Cancer Research Blog

Groshan Fabiola asked:


As years are passing by the number of patients with bowel cancer is increasing rapidly and it does not matter whether the patent is young or old or whether is women of men.

Generally cancer can not be cured but if one patient is diagnosed in an early stage of bowel cancer than there is hope of good recuperation after therapy.

The colon and rectum are a part of the large intestine and their function is to absorb nutrients and water from the food that passes through the intestine before it goes out of the body. Bowel cancer is the disease that affects the cells from the colon and rectum creating a malign or benign tumor. Bowel cancer generally means colon cancer, rectum cancer and anus cancer.

Cancer determines cells to divide in an uncontrollable way. Generally the cells of the body divide only when needed, like when they grow old and other cells need to be produced in order to replace them or when they are in a small amount and the body needs more of them. Because the cells are produced in an increased number, a mass of unknown tissue will form, known as a tumor (this tumor can be benign or malign). If the tumor is malignant it can spread to other organs giving metastasis.

If a person has polyps on the internal surface of the colon it is exposed to the risk of developing colorectal cancer it these polyps transform into cancerous polyps.
Patients come at the hospital because they feel tired, they are constipated, or have diarrhea for more than a week. Sometimes people observe that their stool is much thinner than before and that it comes with blood. They might be feeling abdominal pain, cramps, and bloating. Most of the patients loose a lot of weight in a short period of time and have a lack of appetite.

Those who have adopted western diets, are obese, are smoking and also follow a diet that is rich in proteins and fats and low in fiber are at risk to develop colorectal cancer. There are several factors that increase the risk of developing colorectal cancer: those who have a family history of colon cancer or other type of cancer is at risk; those who drink alcohol and follow an improper diet can develop this disease. Also, people who suffer of Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, diabetes, and familial adenomatous polyposis are exposed at a greater risk than others. There is a type of nonpolyposis colorectal cancer syndrome which also occurs in the same family members but now people who are at risk can be identified through genetic screening.

In order to diagnose this disease the doctor will ask you about your symptoms and might palpate your abdomen and check out the rectum with his finger of course using a lubricated glove. Your doctor might send you to a specialist who will do some more tests in order to exclude the possibility of colorectal cancer. A useful test is the sigmoidoscopy and the colonoscopy which visualizes the inside of the colon and can tell the doctor whether there is a tumor or not. During this procedure if polyps are found they can be removed and if tumor is seen it can be taken out and sent to the laboratory for tests.

The barium enema can also be used, along with ultrasounds, CT and MRI scanning.

Colorectal cancer must be diagnosed in its early stages in order for the treatment to function at its maximum power. This is why periodically screenings and tests need to be done in those people who are at risk of developing this disease.

For greater resources on colon cancer or especially about colon cancer diet please visit this link http://www.colon-cancer-center.com/colon-cancer-diet.htm



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Groshan Fabiola asked:


There are several known factors that increase the risk of a person developing colon cancer. These factors can be split into two categories: the ones that you can have control over and the second category those that you have no control over.

What you eat can make a difference in developing colon cancer. As you can see, this is a factor that we have some control over. Studies have shown that eating fat or fatty foods increases the risk of developing colon cancer. Furthermore, if your diet does not contain the necessary amount of fiber, then you are at risk of developing colon cancer as well. So, believe it or not, diet is a factor when talking about colon cancer. You should try to avoid those foods that have a lot of fat in them, although I know they are so tasty. If you care about your health and also want to lower the risk of colon cancer, you will!

Environment is also another risk factor for colon cancer. You can say that this factor is somewhere between those two categories. Studies have shown that people that live in industrialized countries are more at risk of developing colon cancer. The actual cause of getting colon cancer is not known, but because the majority of people that suffer from colon cancer live in these areas, then you can safely say that environment is one of the risk factors.
Age is also a risk factor when it comes to colon cancer. Unfortunately, we have no control over this factor. This is probably one of the most important factors in developing colon cancer. Because we have no control over it, all we can do is try to detect colon cancer when we approach a certain age. If found in it’ s early stages, colon cancer can be cured. This is the reason why, doctors advice people over fifty to have colon cancer tests every year.

Another risk factor on the list of factors that we have no control over is family history. If there is colon cancer history in your family, then you are more at risk of developing colon cancer as well. Furthermore, if there is also history of polyps or bowel disease, then that puts you at risk of having colon cancer too. In these cases, doctors usually recommend screening for colon cancer earlier than in other colon cancer risk people.

