genetic alterations that might be attacked by drugs. Many of them are already being developed for other types of cancer that have the same mutations. “We now have a good view of what goes wrong in breast cancer,” said Joe Gray, a genetic expert at Oregon Health & Science University, who was not involved in the study. “We haven’t had that before.”

The study focused on the most common types of breast cancer that are thought to arise in the milk duct. It concentrated on early breast cancers that had not yet spread to other parts of the body in order to find genetic changes that could be attacked, stopping a cancer before it metastasized.

The study’s biggest surprise involved a particularly deadly breast cancer whose tumor cells resemble basal cells of the skin and sweat glands, which are in the deepest layer of the skin. These breast cells form a scaffolding for milk duct cells. This type of cancer is often called triple negative and accounts for a small percentage of breast cancer.

But researchers found that this cancer was entirely different from the other types of breast cancer and much more resembles ovarian cancer and a type of lung cancer.

“It’s incredible,” said Dr. James Ingle of the Mayo Clinic, one of the study’s 348 authors, of the ovarian cancer connection. “It raises the possibility that there may be a common cause.”

There are immediate therapeutic implications. The study gives a biologic reason to try some routine treatments for ovarian cancer instead of a common class of drugs used in breast cancer known as anthracyclines. Anthracyclines, Dr. Ellis said, “are the drugs most breast cancer patients dread because they are associated with heart damage and leukemia.”

A new type of drug, PARP inhibitors, that seems to help squelch ovarian cancers, should also be tried in basal-like breast cancer, Dr. Ellis said.

Basal-like cancers are most prevalent in younger women, in African-Americans and in women with breast cancer genes BRCA1 and BRCA2.

Two other types of breast cancer, accounting for most cases of the disease, arise from the luminal cells that line milk ducts. These cancers have proteins on their surfaces that grab estrogen, fueling their growth. Just about everyone with estrogen-fueled cancer gets the same treatment. Some do well. Others do not.

The genetic analysis divided these cancers into two distinct types. Patients with luminal A cancer had good prognoses while those with luminal B did not, suggesting that perhaps patients with the first kind of tumor might do well with just hormonal therapy to block estrogen from spurring their cancers while those with the second kind might do better with chemotherapy in addition to hormonal therapy.

In some cases, genetic aberrations were so strongly associated with one or the other luminal subtype that they appeared to be the actual cause of the cancer, said Dr. Charles Perou of the University of North Carolina, who is the lead author of the study. And he called that “a stunning finding.”

“We are really getting at the roots of these cancers,” he said.

After basal-like cancers, and luminal A and B cancers, the fourth type of breast cancer is what the researchers called HER2-enriched. Breast cancers often have extra copies of a gene, HER2, that drives their growth. A drug, Herceptin, can block the gene and has changed the prognosis for these patients from one of the worst in breast cancer to one of the best.

Yet although Herceptin is approved for every breast cancer patient whose tumor makes too much HER2, the new analysis finds that not all of these tumors are alike. The HER2-enriched should respond readily to Herceptin; the other type might not.

The only way to know is to do a clinical trial, and one is already being planned. Herceptin is expensive and can occasionally damage the heart. “We absolutely only want to give it to patients who can benefit,” Dr. Perou said.

For now, despite the tantalizing possibilities, patients will have to wait for clinical trials to see whether drugs that block the genetic aberrations can stop the cancers. And it could be a vast undertaking to get all the drug testing done. Because there are so many different ways a breast cancer cell can go awry, there may have to be dozens of drug studies, each focusing on a different genetic change.

One of Dr. Ellis’s patients, Elizabeth Stark, 48, has a basal-type breast cancer. She has gone through three rounds of chemotherapy, surgery and radiation over the past four years. Her disease is stable now and Dr. Stark, a biochemist at Pfizer, says she knows it will take time for the explosion of genetic data to produce new treatments that might help her.

By GINA KOLATA/nytimes.com

What is Breast Cancer

2012-07-16T07:38:00.001-07:00

What is breast cancer?

Breast cance r is a malignant tumor (a collection of cancer cells) arising from the cells of the breast. Although breast cancer predominantly occurs in women it can also affect men. This article deals with breast cancer in women.

What are the different types of breast cancer?

There are many types of breast cancer. Some are more common than others, and there are also combinations of cancers. Some of the most common types of cancer are as follows:

Ductal carcinoma in situ: The most common type of noninvasive breast cancer is ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). This type of cancer has not spread and therefore usually has a very high cure rate.

Invasive ductal carcinoma: This cancer starts in a duct of the breast and grows into the surrounding tissue. It is the most common form of breast cancer. About 80% of invasive breast cancers are invasive ductal carcinoma.

Invasive lobular carcinoma: This breast cancer starts in the glands of the breast that produce milk. Approximately 10% of invasive breast cancers are invasive lobular carcinoma.

The remainder of breast cancers are much less common and include the following:

Mucinous carcinoma are formed from mucus-producing cancer cells.

Mixed tumors contain a variety of cell types.

Medullary carcinoma is an infiltrating breast cancer that presents with well-defined boundaries between the cancerous and noncancerous tissue.

Inflammatory breast cancer: This cancer makes the skin of the breast appear red and feel warm (giving it the appearance of an infection). These changes are due to the blockage of lymph vessels by cancer cells.

Triple-negative breast cancers: This is a subtype of invasive cancer with cells that lack estrogen and progesterone receptors and have no excess of a specific protein (HER2) on their surface. It tends to appear more often in younger women and African-American women.

Paget's disease of the nipple: This cancer starts in the ducts of the breast and spreads to the nipple and the area surrounding the nipple. It usually presents with crusting and redness around the nipple.

Adenoid cystic carcinoma: These cancers have both glandular and cystic features. They tend not to spread aggressively and have a good prognosis

Source: www.medicinenet.com

A Lifesaving Tool Against Cervical Cancer Remains Underused

2012-07-09T06:45:00.003-07:00

Preventing cervical cancer may be the last thing on the mind of the average 11-year-old girl. But by getting vaccinated for human papillomavirus, or HPV, the virus that causes nearly all cases of cervical cancer, a girl reduces her lifetime risk of developing the disease by 70 percent, studies suggest.

The vaccine, called Gardasil and made by Merck, protects against the two types of HPV — 16 and 18 — responsible for most cervical cancers, the second leading cancer killer among women worldwide. It also immunizes against HPV 6 and 11, the types of the virus that cause 90 percent of genital warts, which are not life-threatening but can be distressing and difficult to treat.

The federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommends vaccinating girls between the ages of 11 and 12, and as young as 9 at the discretion of doctors. It also advises that girls and women ages 13 to 26 receive the vaccine if they have not yet been immunized. But the vaccine is controversial, and only 24 percent of eligible girls and women have gotten at least one of the three recommended doses.

One reason for the controversy is that the vaccine is relatively new. The Food and Drug Administration approved it in 2006, and this leaves some parents, and doctors, questioning its long-term safety and efficacy.

“Studies have been done on fewer than 2,000 girls ages 10 to 15, and to know if a vaccine is safe, millions of people have to get it and have a chance to report any adverse events,” said Dr. Diane Harper, director of the Gynecologic Cancer Prevention Research Group at Dartmouth Medical School. “It’s a public health experiment, but that’s the nature of vaccines.”

Proponents counter by pointing to Gardasil’s track record. An estimated eight million girls and women in the United States have received one or more doses of the vaccine, with fewer than 7 percent reporting serious side effects — about half the rate for vaccines over all.

“There’s six years of safety data that shows no long-term risks, and that’s the same timeframe for other recently recommended vaccines,” said Dr. Mark H. Einstein, director of clinical research in the gynecologic oncology division of Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.

Safety issues aside, some people oppose the vaccine because they fear that its use will encourage promiscuity. Or they have religious objections to vaccines, or argue that the government has no right to mandate its use, as some states have tried to do.

With or without the vaccine, many teenagers are already sexually active. A recent government study found that one in four girls ages 14 to 19 has a sexually transmitted disease. And one in four American girls and women ages 14 to 59 is infected with HPV, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “This vaccine is a preventive health measure, not a sex education measure,” Dr. Einstein said. “From a science standpoint, it completely makes sense to vaccinate girls against HPV.”

The vaccine is being studied for use in boys and men, too.

“We don’t have widespread vaccination of women, so immunizing men may help protect those women who aren’t vaccinated,” said Dr. Kevin Ault, associate professor of gynecology and obstetrics at Emory University Medical School in Atlanta. It would also protect men against genital warts, which they get at a higher rate than women, and may immunize against relatively rare HPV-related cancers of the penis, anus, neck and head.

Most HPV infections clear up on their own, but those that persist, usually for five years or longer, increase a woman’s risk for developing precancerous cervical lesions. Pap tests, a routine part of a gynecological exam, usually detect these precancers, which can be treated so they do not develop into cancer. Still, 11,000 new cases of cervical cancer are diagnosed in the United States every year, most in women who haven’t gotten regular Pap tests, but some in women whose Pap tests didn’t detect precancerous cells.

