Treat Skin Cancer Disease With Convnetional Therapies

Skin cancer is the most common type of all cancers which has affected a large number of populations in this world. Skin is said as the largest organ of a human being which helps to protect our body from all kinds of injuries and heat. It plays important role in making our personality charming and beautiful.

The treatment for skin cancer is dependent upon the type of a tumor and its stage. Moreover, the location, size and the nature of tumor also decide the type of treatment for this dreadful ailment. A patient with poor immune system is not advised for the surgery technique.

Types of skin cancer :

Two types of cancers are popular and these are Basal cell carcinoma and Squamous cell carcinoma. Both are the most common types of cancer diseases which are usually called as non-melanoma. These types of cancers rarely spread to other parts of the body. Melanoma is also a type of cancer which contains cancerous properties and can spread to other parts.

Skin cancer treatment :

Some of the conventional methods for the skin cancer disease have been described as follows :-

Surgery :

In this method, the tumor is cut out from the outer parts in thin layers. In this technique, the edges of the tumor are examined through a microscope study to check whether the cells are cancerous or not. Layers are removed until no more cancerous cells are found. In this method, some healthy tissues are also removed on the surface of the skin.

Mohs surgery :

This procedure is used for the tumor which is difficult to treat. It may include the Basal cell carcinomas and Squamous cell carcinomas. Doctor removes the cancerous growth layer by layer and examines each layer with the help of microscope, so that no any melanoma cells remain. This technique allows cancerous cells to be removed without taking an excessive amount of surrounding healthy skin.

Electrodesiccation and Curettage :

After removing most of the growth from the skin, doctors remove the layers of melanoma cells using a curet (a type of circular blade). An electric needle destroys the cancer cells. This is used to treat the basal cell carcinoma and Squamous cell carcinomas.

Chemotherapy :

This is also an effective method for the skin cancer treatment. In chemotherapy method, anti cancer drugs are used to kill the malignant tumor. Systemic chemotherapy method takes time to get cured, as the drugs are given in several steps.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) :

This is a combination of laser light and drugs that helps to make malignant cells sensitive towards light. Photodynamic therapy makes the outer layer sensitive towards light and thus destroys the malignant cells.

Biological therapy :

This is a new technique for the skin cancer treatment that stimulates immune system to kill the cancer cells. Biological therapy uses medications to heal certain types of cancers include interleukin-2 and interferon.

Deep Singh is a one of the top writer, having years of experience in Health industry. He has published many articles and blogs on Skin Cancer Treatment related topics. He spends a lot of his time thinking about and sharing knowledge of Diseases and Treatments. To read more on cancer treatment, visit sfrollc.com

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Treat Cancer Disease With Effective Healing Techniques

Cancer is a killer disease which has badly affected the lives of human beings around the globe. The word 'cancer' is the most horrifying word that creates fear among patients. When a person is diagnosed from this dreadful disease, then he/she needs a proper treatment with proper diagnosis, care and attention. They prefer to go to the world class cancer care hospitals to treat their disease. World class treatment centers treat each patient in a well versed way and satisfy each patient with best facility.

Various types of cancer treatment methods which are used in different cancer care clinics are following: Surgery

Surgery is the most common type of treatment for the different types of cancer disease which is generally advised to the patients who have strong immune system. This treatment is administered according to the location and type of the tumor. Surgery may have different types according to the diseases. For instance, for breast cancer treatment Lumpectomy, Mastectomy and Lymph node removal are used where as for lung cancer Pneumonectomy, Lobectom and segmentectomy are used.

Radiotherapy

This therapy is also effective for various types of cancer ailments. In this type of treatment, high-energy rays are targeted to destroy the cancerous cells. Radiation beams directly target the tumor and stop the division of malignant cells. This method is either carried out by external beam therapy or internal beam therapy, depending upon the location and type of the tumor.

Chemotherapy

In this method, medicines are given to the patients in several cycles. Medicines can be injected in vein or taken by mouth. Chemotherapy is used after the surgery or before the surgery to cure the patients in an effective way. Some of the anti cancer drugs are recommended to the patients that either kill the those cells or stop the division of the malignant cells. Patients can face some side effects after this treatment like loss of hair, nausea, fatigueless, weakness and other health problems.