For more resource on different colon cancer subjects please click this link http://www.colon-cancer-center.com. You can also find valuable information about colon cancer diet or even about stage3 colon cancer



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Groshan Fabiola asked:


A very new study states that there is a correlation between smaller colon cancer rates and the use of vitamins A,E,C calcium, potassium and folic acid. The study has shown that long-term vitamins use could decrease the risk of colon cancer by 57 percent.

This study was made on an group made of over 500 women and men between the ages of 33 and 62 who were found having colon cancer. They were interrogated about the quantity of vitamins they took before they found out their diagnosis. The patients were asked a lot of questions regarding the dosage, frequency, and duration of the vitamins they took. Two classifications were made: multivitamin packs token once a day and high concentration packs. The study showed that the majority of the patients who took the multivitamin packs took the high potency supplements too.

Most of the studies that predate this one agree that the risks of colon cancer are greatly reduced by using vitamin supplements but none of them was able to identify the specific components of the vitamins that are responsible for this. Antioxidant vitamin and folic acid rich vegetables and fruits are known for lowering the colon cancer risks, but yet again no specific components of these foods were identified.

An increase in the fruit and vegetable consumption rate was tried by several educations programs but none of them had a real success. It is recommended to eat at least five different types of these aliments but in the current society the intake of these foods decrease year by year. Society is being plagued by the fast food industry. These foods are very rich in carbohydrates that are very bad for the health, especialy for people that have a risk of developing colon cancer. Fast food alliments have a very low vitamin and protein content but it seems that the american society became addicted to them. And it’s not just the kids who want this foods, more and more adults start eating only these products.

Knowing the current society, the researchers of colon cancer recommend supplementing the diet with multivitamin packs rather then eating fruits and vegetables because they hope it will be more appealing to the general public.

For more resource on different colon cancer subjects please click this link http://www.colon-cancer-center.com. You can also find valuable information about metastatic colon cancer or even about colon cancer treatment



Posted by Nikhil Gupta

Alisha Dhamani asked:


In 2004 the FDA approved an implantable, rice grain sized microchip for use in humans. The tiny subcutaneous RFID chip, made by a company called VeriChip, is being marketed as a lifesaving device. If you’re brought to an emergency room unconscious, a scanner in the hospital doorway will read your chip’s unique ID. That will unlock your medical records from a database, allowing doctors to learn about your penicillin allergy or your pacemaker.

The tiny, passive RFID devices are injected under the hide. They do not contain the medical data in question, but instead store a unique ID number that is used to access records on a remote server maintained by Applied Digital, using a handheld reader.

VeriChip’s biggest human-chip market is Mexico. Eighteen members of the attorney general’s staff were implanted with a chip in order to control access to a new government facility.* Building security isn’t the biggest part of VeriChip’s south-of-the-border sales pitch, though. Mexico’s kidnapping wave the country’s 3,000 abductions a year are second only to Colombia worldwide has led VeriChip to partner with the National Foundation for the Investigation of Lost and Kidnapped Children. So far, 1,000 Mexican citizens have voluntarily had RFID chips implanted.

You shouldn’t trust RFID to stop a kidnapping or to save your life in an emergency. Perhaps a more realistic suggestion is to use RFID implants to replace the tracking bracelets now imposed upon those who a) aren’t trusted to be in the right place at the right time; and b) aren’t given much of a choice: kids (at theme parks like Fort Lauderdale’s Wannado City and Legoland in Denmark), the elderly, and prisoners. Though injection is unpleasant to think about, subdermal devices are far harder to remove and, thus, far more reliable than an external bracelet. And what about the lighter side of chip injection? Patrons of Barcelona’s Baja Beach Club now pay for drinks via a system that links their VeriChip implants to their credit cards.

These small electronic chips approved by the FDA for implanting beneath human skin have been linked to cancer in laboratory animals, according to a research review conducted by the Associated Press.

The radio frequency identification (RFID) chips are made by VeriChip Corp. They are designed to carry a serial number, which can be read when scanned by anyone with an RFID sensor. Medical workers can then use that number to access a patient’s medical history from a web site maintained by the corporation, provided they have paid the annual access fee.

The chips, which are approximately twice the size of a grain of rice, were approved by the FDA for human implantation in 2005. But the Associated Press has revealed that as early as 1996, researchers had uncovered a link between the devices and cancer. Rodents implanted with the chips were found to develop malignant tumors beneath the skin, usually surrounding the devices. The rates were high enough — as high as 10 percent of animals implanted, in a 1998 study — to raise warning bells with the researchers, who reported their concern in peer-reviewed journals.