Fortunately, cervical cancer is slow-growing.

“Usually the time to progression from a premalignant lesion to an invasive cancer is about 10 years,” said Dr. Teresa Diaz-Montes, gynecologic oncologist at Johns Hopkins Medical Center. When caught early, which is usually the case in the United States, cervical cancer can often be treated and cured by a simple or radical hysterectomy. Survival rates are high. “If the tumor is confined to the cervix, the five-year survival rate will be 80 to over 95 percent,” Dr. Diaz-Montes said.

And women can improve their chance of survival by getting treated by gynecologic oncologists rather than general gynecologists, studies show.

“Cervical cancer is not as common now as it was in the past because of Pap tests, so it’s important to be seen by a gynecologic oncologist because these are the specialists trained to treat this disease,” Dr. Diaz-Montes said. She advises women to look for a physician who sees a high volume of patients that need the same type of treatment they require.

Still, 3,700 women die from cervical cancer in the United States every year. Experts say that doesn’t need to happen.

“By getting vaccinated early and having regular Pap tests, and HPV tests when her health care provider recommends them,” Dr. Einstein said, “a woman has the best chance of preventing what is by far one of the most preventable cancers we have.”

By CAROL WEEG

How to keep from getting cancer

2012-07-09T06:40:00.000-07:00

Cancer is one of the illnesses that have become a source of concern of humankind today. Human are finding ways and means to avoid cancer and this has become a challenge. We are in and environment where we are exposed to pollution, toxins and the different chemicals that is found in the food that we eat. Taking precautionary measures and awareness on how to avoid this concern will greatly help. The book entitled Cancer free for Life, would help understand and prevent ourselves, our family and friends to experience this excruciating illness. This article about the Dos and Don'ts will greatly help to prevent Cancer.

Do's It would be best to maintain a healthy weight According to the American Cancer society that those who are over weight people or obese are almost certainly to encounter cancer.

Eat fruits and vegetables Eat five or more servings of fruits and vegetables each day, for fruits and vegetables are rich in phytochemicals. Phytochemicals include antioxidants and are good in fighting the growth of cancer in the body. The following fruits and vegetables are good in the prevention of cancer cell: Tomatoes, broccoli and cauliflower are best to prevent and reduce the risk of the cancer. Flavonoids are becoming very popular because they have many health promoting effects this can be acquired by eating apples and onion. Some of the activities credited to flavonoids include: anti-allergic, anti-cancer, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-viral.

Go Organic Studies shows that pesticides and herbicides that are used in the food that we eat can cause cancer.

Eat High in Fiber Foods Foods and diets that are rich in fiber can decrease the growth of cancer cells in the body especially the breast cancer in women. Food that are made of refine flour and has undergone enriched bleaching on the label can be harmful to the body. Highly process bread and pasta should be avoided instead it would be better to eat whole grain and whole-wheat products for it is rich in fiber content.

Eat fish instead of meat - Fish and other foods that are rich in Omega 3 lowers the risk of having complication and eventually lead to cancer. It would be best to lower the intake of food that is high in saturated fat. Using olive oil in cooking can be beneficial as well since it has cancer-fighting ingredient.

Don'ts Smoking Cigarette smoking causes 87 percent of lung cancer deaths according to study. Lung cancer is the principal source of cancer death in both men and women. Smoking is also accountable for most cancers of the larynx, oral cavity and pharynx, esophagus, and bladder.

Stress How we handle stress can have an impact on our health. Today, There is no proof that stress is a direct cause of cancer. But there is some link between stress and developing certain kinds of cancer, as well as how the disease progresses.

Alcohol Drinking too much alcohol can be bad to the body. Severe alcohol drinking is linked with the following cancers: mouth, throat, breast, esophagus, liver, colon and rectum. Alcohol also detriment the inside layer of internal organs and decreases the ability of the body to fight cancer. It would be best to minimize the alcohol intake every week. Though, red wine is believed to contain antioxidant that would be beneficial to the body. Moderation is the key to prevent this illness

Don't Eat Meat Having meat on your diet often can be harmful to the health for it may cause cancer. High-fat diets be likely to be higher in calories and may fuel the risk of overweight or obesity, which in turn, increase cancer risk.

Don't Eat Nitrite Meats Highly processed meat such as cold cuts and hotdog contain nitrite. Nitrite is a chemical that is use to maintain the color of the meat and is a dangerous cancer-causing ingredient. It would be best to eat proteins such as eggs and raw nuts than highly processed meat.

Created by Niteen Borge

Life, Interrupted: Facing Cancer in Your 20s

2012-03-30T06:39:00.001-07:00

I was so excited for what lay ahead, I nearly forgot to wave goodbye to my parents. Armed with a college diploma, my first job offer, a one-way ticket to Paris and a new pair of heels, I was ready to take on anything. Little did I know, I would be back in New York seven short months later. But my parents would not be taking pictures at the airport or chatting about my future plans. I would be in a wheelchair, too weak to walk.

In Paris, the doctors had struggled to make sense of my symptoms — anemia, fatigue and persistent infections. They ran test after test — I was even hospitalized for a week — but the results were inconclusive. I was just 22, but the doctors released me with a diagnosis of “burnout syndrome” and orders to rest for a month.

Rest didn’t help. Desperate for an answer, I Googled my symptoms. It seemed I could have anything from the mumps to diabetes to something called cat-scratch fever. The word “cancer” also caught my eye. The first doctors I saw in the United States thought I was depressed and suggested antidepressants. I said no and insisted they keep looking.

A week later, my worst fears were confirmed. “Leukemia,” the doctor said, dropping the word like a bomb. Soon enough I would learn the specific diagnosis: myelodysplastic syndrome, a disorder of the bone marrow. In my case, the disease growing inside me had morphed into acute myeloid leukemia. I would need intensive chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant to save my life.

The long-awaited answer reverberated in my head, and I found myself slowly pronouncing the syllables: loo-KEEM-ee-ah.

Where cancer is concerned, it’s safe to say there’s no such thing as good timing. But having a life-threatening disease in your 20s carries a special set of psychological and social challenges. It defies our very definition of what ought to be. Youth and health are supposed to be synonymous. If only I could sue my body for breach of contract with the natural order of things.

Cancer magnifies the in-betweenness of young adulthood: You’re not a child anymore, yet you’re not fully ready to live in the adult world, either. After my diagnosis, I moved back into my childhood bedroom. And as I get sicker, I increasingly rely on my parents to take care of me. But at the same time, I’ve had no choice but to grow up fast. Daunting questions that most of my peers won’t have to consider for many more years have become my urgent, everyday concerns: How will I hold onto health insurance if I’m unable to work? Will I be able to have children? How long will I live?

Even inside the hospital’s oncology ward, being a young adult with cancer can make a person feel like a misfit. I’m usually the youngest patient on the floor. In fact, I’m the youngest person my doctor has ever treated with this disease. (A vast majority of patients with my form of leukemia are over 60).

Young adults might just be oncology’s “tweens” — too old for the pediatric cancer floor but equally out of place in an adult oncology unit. I’m not suggesting that it’s worse to be young and sick, but rather that young adults with cancer are a less visible demographic, swept up in the mix of adult cancer statistics.

A 2006 report from the United States Department of Health and Human Services presents a shocking reality: Despite great strides in treatment for most cancer patients, adolescents and young adults ages 15 to 39 have seen little or no improvement in cancer survival rates for decades. The report describes how survival rates have “been hampered because cancer risk and adverse cancer outcomes have been under-recognized in this population.” It points to the fact that health care providers are often not on the lookout for cancer in this age group and, as in my case, misdiagnose symptoms — or miss them altogether.

Nine months, eight hospitalizations and seven chemotherapy treatments later, I’m realizing that age is an inextricable component of how we experience cancer.

Cancer has forced me to pause my life at a time when my peers are just beginning theirs. For my friends, most of them young adults in their 20s, this is an exciting time as they look forward to starting new jobs, traveling the world, going to parties, dating and finding love, and all the rest of the small and big milestones that are part of early adulthood.

Like my peers, I have yet to fully define who I want to become. But as a young cancer patient, it’s difficult to see ahead when I’m fighting for my life. I don’t know what the future holds. I just know I want to be there.

By SULEIKA JAOUAD/www.nytimes.com

Supply of a Cancer Drug May Run Out Within Weeks

2012-02-13T19:24:00.003-08:00

A crucial medicine to treat childhood leukemia is in such short supply that hospitals across the country may exhaust their stores within the next two weeks, leaving hundreds and perhaps thousands of children at risk of dying from a largely curable disease, federal officials and cancer doctors say.

“This is dire,” said Valerie Jensen, associate director of the Food and Drug Administration’s drug shortages program. “Supplies are just not meeting demand.”

The drug is methotrexate, and the cancer it treats is known as acute lymphoblastic leukemia, or A.L.L., which most often strikes children ages 2 to 5. It is an unusually virulent cancer of white blood cells that are overproduced in bone marrow and invade other parts of the body.

