Posts Tagged ‘Type Of Cancer’

Chemotherapy and Radiation

Comments: 0August 27th, 2011 by admin



Chemotherapy is an effective treatment used in all the other cancer treatments to stop the growth of cancer cells. You can take this treatment on a monthly basis or you may take intravenously. Duration of the chemotherapy depends on the type of drugs as well as the type of cancer to cure.

This treatment is used before or after surgery while treating pancreatic cancer, breast cancer and likewise any other cancer which need surgery. Your doctor or care giver decides the duration and the type of chemotherapy you will receive.

Radiation is helpful to lower the cancer pain in some circumstances. The pains those spread to bones, blood vessels, brain, nerves, spine etc are treated by radiation chemotherapy. It also used to reduce the size of tumor which helps to reduce pressure on organs and nerves.

The specialist who gives this treatment is called as radiation oncologist and he decides the dosage of radiation and oversees the treatment. Implantation is also used for radiation and in this technique the radio active material helps to kill cancer cells.

Radiotherapy or chemotherapy is mostly given after surgery. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy reduce the risk of comeback of breast cancer. It is given concurrently or sequentially means one after the other. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy together are more useful than using them individually.

Chemotherapy and radiation therapy must be given within a period of seven months after surgery. The treatment could be taken as outpatient and so it is not required to admit in the hospital. Radiation is a therapy in which high energy X-rays are used to destroy cancer cells. The fix amount of radiation is directed for local lymph-nodes and tumor. But generally most of the patients are given low doses of radiation along with chemotherapy, which help to increase the positive result of the treatment.

There are some side effects of radiation including skin irritation and redness and in order to avoid these side effects, you can use skin creams after consulting your doctor. It also includes other side effects like omitting, nausea, diarrhea, constipation, hair loss, weight loss, fatigue, decreased appetite and abdominal cramping etc. There are some medicines available in the market to prevent the side effects and you can take them along with your chemo treatment after consulting with your doctor.

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Causes of High White Blood Cell Count

Comments: 0May 24th, 2010 by admin



There are several possible causes for a high white blood cell count. This count is high when there are more disease-fighting cells in your body. The technical term for this condition is leukocytosis.

Different medical practices may have different limits by which they define high white blood cell count. A count of 10,500 leukocytes in one microliter of blood is widely accepted as a high count. The threshold may vary between sex and age.

White blood cells are categorized by five subtypes, and each type has a different activity in fighting disease. When you get the results of your white blood cell count, they will usually specify what the levels are of all the different types. Usually, a high count is only caused by an increase in one type of white blood cells.

A high white blood cell count is indicative of an immune system problem that increases their production; a disease in your bone marrow that causes high blood cell production; a reaction to some drug that is used to enhance cell production; or the increase expected when your body is fighting off an infection.

There are some more specific reasons why your white blood cell count may be high:

Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) is a cancer that lives in the bone marrow and blood. This disease is a rapidly progressive one. Children are more affected by this than any other type of cancer, although adults can develop the disease as well.

Drugs like epinephrine and corticosteroids can affect your white cell count.

Measles is an infection that affects mainly the respiratory tract. It is very contagious. The signs include skin rash, fever, sore throat, inflamed eyes, runny nose and cough. The measles vaccine is an excellent way to protect children against this disease, but outside of the civilized countries, many children are not vaccinated. This disease will spread rapidly among people who have not had the vaccination.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a serious type of arthritis from which you will experience joint damage and pain. It attacks your joints’ lining and this causes swelling. In turn, that leads to throbbing, aching pain and possibly eventual deformity. Rheumatoid arthritis, also called RA, can make even the easiest of normal activities hard to accomplish.

