CANCER (means mesothelioma )

Mesothelioma is a very rare type of cancer caused mainly due to exposure to asbestos. It may take about 20-40 years for the symptoms to start showing and hence this makes it difficult to diagnose since the symptoms are similar to those of other common diseases and not many people associate something that happened so long ago with the symptoms they feel at that moment.

Mesothelioma attacks the protective lining that covers the internal organs of the human body which is known as mesothelioma. Usually it attacks the protective lining around the lungs, heart and abdomen. During the disease the mesothelioma cells multiply rapidly and end up overgrowing and have a longer life span. Exposure to asbestos causes this abnormal development of mesothelioma cells. The people most prone to get this disease are those that have work in asbestos industries or lived near them

Mesothelioma is of three types: peritoneal mesothelioma attack the abdomen, pericardial mesothelioma attacks the heart and pleural mesothelioma affects the lungs. Pleural mesothelioma is the most common form of the disease affecting around 75% of all those who contract mesothelioma where as 20% of the cases are accounted for by peritoneal or pericardial and the remaining 5% is accounted for by rare types of mesothelioma. It must be noted, however, that these statistics only represent documented cases and there are thousands of cases that remain undiagnosed and hence undocumented.

Pleural Mesothelioma:

This accounts for almost 75% or three-fourths of all mesothelioma cases it causes fluid to accumulate between the mesothelioma lining and the chest.

Symptoms:

Shortness of breath, panting, fever, coughing up blood, loss of weight and breathing difficulties are some of the symptoms of this disease. Patients who have contracted pleural mesothelioma suffer from severe chest pains. The symptoms of this disease are akin to other common diseases, such as pneumonia and thus it is often confused to be that instead of mesothelioma. The diagnosis for this disease is difficult as well. As of now, there are no proven cures for it. Pleural mesothelioma can either be cancerous or non-cancerous. When it is non-cancerous it is called as a benign form where as when it is cancerous it is called a malignant form.

Since, mesothelioma patients don’t start showing symptoms of this disease till at least 20-50 years after exposure to asbestos not many people are able to link the symptoms to its actual cause.

Inhalation of asbestos fibers causes pleural mesothelioma. These fibers get lodged into the lungs and then travel through tissues and finally when they settle on to the mesothelioma lining, the abnormal behavior of mesothelioma cells starts showing. The disease causes tumors to be formed in mesothelioma and lungs and may also extend to other parts of the body.

Being difficult to identify they may cause a lot of harm before they are detected. In several cases of mesothelioma the diagnosis was made too late and most of the patients were already in the final stages of the cancer. Mesothelioma is a fatal disease and hence the medical fraternity music undertakes the proper tests and efforts required to detect this disease as soon as possible.

Peritoneal Mesothelioma:

Peritoneal mesothelioma only accounts for 10-20% of mesothelioma cases. Peritoneal mesothelioma affects the abdomen causing cells to behave abnormally. The disease is caused by dangerous asbestos fibers being inhaled and traveling through the digestive tract before eventually settling down in some area of the organ. This disease causes tumors to form in the abdomen and may end up spreading to other parts of the body. The main symptoms of this form of mesothelioma include chest pains, fever, constipation, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, breathing difficulties and loss of weight, swollen stomach, constipation and loose motions. The disease can be diagnosed using the following: MRI, IT scans X-Rays, Thoractomy, Laparotomy, Laparoscopy and PET. The main causes of it include inhalation of asbestos fibers but some of the following factors may increase the chances of someone getting peritoneal mesothelioma

peritoneal mesothelioma

Peritoneal Mesothelioma


A thin membrane of mesothelial cells, known as the peritoneum envelops many of the organs in the abdomen. Peritoneal mesothelioma is a tumor that is on this membrane. Its only known cause is exposure to asbestos, and because it can lay dormant for many years it is not detected until the tumor has begun to grow. Peritoneal mesothelioma accounts for about one-fifth of all mesothelioma cases.

Like any cancer, peritoneal mesothelioma can be either benign or malignant. Mesothelioma is sometimes diagnosed by chance, before any symptoms have appeared. For example, the tumor is sometimes seen on a routine abdominal x-ray for a check-up or before surgery.

The symptoms of peritoneal mesothelioma typically include abdominal pains, weakness, weight loss, loss of appetite, nausea, and abdominal swelling. Fluid often accumulates in the peritoneal space, a condition known as ascites. Over time the symptoms can become more and more severe.

The growing tumor can exert increasing pressure on the organs in the abdomen, leading to bowel obstruction and distention. If the tumor presses upward, it can limit breathing. The tumor may push against areas with many nerve fibers, and the bowel distends, the amount of pain can increase.

what is mesotheluim?

The mesothelium is a membrane that covers and protects most of the internal organs of the body. It is composed of two layers of cells: One layer immediately surrounds the organ; the other forms a sac around it. The mesothelium produces a lubricating fluid that is released between these layers, allowing moving organs (such as the beating heart and the expanding and contracting lungs) to glide easily against adjacent structures.

The mesothelium has different names, depending on its location in the body. The peritoneum is the mesothelial tissue that covers most of the organs in the abdominal cavity. The pleura is the membrane that surrounds the lungs and lines the wall of the chest cavity. The pericardium covers and protects the heart. The mesothelial tissue surrounding the male internal reproductive organs is called the tunica vaginalis testis. The tunica serosa uteri covers the internal reproductive organs in women.

mesothelioma diagnosis

It can be difficult to diagnose mesothelioma because many of the mesothelioma symptoms are similar to those of a number of other conditions, including lung cancer and other types of cancers. At the time of diagnosis, your doctor will first do a physical examination and complete a medical history, including asking about the possibility of prior exposure to asbestos.

Although there is no early detection test for mesothelioma, there are several tests that can be used to help in making the diagnosis of mesothelioma, including a chest x-ray, a CT scan, or an MRI scan. A chest x-ray yields an image of the lungs that will show many types of abnormal changes. A CT scan (computed tomography) is a type of x-ray, but it uses a computer rather than film to create detailed images.

An MRI scan (magnetic resonance imaging) uses magnetism, radio waves, and a computer but does not utilize radiation to create a clear image. These tests help your doctor differentiate mesothelioma from other lung tumors as well as determine where the tumor is and its size.

Your doctor may need to remove a tissue sample from the tumor (a biopsy) or draw fluid (aspirate) from it to confirm it to confirm the diagnosis. This can be done in several ways.

The simplest way to obtain tissue samples involving making a small incision and placing a flexible tube in the area of the tumor. This is called a thoracoscopy if it is done in the chest area. A laparoscopy is the same procedure, but done in the abdominal cavity. A tube that is that is attached to a video camera is placed so that the doctor can look inside the body. A tissue sample may be taken at the same time. Sometimes, however, a more extensive surgical procedure may be advisable. A thoracotomy can be done to open the chest to take a tissue sample and, if feasible,

Kidney cancer

Kidney cancer is a type of cancer that effects your kidneys, which are located behind your stomach, in your lower back just below your ribs. There are two of them and they are each about the size of your fist. They are important organs and you can exist with only one kidney but if you lose them both, that is not the case. Your kidneys are part of the urinary system and serve an important part in the process of waste removal in your body.

They are also part of the process of red blood cell production and work to control blood pressure. Each kidney is a package of many small filtering units, called "nephrons". Kidney transplants are a fairly common operation now and it is possible for a person to donate one of their kidneys and live the rest of their lives, using the one remaining kidney. Just like any other organ in your body, your kidneys can develop cancer.

In its early stages, kidney cancer very rarely shows any symptoms, so unless it is detected by a doctor, by a urinalysis test, the chances of a person noticing anything unusual, or out of the ordinary, relating to the cancer, are very slim. Children and adults tend to develop two different types of kidney cancer. The type that adults are most likely to develop is called (renal adenocarcinoma) and the type of kidney cancer that children are most likely to develop is called (Wilm's tumor).

In its later stages, when it generally does start to show some physical symptoms, these symptoms will tend to be as follows. Noticeable blood in the urine. It is possible to have blood in your urine in such small quantity that it is not noticeable to the naked eye. Small amounts of blood can be detected by a doctor by testing the urine for blood. Another symptom of kidney cancer is a loss in weight.

Some people can tend to see weight loss as a blessing. Particularly weight loss that has occurred through no effort. Sudden unaccounted for weight loss however is a symptom of many types of cancer and diseases. So unless a person has made an effort to lose weight, it is wise to view unaccounted for weight loss, particularly large weight loss that occurs suddenly, with some measure of concern. Another symptom of kidney cancer is back pain that doesn't seem to go away.

