Pancreatic Cancer Causes Symptoms and Treatment

Pancreatic Cancer - Causes, Symptoms and Treatment
By Michael Russell

Pancreatic cancer is a relatively rare disorder, accounting for about 3 in 100 cases of all cancer in the US. However, the disease, which mainly affects people over 50, is becoming more common in the US as life expectancy increases. Pancreatic cancer occurs almost twice as frequently in men as in women and the disease is slightly more common in African-Americans and Polynesians. People with pancreatic cancer usually have few symptoms until the disorder reaches an advanced stage and often not until it has spread to other parts of the body, typically the lymph nodes in the abdomen and the liver. The disease is nearly always fatal and is the fourth most common cause of death from cancer in the US. Little is known about the causes of pancreatic cancer, but it has been linked with diet, in particular with fatty foods and high alcohol consumption. A higher incidence of the cancer in certain ethnic groups indicates that genetic factors may be involved. The risk of the disease is greater in people who smoke and in those with chronic pancreatitis.

The pancreas is an organ involved in endocrine functions, such as the secretion of insulin and exocrine functions, such as the secretion of insulin and exocrine functions, such as the secretion of enzymes involved in digestion. It is located underneath the stomach and liver and adjacent to the duodenum (the first section of the small intestine).

Causes: The cause of this cancer remains unknown. The most established risk factor for the development of this cancer is cigarette smoking. Other less common risk factors are:

A high fat diet

Diabetes

Chronic pancreatitis, generally related to high alcohol intake

Workers in contact with organic chemicals

Symptoms: when the cancer originates in the head of the pancreas, which is the closest area to the duodenum, patients suffer from jaundice and generalized itching. If, on the other hand, the tumor originates in the area of the tail of the pancreas, which is furthest from the duodenum, the tumor can grow to larger sizes before causing symptoms. This condition can result in the obstruction of bile excretion leading to the development of

Jaundice

Pale-colored stools

Generalized itching

Abdominal pain

Weight loss

A palpable mass.

Many patients with pancreatic cancer also have symptoms of cancer that has spread to other organs.

Diagnosis: Cancer of the pancreas can be easily seen with computed tomography or ultrasound of the abdomen. The diagnosis needs to be confirmed by obtaining a biopsy.

Complications: Complications arise from the spread (metastasis) of the cancer to other organs or from the physical size of the tumor causing obstruction of the bile duct or other internal structures.

Treatment:

Self Treatment: An overall healthy lifestyle with a well balanced diet is essential to maintain general health during the treatment for pancreatic cancer.

Medical Treatment: Although treatment with chemotherapy has not been very encouraging, promising new chemotherapy agents are always being investigated. Combinations of treatment with chemotherapy and radiation therapy may help control symptoms in some cases of advanced cancer. Surgical Treatment: Removal of the tumor offers the only chance for cure of this type of cancer. Unfortunately, only about 15 percent of patients can have their tumor fully removed. The rest of the patients have cancers that have grown too extensive to remove completely.

Prevention: the only well established risk for the development of pancreatic cancer is cigarette smoking. Smoking cessation should, therefore, result in a decreased chance of development this type of cancer.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Pancreatic Cancer

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Stages of Ovarian Cancer

Stages of Ovarian Cancer
By Jeanette Pollock

There are four specific stages of ovarian cancer. Knowing these stages will help you to determine what your treatment options are and what symptoms to look for so you can get the upper hand on the silent killer.

Stage one is when the cancer is limited to the ovaries only. Within this there are three stages. Stage 1A is when the cancer is limited to just one ovary, 1B is when the cancer is in both ovaries and 1C is with tumors on either one or both ovaries and a tumor on the surface.

Stage two is when the ovarian cancer involves one or both ovaries with pelvic extension. Stage 2A is when the cancer has extended to the uterus and/or the tubes, 2B is when the cancer has extended to the pelvic tissues and 2C is a tumor with a ruptured capsule that contains malignant cells.

Stage three is ovarian cancer that involves one or both of the ovaries and the cancer has spread outside the pelvis. Liver metastasis can equal stage three ovarian cancer. Stage 3A is when the cancer is limited to the pelvis but microscopic examination shows seeding in the abdominal cavity, 3B is when the cancer has become implanted on abdominal surfaces but nothing is above two centimeters in diameter and 3C is any abdominal cancers over two centimeters in diameter.

