Normally, human cells divide and increase permanently. This way our body is growing and inactive cells are replaced. That means a controlled process when the resulting cells are identically with their origin. Sometimes, from unknown reasons, the process gets out of control and the result of cells division is an abnormal growth called a tumour. When this tumour is malignant, its cells have the power to migrate nearby tissues and penetrate organs and bloodstream. This is cancer.

Chemotherapy is a treatment based on action of several agents such as: Mitoxantrone, Vinorelbine, Docetaxel, Estramustine or others. Basically, chemotherapy agents kill cancer cells that are actively multiplying.

The general disadvantage of chemotherapy, no matter of type of cancer, is the drugs cannot discriminate between fast-growing cells and kills all cells whether they are part of controlled or uncontrolled process. Acting that way, chemotherapy kills and ‘good cells’, including hair follicles, causing typical side effects such as hair loss and other.

The disadvantage in treating prostate cancer is related to the fact prostate cancer cells multiply relatively slowly. This is the reason for chemotherapy is mostly used in aggressive stages of prostate cancer, or when used in common stages, cancer cells need to receive a longer exposure time to the anticancer agent. To compensate the longer exposure a lower dose is prescribed, situation that requires a permanent adjustable schedule of administration and special computerized devices.

It is really up to the patient and his doctors to decide whether on balance the advantages outweigh the risks.

D.Valerian is a freelance writer interested in items such as 4-prostate-cancer-treatment.blogspot.com/ prostate cancer treatment

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Introduction

Mesothelioma is a cancer which affects the tissue which surrounds and protects various organs in the body. This tissue is called the Mesothelium, and Mesothelioma causes it to become abnormal, divide without control, and invade and damage nearby organs. The most common form is pleural mesothelioma which affects the sac that lines the chest cavity and protects the lungs (the pleura). Other forms are peritoneum mesothelioma (which affects the abdominal cavity) and pericardium mesothelioma (affecting the lining around the heart). The tumours can be either benign (non-cancerous) or malignant (cancerous) although they are most often malignant.

Causes

Mesothelioma is caused by the inhalation of asbestos, a fibrous carcinogenic. These fibres lodge themselves in the lining of the lung affecting the mesothelial cells. Sometimes they cause scarring of the lungs (which is called asbestosis) but this is not cancerous. They can, however, trigger tumour growth between 20 to 50 years after they are inhaled (the average is 35 to 40 years). Asbestos fibres which are swallowed can reach the lining of the abdominal cavity where they play a part in causing peritoneal mesothelioma.

It is generally the case that the longer or more intense the exposure to asbestos the more likely Mesothelioma is to occur. However, there are cases of people getting Mesothelioma years after having worked with it for just a few months. The families of asbestos workers are also at risk as they would possibly have been exposed to asbestos fibres on the clothing of their loved ones.

The dangers of asbestos are now well known, but this was not always the case. Before the 1970s asbestos was a primary insulating material with little or no control in its use or handling. The resulting increase in cases of Mesothelioma is a direct cause of these past practices.

Symptoms

Mesothelioma is often advanced before symptoms occur. This means that the prognosis is not usually very good, with the average survival time for all stages of Malignant Mesothelioma being about one year. Symptoms resemble pneumonia, which coughs, breathing difficulties and abdominal pain being common.

Treatments

Mesothelioma can be treated by chemotherapy, radiotherapy or surgery, or a combination of the three.

Surgery

Extra pleural pneumonectomy is where the entire lung and a portion of the lining of the chest, the diaphragm, and some or the entire sac which surrounds the heart is removed.

Wide local excision targets and removes the cancer and a limited amount of the healthy tissue surrounding the cancerous region.

Pleurectomy and decortication removes part of the covering of the lungs, as well as the lining of the chest and portions of the outside covering of the lungs.

Pleurodesis uses a blend of chemicals and/or drugs to create an intentional scar between the layers of the pleura. Post surgery, the space created by the scar must be drained, using either a catheter or chest tube, and is then filled with a chemical which inhibits the accumulation of fluid in the pleura cavity.

Radiation Therapy

Radiation Therapy uses high energy x-rays to kill cancer cells.

In External radiation therapy a machine emits radiation in a targeted stream at a certain portion of the body

Internal radiation therapy uses needles, seeds and catheters to place radioactive substance directly on or near the cancer.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy uses cancer targeting drugs to stop the cells them from dividing and thus prevent their growth.

Andy Bowen runs mesothelioma-articlepages.info Mesothelioma ArticlePages. A site deicated to providing articles and information about the disease mesothelioma.

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Breast cancer is now the most common cancer women get, putting lung cancer second to this growing female epidemic. Although the exact causes of breast cancer still are not known, studies and statistics show that a woman’s risk of getting breast cancer increases as she ages.

A new intriguing study suggests - no, concludes - that not only is a vegetable-rich diet good for preventing breast cancer, but it also significantly improves a breast cancer patient’s odds of the disease returning after remission.

You may have been going all these years, thinking that eating your veggies was just a good health measure that was only the skinny minnies and health nuts. Well, new studies are showing that the consumption of vegetables is not only preventative maintenance against many kinds of cancers, but it also dramatically improves a woman’s odds of breast cancer returning
once she has gone into remission.

