Daily Health Tips

Archive for the ‘Cancer’ Category

Symptoms

In most cases, some people with soft tissue sarcoma complain of a new lump, mysterious and persistent in some region of the body, most often in the arm, leg or trunk. This lump may or may not be painful. In physically active people, the package is sometimes confused with an injury related to sports or recreational activities.

Rhabdomyosarcoma that affects the arms and legs can cause a painless lump on the head or neck or can cause other symptoms that reflect the location of the tumor. For example:

- In the eye or eyelid, rhabdomyosarcoma can make the eye stand out, which becomes inflamed (swollen) or has an eyelid paralysis of eye muscles.
- In the sinuses, can cause congestion or stuffy nose, sometimes accompanied by runny nose with pus or blood. Read the rest of this entry »

Other soft tissue sarcomas (children and adults), many other types of sarcomas can occur in fatty tissues, fibrous tissues, blood vessels, nerves, smooth muscles and tissues in the joints. Some of the most commonly diagnosed include:

Malignant fibrous histiocytoma: This sarcoma is manifested in any immune cells called histiocytes or primitive cells that form fibrous (connective). On x-ray is usually seen as an area of ​​bone destruction. Occurs primarily in adults and affects men more often than women. Typically begins in the long bones of the arms and legs, especially around the knees, and tends to spread rapidly. The reasons are that cause most cases, some may be triggered by a bone condition called Paget’s disease, others may occur after a bone injury caused by the interruption of blood supply to the bone, or may be a result of treatment with previous cases of radiation for cancer. Read the rest of this entry »

They are called sarcomas are cancers that in the soft tissues such as muscle, adipose tissue (fat), nerves, cartilage, blood vessels. Cancers that arise from the bones are also classified as sarcomas. Many soft tissue sarcomas have a rather meaty. The cells that make up these soft tissue could become cancerous. Scientists do not understand the exact reasons why these cells become cancerous soft tissue, although there may be several genetic abnormalities associated with these soft tissue sarcomas as well as the factors described below.

In many cases, the tumor contains cancer cells that somehow still looking like normal soft tissue when viewed under a microscope. The tumor is called the rate at which soft sounds. For example, a soft-tissue sarcoma resembling liposarcoma is called adipose tissue, whereas a tumor that resembles fibrous tissue called fibrosarcoma. If a soft tissue sarcoma resembles more of a soft tissue type, name and appearance will reflect this complex will be named neurofibrosarcoma. A soft tissue sarcoma that does not resemble any normal tissue is called undifferentiated or unclassified. Although not formed in soft tissue sarcomas occur in bones are called osteosarcomas. Read the rest of this entry »

Treatment

Treatment of neuroblastoma depends on the extent of spread, called the stage of tumor. The tumor stage is determined by the amount of tumor can be surgically removed and whether the cancer has spread to lymph nodes or distant organs. Here are the stages of neuroblastoma:

- Localized neuroblastoma: this means that the tumor has spread. If the tumor is localized and can be surgically removed completely with surgery, no further treatment is necessary. If the tumor is located but can not completely removed, the child will need chemotherapy. After chemotherapy, the child may need a second surgery to remove any remaining tumor portion. This could be accompanied by radiation therapy. Read the rest of this entry »

Diagnosis

Your doctor will check your child’s symptoms and examine you. Your doctor will order blood and urine as well as x-rays. We need a computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to provide further details.

If none of these tests show signs of a cancerous (malignant), your doctor will refer you to a medical center that has the facilities, personnel and expertise to treat childhood cancer. There, you will other blood tests your child to confirm the diagnosis of neuroblastoma. These may include a biopsy, which is removed through a small portion of tumor and examined in a laboratory. It could also take a sample of bone marrow. Read the rest of this entry »

The symptoms of neuroblastoma may include:

- a firm mass in the abdomen, with or without abdominal pain or discomfort
- difficulty breathing (due to an abdominal mass pressing on the chest and the baby’s lungs)
- weight loss or failure to gain weight (called failure to thrive)
- anemia (low red blood cells)
- fever and irritability
- bone pain
- neurological symptoms when the tumor damages nearby nerves, including paralysis, difficulty swallowing, difficulty walking, uncontrolled movement of the eyes, droopy eyelids or uncontrolled or involuntary movement of limbs.
- bulging eyes or dark circles around the eyes (“panda eyes”) Read the rest of this entry »

Neuroblastoma is the most common childhood cancer and is formed outside the brain. Represents approximately 8% of all childhood cancers. The average age of diagnosis is 2 years old. However, there is a specific subclass called Stage 4S neuroblastoma, which occurs in infants under 1 year. Despite the presence of metastatic disease (spread), these patients tend to carry the disease quite well and there have been instances of spontaneous regression of these neuroblastomas in infants.

Neuroblastomas are formed in the nerve cells responsible for the response of “fight or flight” of the body, which is the ability to react to an emergency that threatens life. These nerve cells form the sympathetic nervous system.

Neuroblastomas usually form in one of the two parts of the sympathetic nervous system: Read the rest of this entry »

Changes in brain tissue can occur in people with breast cancer who are treated with chemotherapy, according to a U.S. study published in the journal Breast Cancer Research and Treatment.

The study provides information on the anatomical basis of already known effects of chemotherapy on cognitive function. Memory and executive functions (including a decreased ability to multitask and a decrease in the rate of information processing) are the functions most affected.