Like so many other cancers, an early detection is a key to a full recovery. The longer a cancer, like kidney cancer, remains undetected the better the chance it has to spread to other parts of your body. When a cancer spreads to another part of your body it is said to "metastasize". If detected early though, the chances for a full recovery are very good. There are several forms of treatment for kidney cancer and what stage the cancer is in, can be a major determinating factor in what type of treatment is used to attack the cancer.

In the past, surgery for kidney cancer involved the removal of the entire kidney. Research has led to a change of procedure in recent years. It was determined that by removing only the tumor and leaving the kidney intact, when it was possible, the patient faced a lesser chance of kidney failure and an increased quality of life after the treatment.

Another type of treatment for kidney cancer is referred to as "arterial embolization". This is a procedure where the vessel that supplies blood to the cancerous kidney is blocked. Other treatments include radiation therapy and chemo therapy and immunotherapy, which uses your bodies own immune system to fight the cancer.

Breast Cancer - Causes, Symptoms and Treatment

Breast cancer is a malignant (cancerous) growth that begins in the tissues of the breast. Over the course of a lifetime, one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer. Breast cancer is a cancer of the breast tissue, which can occur in both women and men. Breast cancer may be one of the oldest known forms of cancer tumors in humans.Worldwide, breast cancer is the fifth most common cause of cancer death (after lung cancer, stomach cancer, liver cancer, and colon cancer). Breast cancer kills more women in the United States than any cancer except lung cancer. Today, breast cancer, like other forms of cancer, is considered to be a result of damage to DNA. How this mechanism may occur comes from several known or hypothesized factors (such as exposure to ionizing radiation, or viral mutagenesis). Some factors lead to an increased rate of mutation (exposure to estrogens) and decreased repair (the BRCA1, BRCA2 and p53) genes. Alcohol generally appears to increase the risk of breast cancer.

Breast cancer can also occur in men, although it rarely does. Experts predict 178,000 women and 2,000 men will develop breast cancer in the United States. There are several different types of breast cancer. First is Ductal carcinoma begins in the cells lining the ducts that bring milk to the nipple and accounts for more than 75% of breast cancers. Second is Lobular carcinoma begins in the milk-secreting glands of the breast but is otherwise fairly similar in its behavior to ductal carcinoma. Other varieties of breast cancer can arise from the skin, fat, connective tissues, and other cells present in the breast. Some women have what is known as HER2-positive breast cancer. HER2, short for human epidermal growth factor receptor-2, is a gene that helps control cell growth, division, and repair. When cells have too many copies of this gene, cell growth speeds up.

Causes of Breast Cancer

Simply being a woman is the main risk for breast cancer. While men can also get the disease, it is about 100 times more common in women than in men. The chance of getting breast cancer goes up as a woman gets older. Nearly 8 out of 10 breast cancers are found in women age 50 or older. About 5% to 10% of breast cancers are linked to changes (mutations) in certain genes. The most common gene changes are those of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. Breast cancer risk is higher among women whose close blood relatives have this disease. The relatives can be from either the mother’s or father’s side of the family. Woman with cancer in one breast has a greater chance of getting a new cancer in the other breast or in another part of the same breast. This is different from the first cancer coming back Many experts now believe that the main reason for this is because they have faster growing tumors. Asian, Hispanic, and American Indian women have a lower risk of getting breast cancer. Certain types of abnormal biopsy results can be linked to a slightly higher risk of breast cancer.Women who have had radiation treatment to the chest area (as treatment for another cancer) earlier in life have a greatly increased risk of breast cancer

Some pregnant women were given the drug DES (diethylstilbestrol) because it was thought to lower their chances of losing the baby. Recent studies have shown that these women (and their daughters who were exposed to DES while in the uterus), have a slightly increased risk of getting breast cancer. Use of alcohol is clearly linked to a slightly increased risk of getting breast cancer. Women who have 1 drink a day have a very small increased risk. Those who have 2 to 5 drinks daily have about 1½ times the risk of women who drink no alcohol. The American Cancer Society suggests limiting the amount you drink.Being overweight is linked to a higher risk of breast cancer, especially for women after change of life and if the weight gain took place during adulthood. Also, the risk seems to be higher if the extra fat is in the waist area. Breast-feeding and pregnancy: Some studies have shown that breast-feeding slightly lowers breast cancer risk, especially if the breast-feeding lasts 1½ to 2 years. This could be because breast-feeding lowers a woman’s total number of menstrual periods, as does pregnancy. Women who began having periods early (before 12 years of age) or who went through the change of life (menopause) after the age of 55 have a slightly increased risk of breast cancer.

Symptoms of Breast Cancer

1.Lumps.

2.Rash.

3.Breast Pain.

4.Cysts.

5.Nipple Discharge.

6.Inverted Nipple.

Treatment of Breast Cancer

1.Hormonal therapy (with tamoxifen).

2.Chemotherapy.

3.Radiotherapy.

4.Surgery.

Why the opposite breast should be evaluated with MRI?

Breast cancer is a worldwide problem with which causes 502,000 deaths per year worldwide. In the United States breast cancer is the most common form of cancer diagnosed in women. Every year more than 40,000 women in the United States die of breast cancer. It is estimated the a woman living in the United States have one in eight chance of developing breast cancer and one in thirty three chance of dying from the disease.


Incidence of breast cancer shows a dramatically increasing trend since 1970s and this increased incidence is thought to be related to the changes in life style. Compared to 1970s more women are now delaying their first pregnancy and have relatively smaller families. These factors have an effect on the level of hormonal exposure during life time and this is considered to be a major factor in the increasing breast cancer incidence in the western world.

With breast cancer being so much of a prevalent disease everything should be done to prevent the occurrence of the breast cancer and to detect the breast cancer early once it develops.

Mammogram is a technique that is very commonly used to screen women for early detection of breast cancer. Mammogram helps to detect breast cancer at a very early stage when it is more likely to be cured by surgery with or without chemotherapy and radiation therapy. MRI is a better technique to detect breast cancer early and it is proven to be more sensitive and effective in detecting breast cancer early. However this technique is not very widely available and is much more expensive compared to mammogram. Because of this reason MRI is not routinely recommended for the purpose of screening for breast cancer. However MRI is widely used in cases where the women in question are high risk for the development of breast cancer or when the mammogram result is inconclusive.

A recent study that was published in the New England Journal of Medicine has shown that women who are diagnosed with breast cancer on one breast have high risk of having breast cancer on the other breast at the time of diagnosis. This study showed that more than 3% of women who are diagnosed with breast cancer had another cancer in the other breast. These were not detected by mammograms and if mammogram alone was used these 3% of women would not have found out that they have cancer in the other breast. Because of this finding it would be best if every woman with diagnosis of a breast cancer try to obtain an MRI of the opposite breast to evaluate for small breast cancer that may be present in the opposite breast. Mammogram is not enough in this setting.

Lowering Risk of Breast Cancer

Brest cancer is the most common cancer among women.
Usually, the body creates healthy, normal cells, but if a cell changes into an abnormal, harmful form, it can divide quickly and making many copies of itsel, a tumor, abnormal body cells form a lump.
If you are a woman and live an otherwise full and healthy life, there is about a 15% chance you’ll develop breast cancer by the age of 90. That may not sound like a lot, but as far as cancer risks go that’s one of the highest out there. The best thing you can do to lower that risk is to frequently go in for a breast cancer test.

Risk factors to get breast cancer: genetic makeup or internal environments, hormones, illnesses, and feelings and thoughts. The external the food, water, air, smoking, and medicines, home, workplace.

The 15% likelihood of developing breast cancer is slightly skewed in that you are actually much more likely to get it if there is a history of such cancer in your family, and significantly less likely to develop it if there isn’t. This is good news if you don’t have any one in your immediate family that had breast cancer, but unfortunately many families do have such a history. With or without a family history, you still need to stay vigilant and go in for breast cancer tests regularly.

Regular mammograms with self-exams are the best ways for women to protect themselves.
The breast cancer test I’m referring to is of course your basic mammogram. Unpleasant, uncomfortable, and only a few steps away from medieval torture, it is the most effective affordable breast cancer test available. Waiting for symptoms to develop before getting treatment is a bad idea, as symptoms don’t usually become clear until the cancer is already in its later stages of growth. In these later stages, it is harder to treat, and it is much more likely to have spread throughout the body. So mammograms may be unpleasant, but terminal cancer is definitely worse.

