If you are looking for an alternative mesothelioma treatment, you need the facts before you begin. You need to learn more about alternative therapies that not only help to slow the progression of mesothelioma cancer, but can often have fewer side effects than traditional treatments.

Here are a few of the alternative mesothelioma treatment options available today:

Gene Therapy

Gene therapy is getting a lot of attention as an alternative therapy in the treatment of mesothelioma cancer. Though it’s very experimental, the thought process is that when you were exposed to asbestos, the DNA and the genes in your cells were damaged, causing the cancer to grow and to spread. But if scientists can change the way the cells react, interrupting the genetic codes or changing them altogether, that cancerous response should be able to stop. In replacement gene therapy, doctors take out the gene that seems to be causing the cancerous growths and then replace it with a healthy functioning gene. In another alternative treatment therapy, scientists give the patient a series of oncogenes (modified genes) which stop the growth of mesothelioma cancer – also called knockout therapy.

Immunotherapy and Vaccine Therapy

By using the natural response of the body to fight off things that aren’t good for it, immunotherapy and vaccine therapy seems to be a promising alternative in the treatment of mesothelioma cancer. By introducing biological response modifiers (BGMs) into your body, your body will begin to fight off the ‘bad’ cells and replace them with good cells. This therapy is already very promising in other cancer areas.

Photodynamic Therapy

While it sounds like science fiction, photodynamic therapy might be a great alternative mesothelioma treatment for you. By giving the cancerous cells in the body a chemical that makes them sensitive to light, a doctor will then go into the body to see what cells are affected by the chemical and then kill them with light. The light creates an active form of oxygen in the process and eliminates the cancerous parts.

Other Therapies

There are other mesothelioma treatments as well that are being tested in clinical trials. Some of these include alternative therapy like acupuncture, herbs, massage, and other bodywork. Often used in conjunction with other therapies, these alternative treatments can help relax the patient and possibly enhance their immune system to fight the disease.

Every alternative mesothelioma treatment can be a chance to feel better and be more comfortable. Talk to your doctor today about what treatments might work for you.

About the Author:

Dave Casey is a freelance medical writer for Mesothelioma-Adviser.com. He has contributed articles on asbestosis, mesothelioma-adviser.com/ mesothelioma lung cancer and mesothelioma-adviser.com/asbestos-litigation.html asbestos litigation. Visit the site for the latest mesothelioma-adviser.com/alternative-mesothelioma-treatment.html alternative mesothelioma treatment options.

Copyright 2007 Mesothelioma-Adviser.com

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Genetic alterations are key factors in breast carcinogenesis. However, it is not fully understood what causes the genetic damage. Is it the woman’s environment or her life that does the damage? Or is it hormones? If so, is it her own, or the ones she takes? Or is it toxic chemicals or a virus or radiation that causes these alterations? If it were possible to identify the causes and block or eliminate them, it wouldn’t matter quite as much which genes were being altered.

A good example is lung cancer. It is well known that cigarette smoking triggers the disease, so it must cause the genetic alterations. Thus, it is less crucial to find out what the alterations are, because it is not necessary to neutralize the causative genetic alterations. People can just be told to stay away from cigarette smoke and, if they do so, that will tremendously reduce the risk of lung cancer. So in the case of breast cancer, thinks like diet, alcohol consumption, hormone replacement, pesticides in the environment and electromagnetic waves are currently being studied to find carcinogens, but so far, none has been found equivalent to smoke in lung cancer. Both the environmentalists and the basic researchers are right, at least to an extent. You can’t simply say, “Toxic chemicals are the cause of cancer”. Alone, they are not. Many people are exposed to environmental toxicants such as pesticides and never develop cancer. But on the other hand, you can’t also simply say, “All cancers are genetic, environmental contaminants are irrelevant”. It is the interaction between genes and the environment that will, in the end, explain cancer.

Another important aspect of breast cancer genetics are very important genes called tumor suppressor genes. These genes tamper with oncogenes (genes that have mutated) and proto-oncogenes (normal, non-mutated genes). These genes serve as breaks for the cell cycle system. While there are some genes that push the cells to grow and divide, tumor suppressor genes function in reverse to this. Sometimes, this happens because the cell is defective; in which case the tumor suppressor gene signals the cell to stop replicating or, in some instances, causes the cell to undergo a programmed type of death, known as apoptosis.

The tumor suppressor gene, p53, keeps cells with DNA mutation from dividing. It is believed that BRCA 1 and BRCA 2, which are breast cancer genes, are actually tumor suppressor genes normally functioning as DNA repair molecules. Since these genes maintain the balance in the cell cycle system, mutations or loss of function could be disastrous for the cell.

In most cancers, there is not just one but several mutations. One of the more important questions is whether the mutations come in sequentially. Will one develop breast cancer is she has the oncogene Her-2/neu mutation initially, followed by alteration of the tumor suppressor gene p53, but not if the p53 mutates first? There is still so much to be discovered with regard to the genetic causes of breast cancer. We don’t have the answers yet, but we are definitely on the verge of solving the mystery.

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to breast-cancer.treatment-and-guides.com/ Breast Cancer

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