Archive for the ‘Cancer and Tumor’ Category
CT Scan Reduces Lung Cancer
WASHINGTON (AP) – A special type of CT scan can detect lung cancer early enough to save lives, announced Thursday the National Cancer Institute, the first evidence that a screening test can help combat one of the Cancer most lethal variants.
At stake are controversial multislice spiral CT, where a rotating scanner checks the lungs at various angles to detect tumors when they are half the size of which can detect a regular chest x-ray. Some studies have suggested that early detection is useful, while other studies concluded that it could be too damaging to detect benign tumors.
The experiment in the United States covered for 53,000 smokers or former smokers to try to settle the debate. Found 20% fewer deaths from lung cancer among those who were viewed with spiral CT than among those who were examined with chest radiographs, the institute said on Thursday, a difference so significant that it ended the study early.
New Treatments for Prostate Cancer in Very Early Stages of Development
There are several alternative treatments that are still at a very experimental stage of development. Gene therapy aims to replace defective genes in cancer cells with good people that will allow the cells to destroy themselves if they feel has become too mutated. (Cancer cells have lost these self destructive capabilities and continue to grow and divide despite having a lot of disorders that usually will force the cells to die.)
Treatment Vaccines see how to make your own body immune system recognize and kill cancer cells. endothelin blockers are a new type of drug treatment that works by preventing prostate cancer cells to grow.
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Improvements in Chemotherapy Treatment for Prostate Cancer
In a recent prostate cancer does not respond very well to chemotherapy drugs. But now there are newer drugs which are stronger against prostate cancer and are starting to be used with more frequency at the end of prostate cancer that has spread to other organs and that have become resistant to hormone treatment.
The best medicine is found so far is docetaxel, a new type of chemotherapy drug. This has the side effects include hair loss, nausea and the risk of infection. Doctors are now looking to see if docetaxel will work better in combination with other drugs.
Turmeric to prevent cancer
The medicinal properties of turmeric are known, and indeed we have spoken of their property to keep the weight for health care for brain and sciatic pain. This time we turn once again to turmeric, but to highlight its anti-cancer properties.
A study conducted on women has discovered the secret behind the turmeric, curcumin is able to prevent the risk of cancer in postmenopausal women who have undergone treatment with hormone replacement, positioning and an excellent natural agent prevent cancer.
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Turmeric and cancer
Some studies have found that postmenopausal women who received estrogen and progestin for treatment, are at increased risk of breast cancer. So say in natural medicine.
But a new study has shown a possible answer: the spice turmeric. This Indian spice popular use seems to reduce the risk of this cancer.
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Treatments Of Basal Cell Carcinoma
How is it treated?
* Surgical excision, if possible, is the preferred technique because it allows to remove the tumor in its entirety and make a subsequent histological study to determine if the edges of the surgical specimen are free. A variant of this technique is Mohs microsurgery, which is performed histological study of the piece on the operative act itself so as to determine whether or not it is necessary to continue to expand the margins of excision, is a technique used primarily when affect areas involved such as the eyelids. It is probably the treatment of choice in the forms sclerodermiform.
* Curettage and electrocoagulation: This technique is removal by curette, based on the greater friability of the tumor relative to healthy skin. Subsequently, the treated area is electrocoagulation to remove debris. The drawback of this technique is unable to confirm the total removal.
* Cryosurgery (liquid nitrogen) can be used in small lesions, but does not allow histological confirmation or determine if excision has been complete.
* Radiation therapy: Their primary indications are elderly, large lesions, when surgical treatment fails or if it’s difficult.
* Topical cytotoxic agents: 5-fluorouracil can be used only in the treatment of superficial basal cell carcinoma.
* Laser: This is a difficult treatment availability and does not allow histological control. So although it should not be a treatment of choice may be used in selected cases, as the Gorlin syndrome. CO2 can be used or photodynamic therapy.
* Imiquimod: This emerging drug was initially approved for the treatment of genital warts. It has an immunomodulatory effect by stimulating the immune response of the individual in charge of eliminating viral injury. There are also several studies that prove antitumor action. It has been recently approved in Europe for use in the treatment of superficial and nodular basal cell carcinomas of small size. The disadvantages are that we have focused on histological control of the removal of the tumor and its high irritant.