Not only is it the mere consumption of your leafy greens and brightly colored veggies, it’s also got a lot to do with the variety of veggies that are consumed. The wider the variety, the better the women’s chances were in the study of continuing on in full remission and recovery from their cancer.

The Carotenoid Connection

So, what exactly is the responsible factor for this improvement of odds against the return of cancer? It’s a tiny little micronutrient, found commonly in many vegetables, called carotenoids which is believed to be responsible. The reason this conclusion was reached is that women who did not see their breast cancer return tested with very high carotenoid blood levels, while the women who did see their breast cancer return did not.

The same women who had high levels of this potent antioxidant compound said that they not only consumed a veggie-rich diet, but that they also consumed a wider variety of vegetables in their diet, which lends itself to higher levels of this antioxidant in the blood stream. This translates into a powerful anti-cancer message : Eat your veggies, just like your grandma said.

Visit natural-breast-guide.com Natural Breasts: Enhancement and Health for information on how to naturally manage breast health, as well as beautify your breasts and keep them healthy and “young”. Danna Schneider is the founder of natural-breast-enhancement.blogspot.com Breast Enhancement.

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Earlier this year Aureon Laboratories released Prostate Px™, the first in a series of tests that predict prostate cancer recurrence. The test stratifies patients into high or low risk categories for the likelihood of experiencing a return of their prostate cancer after they have had their prostate surgically removed (prostatectomy). In addition, Aureon is in the final stages of development of Prostate Px™ (www.prostatepx.com/promo/articles) a new predictive test for prostate cancer that will use biopsy tissue, at the time of diagnosis

Approximately 15-40% of patients who have had their prostate removed will develop a serum PSA or biochemical recurrence (BCR). Moreover, a man with prostate cancer who has had a PSA recurrence can still develop a metastasis some eight years post PSA/BCR suggesting that identifying this group of patients early in their treatment program is critical to their overall survival.

The current practice for following patients after a prostatectomy is to test their blood for prostate specific antigen (PSA) to determine whether their cancer is returning. This period can be a time of great anxiety and many patients are searching for additional sources of information in order to make a more-informed decision about possible treatment options. An accurate prognosis is important because the majority of tumors are indolent and require minimal intervention while a subset are more aggressive and early intervention may be valuable.

The Prostate Px test has two endpoints for cancer recurrence:

•PSA Recurrence Px Score describes the likelihood of the patient developing a PSA recurrence within five years of having their prostate removed.

•Disease Progression Px Score describes the likelihood of the patient developing Disease Progression defined as bone/soft tissue metastasis and/or androgen independent rise in PSA within five years of having their prostate removed.

Compared to existing methods, Prostate Px provides a prediction of PSA recurrence with a sensitivity of 96%. In addition, Prostate Px can predict disease progression and does so with a sensitivity of 89%.

Prostate Px benefits patients and physicians at a number of decision points after surgery. The predictive test can:

•Provide a probability of whether a patient, after a prostatectomy, will have a PSA recurrence within five years.

•Predict whether a patient, after a prostatectomy, will have disease progression within five years.

•Avoid possible side effects associated with therapy (e.g. androgen deprivation therapy) for asymptomatic low risk patients.

•Identify patients with high risk of clinical failure who may benefit from increased surveillance or early adjuvant therapy.

•Help relieve anxiety and allow patients, their families and their physicians to decide upon the best treatment regimen moving forward.

•Assist in patient selection for new therapies as part of randomized clinical trials.

Technology:

The basis for the predictive power of Prostate Px is its unique breakthrough technology. Aureon’s System Pathology platform combines histological, molecular and clinical information to predict cancer recurrence.

After prostatectomy, the physician orders Prostate Px and a small section of the prostate tissue sample is collected from the pathology department at the hospital where the surgery was performed and sent to Aureon’s specialized laboratory. Aureon’s approach integrates:

•Histology (tissue): Prostate Px analyzes the cells and other structures in a prostate cancer tissue sample. This results in the generation of specific (quantitative) features for inclusion in the mathematical model.

•Molecular markers: Prostate Px selectively measures specific proteins in prostate tissue samples in order to obtain a unique molecular picture of the patient’s prostate cancer.

•Clinical data: Prostate Px takes into account important clinical information such as the Gleason score and the pathology results from the patient’s surgery.

By combining these sources of information and by applying advanced computer technology and mathematics, Prostate Px is able to provide patients a more thorough picture of their individual risk for recurrent disease.

Next Generation:
Prostate Px is just the first in a new generation of predictive tests from Aureon that combines the power of advanced mathematics with biology and clinical practice.

As stated earlier, Aureon is in the final stages of development of Prostate Px™ , a new predictive test for prostate cancer that will use biopsy tissue, at the time of diagnosis, and Aureon’s system pathology platform to assess future disease severity.

Prostate Px™ will enable the assessment of future disease severity at the time of diagnosis, thus more information will be available to the patient and their physician prior to the selection or implementation of any therapies.

Dr. Alter is the Marketing Director for

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