Some of the other causes of high white blood cell count include:

Stress, be it emotional or physical
Smoking
Tuberculosis
Tissue damage, like one receives with burns
Acute or chronic myelogenous leukemia
Chronic or acute lymphocytic leukemia
Whooping cough
Severe allergic reactions
Myelofibrosis
Polycythemia vera
Other viral infections
Other bacterial infections

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Scientists Reveal New Aspects of T-cell Acute Lymphatic Leukemia

Comments: 0March 13th, 2010 by admin



The actual causes of leukemia are still unknown to medical science. Although there are many speculations upon this matter, scientists haven’t yet found any conclusive evidence regarding the exact causes and risk factors of leukemia. However, medical science has made great progresses in identifying various genetic particularities that are nowadays considered to be underlying causes of leukemia. It seems that each type of leukemia is caused by a specific set of genetic dysfunctions which triggers an overproduction of diseased cells. Thanks to the ongoing efforts of medical scientists focused towards unveiling the factors involved in causing the occurrence and the development of leukemia, modern medicine may soon come up with an effective cure for this type of cancer.

Scientists have recently revealed a connection between T-cell acute lymphatic leukemia (T-ALL) and ABL1 gene. ABL1 resides in chromosome 9. Due to genetic dysfunctions, a fragment of DNA that contains ABL1 fuses with another gene, thus causing T-ALL. ABL1 gene is also known to have a role in the occurrence of various other types of leukemia. Oncologists explain that the abnormal activity of ABL1 cancer gene can be countered with the means of already-existent leukemia medications such as Glivec. Thus, Glivec may also be effective in overcoming the cases of T-ALL that are caused by the malfunctioning ABL1 gene.

Inappropriate activity of ABL1 gene is known to be the underlying cause of more than 6 percent of all T-ALL cases. ABL1 is in fact a type of protein that regulates various cellular processes. Impaired activity of ABL1 determines a wide range of cellular dysfunctions. In the case of T-ALL, ABL1 is responsible for causing an overproduction of diseased blasts, cells that are unable to reach the stage of maturity. As a result, these partially-developed cells can’t fulfill their actual purpose inside the body, generating serious impairments at different levels of the organism.

Functionless blasts multiply at abnormally high rates, eventually outnumbering healthy cells. In addition, diseased T-ALL cells block the production of normal blood cells, causing a decrease in the number of red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. In present, T-cell acute lymphatic leukemia is known as the most common form of cancer among children. T-ALL predominantly affects children under the age of 15 and it is rarely seen in older children or young adults.

Medical scientists are currently trying to modify the leukemia drug Glivec so that it can also be administered to patients with T-ALL. Although Glivec is considered to be a reliable medication, it hasn’t been tested yet on patients diagnosed with T-ALL. However, oncologists believe that in future Glivec and other ABL1 inhibitors will be able to completely overcome T-ALL.

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Posted in leukimia

Possible Leukemia Causes and Risk Factors

Comments: 0February 12th, 2010 by admin



Leukemia is a disease that is considered to be life-threatening. It requires prompt intervention when discovered, in order to maximize the chances of recovering through specific treatment and therapy. Leukemia is basically a type of cancer of the bone marrow and blood, caused by inappropriate cellular activity. The disease can be of different forms, according to the types of blood cells that cause its development. Also, if leukemia is developing rapidly, it is called acute leukemia, while if the disease is developing slowly, it is referred to as chronic leukemia.

The direct leukemia causes are still unknown. In present, medical science isn’t able to establish the specific leukemia causes. However, a strong connection between certain genetic factors and the development of the disease has been revealed. Leukemia occurs on the background of genetic failure that causes the excessive production of incomplete, partially matured blood cells. Also, leukemia has a hereditary character, allowing the transmission of genetic predispositions to disease from one generation to another. Although many factors are known to contribute to the development of leukemia, they alone can’t be considered leukemia causes.

