Non-invasive breast cancer, also known as ductal carcinoma in situ, or DCIS, is highly curable. It is most commonly detected on a screening mammogram. The standard of care is surgical removal, followed by breast radiation therapy, in women who wish to conserve their breast. The alternative is a mastectomy. Both modalities have equal survival outcomes. However, there has been a great deal of controversy about the necessity for radiation therapy for DCIS in women who opt for breast conservation.

Proponents for radiation therapy underscore the fact that the risk of a recurrence in the breast can be a more aggressive or even an invasive recurrence. Half of these recurrences are due to invasive breast cancer. The latter has the potential to spread to lymph nodes of the underarm and to other parts of the body. Without radiation therapy, the risk of a local recurrence is approximately 20%. By adding radiation therapy, the risk of such a failure is reduced by half. Needless to say, this is a substantial benefit.

The experts who do not support the routine use of radiation therapy for DCIS espouse that there is no difference in long-term survival between women who undergo radiation therapy versus those who do not. A woman who is willing to accept the higher risk of a recurrence in the breast may be treated with surgical removal alone. The question then arises: which women with DCIS should undergo radiation therapy and which should be observed?

Since the potential common side effects from radiation therapy, such as a skin reaction and fatigue, are temporary and the woman’s risk for developing an invasive and potentially life threatening breast recurrence is significant, it is prudent for women to take the more aggressive approach.

Certain factors, such as the woman’s age, her overall health, the surgical margin (or rim of normal breast tissue removed around the DCIS, with the wider the margin being more favorable), and the grade of the DCIS (low grade is much less aggressive than high grade and intermediate grade falls between these two extremes), should factor into the decision making.

Radiation therapy should be strongly considered for young women, women who have close margins, women with DCIS measuring more than ½ centimeter (cm) and/or those do not have low grade DCIS. On the other hand, studies show that even older women with DCIS measuring less than ½ cm, who have wide margins and/or low grade DCIS, benefit from the addition of radiation therapy.

The good news is that radiation therapy is a very easy, painless treatment that can enable women with DCIS to be at low risk of having the disease return in the treated breast, and peace of mind that they left no stone unturned.

Dr. Kornmehl is Medical Director of Radiation Oncology at Passaic Beth Israel Medical Center, Passaic, NJ, and author of the critically acclaimed consumer health book, “The Best News About Radiation Therapy” (M. Evans, 2004). Her website is RTSupportDoc.com RTSupportDoc.com

Related posts

• Women’s Struggle With Breast Cancer (0)
• Why Should You Consider Using A Breast Form Over Getting Reconstructive Surgery? (0)
• When Oncologists Said Elevated Platelets Count After Chemotherapy Was Good! (0)
• What You Should Know About Breast Cancer (0)
• What Are The Available Breast Cancer Treatments (0)

Tags: breast cancer, mastectomy

You have only to look at the statistics to realize that prostatic cancer is a major problem for the world’s male population.

In the United States alone a man will be diagnosed as having prostatic cancer every two and a half minutes. That’s pretty close to a quarter of a million American men who will be diagnosed with prostatic cancer this year!

Prostatic cancer is now the most commonly seen form of cancer in American men and is the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States. This year alone prostatic cancer is expected to claim the lives of more than 30,000 American men.

The dangers posed by prostatic cancer are very real and yet, strangely enough, a large percentage of the deaths we will see this year from prostatic cancer could have been avoided. But perhaps things are starting to change.

In recent years we have seen the deaths of a number of prominent individuals from prostatic cancer and, perhaps more importantly, have witnessed other well know figures talking openly and publicly about their own experiences of battling and overcoming this disease. And herein lies the problem.

Get a group of men together and they’ll happily talk about sport or politics or even sex, but when it comes to personal matters concerning their own sexual organs and, in particular problems in that department, they won’t say a word. They probably won’t even mention it to their partners and certainly wouldn’t dream of discussing it with their doctor. But why?

If you’ve got cramp in your legs, are having problems gripping things with your hand or are suffering from repeated headaches you’ll happily pop along and see the doctor. But, if you’re having problems with your waterworks you’ll put up with it in the hope that it’ll go away by itself or simply put it down to the inevitable consequence of getting older.

In many cases prostatic cancer is slow to develop and in its early stages is confined to the prostate gland and can be treated relatively easily. Left to its own devices however it will eventually spread and can move out of the prostate gland and literally travel throughout the body. At that stage treatment is extremely difficult and the vast majority of deaths occur in men with advanced prostatic cancer which has spread outside of the prostate gland.

Once you pass the ago of 50 you are risk from a variety of prostatic problems, including prostatic cancer, and, to put it bluntly, you’re a fool if you start to experience problems with your waterworks and simply choose to ignore them.

If problems start to appear then call in and see your doctor.

For more information on prostatecancerexplained.com” target=”_blank prostatic cancer please visit ProstateCancerExplained.com ProstateCancerExplained.com today.

Related posts

• No related posts.