It’s also important to develop some breast cancer tests of your own, that you can do on a regular basis in between mammograms. As soon as you hit puberty, it’s a good idea to conduct self breast cancer tests as this begins the period where your chances of getting breast cancer begin. Most cases of breast cancer are in women over 40, but there are a number of cases found in girls as young as early teens every year. Also, most people don’t realize that breast cancer can also occur in men! While it’s limited to about one percent of the total cases, there are still more men than you’d think that are diagnosed with breast cancer each year.

Since your chances for survival are so much better if breast cancer is found early, keep up with the breast cancer tests! Don’t panic if you find a lump; most of the time it is something benign, and lumps are often common in women undergoing hormonal shifts.

Lung Cancer - Causes, Symptoms and Treatment

Lung cancer is the malignant transformation and expansion of lung tissue, and is the most lethal of all cancers worldwide, responsible for 1.2 million deaths annually. It is a leading cause of cancer death in men and women in the United States. Cigarette smoking causes most lung cancers. The more cigarettes you smoke per day and the earlier you started smoking, the greater your risk of lung cancer. High levels of pollution, radiation and asbestos exposure may also increase risk. There are many types of lung cancer. Each type of lung cancer grows and spreads in different ways and is treated differently. Treatment also depends on the stage, or how advanced it is. Treatment may include chemotherapy, radiation and surgery. Lung cancer that originates in the cells of the lungs is called primary lung cancer; however, cancer may also spread to the lung from other parts of the body. Metastatic cancers spread to the lungs most commonly from the breast, colon, prostate, kidney, thyroid gland, stomach, cervix, rectum, testis, bone, and skin (melanoma). More than 90% of primary lung cancers start in the bronchi such lung cancer is called bronchogenic carcinoma. The specific types of lung cancer are small cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, large cell carcinoma, and adenocarcinoma. The last three types of lung cancer are often referred to as nonsmall cell lung cancers. Alveolar cell carcinoma originates in the small air sacs of the lung (alveoli). Although alveolar cell carcinoma can occur at a single site, it often develops simultaneously in more than one area of the lung. Less common lung tumors are bronchial carcinoid (which may be cancerous or noncancerous), chondromatous hamartoma and sarcoma. Lymphoma is a cancer of the lymphatic system; it may start in the lungs or spread to them.

Lung cancer is the rapid growth of abnormal cells in the lung. It can start anywhere in the lungs and affect any part of the respiratory system . When we breathe in, the lungs take in oxygen, which our cells need to live and carry out their normal functions. When we breathe out, the lungs get rid of carbon dioxide, which is a waste product of the body's cells. Cancers that begin in the lungs are divided into two major types, non-small cell lung cancer and small cell lung cancer, depending on how the cells look under a microscope.

Causes of Lung Cancer

1. Breast cancer

2. Colon cancer

3. Rectal cancer

4. Stomach cancer

Symptoms of Lung Cancer

1. Shortness of breath, wheezing, or hoarseness.

2. Difficulty swallowing.

3. Fatigue.

4. Loss of appetite or weight loss.

5. Constant chest pain.

6. Breathlessness.

Treatment of Lung Cancer

1. Chemotherapy

2. Radiation therapy

3. Surgery

Should We Treat Cancer or Prevent Cancer?

Cancer is one of the biggest killers around the world. In America alone, 25% of all deaths are related to cancer.

Many people think of cancer as a single problem but in fact, it is a number of problems spread throughout the body. Generally speaking, if cancer is caught in the early stages of development, it can be treated and cured.

Although there are several different types of cancer, the most common ones are Lung, Prostate, Breast, Testicular, Skin and Colon cancers.

Genes control the multiplication and growth of cells. If these genes are defective in the first place, then the cells will not be able to grow or divide properly. As a result of this abnormality, cancerous cells are born.

There are a number of factors which cause cancer. Factors which are controllable by humans are smoking, toxic elements and radiation. These can be controlled to some degree and therefore it would be wise to avoid them by changing lifestyle habits. However, there are certain elements which are outside our control.
These include mutation and inherited DNA.

As a result of studies conducted by the American Cancer Society, more than 180,000 people have died as a direct result of smoking. Another 200,000 people have died due to lack of changing lifestyle habits. Obesity, laziness and malnutrition can have an effect on the growth of cancer. Needless to say, cancer has risen by more than 50% since 1995.

Let's take a look at some of these cancer causes in more detail.

Smoking: The most prevalent and easily avoidable type of cancer is the one caused by the use of tobacco. This includes the use of cigarettes, cigars and pipes. Even though smokers are addicted to nicotine, the fact that 200,000 people die every year due to smoking caused cancer should be enough motivation to quit. Some experts say that cessation of smoking can increase lifespan by up to 20 years.

Although nothing has been proven, studies indicate that stress may also be a contributing factor to cancer. Many cancer patients are also employed in stressful jobs. Some theologians believe that stress lowers the bodies immunity to cancer.

Exercise and Healthy Eating: Healthy eating and exercise is universally known to be beneficial in many aspects. But, many people don't know that food full of nutrition can reduce the risk of cancer. Specific foods such as fruit and veg can help prevent cancer whilst fatty foods such as meat can increase the likelihood of cancer.

Skin cancer can easily be avoided by simply listening to good advice. Wear sunglasses, hats, sun cream and other sensible items of clothing to avoid the onset of this type of cancer. Although this may seem like common sense, more than one million people have been diagnosed with skin cancer in a single year.

current research on CANCER

Novel research has opened up new light on how to possibly cure this dreaded disease. In order for a cancer to grow it must create blood vessels which can continue to feed its heavy demand for oxygen and other basic nutrients. The process of blood vessel growth is called angiogenesis and is a process which rarely occurs in healthy adults. Scientists hypothesized that by giving a cancer patient angiogenesis inhibitors, the cancer would be forced to stop growing and would eventually self destruct as time goes on. To test this theory, scientists induced cancer in lab rats and then treated them with various angiogenesis inhibitors. The results were astonishing. Most of the rats had a reduction in the size of the tumor and some were totally cured. Scientists and medical professionals rushed to conduct clinical trials. Humans with very severe forms of cancer were given these angiogenesis inhibitors. However, few patients responded to the treatment and the study quickly lost interest in the eyes of those funding and conducting it. The results of these experiments remains mixed. According to some the patients used were already "hopeless" and therefore the medicine never really got a chance to work. Other scientists however disagree and say that the human form of cancer is more complex then in rats and that the cancer is able to produce its own blood vessels which can evade the medication.

Another area of research is to engineer a protein called an antibody and design it to bind to all cells which display cancer proteins. Attached to these antibodies would be small packages of cytotoxic chemicals which would kill the cancer cells. The problem facing scientists with this approach is that since cancer is simply a normal cell gone bad there are no known proteins that are expressed which antibodies could be designed against that wouldn't affect other normal cells. In other words there is no known way to tell an antibody to "go and attach to only cancer cells and leave all other cells alone." Another problem is that to create these antibodies scientists must grow them in rabbits. When these antibodies are injected into humans, the body's own immune system attacks and destroys them before they can reach the cancer cells.

However all scientists and medical professionals agree that taking medications and vitamin supplements to help boost the body's immune system against the cancer is vital for complete recovery and helps to protect against future attacks.

interleukins

Like interferons, interleukins (ILs) are cytokines that occur naturally in the body and can be made in the laboratory. Many interleukins have been identified; interleukin-2(IL–2 or aldesleukin) has been the most widely studied in cancer treatment. IL–2 stimulates the growth and activity of many immune cells, such as lymphocytes, that can destroy cancer cells. The FDA has approved IL–2 for the treatment of metastatic kidney cancer and metastatic melanoma.Researchers continue to study the benefits of interleukins to treat a number of other cancers, including leukemia, lymphoma, and brain, colorectal ovarian, breat, and prostate cancers

Control your cancer

There is more to cancer than just its tumor. Cancer is systemic disease manifested locally by a tumor.Cancer is an interaction between a carcinogen and protective means mobilized by the organism.The organism has a wisdom, or Wisdom of the Body (WOB), which controls processes in the body.WOB controls also healing processes like immunity.Healing processes, other than immunity, operate in cancer.WOB communicates with your mind, and you may communicate with it. It has a language.You will learn how to understand WOB's language and control your cancer.