Despite the fact that statistics indicate a higher incidence of the disease in people that are exposed to some environmental factors of risk, leukemia doesn’t seem to be caused by neither of them in particular. Among the environmental factors that are thought to be leukemia causes, here are some of the most plausible ones:

- Smoking – smoking is thought to increase the chances of being affected by leukemia. Although statistics show that around 20 percent of acute leukemia cases are related to smoking, leukemia also occurs to people that don’t smoke and therefore it can’t be considered a leukemia cause on itself;

- Prolonged exposure to radiation – Radiation is considered to facilitate the development of leukemia. It is believed that exposure to X-rays can be a leukemia cause;

- Prolonged exposure to benzene – statistics reveal that this is a major factor of risk in some forms of leukemia, such as myelogenous leukemia;

- Chemotherapy and cancer treatment – previous cancer treatments and chemotherapy are known to facilitate the occurrence and development of leukemia and can be considered plausible leukemia causes. Within a few years from the completion of chemotherapy and other treatments for certain forms of cancer, most people can develop leukemia.

Among the genetic factors that are considered to be leukemia causes, the following ones are thought to be the most important:

- chromosome abnormalities – some rare genetic syndromes are known to contribute to leukemia causes;

- Immune system genetic problems – a weak immune system is very likely to facilitate the occurrence of leukemia and therefore can be considered a leukemia cause;

- Down syndrome – children born with this syndrome have a very high risk of developing acute leukemia.

The list of possible leukemia causes can continue further, but these are the most common factors that are considered to be interrelated with leukemia. While some of them can be prevented, others reside within the genes and in present can’t be corrected. In future, however, thanks to medical advance, we will probably be able to prevent leukemia and other forms of cancer.

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3 Types of Ovarian Cancer Explained

Comments: 0November 10th, 2009 by admin



The ovaries are part of the female reproductive system. There are two ovaries (a left one and a right one) and when women get old enough to have children one of the ovaries releases an egg each month. These eggs then pass down the fallopian tube to the womb where they can be fertilised with sperm. If the eggs are not fertilised they exit the body during the woman’s monthly period. Aside from releasing eggs, the ovaries are also responsible for producing oestrogen and progesterone.

Ovarian cancer develops when something goes wrong with the cell division process in the ovaries causing them to grow in a rapid and uncontrollable way. It is the fourth most common type of cancer in females with around 7,000 women contracting it in the UK each year. This condition is most prevalent in menopausal women and is rarely diagnosed in women under 40. There are three main types of ovarian cancer and I will be discussing each of them in greater detail below.

1) EPITHELIAL OVARIAN CANCER:- This type of cancer occurs when the cells that line the ovaries (the epithelium) start to grow in a rapid, out of control way. Between 70% and 80% of ovary cancers are this type and it is almost always diagnosed in women who have been through the menopause.

2) GERM CELL OVARIAN CANCER:- This type of cancer develops when the germ cells (the cells responsible for making eggs) start to grow rapidly and uncontrollably. Approximately 15% of ovary cancers are this type and unlike the other forms of this disease, germ cell ovarian cancer normally affects younger women.

3) STROMAL OVARIAN CANCER:- This type of cancer develops when the connective tissues of the ovaries become cancerous and start to grow in a rapid, uncontrollable way. Between 5% and 10% of ovary cancers are this type. This variation normally only affects one of the two ovaries.

Although there are three main kinds of ovarian cancer the risk factors, symptoms, tests, treatments and survival rates are similar for each. Women who contract this type of cancer have a five year survival rate of around 75% if it stays within the ovaries although this drops to about 20% if the cancer spreads to other areas of the body. It is not known exactly what causes this disease but age, obesity and family history are all thought to have an influence. The symptoms of ovary cancer are often very mild or non-existent but when they do surface they include bloating, constipation and stomach pain. If you are diagnosed with this condition surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy are the three most common treatment options.

I hope this article has given you a brief overview of this condition. Whilst being diagnosed with cancer is never going to be a pleasant experience this type of cancer is very treatable if caught early. If you have any concerns regarding ovary cancer then go see your doctor and explain your concerns. They will be able to answer your questions and give you a professional, qualified opinion.

Whilst every intention has been made to make this article accurate and informative, it is intended for general information only. Ovarian cancer is a very serious, life threatening condition and you should discuss any concerns, treatments or lifestyle changes fully with your doctor.