The cancer commonly spreads to the lining of the spine and brain, and oncologists prevent this by injecting large quantities of preservative-free methotrexate directly into the spinal fluid. The preservative can cause paralysis when injected into the spinal column, so cannot be used for this disease. Methotrexate is also used to treat rheumatoid arthritis.

Ben Venue Laboratories was one of the nation’s largest suppliers of injectable preservative-free methotrexate, but the company voluntarily suspended operations at its plant in Bedford, Ohio, in November because of “significant manufacturing and quality concerns,” the company announced.

Since then, supplies of methotrexate have gradually dwindled to the point where oncologists now say they are fearful that shortfalls may occur at many hospitals within two weeks.

“This is a crisis that I hope the F.D.A.’s hard work can help to avert,” said Dr. Michael P. Link, president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. “We have worked very hard to take what was an incurable disease and make it curable for 90 percent of the cases. But if we can’t get this drug anymore, that sets us back decades.”

Jackson Schwartz, 6, of Langhorne, Pa., received a diagnosis of A.L.L. in August after he complained of terrible stomach pains and spent much of his family’s vacation sleeping on the beach, said his father, Jon Schwartz. A doctor initially gave Jackson a diagnosis of constipation, but when the constipation medicine did not ease his symptoms, Jackson’s parents took him to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Within a day, doctors started Jackson on methotrexate, and the drug has been an essential part of his treatment ever since. Jackson is scheduled to have methotrexate injected into his spine weekly for the next eight weeks to ensure that his cancer does not return. If the hospital is unable to get more supplies, however, Jackson’s treatment and life may be in serious jeopardy, Mr. Schwartz said.

“It would be devastating if we can’t get this drug,” he said.

There are four other manufacturers of methotrexate in the United States, and they are trying to increase production, Ms. Jensen said. The F.D.A. is also seeking a foreign supplier to provide emergency imports until the approved domestic ones can meet demand, she said.

“We’re working on many fronts, and will keep this a priority,” Ms. Jensen said.

So far this year, at least 180 drugs that are crucial for treating childhood leukemia, breast and colon cancer, infections and other diseases have been declared in short supply — a record number. Prices for some have risen as much as eightyfold. President Obama issued an executive order in October to help ease the problems.

“People are panicking” about the methotrexate shortage, said Erin Fox, manager of the drug information service at the University of Utah. “There isn’t a lot of hope that supplies will improve drastically over the next few weeks, which is why people are so worried.”

Source: www.nytimes.com

Regimens: No Cancer Benefits Seen in Supplements

2012-02-13T19:23:00.001-08:00

A new study testing B vitamins and omega-3 fatty acids for cancer prevention has found no beneficial effect and — at least for women — some possibility of harm.
In this placebo-controlled five-year study, published Monday in The Archives of Internal Medicine, French researchers divided 2,501 survivors of cardiovascular illness ages 45 to 80 into four groups. The first took daily supplements of vitamin B9, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12; the second took two kinds of omega-3 fatty acids; the third took vitamin B6, vitamin B12 and omega-3; and the last took a placebo.

There were 174 cases of primary cancers among the participants, all confirmed by pathology. After controlling for dozens of other factors, the researchers found that neither the B vitamins nor the omega-3 fatty acids had any effect among the men. But there was an increased rate of cancer incidence and mortality among women who took the omega-3 supplements.

Valentina A. Andreeva, a postdoctoral researcher in epidemiology at the University of Paris who led the study, said that only 29 cancers were found in women, not a large enough number to draw broad conclusions. Still, she said, “we’re dealing with active substances that may not have beneficial effects and may have adverse effects, especially over the long term.”

Cancer-Deterring Drug Found to Harm Bones

2012-02-07T23:31:00.000-08:00

A drug that scientists hoped might be a safe new way to prevent breast cancer appears to pose a risk after all: significant bone loss.

The finding, published online Monday in The Lancet Oncology, could make women more reluctant to use the drug, exemestane, and it deals a setback to the notion that one day healthy people might take medicine to reduce their risk of getting cancer.

“One might not be too reassured about the use of exemestane in the prevention setting,” Jane A. Cauley, an epidemiologist at the University of Pittsburgh, wrote in a commentary that accompanied the study.

Exemestane (brand name Aromasin) is already used to prevent recurrence of breast cancer. But a large study published last June showed its use could reduce the risk of getting invasive breast cancer in the first place by about 65 percent, compared with a placebo, in women at higher risk of the disease.

While two other drugs, tamoxifen and raloxifene, are already approved to prevent breast cancer, they are rarely used for that purpose, in part because of serious side effects like blood clots. But exemestane does not have those side effects, leading researchers to hope that the drug could become a viable option for millions of women.

Dr. Angela M. Cheung, the lead investigator of the new study, said its findings should not discourage women at high risk of getting breast cancer from considering the drug.

“Sometimes the options are, ‘Should I take my breasts out, or should I take a medication such as this?’ ” said Dr. Cheung, who is director of the osteoporosis program at University Health Network in Toronto.

The new study is actually a more detailed evaluation of bone quality in 351 of the 4,560 postmenopausal women participating in the study published in June. The women were evaluated by a relatively new technique called high-resolution peripheral quantitative CT. After about two years, the researchers found, those who were taking exemestane had an average 6.1 percent decline in the bone mineral density in the wrist, compared with 1.8 percent in decline for women getting a placebo.

The exemestane users also had more evidence of a weakening of bone structure. That suggested that conventional bone density tests may not be able to detect all the damage caused by the drug, the researchers said.

The study was too small and too short to detect any difference in the number of fractures.

Exemestane is one of a class of drugs called aromatase inhibitors, which lower the body’s levels of estrogen, a hormone that can fuel breast cancer growth. Since estrogen is important for bone health, it was long suspected that exemestane might be bad for bones. But this was the largest study comparing it against a placebo in healthy women, Dr. Cheung said.

Dr. Paul E. Goss, the lead investigator of the overall study published in June, said the new findings contained “no new clinically actionable data” that should influence a woman’s decision.

Dr. Goss, director of breast cancer research at Massachusetts General Hospital, said the changes in bone structure detected by the new CT technique had not been proved to raise the risk of fractures. In the overall study, the exemestane users did not have more fractures.

And women could take osteoporosis drugs to counter any effect of exemestane, he said.

It is not clear how widely exemestane is being used for prevention. Figures from IMS Health, which tracks drug sales, do not show a significant increase in prescriptions since June, when the original study was published in The New England Journal of Medicine and presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

Even then, many doctors and patient advocate expressed skepticism that women would use exemestane for prevention. They cited other side effects, like joint pain, and the fact that the drug had not been approved for prevention by the Food and Drug Administration.

source: www.nytimes.com

Real Race in Cancer Is Finding Its Cause

2012-02-06T18:01:00.000-08:00

A decision by the nation’s leading breast cancer advocacy group, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, to largely cut off financing for breast cancer screenings at Planned Parenthood set off howls of outrage last week. Once again, it seemed, political gamesmanship was jeopardizing women’s health.

The widespread anger forced Komen to reverse its decision, and it has certainly reinvigorated the women’s health movement. But the furor misses an important fact: Women have been led to believe that screening is the best prevention.

In reality, we still do not know what causes breast cancer, which means we really do not know how to prevent it, either. That has pushed us to focus on looking for cancers that are already there, a practice long based on the assumption that all cancers were the same, grew at a similar rate and were visible in the breast for a period of time before spreading. It made sense: If you could find cancers earlier, you could save lives.

Indeed, the original screening study done in the 1950s on postmenopausal women in New York demonstrated a 30-percent decrease in deaths from breast cancer. It also led to the conjecture that if we just carried out more screening at a younger age, and more often, we could improve these statistics and “win the war” on breast cancer.

But decades later, the success rate of screening remains nearly the same, even with much better imaging: routine mammography screening results in a 15- to 20-percent decrease in mortality in women over age 50.

Why hasn’t the situation improved? It turns out that there are at least five, and probably more, different types of breast tumors, growing and spreading at different rates. Some are so aggressive that they have almost always spread before they are visible on mammogram. But other tumors, if left alone, may never spread at all and do not need to be found.

This more complicated picture explains why mammography has not further decreased mortality. The X-rays find some cancers at a point that makes a lifesaving difference — but not all of them. British researchers estimated last year that one death from breast cancer is prevented for every 400 women ages 50 to 70 who are screened regularly over a 10-year period.

Does this mean we should stop screening? No, it is still the best tool we have. But we have to start looking for other approaches to decreasing deaths from breast cancer.

Consider cancer of the cervix. First, we screened for it with Pap smears; now, with the HPV vaccine we hope to prevent it altogether. This is where we need to be focusing our money and efforts in breast cancer: finding the cause, so that we can prevent it from happening in the first place.

At the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation, for instance, we perform research on the breast looking for the cause, and we are encouraging scientists to recruit from over 360,000 women with and without breast cancer, our Army of Women, who have volunteered to help them in research to stop this disease. Other groups, including Breast Cancer Action and the Avon Foundation, are focusing on the potential environmental causes. The National Breast Cancer Coalition has set a deadline of 2020 to find a breast cancer vaccine.