Hormone therapy

This therapy is a highly effective for various types of cancer diseases which is also referred as 'anti-hormone therapy'. The treatment is used to block the hormone which stimulates the growth of cancerous cells.

Cryosurgery

It has also been successful for the various types of cancer diseases. In this technique, the malignant parts are cooled to a very low temperature. And the frozen parts are killed with the help of liquid nitrogen.

Summary

The cancer disease is usually treated in the world class cancer care clinic around the globe. Patients take advice from expert oncologists and medical specialist to lead a normal life.

Clinton Cerejo is an expert commentator, allied with health related services for many years. His valuable insights and deep understating for health care services have helped people in a number of ways. His research based article Cancer Treatment is worth to reading. For more information, visit sfrollc.com

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Effective Treatment Methods For Skin Cancer Disease

Skin cancer is the most common form of all cancers which has affected millions of people around the world. This is the most common form of melanoma which occurs in all people regardless of gender, race and age. When the basic unit of life the 'cells' start to divide in an irregular way then it creates a disturbance in the body and forms big mass called as the tumor. The tumor forms in the epithelial cell and creates itching, irritation, pain and inflammation problems in skin. The tumor may go to other parts of the body from its original location in metastatic stage (advance stage).

The treatment of the skin cancer depends upon on its different three types. The Skin cancer has three types such as Squamous Cells Carcinoma, Basal Cells Carcinoma, and Melanoma. Basal cell carcinoma and Squamous cell carcinoma are the most common types of skin melanomas which are benign and don't spread from its original locations.

Causes of skin cancer :

According to a research, the main cause of the skin cancer is over exposure to the sunlight (mainly ultraviolet rays). Other factors also cause this ailment like consumption of high dose of drugs, genetic factors and exposure to chemical elements (mainly carcinogenic).

Skin Cancer Treatment

There are following treatments for skin cancer disease :-

Mohs surgery :

This is a very popular as well as an effective method for the skin cancer treatment in which cancerous cells are removed from the affected areas. This technique is useful when oncologist doesn't know the type, nature and the depth of the tumor.

Photodynamic therapy :

In this technique, chemical is given to the patients through injection. The chemicals go into the blood stream and are absorbed by all cells but these chemicals remain same in the cancerous cells. Now, laser beams are applied on the affected areas and chemicals get activated to kill the cancerous cells and tumor.

Cryosurgery :

Cryosurgery is a very effective method for skin cancer treatment in which the cancerous cells are cooled at very low temperature (about -186 degree Celsius). When cells are frozen at low temperature, then liquid nitrogen is given to the affected parts to kill the malignant cells.

Laser technique :

This is a latest technique for skin cancer treatment which is used when cancer cells don't reach to the inner layers of the skin. In this technique, laser beams are administered on the melanoma parts to stop the cell division of cancerous cells.

Conclusion :

Medical science has come a long way to treat skin cancer disease. But more research works need to be done by researchers to discover latest and innovative healing techniques, so that patients can fight from this dreadful disease. Today, millions of people are suffering from this disease and seek proper diagnosis and treatment to lead a normal and happy life.

Deep Singh is a one of the top writer, having years of experience in Health industry. He has written lots of books and articles on on Skin Cancer Treatment and other cancer related topics. He spends a lot of his time thinking about and sharing knowledge of Diseases and Treatments. To read more on cancer treatment, visit wederm.com

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Novel Therapeutic Approach To Treating Inflammation In Cardiovascular Disease

Main Category: Heart Disease
Also Included In: Immune System / Vaccines;??Cancer / Oncology
Article Date: 07 May 2013 - 1:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Novel Therapeutic Approach To Treating Inflammation In Cardiovascular Disease

Peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT) with radiolabeled somatostatin analogs, an established treatment for cancer patients, could offer a novel therapeutic approach to decrease levels of inflammation in the atherosclerotic plaques of patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD), reported an abstract1 study at the International Conference on Nuclear Cardiology and Cardiac CT, May 5 to 8 in Berlin, Germany.

"Our results should act as a stimulus for further exploration of radionuclide based interventions in atherosclerosis. Ultimately such therapies might be used to lower the degree of inflammation in atherosclerosis which has the potential to reduce the occurrence of heart attacks," said Imke Schatka, the first author of the study from the Department of Nuclear Medicine at Hannover Medical School, Germany.