None of the studies were looking for carcinogenic effects from the RFID tags, but in each case the researchers ruled out other possible causes. Although there was no non-implanted control group in many of the studies, the evidence is strong enough to convince many researchers that more research is needed before any more human implantation takes place.

There’s no way in the world, having read this information, that I would have one of those chips implanted in my skin, or in one of my family members, said Dr. Robert Benezra, head of the Cancer Biology Genetics Program at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

This research review clearly shows cause of concern over the mass microchipping of our population for medical purposes,” explained consumer health advocate Mike Adams. “Intelligent, reasonable people will naturally reject such chip implants, which is exactly why the company is targeting individuals suffering from cognitive decline, such as Alzheimer’s patients,” Adams added.

So far, 2,000 people have been implanted with VeriChip’s RFID chips. The company has identified is target market in the United States as 45 million people, starting with Alzheimer’s and diabetes patients.

Lastly, these RFID implanting has become a hot topic in the past few years. Early on, the dangers of implants at least in terms of privacy and security appear to be outweighing the benefits. The biggest fear is that the tiny rice-sized implants may someday become mandatory and would then be used as some sort of Big Brother type device to keep tabs on private citizens. Some states, such as Wisconsin, have even gone so far as to pass legislation banning any such mandatory chip implantation. Preemptory? Perhaps, but concerns about RFID implants are not unfounded. Implants can be read by anyone with access to a RFID scanner, and hackers have shown that the chips are not as secure as had been previously thought.



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Groshan Fabiola asked:


There are many methods to detect colon cancer, even tissues that seem suspicious, thus lowering the risk of developing colon cancer. If this type of cancer is detected in its early stages, the 5 year survival percentage in colon cancer patients is about ninety percent. This number drops to almost sixty percent if tissues around your colon cancer have been affected. When distant portions of your body have been affected by this cancer, the survival rate is less than ten percent. So, you see why detecting colon cancer in an early stage is a must.

Even if there are several methods of detecting colon cancer, some of them are more used than the others.

One of the most common methods of screening is the rectal exam. Your doctors inserts a finger into your rectum to detect any abnormalities. This method can detect certain polyps and even colon cancer, but unfortunately it is limited to your rectum area alone.

Fobt is another test that is made to detect colon cancer. It was some controversy in the past concerning this test. Some said that the results of this did not reduce the rate of deaths caused by colon cancer. Nowadays, it has been proven otherwise. Studies showed that by the findings of this test alone, the number of deaths cause by colon cancer was reduced bu almost 20% . When doing this test, patients have to take home a kit, take 3 consecutive samples of bowel moments and than send the kit to a lab. Blood found in the stool is a big colon cancer sign or of polyps, that may turn into colon cancer.

Colonoscopy is another common method used to detect colon cancer. A lighted tube is inserted into your rectum, giving the doctor the chance to examine your entire colon. During this screening procedure most of the patients are under sedation. If polyps are discovered, they can also be removed, lowering the risk of developing colon cancer.

The barium enema is another of the methods used to detect colon cancer. This enema is done to increase the quality of x-rays that will be taken after. This way, if you have any polyps in your colon or suffer from colon cancer, doctors will be able to tell right away.

There are also some other methods to detect colon cancer or polyps, but they are not as common, for one reason or another.

For more resource on different colon cancer subjects please click this link http://www.colon-cancer-center.com. You can also find valuable information about metastatic colon cancer or even about colon cancer treatment



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Groshan Fabiola asked:


Colorectal cancer is one of the most prevalent forms of cancer worldwide. The disease has the highest incidence in well developed countries, affecting thousands of people in the United States each year. Although colorectal cancer predominantly affects people with ages over 50, some forms of the disease can also occur in young adults and even children. Colorectal cancer is a life-threatening disease that occurs on the premises of genetically inherited predispositions and environmental factors.

According to the causes that lead to the development of colon cancer, there are two main types of the disease: inherited colorectal cancer and acquired (sporadic) colorectal cancer. Inherited colorectal cancer generally occurs due to the transmission of colonic physiologic abnormalities from one generation to another. The underlying cause of inherited colorectal cancer is the formation of colonic polyps, prominent tissues that can eventually become malignant. Inherited colorectal cancer can occur at any age.