Stage four is a growth on one or both of the ovaries with distant metastasis. Stage 4A is an extension of metastasis to the uterus and/or the tube, 4B is an extension to the pelvic tissues and 3C is a ruptured capsule with malignant cells.

Jeanette Pollock is a freelance author and website owner of ovariancancerdomain.com. Visit Jeanette's site to learn more about the different stages of ovarian cancer.

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Breast Cancer When Chemotherapy Is Necessary

Breast Cancer - When Chemotherapy Is Necessary
By Chris Teo, Ph.D.

Anna /M241, is a 50-year-old female from Acheh, Indonesia. She had a lump in her right breast sometime in 2000. She refused medical treatment. Instead she went to Jakarta to seek alternative treatments. These did not help her. The breast lump grew bigger and in December 2004, it developed into a lacerated wound and bled. She went back to Acheh and enlisted the help of a medical doctor to take care of her wound. At the same time she continued with other alternative treatments. Unfortunately, this doctor had been swept away by the tsunami that struck the city not long ago.

In February 2007, Anna came to Penang to seek medical treatment. Due to the advanced stage of the disease, no radiotherapy or surgery was indicated. Anna was asked to undergo chemotherapy. She underwent four cycles of chemotherapy at a private hospital. She suffered total hair loss but no other adverse side effects. Each cycle of chemotherapy, given at three-weekly interval, costs RM 3,000. However, each trip to Penang for this treatment would come to about RM 7,000. It is indeed difficult to imagine such financial burden endured by a family who had lost their home to the tsunami. Because of this, Annas husband explained that they could NOT effort further chemotherapy and asked if they could turn to our therapy instead.

Anna came to see us on 5 August 2007. She appeared healthy and did not have any problem. The chemotherapy had helped her. Her lacerated wound had dried up and the tumor had shrunk significantly. The pains that she suffered earlier had subsided. She had gain weight and felt much better than before the chemotherapy.

A CT scan done on 9 May 2007, however, was most disappointing. It showed extensive metastasis to the pectoralis muscles and ribs. There were numerous well defined 4 to 25 mm nodules scattered in both lungs. The cancer had also spread to the lymph nodes. I asked Anna if the oncologist had told her the results of the scan. Her husband replied: No. The hospital gave us the films and we went home. We did not understand what it was all about.

I asked them: What did you expect when you came to the hospital for chemotherapy? Both of them replied: I expected to be cured.

Comment

It took me a while to regain my composure after looking at her scan. I was unsure if I should explain the results. I did not want to make her life miserable by telling her the bad news after all, is this not the responsibility of her oncologist? I hesitated but her husband probed me to tell them the truth, which I did. The metastases in Annas lungs were too numerous to count. While chemotherapy had helped her with the lacerated wounds, it was obvious that the treatment did not help her lung metastases.

Chemotherapy had helped make Annas life better. The lump has also shrunk. If four cycles were good for her, does it mean that more chemotherapy (up to eight cycles) would be better? Indeed this is debatable more does not necessarily mean better! While chemotherapy did not hurt Anna, it certainly hurt the pocket I would not say bank balance because I am not sure if there was any bank left after the tsunami.

I pointed out to Anna that it was a mistake not to remove the lump (or her breast) when she first detected it. Surgery could have saved her all the miseries that followed. In this regard, I would advise women to have the lumps in their breasts removed if possible. I asked Annas husband why they still continued with the ineffective treatments after knowing that the lump had gone bigger. Why wait for so long? Common sense should tell us that if after trying an alternative therapy for a month or two and it does not work or the condition deteriorates, patients should reevaluate their strategies move on to something that is more effective or evidence-based.

However, I also highlighted the good side of what she did. I know of numerous patients who died within two to three years after doing what their doctors told them to do -- mastectomy, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Some even suffered severe pains and had bloated stomach before their death. So, undergoing medical treatment would not guarantee that everything would be fine.

Anna had breast tumor in 2000 and it is now 2007 and she is still alive and did not suffer any difficulties. She ought to be grateful for this blessing. I am reminded by what I have read. At a lecture at the American Cancer Society Conference in New Orleans on 3 July 1969, Professor Hardin Jones, University of California, Berkeley, was supposed to have said: My studies have proved conclusively that untreated cancer victims live up to four times longer than treated individuals. If one has cancer and opts to do nothing at all, he will live longer and feel better than if he undergoes radiation, chemotherapy or surgery.

