Newpharmablog. Health News » Cancer

OVERVIEW OF CANCER

admin — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 09:22:46 +0000

As few as 50 years ago, a diagnosis of cancer was .usually a death sentence. Health professionals could only guess at probable causes, and treatments were often as deadly as the disease itself. Because we had no idea how a person “got” cancer, fears about possible infection led to secrecy by victims and ostracism and bigotry aimed at people who desperately needed support.Fortunately, we’ve come a long way since then. Today we know that there are multiple causes of cancer and that very few are linked to any type of infectious agent. Early detection and vast improvements in technology have dramatically improved the prognosis for most cancer patients. We also know that a whole array of possibilities exists for actions that we can take individually or as a society to prevent cancer. Promising research puts us closer and closer to better solutions. Knowing the facts about cancer, recognizing your personal risks and risks to others, and taking action to reduce these risks are important steps in the battle to reduce cancer rates. During 2000, approximately 552,200 people died of cancer, a much-feared disease that is the second leading cause of death in the United States. Put into perspective, this means that each day of the year more than 1,500 people die of one of the multiple types of cancer that affect humans. Only deaths from heart disease exceed those from cancer in our country. One of four deaths in the United States is from cancer; nearly 5 million lives have been lost since 1990. While cancer deaths pose an ominous threat, it is important to note that although more than 2.5 million people will be diagnosed with cancer in a year, and many will experience emotional and physical pain, nearly 4 in 10 will be alive 5 years after diagnosis. Many will be considered “cured,” meaning that they have no subsequent cancer in their systems 5 years after diagnosis and can expect to live a long and productive life.When adjusted for normal life expectancy (factors such as dying of heart disease, accidents, etc.), a relative 5-year survival of 56 percent is seen for all cancers. Some cancers that only a few decades ago presented a very poor outlook are often cured today: acute lymphocytic leukemia in children, Hodgkin’s disease, Burkitt’s lymphoma, Ewing’s sarcoma (a form of bone cancer), Wilms’ tumor (a kidney cancer in children), testicular cancer, and osteogenic (bone) sarcoma are among the most remarkable indicators of progress in treatment techniques.*1/277/5*

CANCER AND THE NEW BIOLOGY

admin — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 11:29:14 +0000

The description of cancer given at the beginning of this chapter might have been written in 1950 or i960. It represents an understanding of how cancer cells behave in terms of what was then known about cellular biology. Very little was understood shout what controlled events within cells and determined (among other things) their proliferation and differentiation-Things began to change in 1953 when Francis Crick and James Watson created their now famous model of the structure of DNA, the double helix. Today we can create computer images of DNA – Crick and Watson built models of wire and cardboard.
Chemical substances are made up of molecules. The discovery by Crick and Watson that DN A, a large molecule found in all cells, was shaped like two intertwined strands presented the solution to a problem that had puzzled scientists for years.
The DN A molecule is constructed from four types of smaller and simpler molecules, known as bases, strung out along each strand. Some people like to visualize the double helix as a spiral staircase, with the bases as the steps, and this is quite a good way of thinking about it.
Crick and Watson realized that this double-stranded structure could explain how the biological information in a cell could be copied exactly and transmitted to the two new cells which result when a cell divides. Each step of the spiral staircase consists of a pair of bases bonded in the middle and, because the bases do not pair up at random to form ‘steps’, but always pair up with a complementary base, each strand in the DNA molecule has a sequence of bases that is exactly complementary to the sequence of bases on la partner strand. When a cell divides, the two strands separate so that the DSA is split along its length. Each strand then becomes a blueprint for making a new partner strand with complementary bases, and the biological information in each new pair of strands is identical to that in the original DN A molecule.
What exactly is this biological information? As we see, there are four types of bases (actually representing four different chemical substances designated by the letters A, T, G and C). These can be thought of as a four-letter code, with the sequence in which the bases are strung out along the strands providing a coded message. Different pieces of the same DNA molecule can each have a unique sequence of bases so that each piece carries its own coded message. The number of different possible sequences using a genetic code of four letters is enormous, especially when we consider that a single typical animal cell contains one metre of DNA. This huge potential for different coded messages is the basis of the great variety that we find in the Jiving world and is, of course, the reason why one species k different from another and why each individual is unique.
Genes are made of DNA. They represent a section of DNA which carries enough information in its coded sequence to instruct the cell to make a particular protein. Each protein will then make up a part of the cell’s structure or control an aspect of its function. The unique structure and function of each cell will be determined by the genes carried within that cell.
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LABORATORY STUDIES ON EVENING PRIMROSE OIL AND CANCER CELLS

