Cancer Resources

Fecal Occult Blood Testing (FOBT)

These laboratory kits cost about $10 and they are the most common colon cancer screening tests, although their effectiveness is being questioned. This test involves taking samples from two different parts of your stool, for three days, and spreading the samples on the testing paper. A recent study found a 33 percent reduction in death (in average-risk people) from colorectal cancer in the group having an annual FOBT test. Some of this reduction in risk could be due to colonoscopies that were performed due to false positive FOBT results. If you are opting for an FOBT as part of your annual physical exam, there are a few things you might want to know:

* Of all the different FOBT tests available, HemeSelect (an immunochemical test) has been shown to perform better than the others.
* The test is more accurate (avoiding false-negative and false-positive test results) when you abstain from taking aspirin and eating certain foods (red meat, some raw fruits and vegetables, and vitamin C supplements). Be sure to ask your doctor if there are any food guidelines he/she wants you to follow before taking the samples.
* It can still miss a cancer that wasn’t bleeding at the time or it can pick up bleeding for which no source can be found. Continue reading ‘Colon Cancer Tests’ »

If you’ve been diagnosed with breast cancer, it may have been suggested you have a single mastectomy in the other breast or a double mastectomy, but is this the best approach? I was diagnosed more than a decade ago with infiltrating intraductal breast cancer and I turned down all conventional treatment including chemotherapy, radiation and surgery and chose an alternative route. No single or double mastectomy either. And I’m still in excellent health today.

The trend is alarming as more and more women are removing healthy breasts because they are panicked, are in fear of breast cancer returning or migrating to the other breast.

I’ll discuss a recent study showing why mastectomy is not saving lives in a moment. However, what is alarming to me is that there is still breast tissue left in the chest wall and by removing healthy breasts there is still tissue that could already contain cancer cells or be available to them.

There is very little evidence that proves that women live longer or survival rates increase by removing their breasts after a diagnosis of breast cancer. A recent study of statistics published in a national medical journal read by doctors found that 5000 women in one state, between 1995 and 2005, who had cancer in one of their breasts, chose to have the other breast removed. These women already had breast cancer. They were not women who tested positive for the BRCA-1 or BRCA-2 gene mutation type of breast cancer, where prophylactic removal is more common. Continue reading ‘Breast Cancer – Do You Really Need a Mastectomy? – From a Nurse Survivor’ »

It is devastating for someone to be told that medicine has run out of options and there is no more treatment that can be offered. Some patients adapt to what they consider the inevitable. However some people fight tooth and nail to have a longer period of time before they die. They want to explore every option. Is this realistic? Are there any cancer remedies or natural cancer treatments that have been shown to work?

The official medical answer to that is, no, or medicine would be using them. However it has to be acknowledged that there are some people who, despite their medical prognosis, do much better than expected, and most medical people have no idea why that is. Much research has been done but few doctors know of it and even fewer believe that it is their role to tell patients about it. Continue reading ‘Cancer Remedies – If Medicine Can't Help Are There Any Natural Cancer Treatments?’ »

What are cancerous moles symptoms? Perhaps you have this experience: a mole on your belly suddenly goes itchy. You mention it randomly to your family and they get very concerned and suggest a consultation with a medical expert.

Do you think they are over-reacting or being itchy is one of the cancerous moles symptoms?

Actually, it’s advisable for one to be aware of the differences between a mole at its normal condition and one that may develop into cancer. The ability to identify cancerous moles symptoms may save someone from the real danger of a fatal disease.

More often than not, moles are not harmful. But in some cases, moles can be cancerous. One of these situations is that of melanoma which develops from existing moles. No everyone is alert enough to notice the symptoms of a cancerous mole in the skin. To ensure that your mole is not cancerous, your family is right – let your doctor examine it to decide if the mole is dangerous or not. Continue reading ‘Cancerous Mole Symptoms’ »

The key is being able to distinguish between the ‘tigers’ in prostate cancer from the ‘pussy cats.

We need to quickly recognise and treat the dangerous, aggressive prostate cancers but equally ensure that we don’t over treat men whose disease is slow-growing and not clinically significant.

The PSA test has been the traditional benchmark for assessing risk of prostate cancer. PSA stands for prostate specific antigen, a protein made by the prostate which naturally leaks into the bloodstream when the prostate is damaged.