Although surgery is often recommended as a cure for prostate gland cancer, many men are currently denied this option simply on the grounds of age and most surgeons will not carry out prostate surgery on men over the age of seventy. But things may be about to change.

In a recently published study death and complication rates were examined for more than 11,000 men who underwent prostate cancer surgery in Canada between 1990 and 1999, including a number of men over the age of seventy. Indeed, the oldest man in the study group was seventy-nine.

The study, which concentrated on the thirty days immediately following surgery, found that mortality did increase slightly, but not significantly, with age and that overall the mortality rate was about 0.5 percent. In total, fifty three men in the study group died within thirty days of surgery and a further 2,246 experienced a variety of complications.

The study also found however that there was a clear link between mortality and pre-existing medical conditions, in particular a history of stroke or heart disease. Heart problems also accounted for a significant number of those men who experienced post-operative complications.

So does this mean that we should consider dropping this seemingly arbitrary age barrier when it comes to prostate cancer surgery?

Well, although there is some discussion over whether or not the study group results would be repeated in a more ethnically diverse group, such as that likely to found in the United States, the answer would appear to be yes. In essence, those expressing caution on grounds of ethnicity are effectively suggesting that a higher proportion of Black men in the study group might have changed the results. However, although prostate cancer is more prevalent amongst Black men, the true difference in the rate of prostate cancer seen in Caucasian and Black men may have a surprising cause.

Whether or not you should have prostate cancer surgery should have far more to do with your health and a lot less to do with your age. Regardless of age, if you have an aggressive cancer, but are otherwise in good health, then surgery may well be a good option. On the other hand, if your cancer is not particularly aggressive and you have other medical problems, such as a heart condition, then it may be safer to consider alternative radiotherapy or hormonal treatments.

It should not be forgotten too that there are some general complications resulting from surgery which do increase with age and there are also long-term complications such as urinary incontinence and sexual dysfunction which must also be considered.

In all cases you should of course consult your doctor and be guided by him on the treatment that is best to meet your own medical circumstances. If, however, your doctor simply says that you’re too old for surgery to be an option then it might be worth questioning this advice, or even getting a second opinion.

ProstateCancerExplained.com provides information on a wide range of topics including the prostate gland, an enlarged prostate, prostatitis, prostatecancerexplained.com/prostate-surgery.html” target=”_blank prostate surgery and finding prostatecancerexplained.com” target=”_blank cures for prostate cancer.

Related posts

• Your Quick Guide To Facts About Prostate Cancer (0)
• Your Guide To Prostate Cancer And Natural Treatment (0)
• You Do What It Takes To Keep In Shape, But What Do You Do To Keep Your Prostate In Shape! (0)
• Worried About Prostate Cancer? - Nurse’s Report (0)
• Worried About Getting Prostate Cancer -Think Living Foods (0)

Tags: prostate cancer

The word fatigue means the shortage or absence of energy that override the capability of mesothelioma patients to function and can result to mental disorder. Fatigue symptoms are weakness, exhaustion, extreme tiredness, weariness, etc. There could be psychological and emotional symptoms also in addition to the above mentioned. Mesothelioma patients may suffer from acute or chronic fatigue.

Acute fatigue usually have symptoms which begins and ends very quickly, and such symptoms are usually short-lived. Chronic fatigue symptoms usually stays for a long period.

Fatigue are seen in large portion in mesothelioma patients and those who had mesothelioma cancers in the past, or which may be as a result of other cancer-related factors. Some of the common factors are pain, medications, diet, weight loss, difficulties in breathing, insomnia, anemia, fluctuating hormones, and tumors.

Emotional depression may also result in fatigue. Other factors are anxiety, and distress which comes either from direct result of mesothelioma treatments, the mesothelioma cancers, or as a result of psychological effects directed to the diagnosis of the mesothelioma cancers and the mesothelioma treatments used.

Fatigue may also come from mesothelioma treatments, like radiation therapy or chemotherapy. A high degree of energy from the body is required in radiation therapy to repair tissue, that can expend or use up the energy supply of the body. Fatigue may also come from the effect of chemotherapy, where the patient can suffer from nausea, vomiting and loss of weight, and reoccuring mesothelioma-portal.info/side-effects/fatigue-in-mesothelioma-patients/” target=”_blank fatigue as a result. Poor appetite or dietery factors may also cause fatigue as the cancer may require the body to need more nutrients. The patient may not be feeding well so as to get the essential nutrients, which could be as a result of the cancer, or other cancer-related reasons…

Visit my BLOGS: buy-laptop-computers.info/ Laptop Reviews apple,
mesothelioma-portal.info/ Mesothelioma symptoms

mesothelioma-portal.info/side-effects/fatigue-in-mesothelioma-patients/” target=”_blank get more info

Related posts

• Your Household May Be The Cause of Mesothelioma Cancer (0)
• What You Need To Learn About Mesothelioma (0)
• What is Mesothelioma? (0)
• What Is Mesothelioma? (0)
• What is Mesothelioma? (0)

Tags: chemotherapy, mesothelioma