LYMPHOMA

Lymphoma is a type of cancer that originates in lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell in the vertebrate immune system). There are many types of lymphoma. Lymphomas are part of the broad group of diseases called hematological neoplasms.
In the 19th and 20th centuries the affliction was called Hodgkin's Disease, as it was discovered by Thomas Hodgkinin 1832. Colloquially, lymphoma is broadly categorized as Hodgkin's lymphoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (all other types of lymphoma). Scientific classification of the types of lymphoma is more detailed.
Although older classifications referred to histiocytic lymphomas, these are recognized in newer classifications as of B, T or NK cell lineage. Histiocytic malignancies are rare and are classified as sarcEnteropathy associated T-cell lymphoma (EATL) is environmentally induced as a result of the consumption of Triticeae glutens. In gluten sensitive individuals with EATL 68% are homozygotes of the DQB1*02 subtype at the HLA-DQB1 locus (serotype DQ2). (See Coeliac Disease HLA-DQ, HLA DR3-DQ2)omas.

Insulin potentiation therapy

Insulin Potentiation Therapy (IPT) manipulates the mechanisms of malignancy to therapeutic advantage by employing insulin as a biologic response modifier of cancer cells' endogenous molecular biology. The autonomous proliferation of malignancy is supported by autocrine secretion of insulin for glucose/energy uptake by cancer cells, and a similar autocrine and/or paracrine elaboration of cellular factors to stimulate cancer growth. Amongst these, the insulin-like growth factors have been identified as the most potent mitogens for cancer cells . Of primary importance for IPT, cancer cell membranes also have six times more insulin receptors and ten times more IGF receptors, per cell, than the membranes of host normal tissues. Further, insulin can cross-react with and activate cancer cell IGF receptors. Thus, per cell, cancer has sixteen times more insulin-sensitive receptors than normal tissues . As ligand effect is a function of receptor concentration, these facts serve to differentiate cancer from normal cells - a vital consideration for the safety of cancer chemotherapy.
In light of these revelations, exogenous insulin acts to enhance anticancer drug cytotoxicity, and safety, via 1) a membrane permeability effect to increase the intracellular dose intensity of the drugs, 2) an effect of metabolic modification to increase the S-phase fraction in cancer cells, enhancing their susceptibility to cell-cycle phase-specific agents, and 3) an effect of biochemical differentiation based on insulin receptor concentration that focuses the first two insulin effects predominantly on cancer cells, sparing host normal tissues. Significantly less drug can thus be targeted more specifically and more effectively to cancer cell populations that are more susceptible to the chemotherapy drug effects , all this occurring with a virtual elimination of the dose-related side effects of these powerful drugs .
Because of this favorable side effect profile, cycles of low-dose chemotherapy with IPT may be done more frequently. There is good patient acceptance of the hypoglycemic side effect of insulin in this protocol, and the "rescue phenomenon" occasioned by the timely administration of hypertonic glucose actually serves to provide patients with an experiential metaphor for the rapid recovery of their well being. It is acknowledged that cancer treatment can often be debilitating for patients. In those undergoing treatment with IPT, an overall gentler experience promotes their concurrent use of other important elements in a program of Comprehensive Cancer Care, which includes nutrition for immune system support, and mind-body medicine to support a healing consciousness.

Side effects of radiation therapy

Radiation Therapy is in itself painless. Many low-dose palliative treatments (for example, radiotherapy to bony metastases) cause minimal or no side effects. Treatment to higher doses causes varying side effects during treatment (acute side effects), in the months or years following treatment (long-term side effects), or after re-treatment (cumulative side effects). The nature, severity, and longevity of side effects depends on the organs that receive the radiation, the treatment itself (type of radiation, dose, fractionation, concurrent chemotherapy), and the patient.
Most side effects are predictable and expected. One of the aims of modern radiotherapy is to reduce side effects to a minimum, and to help the patient to understand and to deal with those side effects which are unavoidable.

Acute side effects
Damage, possibly severe, to epithelial surfaces (skin, oral, pharyngeal and bowel mucosa, urothelium)
The rates of onset and of recovery depend on the rate of turnover of the epithelial cells. Typically the skin starts to become pink and sore several weeks into treatment. The reaction may become more severe during the treatment and for up to about one week following the end of radiotherapy, and the skin may break down. Although this moist desquamation is uncomfortable, recovery is usually quick. Skin reactions tend to be worse in areas where there are natural folds in the skin, such as underneath the female breast, behind the ear, and in the groin.
Similarly, the lining of the mouth, throat, esophagus, and bowel may be damaged by radiation. If the head and neck area is treated, temporary soreness and ulceration commonly occur in the mouth and throat. If severe, this can affect swallowing, and the patient may need painkillers and nutritional support. The esophagus can also become sore if it is treated directly, or if, as commonly occurs, it receives a dose of collateral radiation during treatment of lung cancer.
The lower bowel may be treated directly with radiation (treatment of rectal or anal cancer) or be exposed by radiotherapy to other pelvic structures (prostate, bladder, female genital tract). Typical symptoms are soreness, diarrhoea, and nausea.
Swelling (edema or Oedema)
As part of the general inflammation that occurs, swelling of soft tissues may cause problems during radiotherapy. This is a concern during treatment of brain tumours and brain metastases, especially where there is pre-existing raised intracranial pressure or where the tumour is causing near-total obstruction of a lumen (e.g., trachea or main bronchus). Surgical intervention may be considered prior to treatment with radiation. If surgery is deemed unnecessary
Infertility
The gonads(ovaries and testicles) are very sensitive to radiation. They may be unable to produce gametes following direct exposure to most normal treatment doses of radiation. Treatment planning for all body sites is designed to minimize, if not completely exclude dose to the gonads if they are not the primary area of treatment.
Generalized fatigue

Cancer blood tests: Lab tests used in cancer diagnosis

Blood tests alone can rarely, if ever, show the presence or absence of cancer. If your doctor suspects you may have cancer, he or she may order certain cancer blood tests or other laboratory tests, such as an analysis of your urine, to help guide the diagnosis. While cancer blood tests generally can't tell whether you have cancer or some other noncancerous condition, they can give your doctor clues about what's going on inside your body.Because your doctor has ordered cancer blood tests or other laboratory tests to look for signs of cancer doesn't mean that a cancer diagnosis has been made and you have cancer. Find out what your doctor might be looking for when cancer blood tests are done.What your doctor is looking forYour doctor may order cancer blood tests or other types of laboratory tests after conducting a physical exam. The signs and symptoms you report may give your doctor clues about what could be wrong. Tests to analyze your blood, urine or body tissues may give your doctor further information about your condition.Blood and urine samples are analyzed in a lab. If the doctor finds cancer cells, too many or too few cells of a particular type, or abnormal types of cells, or if any of various other substances are detected, it may indicate cancer. For example, if you have leukemia — a blood cancer — cancerous white blood cells can be seen under a microscope. A common blood test called complete blood count (CBC) measures the amount of various types of blood cells in a sample of your blood. CBC may give your doctor an idea of what's causing your signs and symptoms.Blood and urine samples may also be tested for various substances, called tumor markers, which may indicate cancer. Tumor markers are typically chemicals made by tumor cells, but tumor makers are also produced by some normal cells in your body.For instance, prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is a tumor marker sometimes used to screen men for prostate cancer, though this is somewhat controversial. Any man who hasn't had his prostate removed has a detectable level of PSA in his blood. An abnormally elevated PSA level may prompt your doctor to recommend further testing for prostate cancer. Another tumor marker is cancer antigen 125 (CA 125), which may be elevated in women with ovarian cancer, though levels can be elevated in people with other types of cancer and with many benign conditions. A high CA 125 result may prompt your doctor to recommend further testing to determine the cause.What the results meanTest results must be interpreted carefully because several factors can influence test outcomes, such as variations in your own body or even what you eat. In addition, it's important to remember that noncancerous conditions can sometimes cause abnormal test results. And, in other cases, cancer may be present even though the blood test results are normal.Your doctor usually uses your test results to determine whether your levels fall within a normal range. Or your doctor may compare your results with those from past tests.What happens nextThough blood and urine tests can help give your doctor clues, other tests are usually necessary to make the diagnosis. For most forms of cancer, a biopsy — a procedure to obtain a sample of suspicious cells for testing — is usually necessary to make a definitive diagnosis.In some cases, tumor marker levels are monitored over time. Your doctor may schedule follow-up testing in a few months. Cancer blood markers are most helpful after your cancer diagnosis. Your doctor may use these tests to determine whether your cancer is responding to treatment or whether your cancer is growing.Discuss your test results with your doctor. Ask your doctor what your results say about your health and what the next steps should be.

