This asbestos related cancer really took its hold during and after WWII, as asbestos production and use greatly increased, therefore exposing millions of people to asbestos fibers and dust, hence mesothelioma cancer.

Mesothelioma cancer derives from the word mesothelium, which is a membrane that covers and protects most of our internal body organs. It is made up of two layers of cells, the first surrounding the organ, and the other layer forming a sac around the first layer and the organ. What occurs is a lubricating fluid or liquid is produced between the two layers. This allows for your moving organ (such as the heart which is constantly pumping), to glide easily against the adjacent structures. Isn’t that a marvel?

When mesothelioma cancer develops, the cells of mesothelium become abnormal and divide without order. They end up invading and damage nearby tissues and organs. As in all cancers, in mesothelioma cancer these abnormal cells can spread to other organs of the body, making this mesothelioma cancer, a generalized cancer to different stages 1 to 4.

Mesothelioma cancer is still considered a rare cancer, even though some 2000 new cases are reported every year in the United States alone. More often than not, mesothelioma cancer cases are discovered in people who were exposed to asbestos dust some 30 to 50 years ago.

Symptoms of mesothelioma cancer vary from shortness of breath, chest pains, caused by the accumulation of fluids. You can also experience weightloss, abdominal pains due to swelling of the abdomen. As the mesothelioma cancer spreads, symptoms can include bowel obstruction, blood clotting, anemia, fever, trouble swallowing, and swelling of the neck and face.

Diagnosis of mesothelioma cancer is often difficult because of its similarities to other conditions. But as you’ve probably guessed, it will involve a close analysis of your work history to determine, if you had any exposure to asbestos dust in trades or buildings that made use of it. This is followed by the usual XRays, CAT scans, biopsy, and determining at what stage the cancer has progressed.

Treatment for mesothelioma cancer will most like involve surgery to remove part of the lining which is affected, and most likely chemotherapy.

j.g. michel is author and webmaster at cancer-help-treatment.com cancer-help-treatment.com

To cancer-help-treatment.com learn more about mesothelioma we suggest you visit this site. cancer-help-treatment.com Can mesothelioma be cured by other means?

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Once a patient is diagnosed with prostate cancer, it is then important that information regarding the extent of the spread is determined, and how much it has affected the gland. Determining this is what is called prostate cancer staging. Prostate cancer staging involves categorizing the disease in specific classification in order to derive the appropriate approach for your treatment.

Prostate cancer staging conventionally was done by classifying the stages as Stages A, B, C and D. Stages A and B may be curable, and in both cases, the cancer is localized within the gland. In this type of prostate cancer staging, stage C has the cancer spreading beyond the prostate but has not reached the lymph nodes. Some in this stage have some hope of being cured. In stage D, the cancer has already reached the lymph nodes, bones and some other areas. Though the prostate cancer in this stage may no longer be curable, it can be treated for purposes of slowing its effect down.

New prostate cancer staging systems now use the TNM notation. T means tumor, N means Nodes (lymph nodes), and M means metastasized to other body organs.

For this prostate cancer staging system, the T classification has two types: a.) clinical stage, and b.) pathologic stage. The clinical stage is important in determining whether removal of the prostate gland may be in order, though it will not show the extent of the cancer spread. The pathologic stage is determined after surgery and will enable one to know the severity of the cancer – also, one will be able to have a better impression on how it might fair for him in the future.

Prostate cancer staging systems, whichever is used, provide a general guideline on what to expect at each particular level. It describes the condition of the prostate and the cancer cells in it, the treatment that may work for your particular stage, and the prognosis for your case.

With the valuable information it provides, prostate cancer staging systems will be a useful tool for both patients and doctors alike. Patients will be able to understand their current situation and the specific status of their prostate. Doctors will be able to rely on them to come up with the suitable approach for the patients they are treating.

Without prostate cancer staging systems, there would not be any means of putting meaning of the level and severity of the cancer experienced by the patient – no reference for appropriate approach in treating prostate cancer. A prostate cancer staging system has continued to be an efficient tool and basis for one’s treatment & prognosis.

Milos Pesic is an expert in the field of Prostate Cancer and runs a highly popular and comprehensive prostate.need-to-know.net/ Prostate Cancer web site. For more articles and resources on Prostate Cancer related topics, treatment options and much more visit his site at:

=> prostate.need-to-know.net/ prostate.need-to-know.net/

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Until recently tamoxifen occupied the central stage in adjuvant (post operative) hormonal treatment of breast cancer. Tamoxifen has been the unchallenged hormonal therapy of choice for adjuvant treatment of early stage breast cancer for over two decades.

Things have changed now. A new group of hormonal drugs that has been introduced few years ago has almost replaced tamoxifen as the treatment of choice for early stage breast cancer. This new group of drugs known as aromatase inhibitors has been shown to be more effective than tamoxifen over and over again.

This new group of drugs however is not effective in premneopausal women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer. Tamoxifen still remains the hormonal treatment of choice for women with breast cancer who have hormone receptor positive early stage breast cancer.

