Archive for category Cancer
Breast Cancer Treatment
Also referred to as breast carcinoma, one in every eight women is affected by breast cancer during their lives. After lung cancer, breast cancer is the highest type of cancer that kills women in the U.S. While nobody knows for sure why some women seem to be susceptible to breast cancer, however, there are certain risk factors. Some of the risks that cannot be changed are:
Personal risk factors: the periods beginning before the age of 12 or undergoing menopause after the age of 55.
Genetic factors: The presence of the genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 are indicative of greatly increasing the risk of getting breast cancer. It is advisable for women who have breast cancer incidences amongst the members of their family to get themselves tested.
Age factor: With advancing age there are increasing chances of getting breast cancer.
Some of the other risks are: having dense breasts; being childless or having the first child after the age of 35; consumption of alcohol; using birth control pills; being on hormone replacement therapy; and being overweight.
While breast cancer can affect men too, the number of cases is very few.
Some of the symptoms of breast cancer are: fluid being discharged from a nipple; changes in the shape or size of the breast; a lump formation in the breast. Breast cancer treatment can include lumpectomy, mastectomy, radiation therapy, hormone therapy, and chemotherapy.
Various Methods of Breast Cancer Treatment
Surgery – Lumpectomy and Mastectomy: Surgery, even after more than a century, continues to be one of the main treatments for breast cancer. It is usually succeeded by breast cancer radiation treatment. Some patients may also require chemotherapy along with hormone therapy.
Breast conserving surgery, which is also known as lumpectomy, is surgically removing only the tissue that is cancerous. Radiation therapy usually follows. Surgically removing the breast is known as mastectomy. Both the surgeries can be combined with tests checking for cancer in the lymph nodes that are located near the affected breast.
In recent years, as compared to the past, things have changed a fair amount as far as breast surgery like lumpectomy and mastectomy are concerned. These days, the aim is targeted, precise surgery with the objective of preserving as much of the healthy parts of the breast, along with the surrounding tissues, as possible. Even breast removal, or mastectomy, is a far less drastic option and much more refined procedure than it used be a generation back. Read the rest of this entry »
Cancer Treatment: Radiation Therapy
Cancer cells grow rapidly and cause tumors in the body. Radiation therapy aims at destroying these cancer cells which prevents their growth and spread in the body.
For this purpose, different types of radiation sources such as X-Rays, Gamma Rays, and Particle Beams of electrons, protons or neutrons are used to destroy the cancer cells within the body. This cancer radiation therapy is used to treat patients with almost any type of cancer. Often cancer radiation therapy is also accompanied by other medical treatments that are given to the cancer patients.
The types of radiation therapy are:
* External Radiation – In this method, the cancer patient is given radiation from a machine that is present outside the body. This process does not require the hospitalization of the patient.
* Internal Radiation or Brachytherapy – In this method, small radioactive capsules or tubes are placed inside the patient’s body. These deliver the radiotherapy to those parts of the body that are affected by the cancer cells. This process requires hospitalization of the patient.
* Systemic Radiation – In this method, the radioactive substance is injected into the vein of the cancer patient. The substance then travels through the body of the patient delivering the radiotherapy. This process requires hospitalization of the patient.
* Intra-Operative Radiation – In this method radiotherapy is given to the cancer patients during a surgical procedure. Here, an external beam of radiation is aimed at the area where cancer cells need to be destroyed. This process requires hospitalization of the patient.
Radiation Therapy
External Radiation Therapy sessions are normally treated on an outpatient basis. This means that the patient can go home after the session and need not stay in the hospital during treatment. This treatment is usually spread over a few weeks.
Before beginning the procedure, a simulation session is held where scans are taken to determine the location of the cancer and the ideal method of delivering the radiation beams to the right part of the body.
In the actual radiation therapy session, the patient is asked to lie down in a pre-determined position. This is determined during the simulation session. Then shields and molds are placed around the body to cover the healthy parts of the body. The radiation machine has a linear accelerator arm which then buzzes around the body delivering rays of radiotherapy to the affected body parts. The patient needs to lie still and breathe normally during this time. This takes only a few minutes. Read the rest of this entry »