Boipsy test in cancer

A biopsy is the removal of a sample of tissue from the body for examination. The tissue will be examined under a microscope to assist in diagnosis. Therefore, only very small samples are needed.Sometimes, it is enough just to scrape over an area. This is the case with cell examinations of the cervix (neck of the womb).During examination of the large intestine, a biopsy can be taken with forceps through a tube known as an endoscope.In other cases, for instance, a liver or kidney biopsy, the biopsy is taken using a large hypodermic needle. Liver biopsyA liver biopsy can be used to confirm diagnoses such as hepatitis, cirrhosis of the liver or tumours.The biopsy is usually performed with the patient lying on their left side with their right shoulder extended and their right hand under their head. It is important to remain in this position and to keep as still as possible. A local anaestheticwill be given to numb the skin.A needle is then guided between two ribs towards the surface of the liver, and the biopsy taken very quickly. Endometrial biopsyThis biopsy is taken in order to examine the lining of the womb. If a woman is suffering from irregular periods or abnormal vaginal bleeding, it may reveal a hormone imbalance in the body, polyp formation or, less commonly, the development of a tumour.An endometrial biopsy can be performed in a number of different ways.
Dilatation and curettage (D&C) (D&C) is a common gynaecological procedure but is being replaced by the more modern practice of hysteroscopy.A D&C is performed under a short general anaesthetic. The cervix is opened gradually by introducing a series of rounded sticks or dilators. These are initially very small but increase in size until the cervix is dilated sufficiently to accept a curette - a small instrument shaped like a rectangular spoon. The curette is used to obtain a sample from the lining of the womb.
HysteroscopyA fibre-optic tube with a bright light at the end is inserted through the cervix to obtain a direct view of the lining of the womb. Biopsy under direct vision can be made by passing forceps through the inside of the tube into the womb. This is usually performed under a local anaesthetic but some women may be advised to have a general anaesthetic.Other methods have been developed to allow a small sample of tissue to be removed from the womb lining without anaesthetic in an outpatient clinic.The most common is a flexible, straw-like device with a plunger. This allows the gynaecologist to apply gentle suction to the lining of the womb and obtain a sample or biopsy of tissue. Prostate biopsyA prostate biopsy may be performed if abnormality is found by the doctor or nurse while performing a digital rectum examination (DRE).A trans-rectal ultrasound scan (TRUSS) of the prostate gland may be requested to assess any abnormality felt on DRE, or if a blood test shows an elevated PSA (prostate specific antigen) blood test.The procedure takes place in hospital and is performed without anaesthetic.The radiologist or urologist performing the procedure will have requested any patients taking blood thinning agents, eg aspirin or warfarin, to have discontinued them for up to one week beforehand because of the risk of bleeding. Antibiotics will be given to the patient beforehand to cover the risk of infection.Throughout the biopsy, the patient lies on his side with his knees bent and his legs pulled up to his chest.If any abnormality is seen on the ultrasound scan, a biopsy is taken quickly. The patient feels a short, sharp shock as a number of small needles move in and out of the prostate.The procedure can also be done without ultrasound guidance. To do this the doctor uses a finger to guide a single needle to the abnormal area and takes a series of biopsies, one after the other.After the procedure the patient may experience some discomfort for a short period of time and possibly notice some blood in their urine intermittently for a few days. Skin biopsyWhen there are changes in the skin that require further examination, a skin biopsy may be useful. First, a local anaesthetic is given, then a small piece of skin is cut off with a scalpel. Then the skin is sewn together again with a couple of stitches. This leaves a very small, almost invisible, scar.Bone marrow biopsy A bone marrow biopsy may be necessary for many different diseases of the bone marrow, the blood and the lymphatic system. The biopsy will normally be taken from the upper part of the hip (a point called the iliac crest), but it can also be taken from the breastbone.First, a local anaesthetic is given. Then a strong needle is led through the skin and the outer part of the bone until it reaches the softer, central part of the bone (bone marrow). A syringe is put on the loose end of the needle and some bone marrow is sucked out. This sample is examined under a microscope. Breast biopsyThis kind of biopsy is used if a clinical examination, ultrasound scan or a mammography reveals the possibility of a lump or tumour in the breast. The biopsy determines whether the lump is benign or malignant.One method called fine-needle aspiration or FNA, uses a hypodermic needle to pierce the skin and suck out the sample. This may sometimes be done under ultrasound or X-ray guidance.Another option is a surgical biopsy, where the whole lump is removed. Small intestine biopsyIt is not always possible to examine the central part of the small intestine (jejunum) with an endoscope. In such cases, a biopsy capsule is used to take samples from the area.The patient swallows the capsule, which is connected to a thin tube. Then, an X-ray is taken to make sure that the capsule is in the jejunum. When the capsule is in the right place, a partial pressure is created in the tube by pulling back a syringe connected to the other end of the tube. In this way, a small piece of the mucous membrane of the small intestine is sucked into the capsule. The membrane sample is cut off in the capsule, and the capsule is pulled back so that the biopsy can be examined. This is most useful in the investigation of the bowel condition called coeliac disease.

foetal cell theraphy

Human Fetal Stem Cell Therapy A medical treatment whereby Human Fetal Stem Cells are transplanted into a patient. These cellular building blocks are usually administered intravenously and subcutaneously (under the skin). It is a painless procedure, which takes place in approximately one hour, and has no negative side effects.The Fetal Stem Cell searches out, detects and then attempts to repair any damage or deficiency discovered, as well as releases growth factors, which stimulate the body's own repair mechanisms.Medra’s Medical Director William C. Rader, MD. has treated over one thousand patients with Human Fetal Stem Cells, including children and adults suffering from many of mankind’s most devastating diseases; some of which up until recently had been considered to be untreatable

Cancer cells biological properties

Acquisition of self-sufficiency in growth signals, leading to unchecked growth.
Loss of sensitivity to anti-growth signals, also leading to unchecked growth.
Loss of capacity for apoptosis, in order to allow growth despite genetic errors and external anti-growth signals.
Loss of capacity for senescence, leading to limitless replicative potential (immortality)
Acquisition of sustained angiogenesis, allowing the tumor to grow beyond the limitations of passive nutrient diffusion.
Acquisition of ability to invade neighbouring tissues, the defining property of invasive carcinoma.
Acquisition of ability to build metastases at distant sites, the classical property of malignant tumors (carcinomas or others).
The completion of these multiple steps would be a very rare event without :
Loss of capacity to repair genetic errors, leading to an increased mutation rate (genomic instability), thus accelerating all the other changes.
These biological changes are classical in carcinomas; other malignant tumor may not need all to achieve them all. For example, tissue invasion and displacement to distant sites are normal properties of leukocytes; these steps are not needed in the development of Leukemia. The different steps do not necessarily represent individual mutations. For example, inactivation of a single gene, coding for the P53 protein, will cause genomic instability, evasion of apoptosis and increased angiogenesis.

letrazole study in cacer research

The Letrozole Study By Carol Tavris, Ph.D. and Avrum Bluming, M.D. Most people get their news from the headlines-reading through the paper, logging on to an Internet home page, or getting a quick TV flash. News-by-headline is fine if you want to find out the latest sports scores, traffic conditions, and jury verdicts. When it comes to medical news, however, consumers and physicians had better read on. More than 20 years ago, Allen L. Hammond of the American Association for the Advancement of Science cautioned the public that "In today's news-conscious world, there is an enormous emphasis on breakthroughs. But with rare exceptions, science is a process, not an isolated event. Conveying the way science really works, the interplay of persistence and luck, the painstaking accumulation of evidence, the clash of proponent and critic, the gradual dawning of conviction demands a look behind the headlines." His observation is even more crucial in medicine, where scientific discoveries can have grave consequences for life and death. But how often, how many times, have the headlines blared news of some new miracle drug--followed, as the night the day, by later news of the drug's side effects, ineffectiveness, or risks? Many consumers do not realize that because of the enormous pressure on pharmaceutical companies to get new drugs to market fast--because drug testing takes time and vast sums of money--the temptation to cut a drug trial short, if the results merely seem promising, is often overwhelming. The latest version of this now-familiar story appeared on October 9, when the New England Journal of Medicine posted on the Web an article due to be published four weeks later in its weekly print journal. Major news organizations trumpeted the story of the apparently beneficial result of a new medication for breast cancer, Letrozole. What was so important about this research that the NEJM couldn't wait a month, and that made the researchers halt their study after only two and a half years of the five planned? The study evaluated more than 5,000 post-menopausal breast cancer patients to determine whether adding five years of treatment with Letrozole improved the disease-free survival of those who had already received five years of treatment with Tamoxifen. The Letrozole group did not differ in survival rates compared to a control group that was given a placebo. However, the Letrozole group was said to have a statistically significant 46 percent decrease in the risk of a recurrent or new breast cancer. Sounds impressive? It's not. For one thing, the two groups were not matched by the extent of cancer at the time of their first surgery nor by the type of chemotherapy they had had. These differences might have affected the recurrence of breast cancer, quite independent of their receiving Letrozole. Second, the researchers were reporting *projected* results, not actual ones! Because the study was stopped prematurely, none of the women had actually received the full five years of Letrozole. Third, although 46 percent sounds like an impressive decrease in risk, it's a statistical manipulation. The absolute decrease in risk was only 6 percent. The New England Journal's own editorial acknowledged that even if the beneficial effect reported in this study were valid, the use of Letrozole would reduce one breast cancer occurrence for every 100 women treated. Already we are reading letters to newspapers from people saying, "Thank God the researchers halted this study early so that we may benefit! If only my beloved sister (mother) (wife) had had this amazing drug!" That is the reaction the hoopla is designed to generate, and that is what troubles us. We are distressed by the decision of the investigators to terminate the Letrozole study prematurely, before they could get more definitive answers about the recurrence of the disease and about the women's overall survival. And we are even more distressed by the New England Journal of Medicine's decision to create an atmosphere of drama and urgency by its early release of the article. All of us, consumers and physicians, would do well to look behind the headlines of medical "breatkthroughs," and to remember that headlines sell news--and news sells drugs.