Sporadic colorectal cancer generally occurs as a consequence of inappropriate diet, unhealthy lifestyle, obesity and physical inactivity. Acquired colorectal cancer is characterized by the formation of colonic tumors and carcinomas. This type of colorectal cancer is more difficult to diagnose and it predominantly affects older adults. Unlike hereditary colorectal cancer, acquired colorectal cancer can be effectively prevented by timely making lifestyle improvements and dietary adjustments.

Regardless of its actual causes, colorectal cancer needs prompt medical intervention. If the disease is discovered early, the medical treatments available today can control the progression of colorectal cancer, improving patients’ life expectancy. However, in present there is no effective cure for colorectal cancer and medical scientists are trying to find more reliable forms of treatment for this type of malignancy.

Doctors inform that a diet rich in calcium can both reduce the risks of colorectal cancer and slow down its progression. In the presence of active Escherichia coli bacteria, calcium seems to be a major inhibitor for colorectal cancer. Recent studies have found that the progression of colorectal cancer is slowed down by a type of bacteria that populates the gastrointestinal tract. It seems that Escherichia coli, the bacteria responsible for causing diarrhea, can actually prevent colon cancer cells from multiplying.

The toxins produced by Escherichia coli inside the large bowel trigger a release of calcium, slowing down the multiplication rate of carcinoma cells. Medical scientists are currently trying to minimize the side-effects associated with Escherichia coli bacteria in order to introduce this type of organism in future treatments for colorectal cancer. In present, medical scientists focus on laboratory altering this type of bacteria so that it can act as a safe active agent in stopping the division of malignant cells.

For more resource on different colon cancer subjects please click this link http://www.colon-cancer-center.com. You can also find valuable information about stage3 colon cancer or even about colon cancer diet



Posted by Nikhil Gupta

Groshan Fabiola asked:


Colon cancer is thought to be the second most common of all cancer types. It usually affects men, but women can develop colon cancer as well. If detected in its primary stages, colon cancer can be cured very easy.

The most common and best way to treat a case of colon cancer is through surgery. A colon cancer that is about three to five centimeters long can be removed through surgical resection. The drainage sites of primary lymphatic must also be re sectioned. If your colon cancer is not too low, less than five centimeters from your anus, colostomy is used. This colon cancer procedure means that your colon is taken out through your abdominal walls. A bag must also be placed in order to drain the stool. Surgery is very successful in almost all colon cancer cases. Moreover, if the colon cancer is found at the beginning stage, than cure rates through colon cancer surgery are that much grater. More than eighty percent of all colon cancer patients are cured after their first surgery. However, there are people who will develop colon cancer even after they have had surgery. In this case, they will have to do another resection. The number of colon cancer patients that have a second operation is a lot smaller, because

recurrence of colon cancer is rare. Although, the number of people cured by surgery is very big, when it comes to the second colon cancer surgery, numbers are not so good. Only twenty percent of all colon cancer recurrence patients actually get cured after the second resection.

After surgery, for a period of almost one year, you will also do some therapy. This therapy increases your chances of survival if suffering from colon cancer. However, this therapy is only used for people that are in one of these colon cancer stages: THM 3 colon cancer, or Duke’ s B2 colon cancer or C colon cancer. This is standard therapy and it lasts almost one year after you have had surgery. Fluoroulacil and levamisol are used for these stages of colon cancer. If you suffer from TNM colon cancer, stage 4, therapy with radiation will also be used together with the standard therapy. This has now become standard for all colon cancer patients that have had surgery, because studies have shown that the survival rate in these patients opposed to those that only have surgery is much grater.

For more resource on different colon cancer subjects please click this link http://www.colon-cancer-center.com. You can also find valuable information about colon cancer diet or even about stage3 colon cancer



Posted by Nikhil Gupta

Groshan Fabiola asked:


Even though thyroid cancer is a disease that cannot be prevented, it is a curable affection and can be treated by using an appropriate treatment. In addition, treatments of thyroid cancer usually include surgeries, radioactive iodine and radiation therapy and depend on the stage and the type of cancers.

To begin with, a common method used in patients with papillary, follicular or medullary is radiation therapy, a procedure which is used if the patient has a risk of recurrence following surgery alone, such as the type of cancer known as Tall Cell Variant. Moreover this procedure is used when the tyroid cancer is adherent to the trachea, has mediastinal lymp node involvment or doesn’t take up RAI. It is important to note that radiation therapy has brought significant results especially for the severe types of thyroid cancer and also for the patients who still present residual cancer after the surgery.