admin — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 11:28:19 +0000

Six different laboratories in four different countries have now obtained similar results: that polyunsaturated fatty acids normalize human cancer cells. Tests have been done on at least nine different human malignant cell lines, including cancers of the liver, bone, oesophagus, breast, prostate, and skin. In all these tests, the normal cells remained unaffected.
Studies on animal cell lines using evening primrose oil have also had very good results. A study of breast cancer in rats showed that tumour growth was inhibited in rats given evening primrose oil. These results agree with earlier findings which showed that the growth of a mammary tumour was significantly reduced in rats treated with evening primrose oil.
The amount of oil given is important. The rats were fed a normal rat chow diet containing 5% of total calories as fat. The results showed that there was a significant inhibition of tumour growth, but greater amounts of oil began to increase tumour growth.
Other studies have shown that when rats are fed a diet containing 20% saturated fat, tumour growth increased. This may be because essential fatty acids cannot compete with so much saturated fat, with the result that they do not get metabolized properly.
There does seem to be a causal relationship between fat intake and the occurrence of breast cancer. However, it seems that the kind of fat as well as how much fat are important influences on the incidence of breast cancer. These studies on rats may have important lessons for human breast cancer.
Research in South Africa (originally published in the South African Medical Journal) showed that gammalinolenic acid, taken from evening primrose oil, reduced cancer cell growth by up to 70%. GLA was added to three different types of malignant cell, both human and mouse. The mouse cancer cells were inhibited, and the human cancer cells taken from the oesophagus were killed. This research showed that although GLA was toxic to malignant cells, it had no such effect on normal cells.
The Newsletter of the Northwest Academy of Preventive Medicine published these comments along with the findings: ‘These data may have profound implications for the prevention and treatment of cancer. Whereas the usual method of fighting cancer is to destroy malignant cells, GLA may be capable of actually reversing, or retarding, the malignant process. Of prime importance is the fact that GLA is a normal metabolite and is essentially non-toxic’.

*2/60/5*

HEADACHE – INTRODUCTION

admin — Mon, 18 May 2009 06:55:25 +0000

Things that are nothing to do with cancer such as nervous tension, migraines and sinus problems can of course cause headaches in people with cancer, just as they can in anyone. However, the cause we will discuss here is the one that is likely to worry you the most—cancer in the brain or cerebro-spinal fluid (the fluid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord—CSF for short).

Cancer in these places causes headaches by increasing the pressure on the brain. These headaches are often accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and blurred vision. They tend to be worst when you have been lying down for a while and better when you are up and about. Cancer in the brain is a likely reason for headaches that are accompanied by double vision, pins and needles or numbness down one side or weakness in one side. Cancer in the CSF may be accompanied by a stiff back and neck, pains shooting into the arms and legs, and pins and needles, numbness or weakness in any or all limbs.

If you have headaches your doctor should examine you, including looking into your eyes to see whether the pressure on the brain is high. This is not a foolproof test—the back of the eye can look perfectly normal when the pressure on the brain is raised. A brain scan or CT scan will probably be needed in order to be sure of the reason for your headaches. A lumbar puncture will also be necessary if cancer in the CSF is suspected.

*213/40/1*

SURGERY FOR BREAST CANCER: WIDE LUMP EXCISION

admin — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 05:31:30 +0000

Normally, if you are to have an operation for breast cancer, you will be admitted to hospital the day before, to allow time for blood tests and a chest X-ray to be done. Bone scans, liver scans and other specialized ‘screening’ investigations are no longer carried out for all patients.

There has been a trend over the last few years to move away from the very radical operations performed at the beginning of this century and well into the 1950s and 1960s. These operations included removal not only of the breast but also of the muscles of the chest wall and all the draining lymph nodes. It was thought that removal of all the lymphatic drainage gave a better chance of cure. With the introduction of radiotherapy and the realization that such excision was not necessary for all women, there was a trend towards much smaller operations including conservation of the breast. Nevertheless, there is a very wide spectrum of treatment from a surgeon’s point of view – and many conflicting ideas.

Wide lump excision

A modification of this operation used to be known as a segmental quadrantectomy.

A wide lump excision involves the removal of the cancerous lump together with at least a 2-cm (3/4-inch) margin of normal breast tissue, and usually an ellipse of skin from over the lump. Some lymph nodes are also removed from the armpit for staging to give some idea of whether the disease has spread beyond the breast. A separate incision may be needed for this.

Wide lump excisions are really only useful for small cancers, up to 2 cm (3/4 inch) in size, in the upper outer quadrant of the breast. This method tends to have rather poor cosmetic results for the removal of larger lumps, or lumps in other quadrants of the breast.

The operation performed on its own with no adjuvant treatment is associated with a high rate of recurrent cancer in the wound or around the scar. It has, however, been shown unequivocally that this operation combined with ‘field’ radiotherapy to the remaining breast tissue and to the lymphatic drainage in the armpit, above the collar bone and by the breastbone, is equivalent to doing a mastectomy. Conservative treatment of this sort can leave a very acceptable result, with a normal-looking and normal-feeling breast and nipple.

When wide lump excisions are performed for lumps in the centre or in the lower or inner half of the breast, they can give very disfiguring cosmetic results, except perhaps in a very large breast.

*38/39/5*