PRRT is a technique currently used to treat patients with metastatic neuroendocrine tumours (NETS), a diverse group of malignancies deriving from the neuroendocrine cell system (the most frequent locations being pancreas, small intestine and lung).

The discovery of over expression of somatostatin receptors (SSTR) on NET tumours first opened the way for development of radiolabelled somatostatin analogs to image tumours during PET/CT scans. DOTATATE is a somatostatin receptor (SSTR) ligand targeting SSTR-2, a receptor known to be expressed on 70% of NET tumours. Once tumours have been visualized, it is possible to target therapy by attaching the beta-emitter 1?? Lutetium (1??Lu) to the ligand.

Active inflammation has been widely implicated in the initiation, progression and disruption of vulnerable plaques, and consequently offers an emerging target for the imaging and treatment of atherosclerosis. "Since SSTR-2 receptors are also expressed on macrophages we speculated that DOTATATE-PET/CT might be used to detect vulnerable plaques and that a PRRT procedure could reduce inflammation in the arterial wall," explained Schatka.

For the current study, 11 patients (from a group of 165 undergoing PRRT for NET tumours) were retrospectively identified because they met the criteria of only receiving the beta emitter1??Lu treatment after undergoing two consecutive scans, with a third scan following treatment.

For each of the three scans, vessel wall uptake of the DOTATATE ligand was measured in six arterial segments of PET images (carotid, aortic arch, ascending, descending, abdominal aorta, and iliac arteries) and then the overall vessel uptake was determined for each individual patient.

Results showed that for the first scan the overall vessel uptake of the ligand correlated with the age of the patient (P<0.01), the number of calcified plaques (P<0.001) and furthermore was higher in subjects with hypercholesterolemia (p=0.04). No significant differences in overall vessel uptakes were found between scans 1 and 2, confirming reproducibility in the absence of treatment.

However, when treatment with the beta-emitter 1?? Lu-DOTATATE was delivered following scan 2, scan 3 showed significant reductions in the overall vessel uptake of the ligand when compared with both scan 1 (p=0.001) and scan 2 (p=0.004).

"Uptake of the ligand can be considered to be a measure of the quantity of SSTR receptors, which in turn is likely to correlate with the number of activated macrophages and the extent of the inflammatory process," explained Schatka. "Our results suggest that treatment has had a beneficial effect in reducing inflammation."

The next step, said Schatka, would be to get histological proof that reductions in inflammation really had been imaged with DOTATATE-PET/CT by looking at carotid artery samples removed from patients during routine surgery.

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Click 'references' tab above for source.
Visit our heart disease section for the latest news on this subject. 1. I Schatka, T Wollenweber, C Haense, et al. Peptide receptor radionuclide therapy decreases inflammation in atherosclerotic plaques, as quantified by 68Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT. Abstract no 70100.
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Aromatase Inhibitors May Increase Risk of Heart Disease

Aromatase inhibitors—hormonal therapy drugs commonly used in the treatment of postmenopausal breast cancer—may increase the risk of heart disease. These results were presented at the 2010 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

Tamoxifen and aromatase inhibitors are hormonal therapy drugs that are commonly used in the treatment of hormone receptor-positive breast cancer. Both types of drugs slow or stop breast cancer growth by reducing the effects of estrogen on the breast.

Aromatase inhibitors include ArimidexR (anastrozole), FemaraR (letrozole), and AromasinR (exemestane). In studies that compared aromatase inhibitors to tamoxifen in postmenopausal women, aromatase inhibitors tended to be more effective against breast cancer recurrence. As a result, treatment guidelines recommend that postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer consider using an aromatase inhibitor at some point in their course of treatment.[1]

Adverse effects of tamoxifen and aromatase inhibitors differ. Blood clots and endometrial (uterine) cancer are more common with tamoxifen, and bone loss is more common with aromatase inhibitors. Previous studies have also raised questions about the effects of aromatase inhibitors on the heart.

To further evaluate the issue of heart problems, researchers collected information from seven large clinical trials that compared tamoxifen with an aromatase inhibitor among postmenopausal breast cancer patients.[2]

Compared with tamoxifen, use of an aromatase inhibitor was linked with a 26% increase in risk of heart disease. This is not a large increase in risk, but the researchers speculated that the risk may be greater for women who have other risk factors for heart disease. In a second study conducted using data from health insurance plans, there did not appear to be an increased risk of cardiac disease among women taking aromatase inhibitors. ?