We should continue to speak up when we think health care services are in jeopardy, but we cannot be satisfied with the status quo. We must move breast cancer advocacy to the next level, beyond screening for cancers that are already there, even beyond the cure, to finding the cause. That is true prevention.

Dr. Susan Love is president of the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation in Santa Monica, Calif.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: February 6, 2012

Because of an editing error, an earlier version of this essay misstated the affiliation of the Army of Women. It is a program of the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation, not the Avon Foundation.
source:www.nytimes.com/By SUSAN LOVE, M.D.

Cancer Group Backs Down on Cutting Off Planned Parenthood

2012-02-05T05:39:00.000-08:00

When the nation’s pre-eminent breast cancer advancement group, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation, absitively to stop best of its costs of Planned Parenthood in December, Komen’s leaders hoped to agilely ambit the foundation from a politically arguable alignment that they feared was costing them abutment and donations, a lath affiliate said.

But back the move became accessible on Tuesday, Nancy G. Brinker, the able Republican donor who founded Komen afterwards her sister died of breast cancer, and added leaders of the alignment were absolutely bent off bouncer by the deluge of abuse online, aural the foundation’s own ranks and in Congress. On Friday, Ms. Brinker antipodal advance and adequate Komen’s accord with Planned Parenthood, which has acclimated the Komen money to accommodate breast blight screening and apprenticeship to bags of low-income women.

“We demand to apologize to the American accessible for contempo decisions that casting agnosticism aloft our charge to our mission of extenuative women’s lives,” Ms. Brinker said in a statement.

The group’s leaders aboriginal approved to authority their ground. On Thursday, they approved to acquaint their bulletin anon to supporters with a video from Ms. Brinker on YouTube, with posts on Facebook and with Twitter letters and interviews with reporters.

But longtime supporters, accumulated sponsors and accurate and medical professionals with ties to Komen were growing added concerned. The online drumbeat became absurd to ignore. And it wasn’t aloof aborticide rights activists accusatory Komen but additionally some of the foundation’s longtime supporters, who were bent that the action adjoin breast blight had been fatigued into accessory battles.

By the end of the week, Twitter users had beatific added than 1.3 actor posts advertence Planned Parenthood, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation and accompanying agreement and hashtags. On Thursday alone, there were added than 460,000 Tweets.

“They listened anxiously to abounding people, including abounding of the scientists and clinicians,” a chief blight researcher with abutting ties to Komen said. “They accustomed that the alone affair that could be done was to about-face the decision.”

As backward as Thursday night, Ms. Brinker had been scrambling to defuse a crisis that acutely threatened the acceptability of an alignment she has spent three decades architecture into a fund-raising juggernaut that affairs breast blight analysis and screening. Efforts to accommodate a resolution culminated Friday morning back Ms. Brinker alleged Senator Frank R. Lautenberg, a New Jersey Democrat and the arch columnist of a letter from 26 senators calling on Komen to change its decision. Ms. Brinker assured Mr. Lautenberg that Komen would afresh accomplish Planned Parenthood acceptable for grants, and he told her that was aloof what he and his colleagues had been seeking.

The altercation that access into acrid accessible ablaze this anniversary had been brewing for years as anti-abortion advocates adamant the Komen foundation, agitation alongside its fund-raising contest and accusatory audibly about the grants to Planned Parenthood, which performs abortions as able-bodied as accouterment a ample ambit of added bloom casework to women.

“We are absolutely afraid, because these bodies who are against to Planned Parenthood were aggressive to agitate our contest or sponsors to our races,” said John Hammarley, a Komen chief communications adviser until backward aftermost summer. He said that allotment of his role was to advice the foundation’s affiliates beyond the country to administer these complaints. He brash affiliates to be able for the worst, but best threats had yielded alone a scattering of placard-carrying protesters.

The altercation aural Komen about acclamation the objections of anti-abortion advocates agitated aftermost year afterwards Karen Handel was assassin as chief carnality admiral for accessible policy, several above Komen advisers said. Ms. Handel, a Republican, had been secretary of accompaniment in Georgia and had run abominably for governor in 2010. During that campaign, she had announced about catastrophe costs for Planned Parenthood and said, “Since I am pro-life, I do not abutment the mission of Planned Parenthood.”

Mr. Hammarley said the altercation included questions about the cardinal of grants awarded to Planned Parenthood and about the regions that ability be afflicted if grants were halted.

“There was a cogent access of questions on the allotment of chief administration about the captivation of Planned Parenthood aftermost year,” Mr. Hammarley said.

By PAM BELLUCK, JENNIFER PRESTON and GARDINER HARRIS, www.nytimes.com

Cancer Group Backs Down on Cutting Off Planned Parenthood

2012-02-03T17:35:00.000-08:00

The nation’s pre-eminent breast cancer advancement group, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation, apologized on Friday for its accommodation to cut best of its costs to Planned Parenthood for breast blight screening and said it would afresh accomplish Planned Parenthood acceptable for those grants.“We demand to apologize to the American accessible for contempo decisions that casting agnosticism aloft our charge to our mission of extenuative women’s lives,” Nancy G. Brinker, Komen’s arch executive, said in a account acquaint on the organization’s Web site. The account added, “We will abide to armamentarium absolute grants, including those of Planned Parenthood, and bottle their accommodation to administer for approaching grants.”

The changeabout comes in the face of an astronomic furor over the accommodation and boundless complaints that the Komen foundation was attached breast blight to the aborticide issue. Comments on amusing networks like Twitter raged about the move, and donations, including a $250,000 analogous admission from Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York City, caked into Planned Parenthood, acceptance it to atone for the $700,000 in Komen money that would accept been cut.

Some Komen admiral had said that the accommodation to arrest financing, which was fabricated in December and became accessible ability on Tuesday, was fabricated because of an assay by a Republican congressman, Cliff Stearns of Florida, who is attractive into whether Planned Parenthood has spent accessible money for abortions. A new aphorism was created by the foundation to bar grants to organizations beneath federal, accompaniment or bounded investigation, but a Komen lath affiliate said the alone accepted almsman the aphorism would administer to was Planned Parenthood. Critics additionally objected to the actuality that the foundation seemed to be giving an assay by a Republican congressman, which appeared to be prompted in allotment by opponents of aborticide rights, as muchcredibility as a bent or civilian assay by a government agency.

Ms. Brinker’s account approved to change the consequence that aborticide backroom prompted the decision.

“We accept been afflicted at the anticipation that the changes fabricated to our allotment belief were done for political affidavit or to accurately amerce Planned Parenthood,” the account said. “They were not. Our aboriginal admiration was to accomplish our fiduciary assignment to our donors by not allotment admission applications fabricated by organizations beneath investigation. We will alter the belief to accomplish bright that disqualifying investigations charge be bent and absolute in attributes and not political. That is what is appropriate and fair.”

Cecile Richards, the arch of Planned Parenthood, who had led a high-profile acknowledgment to the Komen accommodation this week, responded anon to the reversal.

“In contempo weeks, the admired accord amid the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation and Planned Parenthood has been challenged, and we are now heartened that we can abide to assignment in affiliation against our aggregate charge to breast bloom for the best underserved women,” Ms. Richards said in a statement. “We are awfully beholden that the Komen foundation has antiseptic its grant-making criteria, and we attending advanced to continuing our affiliation with Komen partners, leaders and volunteers.”

Ms. Richards said that Planned Parenthood had aloft about $3 actor in donations for its breast blight affairs this anniversary from added than 10,000 people, including “a lot of association who were baby donors and who were above patients” and “a lot of association that we had never heard from before.” She said the money would be adherent absolutely to breast blight casework and would acquiesce Planned Parenthood to decidedly aggrandize the breast blight screenings and apprenticeship it already provides.

Meanwhile, groups that argue aborticide rights and had swarmed to abutment Komen in contempo canicule reacted angrily to the about-face.

“It’s mystifying how an alignment can absolutely clear complete affidavit for eliminating a allotment relationship, afresh about-face about and capitulate on that acumen aural days,” Carrie Gordon Earll, the arch administrator of affair assay for government and accessible action at Focus on the Family, said in a statement. “This is an archetype of how difficult it has become for organizations to booty a about conscionable stand. It’s additionally affirmation of the blackmail approach active by pro-abortion allies of Planned Parenthood. Komen would do able-bodied to bethink who is it partnering with — a accumulation that will stop at annihilation to accumulate its funding.”

John D. Raffaelli, a Komen lath member, appropriate in an account Friday that foundation admiral had been extemporaneous for the firestorm acquired by their accommodation to arrest grants to Planned Parenthood. He said that Komen’s supporters abatement into ample groups, including those durably committed to the anti-abortion movement and those committed to aborticide rights.

“But we anticipate there’s a third accumulation that’s far bigger than the added two, and that’s bodies who are absolutely committed to catastrophe breast cancer,” Mr. Raffaelli said. “And it’s those bodies we were cerebration of back we came up with this brainless idea. We let those bodies down, and that’s article we should never do.”