Clinical forms of basal cell carcinoma
Basal cell carcinoma is characterized by very heterogeneous from a clinical standpoint, which can sometimes make diagnosis difficult. Its most common location is on the face. It has a slow growing and painless, although as noted earlier, the evolution can produce invasion and destruction of adjacent structures.
The most common presentation is as pearly papule with teleangiectasia on its surface, which tends to be localized in the medial canthus, nose, or forehead. Corresponds to 95% of basal cell carcinomas. In the evolution may ulcerate in the center of the lesion, although the edges remain pearly papules features. In some cases the ulceration occurs early and massive way, then called ulcus Rodens, a less frequent but more aggressive.
Other clinical forms are:
* Basal Cell Carcinoma sclerodermatous: Board shiny smooth, flat and sometimes depressed slightly ill-defined borders resembling morphea. Sometimes we can see the look on their margins teleangiectasia pearl and typical of this tumor. Characteristically, the growth in depth of these lesions over the limits that we see clinically.
* Superficial Basal Cell Carcinoma: a raised red plaque with scaly surface, which is typically located in the trunk. Sometimes it can appear as multiple lesions in this case being generally related to previous exposure to arsenic.
* All clinical forms of basal cell carcinoma can appear as pigmented lesions, making it difficult differential diagnosis with melanoma.
Basal Cell Carcinoma
The known risk factors are:
* Chronic sun exposure
* Phototype skin I / II
* Treatment with radiation therapy
* Ingestion of arsenic chronically
* Immunosuppression
* Genetic predisposition:
– Gorlin syndrome or multiple basal cell nevus
– Bazex syndrome
– Xeroderma pigmentosum
Diagnosis and differential diagnosis
Preliminary diagnosis is clinical basal cell carcinoma. It is essential to know the existence of other types of presentation in addition to the characteristic pearly papule. Definitive diagnosis is by histological confirmation by biopsy.
The differential diagnosis of basal cell carcinoma is wide due to the diverse clinical manifestations. Arises mainly with the following entities:
* Actinic Keratosis
* Seborrheic Keratosis
* Tumors of skin appendages
* Giant Melanocytic
* Melanoma
* Bowen’s Disease
* Squamous cell carcinoma
Treatment of Leukemia Cancer
As this type of leukemia is common in patients of advanced age, often in ways not very aggressive and low capacity of treatment to prolong life, it is essential first to decide whether treatment is necessary or not.
It should deal with cases where the disease is active, ie who has anemia or thrombopenia resistant, lymphadenopathy massive or rapid growth, constitutional symptoms or lymphocytosis rapidly progressive.
Patients who are in stage 0 of Rai, the prognosis is very good, they are not usually given any treatment because there is no cure.
These patients often have more than 60 years and what they usually do is carefully monitored. More than half of them live, at least ten years after diagnosis of the disease.
For stages I and II, intermediate risk, no treatment is required immediately if there are no symptoms. When symptoms associated with the disease, use of chemotherapy with chlorambucil or cyclophosphamide, is usually given along with prednisone.
Other medications used are similar to purines, such as fludarabine, which are drugs that interfere with DNA synthesis, producing a selective decrease of T cells and therefore a severe immunosuppression. This medicine, in chronic lymphocytic leukemia, get referrals full or partial in 50% of cases.
Symptoms and Diagnosis of Leukemia Cancer
In its initial stage, these leukemias are asymptomatic in 60% of the cases are detected only after performing a routine laboratory, which is an increase in lymphocytes.
As the disease progresses, we see the presence of lymphadenopathy and organomegaly to increase as greater the number of lymphocytes.
You also have other symptoms caused by the decrease in the number of other blood cells such as red blood cells and platelets.
The anemia does not occur in the first stage of the disease, but when the bone is affected by the invasion of lymphocytes, there is a decrease of red blood cells. Anemia produces pallor, fatigue, shortness of breath and tachycardia.
Sometimes bleeding is shown by the decrease in platelets. They are serious when the platelet count is below 10,000 per ml and will not happen if the decline is not very intense (50,000 per ml).
It may not be reached to produce a large hemorrhage and that lack of platelets occurs only bruising, bleeding gums or nosebleeds mild.