Battling Cancer

As in most diseases, early detection of prostate cancer can greatly improve the chances of treatment and survival. According to the Mayo Clinic, about 40% of prostate cancer cases are not detected until they have spread beyond the prostate gland. A lot of cases are asymptomatic in its early stages so that screening by a medical professional is sometimes the only way to diagnose the disease. However, some men are wont to avoid the issue. That is why it is important to understand psychosocial factors that influence men from having or not having prostate cancer screening.

Screening for prostate cancer can be done in many ways but the two most commonly recommended diagnostic tests are: More →

Breast cancer is the leading cancer disease that causes death in women in the age range 25 to 49 years old. It has also been observed that younger patients have lower survival rate and higher chances of cancer recurring back compared to older women. Thus, it is important to understand how the cancer develops and the ways to prevent it.

Breast cancer may be malignant or benign. Although benign breast cancer may not seem to be clinically important, it can actually present significant risks not previously known.

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One of my very favorite magazines is Prevention. How can you not love a magazine that supports my favorite TV show, The Biggest Loser?

But I digress.

The October 2008 issue of Prevention is especially awesome as it features several cancer topics:

I’ll hit the highlights and you can run out and grab a copy.

Are You Afraid of Cancer?

This exclusive Prevention magazine poll teams with the experts at M.D Anderson Cancer Center to see what you really know about cancer and what you do to prevent it. Check out the results here.

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Time to start screening for colon/colorectal cancer. NOW!

The Facts:

March is National Colon/Colorectal Awareness Month.

The lifetime risk for being diagnosed with colorectal cancer is 1 in 19.

90% of all colon cancer diagnoses are in people age 50 or older.

It is the third leading cancer diagnosis in men and the fourth in women.

The disease strikes about 150, 000 people and causes approximately 50,000 deaths per year.

African-American’s are the highest racial or ethnic group at risk in the U.S.

The disease usually starts with a polyp.

The 5 year survival rate for those diagnosed early is 90%

Only 39% of those diagnosed are diagnosed early.

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Imagine this: You go in to your doctor’s office for a cancer screening and go home safe in the knowledge that you are disease-free. Later, you get a call from stating that you were given incorrect information. That’s what happened to several women in Ireland in a scandal that’s rocking the country.

Last month, seven women who were previously given the “all clear” from a breast cancer screening performed at Portaloise Hospital were told that they may have been misdiagnosed. The women were identified after concerns over how to read mammograms prompted a review of 3,000 cases.

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The problem with excising cancerous cells from the body through surgery or radiation is that cells can be left behind to act as a seed to a new tumor.  In school, we learned that it can take even as little as 30 cells left behind to do exactly that.  Recently, physicians and scientists have found ways to make some cancerous cells glow in the dark, making them easier to spot within the human body and thus, easier to take right out in the hands of oncologists.

Scientists at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) are developing new ways to detect “silent” tumor masses, including ovarian cancer and pancreatic cancer. The problem with these types of cancer is that there are normally very few symptoms that arise until the cancers have progressed and metastasized, making early detection and treatment very difficult. In order to address these detection problems, researchers at the NCI, lead by Dr. Hisataka Kobayashi, M.D., Ph.D., are using fluorescent imaging techniques to detect small tumor growths in mice that would not be detected using the cuurent practices.

The first study uses the fluorescent compound called Av-3ROX, which consists of the protein avidin bound to three molecules of rhodamine X, a fluorescent dye that emits a detectable signal when hit with the correct wavelength of light. The joining of avidin to rhodamine X results in the inability of rhodamine X to fluoresce. The genius of this approach is that avidin binds specifically to another protein that is found only on cancer cells. The cancer cells then “digest” the Av-3ROX, which is then broken down inside the cell to the base parts.

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Women:  Are you looking for the newest tool in early breast cancer detection?  If Dr. Elias Siores had his way, you might not have to look further than your own lingerie drawer.

According to ABCNews.com, a team of researchers led by Dr. Siores at the United Kingdom’s Centre for Research and Innovation at the University of Bolton has developed a new “smart bra” that they hope will alert women of any microscopic changes in body temperature.  Small changes in temperature such as these may be correlated with early tumor development, and this new foray into women’s clothing design hopes to take advantage of that fact by using passive microwaves that are embedded into the fibers of the bra.

But is such an easy solution accurate?  The Mayo Clinic thinks that women should be weary of such one-size-fits-all approaches to tumor detection.

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Medical professionals now have an extensive array of tools at their disposal to make diagnosis of breast cancer more reliable, especially in the early stages. That’s great news, since it considerably increases the odds of keeping breast cancer down to the level of ’serious but not permanently scarring or life-threatening’.

Diagnosis will usually start with a clinical exam. The physician will perform a hands-on breast examination similar to the self-exam that is recommended for all women over age 19. Cancerous lumps generally feel harder and less mobile than benign cysts. Cancer tumors are frequently irregular while non-cancerous lumps tend to be round. A trained professional can often tell the difference.

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According to the American Cancer Society, the chance that breast cancer will be responsible for a woman’s death is about 1 in 33 or 3%. Overall, about 1 in 12 women may contract breast cancer at some age, with the odds higher later in life. But thanks to modern medicine, many breast cancers can be successfully treated with only minor impact. However, the success of that treatment depends critically on early detection, and the earlier the better. One simple way to up the odds of discovery is to perform a regular breast self examination.

* The Goal Is To Detect Changes Which Might Signal Conditions Worth Investigating

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