Mr. Raffaelli additionally said Komen now faces a acutely awkward dilemma.

“Is it accessible for a women’s bloom alignment to break out of the aborticide affair and advice all women?” he asked. “I don’t apperceive the acknowledgment to that yet. What we were accomplishing afore was angering the right-to-life crowd. Then, with our accommodation in December, we agitated the pro-choice crowd. And now we’re activity to accomplish the right-to-life army mad all over again. How do we stop accomplishing that?”

The Komen affair on Twitter generated a abiding drumbeat of chatter, with mentions of the affair averaging 3,000 an hour, with a huge fasten of added than 15,000 letters acquaint afterwards account of the changeabout broke. Added than bisected the chat was apprenticed by women, with the loudest allotment advancing from California and New York, which accounted for 25 percent of all chatter, followed by Texas at 9 percent. Twitter users in Washington, D.C., and Florida anniversary contributed 5 percent of the conversation.

“Real-time amusing networks accredit the nation’s aggregate bone to be acquainted immediately,” said Mark Ghuneim, arch controlling administrator of Trendrr, a amusing media assay company. “This blazon of army behavior is a new abnormality that is more important. It’s a acceptable archetype of how amusing networks such as Twitter accredit autonomous movements to be felt, not aloof by government but by corporations and organizations.”
source: www.nytimes.com (By PAM BELLUCK)

Breast Cancer Surgery Rules Are Called Unclear

2012-02-03T06:46:00.000-08:00

Saint Mary's Health Care

Nearly bisected of women who had lumpectomies for breast bane had added operations they may not acquire bald because surgeons acquire been clumsy to acquire on guidelines for the best accustomed operation for breast cancer, a new assimilation finds. It additionally hints that some women who adeptness anniversary from added anaplasty may be missing out on it.

Rates of answer anaplasty can adapt broadly by doctor, from annihilation percent to 70 percent, according to the study.

The added operations are done aback analysis belletrist on bang specimens beforehand that the ancient operation may acquire larboard aback some bane cells. But surgeons adapt aback it comes to interpreting those reports.

Such ambiguity about a bane operation that has been in use for 30 years is “a shame,” said Dr. Laurence E. McCahill, the ancient columnist of the assimilation and a surgeon and abettor ambassador of the Lacks Bane Center in Grand Rapids, Mich. Dr. Monica Morrow, the able of breast anaplasty at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Bane Center in New York, said the assimilation and assimilation from the attainable adeptness admonition beforehand able groups to beforehand guidelines for surgeons. The adaptation of anaplasty are not regulated, but surgeons about hunt able advice.

“It is accepting to be the time for leaders in radiation oncology and anaplasty to get calm and achieve a accordance anniversary that could admonition to adviser their membership,” Dr. Morrow said.

Dr. McCahill’s study, arise online Tuesday by The Journal of the American Medical Association, is based on the medical account of 2,206 women who had lumpectomies at one of four hospitals in adapted ballocks of the country. Over all, 22.9 percent had added than one operation.

Nearly bisected of the answer operations were done in women whose analysis belletrist did not advertise that any aberrant bane beef had been larboard behind, acceptation that the operations allegedly did not admonition the patients. In added advancing findings, 14 percent of patients who did acquire affirmation of bane larboard aback did not acquire accession operation, for conflicting reasons.

Rates of answer anaplasty different by surgeon, and by hospital, from 1.7 percent to 20.9 percent. Differences in the patients did not anniversary for best of the variation, acceptance absolute abate women, who tend to acquire babyish breasts, were added adequate to allegation added operations. Surgeons say that is because they try to abate as little tissue as attainable from babyish breasts for antidotal reasons.

“The basal of operations women accept actually depends on breadth you’re treated, and affiliated to a greater affiliated on which surgeon you see,” Dr. McCahill said. “We put the algebraic aback it and said, this is a lot of added operations that maybe don’t achieve a difference.”

Dr. McCahill said that such aeriform answer operation ante did not activity in added types of bane surgery, in allocation because surgeons are not aggravating to added tissue for antidotal affirmation as they are in lumpectomy.

A aloft accuracy for the abnormality in answer operations afterwards lumpectomy is that there is no accordance amidst surgeons about how big a rim or “margin” of advantageous tissue should be taken out aback a bane is removed. Surgeons try to cut abundantly about a bang and abate abounding of a allowance to ensure that they excised all the cancer.

Negative or apple-pie margins about abject the able bang was removed. Positive margins abject some bane was allegedly larboard aback and accession operation is bald to ahead recurrence.

But how big should the margins be? Aback the bang and the advantageous tissue are removed, the credible of the able case is alive so that aback it is torn and credible through a microscope, the pathologist can use the ink marks to accretion the margins amidst the bane and the advantageous tissue and admeasurement how abutting the bane beef are.

Some surgeons acquire the operation complete if no bane beef are affecting ink. Others appeal a added allowance of advantageous tissue amidst the bane beef and the ink: one, two or affiliated bristles millimeters. If there is less, they achieve again.

Surgeons say some radiation and medical oncologists advance on a absolute allowance admeasurement afore starting the draft of the patient’s treatment. The adaptation to reoperate additionally depends in allocation on what acquaint of bang the all-around has. But there is no affirmation that a allowance any bigger than “not affecting ink” affects bane commemoration or survival, said Dr. Morrow, who wrote an exhausted accompanying the study. At her hospital, she said, “not affecting ink” is about brash adequate enough.

Many doctors ahead bigger margins allegation be safer, Dr. Morrow said, but studies advertise that they are not.

12-year-old babe who blogged blight action has died

2012-01-06T19:10:00.000-08:00

RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA, Calif. (AP) — A Southern California babe who became a nationally accustomed face of adolescent blight with a blog that actual her action adjoin academician tumors has died. Jessica Joy Rees was 12 years old.

Jessica's ancestors appear her afterlife on her Facebook page, advertence that her 10-month action with academician blight concluded Thursday. Tens of bags of bodies responded by announcement updates to the folio in a appearance of abutment that includes "likes" and prayers.

By Friday afternoon the access surpassed Jessica's ambition to get one "like" for anniversary of the estimated 50,000 American accouchement with cancer.

The Orange County seventh-grader, alleged "Jessie" by ancestors and friends, began her blog and Facebook folio afterwards actuality diagnosed with an busted academician bump in March. A additional bump was apparent in September.

While some of her posts discussed her struggles as she underwent radiation and chemotherapy treatments, others apprenticed readers in dozens of countries to abutment pediatric blight analysis and to adjure for added accouchement with the illness.

She consistently active her posts with the acronym "NEGU" (NEE'-goo), abbreviate for "never anytime accord up."

Also, she and her parents started The NEGU Foundation, a nonprofit alignment to accession acquaintance of pediatric cancer, abutment sufferers and accession money for research.

The foundation awash and provided bags of "JoyJars" blimp with bonbon and toys to ailing children. More than 3,000 were awash and broadcast in 27 states aftermost year, according to the NEGU website.

After her diagnosis, Rancho Santa Margarita youngster accustomed tickets to "American Idol" and accustomed with signs that apprehend "NEGU Casey" to abutment adversary Casey Abrams, the Orange County Register (http://bit.ly/yJwyF3) reported.

Co-host Ryan Seacrest additionally accustomed her to advertise country singer, and closing winner, Scott McCreery.

Jessica wrote on Facebook that her mission was "to animate kids angry blight to Never Anytime Accord Up by overextension hope, joy and love. A airy affection is abundant medicine."

A anniversary account was appointed for Wednesday at the Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, area her father, Erik Rees, is a pastor.

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Cancer De Tiroides

2012-01-03T04:53:00.000-08:00

Search results. El c ncer de tiroides : ltimas estad sticas sobre el c ncer sen han detectado en los ltimos a os, 37500 casos m s de c ncer de tiroides aproximadamente hay varios factores que pudieron contribuir a este. La mujer frente al c ncer de tiroides - yahoo voices - voices las enfermedades de la gl ndula tiroides son la patolog a endocrina m s frecuente en la econom a humana, despu s de la diabetes mellitus. Bing: cancer de tiroides informacion general el carcinoma de la gl ndula tiroides es un c ncer poco com n pero, no obstante, es la neoplasia maligna m s com n del sistema endocrino los. Cancer de tiroides watch tiroides hipotiroidismo online for free on pakistan videos where you can search and watch thousands of videos online in addition to tiroides hipotiroidismo.

Cancer De Tiroides (Foto: blog.mitiroides.com)

Cancer de tiroides el blog del c ncer qu causa el c ncer de la tiroides y qui n corre el riesgo de tenerlo se desconoce la causa exacta del c ncer de la tiroides,. Tiroides hipotiroidismo videos - pakistan tube - watch free el c ncer de la tiroides se caracteriza por la presencia de una masa muy peque a en el cuello, siendo en la mayor a de los casos dif cil de ver y. Medicina (buenos aires) - boron neutron capture therapy applied to qu causa el c ncer de la tiroides y qui n corre el riesgo de tenerlo se desconoce la causa exacta del c ncer de la tiroides,. Thyroid cancer - wikipedia, the free encyclopedia thyroid cancer is a thyroid neoplasm that is malignant it can be treated with radioactive iodine or surgical resection of the thyroid gland chemotherapy or.