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Kidney Cancer Alternative Treatment – 2 Natural Cures

Comments: 0November 3rd, 2009 by admin



Kidney is used for vital functions like filtering of blood and removing impurities in them, removal of surplus water, minerals and other salts. Kidney cancer is defined as a type of cancer that is developed in kidney. Kidney cancer is classified into 2 types based on the location of the cancer within the kidney. Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and Urothelial cell carcinoma (UCC) are the two types. This type of cancer is not only present in adults, rather in children too. Wilm’s tumor is present in children. The origin of this disease is mainly from renal tubule and the renal pelvis.

Though there are many reasons for developing this disease, some of the common reasons are smoking, obesity, high blood pressure, long term dialysis. Some of the symptoms of kidney cancer are loss of appetite, anemia and blood in the urine. Though surgery is a prevalent treatment, there are also many this disease alternative treatments available these days.

Nutrition therapy: One of the most prominent ill-effect of kidney cancer and its medicinal treatment is loss of appetite. Providing all the vital nutrients is important for all the cancer patients. Cancer and its medicinal treatment can finally lead to weight loss if proper nutrition is not provided. In this therapy, a registered dietician provides a meal plan to the cancer patient. Fruits, vegetables, fish, yogurt, grains and cereals are the main sources of proper nutrition.

Naturopathic therapy: Naturopathic therapy deal with methods and medical substances to reduce any harmful effects on human body and bring back the good health. Naturopaths deal with power of nature to cure human illness. Botanical medicine, homeopathic medicines are considered few forms of naturopathic therapy.

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Dog Bladder Infection – A Sign of Underlying Health Problems?

Comments: 0June 23rd, 2009 by admin



The bladder is an organ in the body that stores urine. Bladder infection in dogs is commonly caused by bacteria. However, a recurrent or persistent infection may indicate other conditions such as bladder stones, bladder cancer, Cushing’s disease (hyperadrenocorticism), diabetes mellitus and anatomical defects.

Bacteria infection

The urinary bladder and urine are normally sterile. Infection occurs when bacteria enters the bladder via the urethra from outside the body. This type of infection can simply be treated with a course of antibiotics.

Canine bladder stones

There are various types of bladder stones. Oxalate stones are the type that cause dog bladder infection.

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Natural Therapies – Alternative Treatment For Ovarian Cancer

Comments: 0April 28th, 2009 by admin



Ovarian cancer is a type cancer that is caused due to the abnormal growth of ovarian cells on the tissues of a woman’s ovary and thereby production of malignant tumors. Ovaries are a pair of female reproductive glands located on either side of a woman’s uterus. According to type of formation/origination of cells the this can be categorized into the following 3 types:
Epithelial ovarian cancer: The common type of cancer that which develops on the outer surface of the ovary, accounts for 90% of ovarian cancer Germ cell tumor cancer: That which develops on the egg-producing cells (ova’s) Stromal tumor cancer: That which originates around the ovarian tissues The rest two types rarely occur in humans. The various treatments to curb this type of cancer these days are surgery, radiation and intraperitoneal chemotherapy. Apart from these conventional medical treatments various alternative treatments for ovarian cancer are available to ease out the stress, relieve the pain and minimize the symptoms of routine medical treatments. Nutrition therapy is well-known alternative treatment for ovarian cancer.

In this treatment optimized nutritious diet is provided to the cancer patient to increase the body’s metabolism.For this a nutrition assessment is performed, which involves blood test for determining the immunity and protein stores. This is followed by nutrition interview and computerized diet profile to assess nutritious intake by the patient and nutrition anthropometrics to determine body fat and the number of lost lean tissues. It is necessary that the following nutrients in a subscribed dosage are advised by the physician. These include the following:
Selenium Vitamin C and E Beta carotene Eicosapentaenoic acid and others as and when needed. Hence this article stresses the need for consuming optimized nutritional foods in order to curb ovarian cancer, even though the fact still remains unproved that it can be also treated naturally to a certain extent.

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