A simple blood test can be taken to measure levels of PSA and a high reading indicates prostate cancer may be present. However a high reading can also be caused by non-cancerous conditions, such as an enlarged prostate, or BPH (Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia). Continue reading ‘Prostate Cancer – More Accurate, Individual Risk Assessment and Advanced Surgery’ »

There are many different types of leukemia, but all are a malignant disease of the white blood cells of the body. The cause of all types is still uncertain. Each type is determined by the specific blood cell involved and the length of time the illness lasts. Leukemia exists in both an acute ad chronic form: it is detected when the blood is examined.

When the cell group known as the lymphocytes is affected, the disease is called lymphocytic leukemia. When the monocytes are involved, it is known as monocytic leukemia. And when the polymorphonuclear cells are involved, it is called myeloid leukemia.

The myeloid form attacks a younger age group than the lymphocytic. These two types are the ones seen most commonly, but almost all of what is noted here applies to leukemia in general.

Leukemia is more common in males than in females. The outcome of the disease depends upon the type, and whether it is in the acute or chronic form. Continue reading ‘Leukemia – What You Should Know About It’ »

Manual lymphatic drainage therapy is a technique that involves very gentle manual massages that is said to aid in the flow of lymph fluid within the vessels and nodes. This therapy is excellent in treating patients who suffer from lymphedema and experience swellings due to congestion of the lymphatic fluid. The treatment is an excellent system that helps in removing all the toxic fluid that has gathered in the body and has no outlet because of the nodes being blocked.

The manual lymphatic drainage system is a treatment method that is carried out with bare hands on the skin of the patient by applying the right amount of pressure. This healing touch does not require the usage of oils or even lotions that aid in free flow massage. The touch that is required in MLD is very different from any other types of massages and hence needs to be carried out by experienced therapists. With the application of the right touch and right pressure only will the technique and its outcome be effective. Continue reading ‘Manual Lymphatic Drainage’ »

Colon cancer is regarded to be one of the most lethal types of cancers that touches dozens of individuals each year. What makes it so intense is how tricky it is for people to know the symptoms and the ability for physicians to catch it when it is in the early phase. When found too late there is little to nothing that anyone has the ability to do to treat it.

One of the easiest ways that you can understand how to spot this disease early is to know the risk factors. This will help you to recognize whether you are regarded – by medical standards – to be a high or low risk. If you believe that you are high risk you need to have scheduled visits and screenings planned with your physician.

Age – Studies present that around 90% of people who have been diagnosed with this condition are fifty years or more. Yet, it is still manageable for younger people to have it – it is merely not as ordinary. Continue reading ‘The Common Risk Factors of Colon Cancer’ »

Breast Cancer – Aside from October being one of the cooler months of the year, and a special month for kids to go trick or treating dressed up as an eerie ghoul to scare people witless, it is however on a more serious note Breast Cancer Awareness Month. For some women being greeted at the door by a vampire, devil or witch, the fright at that moment is nothing in comparison to the fear they feel inside after being diagnosed with breast cancer.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month is a time when women and young girls are alerted to the importance of early detection. This does not mean that women are not made aware of what is involved with breast cancer treatments, self breast examination and recovery issues all year round; it is just strongly more focused upon in October through Breast Awareness Campaigns. These types of campaigns have great pulling power where we see more and more women coming forward to get themselves checked out, and their questions answered.

As it is with most organizations and support groups they need financial help to keep up the good work. Breast cancer groups will include people who care, and are compassionate towards your feelings. It is also most likely that them who run the groups are, or, have been patients themselves. Cancer care workers will help you the best they can to come to terms with having breast cancer, be there for you when undergoing treatment for breast cancer…right through the recovery period and after care.

If you would like to help these people who work tirelessly tending to the sick, then you can. Some people will run a marathon to raise funds for breast cancer while others may put on a show and sell tickets to make money for their breast cancer charity. Why not take advantage of Halloween night and get a few friends together and dress up, and instead of holding a lighted pumpkin, hold up a placard with a message saying all monetary donations will be donated to the breast cancer campaign. Continue reading ‘Breast Cancer Awareness Month – Best Way to Beat Breast Cancer is to Prevent It’ »

On Oct. 15, CBC Radio’s program “The Current,” featured author Barbara Ehrenreich’s latest book, Bright-sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America

In her book, Ehrenreich takes a trenchant look into America’s obsession with presenting a “positive” image at all times and at all costs. Spurred by her own reaction to a bout of breast cancer, Ehrenreich came face-to-face with the near obsessive culture of positivity, which led to her questioning not only what purpose it serves, but how it came to exist. Continue reading ‘Cancer Survival and the Power of Positive Thinking – Have We Gone Too Far? One Author Says Yes’ »