Hipotiroidismo: la famosa mariposa: c ncer de tiroides generalidades del tema qu es el c ncer de tiroides el c ncer de tiroides es una enfermedad que usted contrae cuando las c lulas anormales comienzan a crecer. C ncer de tiroides: cancer de tiroides web brochure pdf format faq cancer de tiroides thyroid hormone treatment brochure web brochure pdf format faq thyroid disease and pregnancy brochure. C ncer de tiroides el sintoma mas frecuente de cancer de tiroides es un nodulo la unica manera de saber si un nodulo es canceroso o no es examinarlo (puncionarlo con una aguja o. Oncoperu: cancer de tiroides el cancer es una enfermedad familiar, que afecta no solo al paciente si no al grupo familiar de manera fisica, emocional y economica. Thyroid cancer el c ncer de tiroides es el c ncer endocrinol gico m s frecuente sin embargo, es raro en comparaci n con otros c nceres.

Cancer de tiroides tratamiento del c ncer por captura neutr nica de boro su aplicaci n al carcinoma indiferenciado de tiroides mario a pisarev 1,2, maria a dagrosa 1, lisa. C ncer de tiroides sintomas del cancer el hipotiroidismo se define como una hipofunci n de la gl ndula tiroides que produce una deficiencia de hormonas tiroideas (t4 y t3) afecta a 1/100. C ncer de la tiroides watch tiroides hipotiroidismo online for free on pakistan videos where you can search and watch thousands of videos online in addition to tiroides hipotiroidismo. C ncer de tiroides - tuotromedico.com - salud y medicina el c ncer tiroideo es una enfermedad en la que se encuentran c lulas cancerosas (malignas) en los tejidos de la gl ndula tiroides. C ncer de tiroides - medicos ecuador - el portal especializado en el c ncer de tiroides es tratable aunque la palabra asusta las personas a las que se le diagnostica esta patolog a tienen posibilidades de tratamiento y pueden.

Prostate Cancer - Overall

2011-12-16T20:45:00.000-08:00

Device external radiation treatment

Example of an ultrasound affected by prostate cancer (ultrasound can be used to guide a biopsy). Cancer develops from the tissues of the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system when cells will mutate to spread so uncontrollably.

These can spread (metastasize is) in migrating from the prostate to other parts of the body (especially bones and lymph nodes).

Prostate cancer occurs regardless of benign prostatic hypertrophy (or prostate adenoma). It is in the vast majority of cases adenocarcinoma.

Prostate cancer can cause pain, difficulty urinating, erectile dysfunction and other symptoms. Treatment is by surgery, radiotherapy, hormone therapy and sometimes chemotherapy, or combination of these methods.

Frequency

The rate of breast cancer varies widely throughout the world. It is less widespread in South Asia and Far East, more common in Europe and even the United States. According to the American Cancer Society, breast cancer is rare among Asians and more prevalent among blacks (high rates may also be influenced by the increased effort detection).

Prostate cancer develops most often in men over fifty years. This is the type of cancer most common in men, where he is responsible for more deaths than any other cancer (except lung cancer). However, many men who develop prostate cancer symptoms do not, do not undergo any therapy and die for other reasons. Many factors of genetic origin, toxicological and diet-related seem involved in the development of this cancer.

We find outbreaks of cancer cells in 30 to 70% of cases in studies performed in autopsies of men 70 to 80 years; prostate cancer remains the most often asymptomatic: the probability of a man 50 years know a diagnosis of prostate cancer is only 10%. In 3% of cases, this cancer will be fatal.

Geography of Prostate Cancer

There are significant differences in the expression of this cancer, which seems more common among the black man, or where the family has a history pathological with this condition. From 1983-2002, while deaths from cancer were generally higher in the Caribbean city, deaths from prostate cancer and stomach were twice as common in the Caribbean in the mainland (while colorectal cancer and lung cancer were three times less frequent). This could be explained by both genetic reasons and food (green tea and / or soybeans or other foods rich in selenium) which appear to protect most Japanese living in Japan (while living in the United States is not).

Causes

They are not known with precision.

There is a genetic predisposition and the presence of certain genes seems slightly correlated with the onset of the disease. In particular, a mutation on chromosome 8 might explain the higher incidence of this cancer in black American.

Nutritional causes were discussed with a potentially protective role of lycopene. Similarly, exercise may have a slightly protective effect and tobacco a deleterious effect.

Symptomatology and detection

In most cases, prostate cancer is asymptomatic, ie it is discovered when it does not own event to it. It is most often found:

During blood tests, including investigation of the PSA (specific antigen for prostate, whose predictive value and use, without proven benefit to public health, has recently been called into question). The PSA is a protein normally secreted by prostate cells, but cancer cells secrete 10 times more than a normal cell. This property has raised many hopes in terms of screening. The blood level of PSA can be increased by many other factors (the prostate volume, infections and / or inflammation, the mechanical (digital rectal other)...) or decreased by certain treatments for benign hypertrophy (ministered). The thresholds of significance are therefore difficult to establish. It is recognized, however, rates of PSA between 4 and 10 ng / ml are doubtful, but it is clearly significant beyond. Some authors have proposed to bring the rate to its actual weight of the prostate, or assess the free PSA / total PSA, or the kinetic growth rate over 2 years. Scorer still uncertain for screening, the PSA level is, however, a key indicator for monitoring and treatment of cancers reported.

During a rectal examination, conducted as systematic or because of symptoms related to another illness (especially benign prostatic hypertrophy) incidentally, on parts of resection of the prostate during surgical treatment of prostate adenoma.

When it is symptomatic prostate cancer is most often at an advanced stage. It can lead to: acute retention of urine, hematuria, sexual impotence, impaired general condition pain and / or malfunction or failure of other organs associated with the presence of metastases

Diagnosis

The diagnostic orientation based on two key elements: the digital rectal examination and determination of PSA blood. The abnormality of one or both leaves suspect prostate cancer. It will be confirmed or not, by taking a sample of the prostate (biopsy) for examination under a microscope. Only the positivity of these biopsies permits to plan and begin treatment of this cancer. Once confirmed the diagnosis of prostate cancer, we conduct a bone scan in search of bone metastases and abdomino-pelvic CT or MRI abdomino-pelvic to clarify the extension of the tumor in the prostate and houses of possible pelvic lymph node metastases, retroperitoneal or liver.

Clinique

Clinical examination is the fundamental digital rectal exam.

The most specific induration of the gland. This induration may be nodular, it may also involve an entire lobe or the entire gland palpable. A heterogeneous consistency or asymmetry are much less specific signs, which can also translate a simple adenoma, particularly when the prostate is larger.

Ultrasound trans-rectal biopsies

There is currently no consideration imaging practice that could only detect an outbreak of prostate adenocarcinoma with a sensitivity and specificity satisfactory.

Contrary to popular belief still widespread, and although this review and is still often prescribed endorectal ultrasound alone has no relevance to the positive diagnosis of prostate cancer, under the inconvenience it is likely to cause. It shall, however, when its interest is used to guide prostate biopsies. Other imaging modalities (scan, MRI) have an interest in the balance sheet expansion.

Technique

An endorectal ultrasound probe equipped with a guide needle is inserted into the rectum. Biopsies were performed with needles fitted with a notched mandrel. The mandrel penetrates the first. The needle just cover, and decide to imprison and the fragment of prostate located in the notch. The movement of chuck and the needle are automated by a system of springs and the taking is a few hundredths of a second. The screen of the ultrasound, with a landmark representing the path of the needle, permits, thus firing biopsy very precise.

The number of biopsies, and where they should be, are not well codified and many protocols have been proposed: the aim is to obtain a sample as representative as possible. Currently, it is frequently performed 5 to 6 samples per lobe, or 10 to 12 in total. These numbers may be reduced or increased depending on the size of the prostate, tolerance of the patient, or if a second set of biopsies.

Preparation and conduct

This is a frequently performed as an outpatient, ie without hospitalization, or during hospitalization "for days". A rectal preparation (enemas) is often advocated. Many centers now offer systematic antibiotic (short antibiotic treatment to reduce infectious complications). The concomitant anticoagulation is in principle against inappropriate and that any treatment can be subject to arrest or a temporary modification.

Tolerance

Acceptance of the review is particularly variable from one patient to another. Each biopsy is shooting itself very painful. However, their repetition, and especially the presence and movement of the probe are the main factors of discomfort. The inconvenience of this review may justify the use of local or general anesthesia. Local anesthesia with a gel anesthetic (lidocaine gel) has never demonstrated its effectiveness. Local anesthesia by injection of lidocaine on each side of the prostate (nerves pudendaux) has shown in many studies improved tolerance of the examination, however incomplete, because of its low efficiency discomfort associated with the presence of the probe. Anesthesia "general" Mild equimolar mixture of oxygen and nitrous oxide ( "MEOPA") has recently been evaluated and appears very effective in this indication. It is even more interesting that easy to implement because does not require an anesthetist and seems almost devoid of side effects. General anesthesia "classic" is rarely used, reserved for patients who have suffered greatly during the first of a series of prostate biopsies.