anaemia in cancer pathophysiology

Anaemia in cancer patients is multifactorial and may occur as a either a direct effect of the cancer, as a result of the cancer treatment itself, or due to chemical factors produced by the cancer. The clinical symptoms of anaemia vary according to the individual's capacity to respond to blood loss or reduced red cell production.The haematological features in anaemic patients depend on the different types of malignant disease. Clinical and laboratory evaluation, and examination of the bone marrow can provide important diagnostic clues in many cases. Decisions are commonly made based on subjective consideration rather than on objective data. Blood transfusion involves many hazards, some of which may be reduced or avoided. Erythropoietin (EPO) treatment has been found to be effective in preventing anaemia and in reducing the need for blood transfusions, although it would be useful to identify high-risk patient subgroups who would benefit most from this expensive treatment. In advanced cancer patients the use of blood transfusion should be evaluated on an individual basis, according to the presence of distressing symptoms and life expectancy. These measures are unlikely to have an effect in irreversible and progressive bleeding states

Radiation therapy history

Radiation therapy has been in use as a cancer treatment for more than 100 years, with its earliest roots traced from the discovery of x-rays in 1895. The concept of therapeutic radiation was invented by German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen when he discovered that the x-ray was a powerful and effective tool with which to treat cancer.
The field of radiation therapy began to grow in the early 1900s largely due to the groundbreaking work of Nobel Prize-winning scientist Marie Curie, who discovered the radioactive elements polonium and radium. This began a new era in medical treatment and research. Radium was used in various forms until the mid-1900s when cobalt and caesium units came into use. Medical linear accelerators have been developed since the late 1940s.
With Godfrey Hounsfield’s discovery of computed tomography (CT), three-dimensional planning became a possibility and created a shift from 2-D to 3-D radiation delivery; physicians and physics were no longer limited because CT-based planning allowed physicians to directly measure the dose delivered to the patient's anatomy based on axial tomographical images. Orthovoltage and cobalt units have largely been replaced by megavoltage linear accelerators, useful for their penetrating energies and lack of physical radiation source.
In the last few decades, the advent of new imaging technologies, e.g., magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the 1970s and positron emission tomography (PET) in the 1980s, as well as new radiation delivery and visualization products, e.g., digital linear acceleratr, image fusion has moved radiation therapy from 3-D conformal to IMRT and eventually to IGRT (4-D) in the near future. These advances have resulted in better treatment outcomes and less side effects. Now 70% of cancer patients receive radiation therapy as part of their cancer treatment.

Types of radiation therapy

Historically, the three main divisions of radiotherapy are external beam radiotherapy (EBRT or XBRT) or teletherapy, brachytherapy or sealed source radiotherapy and unsealed source radiotherapy. The differences relate to the position of the radiation source; external is outside the body, while sealed and unsealed source radiotherapy has radioactive material delivered internally. Brachytherapy sealed sources are usually extracted later, while unsealed sources may be administered by injection or ingestion. Proton therapy is a special case of external beam radiotherapy where the particles are protons. Introperative radiotherapy is a special type of radiotherapy that is delivered immediately after surgical removal of the cancer. This method has been employed in breast cancer (TARGeted Introperative radioTherapy), brain tumours and rectal cancers.
Roughly half of the 2500 worldwide radiotherapy clinics are in the US.

Conventional external beam radiotherapy

Conventional external beam radiotherapy (2DXRT) is delivered via two-dimensional beams using linear accelerator machines. 2DXRT mainly consists of a single beam of radiation delivered to the patient from several directions: often front or back, and both sides. Conventional refers to the way the treatment is planned or simulated on a specially calibrated diagnostic x-ray machine known as a simulator because it recreates the linear accelerator actions (or sometimes by eye), and to the usually well-established arrangements of the radiation beams to achieve a desired plan. The aim of simulation is to accurately target or localize the volume which is to be treated. This technique is well established and is generally quick and reliable. The worry is that some high-dose treatments may be limited by the radiation toxicity capacity of healthy tissues which lay close to the target tumor volume. An example of this problem is seen in radiation of the prostate gland, where the sensitivity of the adjacent rectum limits the dose which can be safely prescribed to such an extent that tumor control may not be easily achievable. Previous to the invention of the CT, physicians and physicists had limited knowledge about the true radiation dosage delivered to both cancerous and healthy tissue. For this reason, 3-dimensional conformal radiotherapy is becoming the standard treatment for a number of tumor sites.

Cancer Research in uk

Cancer Research UK is a cancer research and awareness-promotion charity in the united kingdom.It was formed on 4 february 2002 by the merger of the cancer research campaign and the imperial cancer research fund. It is the biggest cancer research organization outside the USA. It is accredited by the UK’s National Health Service as a health information proder.

more than 3,000 researchers, physicians, nurses and other medical professionals in hospitals, universities and institutes throughout the United Kingdom supporting the work.

The scientists are trying to answer questions such as how cells become cancerous, how cancer spreads and how cancerous cells differ from non-cancerous cells. This research can then be used to identify possible new more effective and targeted cancer treatments.The vast majority of its funds come from its supporters and corporate donations. It fundraises through events

Chemotherapy- a most treatment in cancer

Chemotherapy is the only treatment for mesothelioma that has been proven to improve survival in randomised and controlled trials. The landmark study published in 2003 by Vogelzang and colleagues compared cisplatin chemotherapy alone with a combination of cisplatin and pemetrexed (brand name Alimta) chemotherapy) in patients who had not received chemotherapy for malignant pleural mesothelioma previously and were not candidates for more aggressive "curative" surgery.[17] This trial was the first to report a survival advantage from chemotherapy in malignant pleural mesothelioma, showing a statistically significant improvement in median survival from 10 months in the patients treated with cisplatin alone to 13.3 months in the combination pemetrexed group in patients who received supplementation with folate and vitamin B12. Vitamin supplementation was given to most patients in the trial and pemetrexed related side effects were significantly less in patients receiving pemetrexed when they also received daily oral folate 500mcg and intramuscular vitamin B12 1000mcg every 9 weeks compared with patients receiving pemetrexed without vitamin supplementation. The objective response rate increased from 20% in the cisplatin group to 46% in the combination pemetrexed group. Some side effects such as nausea and vomiting, stomatitis, and diarrhoea were more common in the combination pemetrexed group but only affected a minority of patients and overall the combination of pemetrexed and cisplatin was well tolerated when patients received vitamin supplementation; both quality of life and lung function tests improved in the combination pemetrexed group. In February 2004, the United States Food and Drug Administration approved pemetrexed for treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma. However, there are still unanswered questions about the optimal use of chemotherapy, including when to start treatment, and the optimal number of cycles to give.
Cisplatin in combination with raltitrexed has shown an improvement in survival similar to that reported for pemetrexed in combination with cisplatin, but raltitrexed is no longer commercially available for this indication. For patients unable to tolerate pemetrexed, cisplatin in combination with gemcitabine or vinorelbine is an alternative, or vinorelbine on its own, although a survival benefit has not been shown for these drugs. For patients in whom cisplatin cannot be used, carboplatin can be substituted but non-randomised data have shown lower response rates and high rates of haematological toxicity for carboplatin-based combinations, albeit with similar survival figures to patients receiving cisplatin.[18]
In January 2009, the United States FDA approved using conventional therapies such as surgery in combination with radiation and or chemotherapy on stage I or II Mesothelioma after research conducted by a nationwide study by Duke University concluded an almost 50 point increase in remission rates.