In Malaysia, like elsewhere too, doctors often blame the herbs when things go wrong. Doctors want to have the first shot at cancer using their chemotherapy or radiotherapy. And if these fail they advise patients to go home and seek hospice help or go for herbs. Over the past decade, CA Care is the recipients of these terminally ill and medically give-up cases. I began to have the impression that going for invasive treatments at the first sign of cancer need not be a wise move. Sometimes, patients die because of the treatment rather than the cancer. Anna took the less traveled road. She sought alternative treatments and when these failed she turned to the invasive, toxic medical intervention perhaps dealing out her last card. It has been seven years and she is still alive. I repeat, many who took the well-trodden road barely manage to live three to four years. So, Annas adventure is not wrong, no matter how foolish doctors may think it is.

For more information about complementary cancer therapy visit: http://www.cacare.com, http://www.NaturalHealingForYou.com, http://www.BookOnCancer.com

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There Is More Than One Kind Of Breast Cancer: The Silent Killer (IBC)

There Is More Than One Kind Of Breast Cancer: The Silent Killer (IBC)
By Alfred Jones

The more you understand about any subject, the more interesting it becomes. As you read this article you'll find that the subject of IBC is certainly no exception.

Ladies have been told and frequently reminded by advertisements, Doctors, Women's Magazines and so on, that they should regularly check their breasts for a lump or lumps.If anything is found they should immediately seek medical advice. This is still true, see your doctor as soon as possible.

There is another kind of breast cancer, it is called Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC), it is an accelerated type of breast cancer, and it usually does not show on a mammogram or ultrasound.It is a rare form of breast cancer, but it accounts for approximately 1% to 3% of all breast cancers.

It is a breast cancer that many ladies have never heard of, but it can be so serious that everyone should learn about it and what signs or symptoms to look for in its early stage of development.

Inflammatory breast cancer causes the breast to appear swollen and inflamed. This inflammation occurs, not because of an infection, but because the cancer cells block the lymphatic vessels in the skin of the breast, this blocks the lymph flow, which usually causes a red inflamed condition of the breast.

Truthfully, the only difference between you and IBC experts is time. If you'll invest a little more time in reading, you'll be that much nearer to expert status when it comes to IBC.

Some ladies have IBC even when they are seeing their doctor regularly, and they may remain undiagnosed for quite some time, which can be very unfortunate. The symptoms are very often similar to mastitis, a breast infection and doctors frequently fail to recognise that it is IBC, and will often prescribe antibiotics, if it has not cleared or showing signs of clearing within a week of taking the antibiotics, it is time to take further action, by seeing a specialist.

It appears that IBC can happen at a reasonably young age, in fact some ladies had the first symptoms during pregnancy or lactation. It is important to be aware of this disease, as younger ladies are thought to be at a lower risk for breast cancer, remember that IBC is the most aggressive form of breast cancer, and ignorance can result in metastases.

Typical Symptoms Of IBC

Swelling, quite sudden, as large as a cup in a few days. Itching. Pink, Red, or dark colored area sometimes with a texture similar to orange skin. Ridges and thickened area of the skin. Looks like bruising, but does not go away. Nipple retraction, or inverted. Discharge from the nipple.Breast is warmer than usual when touched. Pain in the breast. Color or a change in texture of the areola. One breast larger than the other. Rash. Swollen lymph nodes under the armpit. Swollen lymph nodes in the neck.

Because IBC progresses rapidly, it is so important that ladies seek medical advice as soon as possible, don't ignore things in the hope that it will go away. Time is of the essence with this disease.

More information is available through the search engines, and I will add a link in the box below, where you can see a short video, or you can email me through my websites, and I will send you the video by email, so you can see the seriousness of this disease yourself. Tell all the ladies you know, because in this case knowledge is king.

Now you can understand why there ought to be more interest in IBC. When people start looking for more information about IBC, you'll be in a position to meet their needs.

Article by Alfred Jones, Information Advisor for Health Related websites http://www.sugarsr4u.com and http://www.rusweetenuf.com

Article may be freely used without permission as long as it is shown in its entirety.

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