This new group of drugs known as aromatase inhibitors acts by inhibiting an enzyme called aromatase, which is responsible for production of small amounts of estrogen in post-menopausal women. Estrogen production from the ovaries in premneopausal women is not depended on aromatase hormone, and that is the reason why this drug is not effective in premneopausal women.

Three drugs belonging to the group of aromatase inhibitors are currently FDA approved and available for treatment of breast cancer. These drugs are anastrozole (Arimidex), letrozole (Femara) and exemestane (Aromasin). All these are active drugs are generally considered to be equally effective.

Aromatase inhibitors may be useful even if a woman has already been started on tamoxifen. Aromatase inhibitors can be taken for five years after completion of five years of tamoxifen. A clinical trial (MA-17) has shown that if Femara is taken for another extra five years after completion of five years of treatment with tamoxifen, this would result in improved outcome. Other trials (ABCSG trial, ARNO trial 95, and ITA trial) have shown that it is beneficial to switch from tamoxifen to aromatase inhibitors after two to three years of treatment with tamoxifen.

Aromatase inhibitors have already shown to be superior to tamoxifen in the treatment of hormone receptor positive metastatic (cancer that has spread to distant organs) breast cancer. In this situation Femara is currently the drug of choice and tamoxifen have moved to second or third position as an option for hormonal therapy.

One thing is clear. The very foundation of tamoxifen as the hormonal treatment of choice is shaking and the aromatase inhibitors are here to stay.

Copyright © Medicineworld.org 2006

Scott William is the webmaster for medicineworld.org Medicineworld.org a site dedicated to medical information. For more information regardings medicineworld.org/cancer/breast/ breast cancer please visit authors website.

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The thought itself is astounding: a way possibly exists to predict if a person could possibly contract bladder cancer in the future. In recent studies, debate is emerging in regards to one theory – that lifestyle choices and the impact of living life a certain way may be related to bladder cancer. A recent study by the Department of Preventive Medicine of Nagoya University School of Medicine indicates that there might, in fact, be a strong and credible link between lifestyle and bladder cancer.

The department studied 258 bladder cancer patients in order to determine if lifestyle choices played a role in allowing medical professionals to prognosticate the possibility that patients might be susceptible to bladder cancer. This was a follow-up study of patients who had suffered from bladder cancer in metropolitan Nagoya, Japan and were recruited for study. Their personal survival information was derived from a database that was maintained by the Nagoya Bladder Cancer Research Group.

After reviewing the tests and their results, researchers were able to pinpoint several key factors that impact the occurrence and re-occurrence of this type of cancer. Univariate analysis showed that there was a significant relationship between 5 year survivorship and the level of education a person possessed, their marital status, drinking habits, and the degree of green tea consumption in males. Additional factors were the age at which the cancer was diagnosed, the histological type and grade of the any tumors, the degree of metastasis, and the state of metastasis in both sexes.

The results were adjusted for age, stage, histology (histological type and grade), and distant metastasis by means of a proportional hazards model.The consumption of alcoholic beverages was also significantly associated with the prognoses of bladder cancer in males. The ratio of adjusted hazard was 0.46 with a 95% confidence interval of 0.26 – 0.79 among males that consumed alcoholic beverages.

Detailed analysis revealed that former drinkers and every level of current drinkers exhibited hazard ratios smaller than unity, although no correlation between dosage amounts was detectable. Other factors, such as smoking habits, uses of artificial sweeteners and hair dye, and consumption of coffee, black tea, matcha (powdered green tea), and cola were detected, leading one to believe that it is reasonable to conclude that drinking any type of beverage, not just alcohol, plays a significant role in the development or re-occurrence of bladder cancer.

The significance of this is vague in terms of prognosis, although that ratio seems to indicate that at least among those who participated in the study and were bladder cancer survivors, drinking alcohol is not a very good idea. Additionally, the study showed that the higher risk factor in regards to bladder cancer and males can be correlated directly to drinking in terms of re-occurrence propensity.

If you are male and have had bladder cancer, along with dietary changes and other lifestyle choices, avoiding alcoholic beverages might increase the possibility of avoiding the sickness in the future.

This, however, is not, and should not be considered conclusive, but merely the very compelling result of one specific study. Also, the indication that other factors, such as smoking, did not seem to increase the risk of re-occurrence, should not be construed as rock solid justification for those behaviors.

For instance, the fact that smoking does not apparently increase the risk bladder cancer does not in any way obviate the fact that smoking has been risked to other diseases or maladies such as heart disease, lung cancer, strokes, or degradation of blood circulation. All of these conditions are just as life-threatening as bladder cancer.

One significant factor seems to be that dosage amounts of alcohol do not seem to correlate with the propensity of re-occurrence. In fact, this study seemed to show that among moderate to heavy drinkers, the re-occurrence rate was unaffected. If one were to take this at face value, one could conclude that any drinking at all increases the chances of bladder cancer coming back.

Jon M. Stout is the Chairman of the Golden Moon Tea Company. Golden Moon Tea carefully selects the finest rare and orthodox teas, which are processed slowly and handcrafted with extreme care. At their website, you can learn more about their current

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