Conventional Treatments

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References

Cancer

Cancer is a leading cause of death accounting for 7.6 million deaths worldwide in 2007. There are more then 66 different types of cancer, affecting people of all age groups including fetus.^{Table 1} A study in 2003 from UK (exc NMSC) reported that the rate per population of new cases ranges from highest at 3000 new cases per 100,000 each year in age group 75 and higher to 100 new cases per 100,000 each year in 15 years of age and under.^{Figure 1} The cancer's impact is not simply on the patients' physical health, but also on their and their loved ones emotional health.

Figure 1: Number of new cases and rates by age.^[3]

Cancer rages a war at our own healthy cells using our own cells that have turned cancerous. Cancer cells have an aggressive growth rate and are very invasive to the body. In the growth process, the cancer cells also destroy the invaded tissue and spreads to different parts of the body from the point of origination. A tumor (growth of cells) is considered benign if it stops growing at some point. In contrast, a malignant form of tumor is generally referred as Cancer. Normal cells upon being damage undergo apoptosis (programmed cell death); but unlike normal cells, cancer cells grow at an accelerated rate and as it spreads it starts new growth in the invaded tissues. Cancer is triggered by many of the stimulant commonly found in our physical and mental surroundings, which can cause genetic modification of our DNA.^{Table 2} This genetic tendency can then also be inherited by later generations of people.

Diagnosis for cancer begins during routine examination and with a patient complaint. Cancer is detected only through specific blood work, imaging or minor surgical procedures;^{Table 3} it is therefore imperative that we obtain routine physical examinations and report every health incident to our physician.

Cancer

New Research

References

Conventional Treatments

Emotional treatments for patients and their loved ones are available through support groups and counseling which allows them to share their stories and heal from cancer's emotional impact.

Treatments for cancer are sometimes equally debilitating. Some of the conventional techniques include surgical procedure, Chemotherapy, and Radiation therapy. During a surgical procedure the cancerous tissue is cut and removed from the body. The surgery can only be performed on solid masses of cancerous cell and at an early stage before it begins to spread. The next line of defense is Chemotherapy, where cell growth and DNA replication suppressing drugs are administered to the patients several times leaving the patient physically and emotional just as defeated. These drugs are very harmful to healthy and cancerous tissues alike. Further more, two or more categories of chemo drugs are more effective than any single one by itself; therefore, they are routinely administered as cocktail of multiple drugs. Usually, in combination with chemotherapy, radiation therapy inflicts it own regiment of assaults, leaving the body wounded, drained and in a bleak hope of revival. Irradiation (radiation therapy) is a process where the affect region is locally expose to high power X-ray. This high energy radiation destroys all the cells in its path in an attempt to shrink tumor. Although it is a localized treatment, it impacts local healthy tissue as well. Due to its damaging power, several shorter duration treatments are administered to minimize the tissue damage and allowing the healthy tissue to heal in between. In case of blood cancer, full body irradiation is performed.

Cancer

Conventional Treatments

References

New Research

New Research breaths a new air into the seemingly hopeless prospects of cancer treatment with bold, innovative and promising alternatives. Many contemporary methods stems from state of the art research being done in today's laboratories. Advances in Cell and Tissue research, Stem Cell research and Biomaterials research have given us grafting and bone marrow transplants to renew/revive the respective damaged cancerous tissues. The grafting technique allows a surgically removed tissue (such as bone or skin) to be replaced with artificially created bioactive (or bioinert) replica. In case of bone marrow transplant, patients own bone marrow or a matching donor's bone marrow is harvested prior to irradiation and then is implanted into the patients to re-establish patient's destroyed blood line. Studies with immuno-therapy and other fields have devised vaccines, such BCG and mono-clonal antibodies, which provides patient's immune system a strong fighting chance against specific cancerous tissues. Such treatments are currently in clinical trials for several types of cancers, like Bladder, Skin, Leukemia, Breast and Prostate cancer. Much more research is needed to discover newer vaccines that are highly effective and can treat a wide array of cancers.

Experimental medicine is a slow progress, passing through several crucial phases of research, requiring large commitment of money, time and energy. Before a treatment is available to general public the treatment regiment is developed through three phases of research. Basic research is conducted at a very low level, until enough body of knowledge is generated to understand the medical benefits to human body. Basic research is followed by Preclinical research, an intermediate step, which takes the theoretical knowledge from basic research and tests it on animals. Clinicians use these results/discoveries to create treatment regime for clinical research. Lastly, during Clinical research an assessment of treatment regime (medication) developed during preclinical/basic research phases is done in actual patients. Last year's 94 billion dollars budgeted in research across the entire medical spectrum still falls short to create rapid and positive advances in treatments. This necessitates even more time, money and energy to be dedicated towards advancement in research.

Cancer

Conventional Treatments

New Research

References

• Cancer Awareness Ribbon Pins - By Gordon Petten
• Wikipedia
• Cancer Research UK
• The Cancer Epidemiology
• Florida Cancer Specialists
• PSA Rising
• Breast Cancer in Men
• Breast Cancer Awareness Pink Ribbon Workshops
• NOCC
• Gold Ribbons