Secondly, even though radiation therapy is considered a efficient method, surgery is still the most common procedure in the treatments for tyroid cancers.

Unlike the partial surgeries, such as the removal of a single lobe of the thyroid gland (lobectomy), an extensive surgery which includes the whole removal of the thyroid gland thyroidectomy (only small remnant of throid tissue with parathyroid glands remain attached to the thyroid). It is important to mention that in many cases when the thyroid gland is not completely removed, the tumor may appear again.

Futhermore, in the cases of severe thyroid cancer, patients may need another treatment after they passed through a surgery. One of the most common procedure is the supplemental thyroid hormone, hormones which replace the ones produced by the thyroid. Patients who already suffered a surgery tend to become hypothyroid and in this way they need extra thyroid hormones in order to keep the remaining thyroid gland inactive through a feedback system.

Much more, another procedure used in the thyroid cancer treatments is the use of radiation iodine (RAI). This procedure is usually used for patients who suffer from tumors with high risk features such as sizes of 1.5cm, tumors which have spread to other tissues and lymph nodes and also thyroid cancer that has come back. What is more, a usual treatment used in many types of cancers and sometimes in tyroid cancer is chemotherapy. In addition certain chemotherapy drugs such as adriamycin, etoposide or cisplatin are usually used in patients who suffer from anaplastic thyroid cancer or affections which occured due to the prolonged exposure to RAI or radiation therapy.

All in all, treatments for thyroid cancer vary from a person to other and even though this type of cancer is curable, specialiasts still try to find new procedure for certain patients that don’t respond to conventional therapy or patients with poor prognosis analastic disease.

For more information about thyroid cancer or about thyroid symptoms please visit this website http://www.thyroid-info-center.com/



Posted by Nikhil Gupta

Groshan Fabiola asked:


Colorectal cancer is one of the most common types of cancer in the United States. While colorectal cancer is highly treatable in its incipient stage, when it is diagnosed late, the disease becomes life-threatening. Statistics indicate that there are more than 150.000 new annual cases of colorectal cancer diagnosed in the United States. Although this type of cancer can be effectively prevented, it accounts for more than 50.000 deaths among the American population each year.

Colorectal cancer has the highest incidence in people with ages over 50 and it is more commonly seen in obese, smokers and physically inactive people. Although it can occur in all ethnical groups, this type of cancer is very common in African Americans. Statistics indicate that in the last few years, both the incidence and the mortality rate of colorectal cancer have known a pronounced increase among African American people. Research results reveal the fact that African American women are exposed to a very high risk of developing colorectal cancer due to obesity, unhealthy diet and sedentary lifestyle.

Doctors claim that colorectal cancer can be effectively treated if the disease is timely diagnosed. They state that modern medicine holds new, reliable means of preventing the progression of colorectal cancer and that people should be screened for potential malignancies more often. Regular colorectal cancer screening is recommended to anyone at risk of developing this type of cancer. The categories at risk of developing colorectal cancer are: people with ages over 50, overweight people, people with chronic gastrointestinal diseases, smokers, people who have a family history of adenomatous polyposis, non-polyposis colon cancer, Gardner’s syndrome or Peutz-Jeghers syndrome and people who have suffered colon cancer surgery.

Colorectal cancer screening can be performed through multiple methods. In present, the procedures used in cancer screening are quick, safe and reliable. Furthermore, the costs of a complete annual examination for colorectal cancer are very low. A complete examination should include fecal occult blood testing, flexible sigmoidoscopy, colonoscopy, and barium enema. These tests can easily reveal the presence of malignant colonic polyps, tumors and carcinomas in the early stages of colorectal cancer.

Nowadays, there are three basic programs used in colorectal cancer screening. The first program involves fecal occult blood testing and sigmoidoscopy. Fecal occult blood testing should be repeated annually, while sigmoidoscopy should be repeated every five years. The second program involves an initial total colon examination, followed by distal colon barium enema every five years. The last program recommended by oncologists involves an initial total colon exam, followed by colorectal examination every ten years. As the methods of colorectal screening provide similar results, patients are allowed to choose anyone of these three programs, with the condition to respect the schedule recommended by their doctor.

For more resource on different colon cancer subjects please click this link http://www.colon-cancer-center.com. You can also find valuable information about colon cancer treatment or even about metastatic colon cancer



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