Unfortunately, it is not possible to determine at this time if aromatase inhibitors truly increase the risk of heart problems. ?Women are encouraged to discuss potential risks and benefits of all treatments with their physicians.

References:

[1] Burstein HJ, Prestrud AA, Seidenfeld J et al. American Society of Clinical Oncology Clinical Practice Guidelines: Update on adjuvant endocrine therapy for women with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer. Journal of Clinical Oncology. 2010; 28: 3784-3796.

[2] Amir E, Ocana A, Niraula S, Carlsson L, Seruga B. Toxicity of adjuvant endocrine therapy in postmenopausal breast cancer patients. Presented at the 33rd annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, December 8-12, 2010. Abstract S2-7.

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Potential Therapeutic Target Discovered For Cushing's Disease

Main Category: Cancer / Oncology
Also Included In: Neurology / Neuroscience;??Endocrinology
Article Date: 10 May 2013 - 0:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Potential Therapeutic Target Discovered For Cushing's Disease

Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have identified a protein that drives the formation of pituitary tumors in Cushing's disease, a development that may give clinicians a therapeutic target to treat this potentially life-threatening disorder.

The protein, called TR4 (testicular orphan nuclear receptor 4), is one of the human body's 48 nuclear receptors, a class of proteins found in cells that are responsible for sensing hormones and, in response, regulating the expression of specific genes. Using a genome scan, the Salk team discovered that TR4 regulates a gene that produces adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), which is overproduced by pituitary tumors in Cushing's disease (CD). The findings were published in the early online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"We were surprised by the scan, as TR4 and ACTH were not known to be functionally linked," says senior author Ronald M. Evans, a professor in Salk's Gene Expression Laboratory and a lead researcher in the Institute's Helmsley Center for Genomic Medicine. "TR4 is driving the growth and overexpression of ACTH. Targeting this pathway could therapeutically benefit treatment of CD."

In their study, Evans and his colleagues discovered that forced overexpression of TR4 in both human and mouse cells increased production of ACTH, cellular proliferation and tumor invasion rates. All of these events were reversed when TR4 expression was reduced.

First described more than 80 years ago, Cushing's disease is a rare disorder that is caused by pituitary tumors or excess growth of the pituitary gland located at the base of the brain. People with CD have too much ACTH, which stimulates the production and release of cortisol, a hormone that is normally produced during stressful situations.

While these pituitary tumors are almost always benign, they result in excess ACTH and cortisol secretion, which can result in various disabling symptoms, including diabetes, hypertension, osteoporosis, obesity and psychological disturbances. Surgical removal of the tumors is the first-line therapy, with remission rates of approximately 80 percent; however, the disease recurs in up to 25 percent of cases.

Drugs such as cabergoline, which is used to treat certain pituitary tumors, alone or in combination with ketoconazole, a drug normally used to treat fungal infections, have been shown to be effective in some patients with Cushing's disease. More recently, mefipristone-best known as the abortion pill RU-486-was approved by the FDA to treat CD. Despite these advances in medical therapy, the Salk scientists say additional therapeutic approaches are needed for CD.

"Pituitary tumors are extremely difficult to control," says Michael Downes, a senior staff scientist in the Gene Expression Laboratory and a co-author of the study. "To control them, you have to kill cells in the pituitary gland that are proliferating, which could prevent the production of a vital hormone."

Previous studies have found that, by itself, TR4 is a natural target for other signaling molecules in the pituitary. Small-molecule inhibitors that have been developed for other cancers could be potentially applied to disrupt this signaling cascade. "Our discovery," says Evans, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and holder of the March of Dimes Chair in Molecular and Developmental Biology, "might lead clinicians to an existing drug that could be used to treat Cushing's disease."

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Click 'references' tab above for source.
Visit our cancer / oncology section for the latest news on this subject. Other researchers on the study were Li Du, Marvin Bergsneider, Leili Mirsadraei, Stephen H. Young, William H. Yong and Anthony P. Heaney of the David A. Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, and Johan W. Jonker of the University of Groningen.
The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health, the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation, the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center at UCLA, and Ipsen/Biomeasure.
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