Heated Intraoperative Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy

A procedure known as heated intraoperative intraperitoneal chemotherapy was developed by Paul Sugarbaker at the Washington Cancer Institute. The surgeon removes as much of the tumor as possible followed by the direct administration of a chemotherapy agent, heated to between 40 and 48°C, in the abdomen. The fluid is perfused for 60 to 120 minutes and then drained.
This technique permits the administration of high concentrations of selected drugs into the abdominal and pelvic surfaces. Heating the chemotherapy treatment increases the penetration of the drugs into tissues. Also, heating itself damages the malignant cells more than the normal cells.

Epidemiology

Incidence
Although reported incidence rates have increased in the past 20 years, mesothelioma is still a relatively rare cancer. The incidence rate is approximately one per 1,000,000. The highest incidence is found in Britain, Australia and Belgium: 30 per 1,000,000 per year.[8] For comparison, populations with high levels of smoking can have a lung cancer incidence of over 1,000 per 1,000,000. Incidence of malignant mesothelioma currently ranges from about 7 to 40 per 1,000,000 in industrialized Western nations, depending on the amount of asbestos exposure of the populations during the past several decades.[9] It has been estimated that incidence may have peaked at 15 per 1,000,000 in the United States in 2004. Incidence is expected to continue increasing in other parts of the world. Mesothelioma occurs more often in men than in women and risk increases with age, but this disease can appear in either men or women at any age. Approximately one fifth to one third of all mesotheliomas are peritoneal.
Between 1940 and 1979, approximately 27.5 million people were occupationally exposed to asbestos in the United States.[10] Between 1973 and 1984, there has been a threefold increase in the diagnosis of pleural mesothelioma in Caucasian males. From 1980 to the late 1990s, the death rate from mesothelioma in the USA increased from 2,000 per year to 3,000, with men four times more likely to acquire it than women. These rates may not be accurate, since it is possible that many cases of mesothelioma are misdiagnosed as adenocarcinoma of the lung, which is difficult to differentiate from mesothelioma.

Pathophysiology

The mesothelium consists of a single layer of flattened to cuboidal cells forming the epithelial lining of the serous cavities of the body including the peritoneal, pericardial and pleural cavities. Deposition of asbestos fibres in the parenchyma of the lung may result in the penetration of the visceral pleura from where the fibre can then be carried to the pleural surface, thus leading to the development of malignant mesothelial plaques. The processes leading to the development of peritoneal mesothelioma remain unresolved, although it has been proposed that asbestos fibres from the lung are transported to the abdomen and associated organs via the lymphatic system. Additionally, asbestos fibres may be deposited in the gut after ingestion of sputum contaminated with asbestos fibres.
Pleural contamination with asbestos or other mineral fibres has been shown to cause cancer. Long thin asbestos fibers (blue asbestos, amphibole fibers) are more potent carcinogens than "feathery fibers" (chrysotile or white asbestos fibers).[6] However, there is now evidence that smaller particles may be more dangerous than the larger fibers. They remain suspended in the air where they can be inhaled, and may penetrate more easily and deeper into the lungs. "We probably will find out a lot more about the health aspects of asbestos from [the World Trade Center attack], unfortunately," said Dr. Alan Fein, chief of pulmonary and critical-care medicine at North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System. Dr. Fein has treated several patients for "World Trade Center syndrome" or respiratory ailments from brief exposures of only a day or two near the collapsed buildings.[7]
Mesothelioma development in rats has been demonstrated following intra-pleural inoculation of phosphorylated chrysotile fibres. It has been suggested that in humans, transport of fibres to the pleura is critical to the pathogenesis of mesothelioma. This is supported by the observed recruitment of significant numbers of macrophages and other cells of the immune system to localised lesions of accumulated asbestos fibres in the pleural and peritoneal cavities of rats. These lesions continued to attract and accumulate macrophages as the disease progressed, and cellular changes within the lesion culminated in a morphologically malignant tumour.
Experimental evidence suggests that asbestos acts as a complete carcinogen with the development of mesothelioma occurring in sequential stages of initiation and promotion. The molecular mechanisms underlying the malignant transformation of normal mesothelial cells by asbestos fibres remain unclear despite the demonstration of its oncogenic capabilities. However, complete in vitro transformation of normal human mesothelial cells to malignant phenotype following exposure to asbestos fibres has not yet been achieved. In general, asbestos fibres are thought to act through direct physical interactions with the cells of the mesothelium in conjunction with indirect effects following interaction with inflammatory cells such as macrophages.
Analysis of the interactions between asbestos fibres and DNA has shown that phagocytosed fibres are able to make contact with chromosomes, often adhering to the chromatin fibres or becoming entangled within the chromosome. This contact between the asbestos fibre and the chromosomes or structural proteins of the spindle apparatus can induce complex abnormalities. The most common abnormality is monosomy of chromosome 22. Other frequent abnormalities include structural rearrangement of 1p, 3p, 9p and 6q chromosome arms.
Common gene abnormalities in mesothelioma cell lines include deletion of the tumor suppressor genes:
Neurofibromatosis type 2 at 22q12
P16INK4A
P14ARF
Asbestos has also been shown to mediate the entry of foreign DNA into target cells. Incorporation of this foreign DNA may lead to mutations and oncogenesis by several possible mechanisms:
Inactivation of tumor suppressor genes
Activation of oncogenes
Activation of proto-oncogenes due to incorporation of foreign DNA containing a promoter region
Activation of DNA repair enzymes, which may be prone to error
Activation of telomerase
Prevention of apoptosis
Asbestos fibers have been shown to alter the function and secretory properties of macrophages, ultimately creating conditions which favour the development of mesothelioma. Following asbestos phagocytosis, macrophages generate increased amounts of hydroxyl radicals, which are normal by-products of cellular anaerobic metabolism. However, these free radicals are also known clastogenic and membrane-active agents thought to promote asbestos carcinogenicity. These oxidants can participate in the oncogenic process by directly and indirectly interacting with DNA, modifying membrane-associated cellular events, including oncogene activation and perturbation of cellular antioxidant defences.
Asbestos also may possess immunosuppressive properties. For example, chrysotile fibres have been shown to depress the in vitro proliferation of phytohemagglutinin-stimulated peripheral blood lymphocytes, suppress natural killer cell lysis and significantly reduce lymphokine-activated killer cell viability and recovery. Furthermore, genetic alterations in asbestos-activated macrophages may result in the release of potent mesothelial cell mitogens such as platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) and transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) which in turn, may induce the chronic stimulation and proliferation of mesothelial cells after injury by asbestos fibres.

Radiation

For patients with localized disease, and who can tolerate a radical surgery, radiation is often given post-operatively as a consolidative treatment. The entire hemi-thorax is treated with radiation therapy, often given simultaneously with chemotherapy. This approach of using surgery followed by radiation with chemotherapy has been pioneered by the thoracic oncology team at Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston.[16] Delivering radiation and chemotherapy after a radical surgery has led to extended life expectancy in selected patient populations with some patients surviving more than 5 years. As part of a curative approach to mesothelioma, radiotherapy is also commonly applied to the sites of chest drain insertion, in order to prevent growth of the tumor along the track in the chest wall.
Although mesothelioma is generally resistant to curative treatment with radiotherapy alone, palliative treatment regimens are sometimes used to relieve symptoms arising from tumor growth, such as obstruction of a major blood vessel. Radiation therapy when given alone with curative intent has never been shown to improve survival from mesothelioma. The necessary radiation dose to treat mesothelioma that has not been surgically removed would be very toxic.

Mesothelioma Law Information

The history of asbestos and mesothelioma law goes back to more than 1980 since, the time since asbestos dangers were discovered. Mesothelioma laws were made to protect people from this deadly cancer and to punish the companies who deliberately exposed their workers to asbestos even after knowing its dangers.

The mesothelioma law states that if you have been knowingly exposed to asbestos or if you have lost someone to an asbestos related disease, you have a right to seek compensation and bring to justice the people responsible for your loss. While the monetary compensation will not relieve the anguish and pain of the disease, it will at least ease the financial burden of your medical bills and expensive treatment and improve the quality of life for you and your loved ones.

Mesothelioma is a 100% preventable disease. However, it was due to the careless and greedy nature of some people who did not care for general health and endangered innocent lives for personal gain. This includes people who manufacture, sell, supply and exfoliate asbestos at processing plants.

Working or dealing with asbestos without any safety measures leads to inhalation of asbestos by large number of people living or working in the vicinity. When inhaled, the particles and dust released from asbestos can settle in the lining of stomach, heart and lungs and cause malignant Mesothelioma, a rare cancer only caused by asbestos exposure.

