Bone Cancer

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Bone Cancer: Causes, Symptoms And Treatments

By: James S.

Cancer having its origin in the bones is referred to as bone cancer in medical terms. Bone cancers are relatively uncommon when compared to metastatic (cancer occurring initiated in another organ and spreading to bone tissues) or secondary cancer.

Bone Cancer Causes

Underlying causes behind bone Cancer is still unclear. However, there are certain risk factors that have been identified. Most of them suggest that Estrogen, female hormone, plays an imperative role in development and progress of this cancer. It s known that women, having menstrual period for the first time before 11 or at a very later stage in their life, are more prone for developing this disease. The reason being that they remain exposed to higher levels of estrogen for a longer period of time. Again, count of menstrual cycle prior to first pregnancy is also considered significant. Experts believe that women having their first child below the age of 20 might be affected in the near future. Breastfeeding offers additional protective effect.

Bone Cancer Symptoms

Bone Cancer Symptoms are many linked to the location of the bone, which has been affected by cancer in the body. Common symptom associated with bone cancer is tenderness, swelling or pain in the affected area. Lump formation might also accompany bone cancer in a patient. Although the detection of lump associated to the cancer is difficult in the early stages, it can be felt when the disease occurs in or around the joints. Still, you cannot consider any of these symptoms as prominent signs of bone cancer.

Bone Cancer Treatment

Treatment for cancer of bone, mainly metastatic cancer, has 2 goals:

Managing neoplasm

Managing symptoms produced by local lesion

Prognosis is mainly affected by patient s age, primary tumor size, lymphatic & blood vessel invasion degree, symptoms duration and tumor location on arm, trunk or leg.

There are 2 methods for treating bone metastasis. Systemic Therapy is aimed for treating cancer cells spread throughout your body. It includes hormone therapy, immunotherapy and chemotherapy. Local therapy is aimed towards killing cancerous cells of a specific portion on the body. It includes surgery and radiation therapy.

Surgery:

It is often extensive and involves the removal of a wide margin of tissue surrounding the tumor. Sarcomas, which involve muscles, also require removing the entire affected group of muscles.

Radiation Therapy:

It is mainly used for preventing local recurrence of radiosensitive tumor and given either before or following the surgery.

Chemotherapy:

Several drugs have proven effective for treating bone & soft tissue sarcoma. However, required dosages for providing a great chance to cure might lead to significant side effects. Effective agents include cyclophosphamide, etoposide, vincristine, ifosfamide, doxorubicin (Adriamycin), dactinomycin (Actinomycin D), dacarbazine and investigational agent. In some cases, even combinations of all these drugs are used.

Hormone Therapy:

It s either removal of organs producing hormones promoting growth of specific cancer types (testosterone and estrogen) or drug therapy for keeping hormones from promoting growth of cancer.

Even after completely removing bone or soft tissue sarcoma, significant risk is there that small tumors, left undetected, may spread to other regions in the body. Adjuvant Chemotherapy attempts for eliminating such tumor deposits.

Even, there are safer and effective methods for treating pain. Medications will allow people for being free of pain and continue the activities essential to them.

To Your Health!

Author Resource:-> http://www.womenscenter.com/ Dr. James S. Pendergraft opened the Orlando Women's Center in March 1996 to provide a full range of health care for women. http://www.womenscenter.com/

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Prevent Lung Cancer

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5 Things You Can Do To Prevent Lung Cancer

By: James S.

Lung cancer is a form that is quite difficult to treat. Simply put lung cancer is the cancer affecting the lung tissues making it difficult for exchange of gases in the respiratory system. It is very elusive and hence difficult to diagnose. The symptoms are not out of the ordinary and hence can mislead the physician.

The patients suffer a lot and treatment is limited and localized. Prevention is the best form of cure as far as cancer is concerned since all forms of cancer are torturous to the mind and body of the individual. Prevention is easier where lung cancer is concerned. Avoiding risk causing substances, the chances of developing it can be reduced or its occurrence can be prolonged.