Suites

Any pain disappear in a few tens of minutes. Can occur fairly frequent small bleeding through the anus and in urine for 24 to 72 hours without gravity. Small nets blood may also interfere with sperm for several days, again without any consequences.

Anatomopathologie

Cancer begins peripheral portion of the gland, unlike benign prostatic hypertrophy of interest to the central area, périurétrale.

The diagnosis is focused on the examination of the biopsy or surgical specimen.

The seriousness of evolution is correlated with the microscopic appearance (Gleason score), the level of PSA and the spread of the disease.

Bilan extension

The spread of the disease when the disease must be determined in order to better tailor therapy. Therefore the presence of bone metastases, lung and liver, knowing that bone metastases are most frequent. We must look for lymph node metastases in the pelvis and the retrograde (around the abdominal aorta). it must finally try to clarify the extension of the tumor in the prostate, particularly whether the latter exceeds the prostate capsule or not.

The means of imaging used in routine generally low ability to show (ultrasound scan, MRI) or to precisely locate (scan) the original prostate lesions, owing to the low blood of breast cancer. MRI is the least bad review to determine the local extension.

MRI scanners or new generation (volume) are used to search the achievement of lymph nodes, but only nodes whose size is increased are detected. New products in contrast MRI, so-called "super-para-magnetic" could improve the detection of lymph nodes affected.

The positron emission tomography (PET camera, PET-scan) did not indicate however, because of very little or no hypermetabolism prostate cancer.

a blood test can check the status of kidney and liver functions.

Treatment

The age, overall health of humans as well as the extent of spread, appearance under the microscope and the response of cancer to initial treatment are important to predict the outcome of the disease.

As prostate cancer is a disease of elderly men, many will die for other reasons before the prostate cancer could spread or cause symptoms. This makes the difficult choice of treatment. Decide whether or not we treat localized cancer of the prostate (a tumor confined within the prostate) with intent to heal is that arbitration must be made between the positive and negative expected to point of view of patient survival and quality of life.

The treatment should be discussed on a case by case basis following the extension of cancer, the patient's general condition and related diseases. A simple monitoring may be recommended in the elderly or among holders of a very localized.

Medical treatment

Hormone

There is a correlation between the production of testosterone (male hormone) and the multiplication of cancer cells. A blocking or greatly reducing the production of this hormone can effectively curb the disease. Some drugs are administered as a subcutaneous injection every 3 months. Others are administered orally. Side effects are, however numerous, but rarely serious. The hormone, which was the treatment of advanced forms, or metastatic, saw its indications extended to the treatment of tumors rejected for surgery (because of the size of the tumor, the risk of surgery not complete ,...) and why the rate of relapse after radiotherapy remained important. The overall control of the disease, adding radiotherapy and hormone therapy for 3 years, can improve significantly the number of patients for whom the disease remains undetectable. The pulpectomy (testicular tissue ablation) is no longer used since the 90s.

Chemotherapy

Until the early 2000s, the use of cytotoxic chemotherapy in metastatic prostate cancer, and whose usual treatment hormonotherapy by becoming ineffective (tried in particular on increasing PSA despite repeated androgen suppression) 's has proved a failure. The advent of docetaxel (Taxotere °) amended the therapeutic possibilities, Entr'ouvert by mitoxantrone (Novantrone °) some years earlier. For the first time, a drug used in advanced stages of the disease, managed to improve survival and quality of life of patients. Three controlled studies confirm these results. Others are underway to integrate chemotherapy early in the history of the disease for locally advanced tumors, where organic growth but before the onset of metastases, and why not, immediately after surgery to treat possible micro-metastases.

Surgery

It is based on the prostatectomy, known as radical or total. It involves the removal of the prostate and seminal vesicles and may be preceded by a levy of lymph drainage of the prostate. The surgery can be done through open (surgical incision in the abdomen or at the perineum) or by abdominal Coelioscopy; surgery is reserved for cancer localized to the prostate and offers great chance of cure if the cancer is actually located and slightly or moderately aggressive (aggressiveness estimated by the Gleason score), and may lead to urinary incontinence, most often temporary and erectile dysfunction. Currently, there is no superiority of one technique over another with regard to cancer outcomes and results urinary and sexual function.

Coelioscopy

Coelioscopy prostatectomy was used by an American team which published it abandoned in 1997 after 8 cases as the intervention was difficult. It is the French teams that end 1997 and early 1998 took the torch and showed that this technique was feasible. Gaston de Bordeaux, and VALLANCIEN Guillonneau Paris and developed the technical standardization. VALLANCIEN and his team published the technique by transpéritonéale then through peritoneal under which seems simpler. It is now recognized worldwide. With an experience of almost 3,000 transactions, the surgical team Montsouris Institute in Paris has shown the benefits of prostatectomy Coelioscopy: we must retain the shorter hospital stay (5 days against 8 in average according to statistics PMSI 2004, the post operative pain near zero even lower, the rate of transfusion of about 2 to 3% against an average of 15% for open surgery. The strictures of the suture between the bladder and urethra canal are more rare (1.5%). The resumption of activity is fast after about a week.

Cryoablation

The prostate cancer tissue may be destroyed by local application of a very cold gas. The cryoprobe (most often cooled with liquid nitrogen) is introduced in endourétral until the prostate, the correct position of cryode can be verified by various techniques including endoscopy conducted by a pubic trocard addition, transvésical. A cycle of freezing and thawing will be implemented for a few minutes and repeated if necessary, a probe is placed urétrovésicale end technology and allow the evacuation progressive tissue nécrosés by applying the cold, some practicing Transurethral resection of tissue mortified by cryotherapy to accelerate the process. Another technique involves placing special needles through perineal ultrasound and under control.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/1518668

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Prostate Cancer Survival Rates in UK

2011-12-16T20:42:00.000-08:00

There are approximately 25 000 men newly diagnosed with prostate cancer every year in the United Kingdom. For these men the risk of dying from their prostate cancer depends on a number of risk factors. For example if the cancer is confined to the prostate gland at diagnosis the chance of surviving to 5 years is 70%. If the cancer has already spread e.g. to the bones then only 20% of men will survive to five years. Of all the men who currently have prostate cancer in the UK approximately 10,000 will die of the disease each year. The prostate cancer survival rate is much higher in the developed world - unsurprisingly.

When a man is first diagnosed with prostate cancer then the doctor who has found the cancer (most often a "urologist" - a surgeon who specialises in looking after problems to do with the kidneys, prostate and bladder) will arrange a series of tests to help assess the risk for that individual patient. The results of these tests will in turn help the doctor and patient to decide the best treatment for that patient.

Prostate Cancer Tests to Help Predict Survival

1. Prostate Specific Antigen or PSA

2. Digital Rectal Examination or DRE

3. Trans-rectal Ultrasound and Biopsy

4. CT or MRI Scan

5. Bone Scan

PSA
This is a protein made by the prostate gland which can be measured on a sample of your blood i.e. a blood test. The PSA level can be raised by non cancerous problems with the prostate gland i.e. not all men who have a raised PSA have prostate cancer. Also some men who have prostate cancer will not have a raised PSA. However PSA does tend to increase as prostate cancers grow, invade and spread so PSA can be used to monitor how a prostate cancer is progressing or how it is responding to treatments.

DRE
This is where a doctor feels the prostate gland through the back passage. It tells the doctor how big the prostate gland is, whether the cancer is able to be felt easily and whether it has invaded the area near by.

Tran-Rectal Ultrasound and Biopsy
For this test you need to lie on your side with your knees brought up into the chest (same position as for a DRE). An ultrasound probe is then inserted into the back passage. This enables the doctor to see on a screen the outline of the prostate gland. There is no radiation involved. The image on the screen then allows the doctor to insert a needle safely into the prostate gland to take some samples of the prostate tissue. Usually several samples are taken from each area of the prostate gland. These samples are then sent to a laboratory to be looked at under a microscope. This allows confirmation that there is prostate cancer present and tells us how aggressive the cancer looks. Sometimes a local anaesthetic is used to help make the procedure more comfortable.

CT or MRI Scan
This is usually carried out in an x-ray department and involves lying still on a thin couch which moves through either a big donut (CT) or into a long tunnel (MRI). This is not painful in any way. The pictures gained from this test helps the doctors to see whether the prostate cancer is still within the prostate gland or whether it had started to invade out of the gland into other surrounding structures. This tells the doctor what "stage" the prostate cancer is.

Bone Scan
This requires you to have an injection and then to lie on a special table where a camera scans the whole body. It shows up whether any of the bones in the body have been affected by the prostate cancer i.e. whether the prostate cancer has spread to the bones.

Prostate Cancer Stage and Survival

The stage of prostate cancer describes how far the cancer has grown and spread. It is assessed by a mixture of DRE and CT/MRI scans.