Brenna McDonald and Andrew Saykin, University of Indiana, with their colleagues, conducted the study with 17 women with breast cancer treated with chemotherapy after surgery, 12 women with the disease who have not received chemotherapy after surgery and 18 women free of the disease.

Magnetic resonance images of brain were taken after surgery but before radiotherapy and chemotherapy. The scans were repeated one month and one year after completion of chemotherapy.

Decreased gray matter density was most evident in brain areas associated with cognitive dysfunction experienced by women during and immediately after chemotherapy. For most women, the density of gray matter was improved one year after completion of chemotherapy.

For many women, the effects are subtle, said Dr. Saykin. For some, however, changes in gray matter may be more important. For example, for a relatively small proportion of patients treated with chemotherapy, generally middle-aged women, the brain changes are so important that they are unable to return to work. Most, however, remain able to work and do multitasking, but they may find it difficult to do.

Some studies have shown a link between consumption (albeit modest) of alcohol and an increased risk of breast cancer. However, other studies suggest that moderate alcohol consumption (consumption limited to 2 glasses per day) may protect against heart disease.

A Unless you have a greater risk of developing breast cancer because of genetic considerations, drinking alcohol in moderation is still possible. But to maintain good general health, keep your drinking under the recommended limits (less than 2 drinks per day for women).

> Eat plenty of fresh vegetables
The vitamins and antioxidants found in vegetables are known to help prevent all kinds of cancer. Recent studies suggest that eating green vegetables like broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower, may help prevent breast cancer.

Red vegetables such as carrot, tomato, red pepper, mango and cantaloupe are rich in beta-carotene and lycopene, which are known for their ability to prevent cancer.

You may have noticed that these food tips, recommended as part of a diet can prevent breast cancer, remain valid also for a healthy diet in general. Generally, a healthy diet will protect you from many diseases, including breast cancer.

Of course, there are people who follow all these tips and still at risk of developing breast cancer, but by adopting a healthy lifestyle, you still give the best chance of preventing the development of cancer breast. Read also: Diet and health: what foods health against diseases?

Nuts are one of the best dietary sources of selenium, a mineral that improves the efficiency of DNA to recover from exposure to harmful free radicals. Walnuts also contain large amounts of omega-3 fatty acids, which block a protein that has a natural sensitivity to carcinogens. Brazil nuts are the richest in this area among the nuts, but nuts all contain both anti-cancer nutrients.

Various studies have found a surprising difference in how the essential fatty acids omega-3 and omega-6 influence the development of cancerous tumors in the body. In short, eat more fish (rich in omega-3) and less chicken (rich in omega-6). A team of U.S. scientists have found conclusive evidence of these effects when it analyzed in laboratory rats who consumed more omega-3 fatty acids than omega-6 fatty acids.

For a life saved by screening programs for breast cancer, many women are treated unnecessarily, says an article in the Los Angeles Times.

The objectives of the campaigns did not follow the advancement of research on breast cancer, considers Dr. H. Gilbert Welch of Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice in Lebanon (United States) whose comments are reported by the newspaper.

The experts thought a few years ago that the priority was to detect cancerous tumors when they were small and presumably more tractable. So they put the emphasis on annual mammogram, “he said.

But they now believe that breast cancer is not one disease but many. Some tumors are indolent and will never cause problems. Others develop slowly and may eventually spread. And the most aggressive cancers can metastasize before they are detected.

Unfortunately, it is currently not possible to assess which tumors are benign or dangerous. All are treated as if they were dangerous.

However, screening tests such as mammograms and self-examination are more likely to find indolent cancers, “said Welch. Therefore, there is more testing, more women there are subjected to surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy for cancer that they have never caused injury. An article published last month in The New England Journal of Medicine estimated that for every life saved by screening mammography, 5 to 15 other women are diagnosed and treated unnecessarily.

The problems of over-diagnosis and over-treatment are rarely discussed in advertisements and promotional material for campaigns. None of these words appear on the website of the U.S. campaign National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and the site of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the oldest and largest group of American fight against cancer, “says Gayle A. Sulik, author of Pink Ribbon Blues: How Culture Undermine Breast Cancer Women’s Health.

And this is not accidental, said Welch.

“This is a common problem with campaigns to disease and patient advocacy groups,” he said. “If you look at their sources of funding, you will often find a pharmaceutical company or an equipment manufacturer which is positioned to benefit from an increase in the number of people with Alzheimer’s disease.”

Welch believes that the sponsorship by the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca Awareness Month is a “huge conflict of interest” as encouraging women to get tested invariably increase the number of diagnoses and therefore the market for its drug Arimidex, Faslodex, Nolvadex and Zoladex.

The website of the National Campaign American awareness month indicates that the organization remains “dedicated to education and empowerment of women to make itself responsible for their breast health by practicing regular self-examination to identify any changes in scheduling regular visits with their health care provider and an annual mammogram, observing the prescribed treatment and knowing the facts about recurrence.

Some experts like to see greater emphasis on real prevention linked to a better understanding of the causes of breast cancer. “The message is that the best prevention is early detection, but this is not prevention, is to find a cancer that is already there,” recalls Dr. Susan Love, breast cancer surgeon at the School of Medicine, University of California at Los Angeles and author of Dr. Susan Love’s Breast Book.