Things That Can Be Done To Prevent Lung Cancer Are:

Quit Smoking:

The first and the foremost factor is, of course, smoking. This is the main cause of lung cancer. An estimated 87 deaths occur due to lung cancer caused by smoking. Make your body tobacco free. This is the best defense possible against lung cancer. Kicking the habit might be difficult but certainly would be better than suffering from cancer of the lung. Another aspect of smoking is the effect it has on people exposed to the smoke.

Secondhand smoke or the smoke emanating from cigarettes, cigars and pipes is carcinogenic. This smoke is known to contain more than sixty carcinogens or agents that can trigger the process of cancer development. These carcinogens cause changes in cell division and development. The abnormal divisions give rise to excess number of cells which do not have regulatory processes governing them and hence causes malfunctions leading to malignancies.

Eat fruits and vegetables:

Nature itself has provided us with the chemicals required to fight cancer. Antioxidants and flavanoids are substances that aid in repairing damaged cells and helps in protecting the nuclear material or the DNA. These substances are available in abundance in fruits and vegetables. Consuming five portions of fruits and vegetables in a day will go far in keeping cancer at bay. People who are physically active and fit have lesser chances of being succumbed by cancer. Maintaining a healthy weight would be beneficial.

Avoid Exposure to radon:

Radon is a substance that is highly carcinogenic. Exposure to radon and such other radioactive gases can cause lung cancer. Radon is a byproduct of uranium degradation. This is an odorless, colorless, tasteless gas which cannot be detected easily. Homes built over natural deposits of uranium can have radon in them and exposure to this is dangerous. Homes should be checked and test for the presence of this deadly carcinogen.

Avoid Exposure to pollutants in workplace:

Pollutants like gasoline, arsenic, beryllium, vinyl chloride, nickel chromates, mustard gas, coal products, chloro methyl ethers, diesel exhaust are carcinogens or agents causing cancer. Workplace can expose you to these agents and it should be reduced or limited in concordance with the employer.

Chemoprevention:

Many cancer specific natural drugs can some times reverse the process of cancer. These drugs can be taken to prevent cancer from occurring in patients with history of the condition. The area dealing with chemoprevention is under active clinical research.

To Your Health!

Author Resource:-> http://www.womenscenter.com/ Dr. James S. Pendergraft opened the Orlando Women's Center in March 1996 to provide a full range of health care for women. http://www.womenscenter.com/

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Mesothelioma Cancer

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Understanding Mesothelioma Cancer: Causes And Symptoms

By: James S.

Mesothelioma is cancer that affects the mesothelium which is the lining or membrane that protects and covers most of the internal organs in the body cavity. The first layer encircles the organ and the second layer forms a sac for protection. There is a lubricating fluid present between the layers to facilitate movement. The mesothelium is called pericardium when it covers the heart, pleura when covering the lungs and peritoneum when covering the abdominal organs.

In mesothelioma there is uncontrolled cell division which leads to the extra cell masses invading the nearby tissues and organs and causing damage. Mostly it is observed that mesothelioma begins in the pleura or the peritoneum. The cancer then metastasizes to other parts of the body.

Mesothelioma occurs mostly due to exposure to asbestos. This is considered to be the major risk factor. 70 to 80 of sufferers have a history of exposure to asbestos. There are exceptions to this and cases have been reported where asbestos exposure was found not to exist. The condition is more common in men as compared to women. It has also been found that risk increases with age.

Mesothelioma is a very rare. Mostly said to be associated with workplace exposure to asbestos. Asbestos is a collection of minerals that can be made to exist as strong masses of sheets or flexible fibers. It is widely used in industrial products like cement, roofs, flooring products, textiles, brake linings and insulation. Tiny particles of asbestos float in the air and can be inhaled or swallowed by the people exposed to it like the workers in manufacturing companies etc.