T1 Stage
This is very early prostate cancer which can only be seen under a microscope. At this stage the cancer would not cause any symptoms. Men with this stage are at low risk from their disease may not need any treatment but surveillance. The original cause of a prostate cancer problem can be difficult to diagnose.

T2 Stage
This is early prostate cancer but is now big enough to be felt by a doctor on DRE. This may still not have caused any symptoms. This is most often cured if treatment is undertaken at this stage and about 70% of men are still alive after 5 years i.e. average length of survival from diagnosis is well over 5 years.

T3 Stage
This is locally advanced prostate cancer which has started to extend and invade outside of the prostate gland. This stage would often cause bladder symptoms in men. By this stage in the disease the chance of cure with treatments is reduced however survival is often around five years.

T4 Stage
This is more advanced prostate cancer which invades the structures around the gland. At this stage there are often already secondaries e.g. bone metastases. If the disease has spread it is usually incurable but may be controlled for some time. The average survival is between 1 and 3 years.

Predicting Survival in Prostate Cancer

Doctors use a combination of risk factors to predict the behaviour of prostate cancer but cancers do not always act as expected. The factors they consider include the cancer stage (see above), the age of the patient, the PSA level and how quickly it is rising, and the Gleason Score. The Gleason score is a marker of how aggressive the cancer looks under the microscope and how much of the gland is affected by cancer.

Adrian Jones has a personal interest in promoting awareness and self-help in dealing with several forms of cancer. This article is from his website dealing with prostate cancer and prostate cancer treatments [http://www.justabout-prostatecancer.com/treatments/prostate_cancer_treatments_index.html]. He writes on other forms of cancer, including colon cancer [http://www.justabout-coloncancer.com/]. This article is available for reprint for your website and/or newsletter, provided that you maintain its copyright integrity and include this resource box information.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Adrian_Jones

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Childhood Leukemia - Detecting Leukemia in Your Child

2011-05-06T22:14:00.000-07:00

Speaking of cancer it is human silent killer. It will attack uncontrollably if its number (cell) multiplies rapidly.

Once they form massively it gives negative effect on usual operation of the adjoining tissue. At this point of time there must be action on treating this problem. If this would not be treated well cancer cell would pass-through bloodstream reaching some body parts. This is what we call metastasis which is already very hard to control or to be cured.

We all have cancer cells scattered all over our body parts and no one spared of that silent killer. Young and old people can have it especially if our body immune system got weakens that could lower our resistance. Cancer problem on young generation are far more different than on older generations. The same medical procedures in fighting for it but different form when you look at it under the microscope. The chances are, younger generation responded better than the older one in terms of treatment.

Childhood and Adult Patients

Cancer is common on older people compared to younger people. Most likely mortality rate is higher on older people against younger ones. If we rate the chances of survival, 70% for the younger people and 30% for the elders. Sometimes it would goes up to 90% depends then on different types of cancer.

Reasons of Having Childhood Cancer

Cancer is not transmissible unlike AIDS. Disturbance to a cell's genes is one reason of cancer development.

On older people, one factor that contributed cancer is unhealthy lifestyle coming from different vices, carcinogen intake, too much sun exposure and a lot more. The reason of having childhood cancer is not yet known. There must be some reasons for this kind of cancer on our young generations but scientist never discovered yet what the cause is really.

Different types of Childhood Cancer

Leukemia: most common type of cancer on younger generation. There are more white blood cells than normal blood cells. These abnormal cell or leukemia developed earlier before reaching into maturity.

Different kinds of Leukemia

• Acute Lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL): The most common type victimizing usually children/young people. It would strike on bone morrow - which is our blood manufacturer. One common treatment is by Chemotherapy -a kind of drug that kills cancer cells. Another one is by radiotherapy - a high energy wave, like an x-ray. Survival rate of this kind of medication is greater than 70%.

• Acute myeloid leukemia (AML): Is less most common on younger generations though it can also be treated with chemotherapy and stem cell replacement. Chance of surviving is between 50% and 60%.

• Brain Tumors and Spinal Cord Tumors: This kind is second most common type of leukemia on affecting our younger children. In most cases casualty is greater than surviving from any form of medications because this is very hard to manage and be cured. It needs surgery as the first line of treatment and it depends on where the part of the central nervous system brains tumor grown-up. A series of chemotherapy and radiotherapy sessions could inevitable happen as a sort of follow-up medications. There are few who would survive depending on the status of the tumor (stages 1, 2, 3,) and the type of tumor. By Nathaniel Dela Pena

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Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma - Symptoms to Watch For

2011-05-06T21:57:00.000-07:00

Non-Hodgkin lymphoma begins when a lymphocyte, usually a B cell, becomes abnormal. The abnormal cell then starts to divide to replicate itself. The new cells divide repeatedly making more abnormal cells. These abnormal cells don't die when they should, and don't protect the body from infections or other diseases. The buildup of extra cells often forms a growth or tumor.

Some symptoms to look out for are night sweats, swollen lymph nodes, loss of appetite, fever, chest pain, coughing, weakness and fatigue that does not disappear, swelling of the abdomen or feeling of fullness. Sometimes these symptoms are not cancer related. If symptoms persist beyond two weeks, you should consult a doctor. Your doctor will do a physical exam to check for swollen lymph nodes in your neck, the doctor also checks for swollen spleen, and liver.

A blood test will show whether there is an increase in white blood cells, a decrease in platelets, and other cells and substances such as lactate dehydrogenase, which lymphoma can cause a higher level of LDH in the underarms and groin.

A chest x-ray will be performed at this time as well, along with a biopsy. The only sure way to confirm lymphoma is by a biopsy. The doctor may order a excisional biopsy ( an entire lymph node) or an incisional biopsy (part of a lymph node). Removing the entire lymph node is best which can then be examined under a microscope.

There are many types of lymphoma, the most common types are diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, and follicular lymphoma.

Lymphoma is classified by how fast they grow. Indolent or low-grade lymphomas grow slowly, and cause few symptoms. Aggressive or intermediate-grade and high grade are fast growing and spreading lymphomas. They cause severe symptoms, and indolent lymphomas can quickly turn into aggressive lymphomas. It is always good to get a second opinion and advice about treatment.

My experience about this deadly disease through watching my mother wasting away and finally passing from it was disturbing to say the least. This type of cancer does not spread itself in the brain, but it does affect the brain. Although my mother also had dementia as well as lymphoma her long-term memories stayed quite clear. Her short-term memory was more affected.

Near the end of her aggressively spreading lymphoma she slept most of the time. Although this disease took the life of my mother, her spirits were high, and she never complained about the pain she was in, and it was severe pain. She was a Christian woman who practised her faith up to the end of her life.

Catharine Parks writes from true life experiences. She is a published author and invites you to escape into the world of life experiences seen through the eyes of humor, or life's downfalls, the escapades of pet heroism, or the titillating paranormal experiences that have affected her life and those around her. By Catharine Parks

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Kids With Cancer - One Type Being Thyroid Cancer

2011-05-06T21:53:00.001-07:00

The thyroid gland is located at the base of the throat just below the Adam's apple. The butterfly shaped gland has two lobes joined by a strip of tissue called the isthmus. The function of the thyroid gland is to produce the thyroid hormones, thyroxine, triiodothyronine and calcitonin.

When evaluating children with a thyroid nodule, they are usually divided into either prepubertal or post-pubertal allowing to make some distinctions. Children will usually present perfectly healthy but will have a lump or nodule in the thyroid and/or hard persistent swollen lymph glands in the neck. If the nodule is large the child may have trouble breathing or swallowing and have a hoarse voice.

The 3 types of thyroid cancer in children:

* Papillary cancer is the form of cancer that occurs in the cells that produce thyroid hormones containing iodine. It is the most common of thyroid cancers in children. Although it grows very slowly it can spread to the lymph nodes via lymphatics in the neck and occasionally may spread to other areas.

* Follicular cancer also develops in the cells that produce thyroid hormones containing iodine. This type of thyroid cancer is more common in the slightly older age group and less so in children. It may spread to the neck via blood vessels, causing it to spread to other areas of the body, making it more difficult to control.

* Medullary cancer is a rare form of cancer that develops in the cells that produce the hormone calcitonin. In children, usually the older age group, this cancer is usually associated with specific inherited genetic conditions. It is the fastest growing type of thyroid cancer and the abnormal cells grow and spread quickly to the neck area.

As a parent, if symptoms present themselves,take the child to the doctor. The doctor will then examine the head and neck area, looking for unusual lumps or nodules.

To determine the production of the thyroid hormones blood testing will be done.

Ultrasound imagining may be ordered to create an image of the neck area to have a better look at the thyroid gland and the lymph nodes. The ultra sound is normally followed by a needle biopsy if necessary to determine the cause of the lump.

A radioactive iodine scan providing information about the thyroid function and areas of the gland that do not absorb iodine normally is sometimes warranted.

Treatment for this condition in children will usually be surgery and possibly followed by radioactive iodine treatment to destroy any remaining cancerous thyroid tissue.

By Elaine Savard