Being a preventable cancer, the sole responsibility of the occurrence and spreading of Mesothelioma lies on people who handle the asbestos industry. Thus, mesothelioma laws hold such people accountable for several lives that have fallen victim to this deadly disease and demands justice from them.

Filing a Mesothelioma Case

Filing a Mesothelioma case can be a difficult decision. Before filing a case, you need to be fully aware of your legal rights so that when you file the case, you emerge victorious.

If you know for sure that mesothelioma laws were violated and you and your loved one were knowingly exposed to asbestos which caused cancer, you have the right to file a mesothelioma case. For this you need to know exactly how or when you were exposed to asbestos.

Before filing the case, you need to see an attorney and work towards strengthening your case to make sure that you are protected by mesothelioma legal rights. Your mesothelioma legal rights enable you to seek compensation from the people responsible for your situation. Filing a lawsuit on behalf of a family member who has lost his/her life due to the disease may pose some limitations on your rights.

To get information regarding mesothelioma and asbestos and get justice, you should seek a mesothelioma attorney as soon as you are diagnosed with the disease. Family members of a deceased Mesothelioma patient can also file for compensation for their personal loss. Laws and procedures for each kind of case differ and it is only after consulting a professional lawyer that you should file a lawsuit to get justice for your suffering and loss.

Mesothelioma Lawyers Legal Guide

When you are faced with something as devastating as a Mesothelioma diagnosis, you have a right to seek answers about why you weren't forewarned of the dangers of asbestos, and you have the right to seek reparations for you and your family. If you are a grieving family member or executor of the will of a person who has died from asbestos-related disease or mesothelioma, you may be eligible to file a claim as well.

Legal details are understandably the last thing that someone wants to confront after the initial shock of an asbestos-related illness. However, taking advantage of your legal rights can create the necessary funds to finance aggressive treatment, pay off huge medical bills incurred during diagnosis, and provide financial security for your family for years to come.

Perspective of Mesothelioma lawyers

It does not really matter how much money you win in the case of settlement or trial when it comes to mesothelioma. No sum of money will relieve the suffering and pain you feel when you have lost someone you love to mesothelioma. You have to watch your family member go through such pain and die well before you may have even considered thinking about such a loss.

esothelioma lawyers understand your pain and your loss. It is their job to help ease the burden you feel by guaranteeing you do not have to take on any more of a financial burden than you can handle at such a difficult time. Mesothelioma lawyers work to get you compensation for your own suffering, the suffering of your family member and to pay for the bills that will inevitably come from the extensive medical care the patient will need.

It can also be used to secure the financial future of the surviving family members. There are often children who are in the middle of their higher education, mortgages and other payments that need to be made as well as the desire to set up funding for the futures belonging to grandchildren. The price of the loss of that loved one is truly immense, but some form of compensation is due to the family so that the death is not fully in vain.
Mesothelioma

Mesothelioma is a rare form of aggressive cancer that attacks only after a period of well over 20 years, often closer to 50. The only known cause of mesothelioma is asbestos exposure. It does not seemJustify Fullto matter the duration of exposure; the disease has to find the right conditions to thrive and spreads like a wildfire. Mesothelioma is known to have killed over 40,000 people since 1980 and the number show no sign of diminishing in the near future. About 3,000 people are diagnosed with mesothelioma each year and the same number die from the disease.
Lawyers
The lawyers who handle mesothelioma cases are usually very compassionate people who care more about helping the people affected by the disease more than the money they receive for trying the case. These lawyers are often involved with law firms that have a history of success in mesothelioma law. They understand the devastation you feel when you have to file such a claim and try to keep your case as low key and comfortable as possible.
Filing Your Claim
If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with mesothelioma, it is necessary that you take action on filing your claim as soon as possible. The time span in which you are allowed to file a mesothelioma claim is variable from state to state but ranges from one to five years. Winning a settlement or a case is fully dependent on filing a claim on time. If you wait too long to decide to file your claim you can wind up missing the window of opportunity to make those who were unwilling to protect you from asbestos pay for their mistake.

Filing on time is the difference between winning and losing your compensation case. You will often find that the doctors who treat you will advise seeking out a lawyer to help settle your case and organize payment for your medical bills. The company that mine, processed and shipped the asbestos that made you will is just as responsible for your ill health as any company head that neglected to provide protective measures for exposed workers. Mesothelioma lawyers will bring as many people to the settlement table as possible to make sure you are compensated for your loss of income, quality of life and loved one (if the case is file after a loss).
Paying Up
There are typically no attorney fees for mesothelioma cases. Most of the time you only have to pay the law firm after they have gotten you some kind of compensation; even then it is a percentage of the total settlement or award. Even if they are only able to get medical compensation for you (which is rare) they only receive payment if you have some cash award.
Taking Action
Negligence on the part of the companies that produced asbestos and the companies that used it in their products is what causes mesothelioma. No one in their right mind would expose themselves to a known carcinogen. Winning cases have to prove that the company being sued was aware of the dangers of asbestos and that they had the opportunity to protect the employees and chose not to do so. Through this negligence they put at risk:

* Employees
* Employees’ spouses
* Employees’ children
* People who frequented their homes

It can take a review of thousands of documents and interview transcripts to make a case for mesothelioma. The case cannot be simply one word against another; the case must be proved before it even goes to settlement. You will find that mesothelioma lawyers are very careful about the cases they will take, preferring those that will highlight the damage that the asbestos industry caused.
Results
The results of asbestos and mesothelioma litigation are usually in terms of hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars. Most people will have their medical care paid for, but the vast majority will have additional money given to them for losses of things they might not consider such as quality of life and ability to continue working. Depending on your case, the prognosis and the proof of exposure you can be looking at a hefty sum that will really help you family when you are no longer able to do so.

Mesothelioma Lawyers - Important Information for Patients

Deciding to pursue legal recourse and selecting an attorney to represent you in a mesothelioma or asbestos lawsuit are important decisions that should be made carefully. I have seen some families receive $500,000 and others be awarded nearly $30 million. I have seen some lawyers reject a case only to have another firm accept it and make a big success of it. And I have seen some families wait nearly three years to receive their first check while others received large checks within three months of filing a claim. The main reasons for these differences are the facts of the patient's situation and the law firm chosen.

The Facts of Your Situation

Some mesothelioma patients know they worked around asbestos, but many do not know how they were exposed or how often. In fact, many people are not sure if they were ever near this carcinogen. Unfortunately, there have been thousands of products that contained asbestos - cigarette filters, hair dryers, brakes, basement and roof materials, pipes, boilers, insulation, and many other products found throughout the home and at work. If you were diagnosed with mesothelioma it is more than likely that you were exposed to asbestos multiple times in your life and that this happened decades before your diagnosis.

In general, the value of your case depends on how many asbestos containing products you were exposed to, the number of identifiable defendants that still exist (many have declared bankruptcy), your age and earning capacity. And the speed of your case can depend on a number of variables including the state where you worked and lived when you were exposed to asbestos.

The Law Firm You Choose

When you have been given the news about this terrible disease, you may not feel that you have the time to deal with the legal questions - Should I talk to a lawyer? Should I file a claim? However, you should not wait too long to learn about your legal rights for at least three reasons:

1. Statutes of Limitations - There are statute of limitations which means you only have a limited time to file your case after diagnosis. The statute of limitations time period is set by individual states and varies. The clock usually starts ticking on the day of diagnosis.

2. Financial Pressure - A mesothelioma diagnosis can bring financial stress, less income, more expenses, and treatments that are not covered by insurance. Knowing that money may be on the way from filing a claim can bring financial relief.

3. Lawyers Can be Excellent Resources - The more experienced mesothelioma lawyers and law firms can often be excellent sources of information about various doctors and treatment options available for this disease.

But, picking a lawyer is serious business and you should not use TV ads as the reason to hire an attorney. Actual credentials are what counts. For example, what type of accomplishments has the law firm achieved? How committed are they to mesothelioma/asbestos cases? Are these cases a substantial part of their practice or just a small piece? How many other cases like yours have they handled?

Also, make sure you understand the fees being charges. Contingency is the term that means that the lawyer gets paid only after they collect money for you. The amount of the contingency fee that your lawyer can charge varies and is usually between 33% and 40%. It is important to discuss fees openly, ask what services they cover, how they are calculated, and whether there will be any extra charges.

Finally, for something as important as a mesothelioma lawsuit, your attorney should not only be experienced, skilled, and dedicated, but also a trusted partner who understands that your health needs always take precedence. The best lawyers are those that are not only expert at what they do, but are also caring, supportive, thoughtful and compassionate.