Continuous exposure over a period can lead to asbestosis. Exposure to asbestosis increases the risk of developing mesothelioma and other types of cancer like that of kidney and larynx. There are acceptable levels of asbestos exposure that have been brought into effect in workplaces using the mineral. Another very interesting aspect of mesothelioma is that family members of people exposed asbestos in their work place show an increased incidence of this cancer as compared to others. This has been attributed to the fact that the remnants of asbestos particles adhering to the clothes, hair etc when brought home can expose the family members to it.

The cancer takes around thirty to forty years to surface. The initial symptoms include shortness of breath, and pain in the chest if it is the pleura that are affected. If the cancer is in the peritoneum then there is weight loss, abdominal swelling and pain, fluid accumulation in the abdomen, bowel obstruction. Fever, anemia and blood clotting irregularities have also been observed. In severe cases there is swelling of the neck and face, trouble swallowing and severe pain.

Diagnosis of mesothelioma is very difficult since there are no specific symptoms. A medical history review would be very valuable since asbestos exposure needs to be determined. X rays of chest, abdomen, lung function tests, scans, MRI are the usual tools that help in confirming the diagnosis. Biopsy is done for the final confirmation and treatment includes chemotherapy and radiations.

To Your Health!

Author Resource:-> http://www.womenscenter.com/ Dr. James S. Pendergraft opened the Orlando Women's Center in March 1996 to provide a full range of health care for women. http://www.womenscenter.com/

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Lung Cancer Symptoms

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Lung Cancer Symptoms: What To Look For

By: James S.

Lung cancer symptoms are very elusive and misleading. Mostly the condition is diagnosed only after having reached advanced stages. As of now there is no screening procedure for lung cancer. Symptoms are almost non existent where lung cancer is concerned.

There might be a mild cough or shortness of breath that can also be attributed to some respiratory infections. This is the main reason as to why most of the lung cancer cases go undiagnosed in the early stages. Only a meagre 16 of the cases are diagnosed early enough to facilitate treatment and cure.

Some of the symptoms that we can investigate are as follows:

1 A new persistent cough that refuses to go away. Smokers usually have cough but if they have cancer the severity of the cough would be different.

2 Chest pain is another indication that usually goes unnoticed. The pain can deepen with difficulty in breathing accompanied with cough or laugh.

3 The throat is hoarse and when accompanied with wheezing can indicate inflammation of the lungs which could be cancer.

4 There is gradual loss of weight due to loss of appetite.

5 Hemoptysis or coughing up blood is a sure indication of cancer. The coughed up phlegm would be rust colored showing the presence of blood.

6 The patient can suffer from shortness of breath due to blockage of air caused by pleural effusion or fluid collection around the lungs or spread of tumor in the lungs.

7 Repeated respiratory illnesses like bronchitis and pneumonia are a cause for concern. This could be indicative of lung cancer.

The cancer metastasizes or spreads to other organs in the body; if it goes undetected in the first or early stages. Lung cancer usually is found to spread to the bones, the brain, liver, pericardium or the lining of the heart, adrenal glands and also from one lung to another. The spread of the cancer brings with it the onset of more symptoms like

1 Bone pain if the cancer has spread to the bones. The pain is felt in the back bone or vertebrae, the thigh bones and the bones making up the ribs.

2 Headaches, weakness of vision, numbness of appendages, dizziness and seizures if the spread of the cancer is to the brain.

3 Jaundice is caused when the liver is affected by the liver. This is usually not detected and is discovered much later. Initial symptoms of the cancer spreading to liver are nonexistent.

4 If the spread of cancer affects the lymph nodes then lumps appear on the surface of the body usually in the neck or above the collar bone.

Clubbed fingers, anemia, fatigue, weight loss, muscle weakness, skin rashes, low sodium content, degeneration of brain etc are all symptoms that have been found to exist in all types of cancer including lung cancer. Incidental chest x rays performed for other infections help in the identification of the condition since there are no specific symptoms that point towards cancer of the lung.

To Your Health!

Author Resource:-> http://www.womenscenter.com/ Dr. James S. Pendergraft opened the Orlando Women's Center in March 1996 to provide a full range of health care for women. http://www.womenscenter.com/

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