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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Sorafenib Stops Tumor Growth And Provides The First Effective Treatment For Thyroid Cancer Patients Who Progress Following Standard Therapies

Main Category: Cancer / Oncology
Also Included In: Endocrinology;??Ear, Nose and Throat
Article Date: 04 Jun 2013 - 0:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Sorafenib Stops Tumor Growth And Provides The First Effective Treatment For Thyroid Cancer Patients Who Progress Following Standard Therapies

The kidney and liver cancer drug sorafenib holds metastatic thyroid cancer at bay for nearly twice as long as a placebo, according to results of a randomized phase III trial, which was presented by a researcher from the Abramson Cancer Center and the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in a plenary session during the American Society of Clinical Oncology's annual meeting (Abstract #4).

If approved for use in thyroid cancer patients by the Food and Drug Administration, sorafenib (Nexavar), a kinase inhibitor that mediates tumor cell division and growth of tumor blood vessels, would be the first effective agent for this patient population. Thyroid cancer is highly curable through surgery and radioactive iodine treatment, but about 10 percent of the 60,000 patients who are diagnosed with the disease each year fail to respond to standard therapies, with tumors eventually appearing in the lymph nodes, bones, lungs, and other sites. The only other drug for advanced thyroid cancer, doxorubicin, which was approved in 1974, is not used because it is highly toxic and is not effective.

"Until we began using sorafenib, we had no medical options for these patients who suffered due to progression of their disease," said Marcia S. Brose, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery and Hematology/Oncology, who led the study, which is known as DECISION. "Now, we can give patients hope - a breakthrough medication that can stop the progression of the disease for 5 months. This trial is the first step in a promising series of clinical trials to identify new drugs that are shifting the horizon for patients with advanced thyroid cancer."

Of the 417 metastatic thyroid cancer patients studied in the multicenter, international trial, 207 were randomized to take sorafenib, an oral drug, and 210 to a placebo arm. Twelve percent of patients experienced tumor shrinkage in the sorafenib arm, compared to 0.5 percent of patients taking a placebo. Importantly, the therapy also appeared to thwart disease progression even among many of those whose tumors did not regress: 42 patients who took sorafenib had stable disease after six months, compared to 33 percent of those in the placebo group.

Among patients taking sorafenib, median progression-free survival was 10.8 months, compared to 5.8 months among the placebo group. Patients taking the placebo were allowed to cross over into the sorafenib arm once their disease progressed; 70 percent of them did so. Overall survival data is not yet available.

The most common adverse events observed among patients taking sorafenib included hand-foot skin reaction, diarrhea, alopecia, rash, fatigue, weight loss and hypertension, all of which are consistent with findings from previous trials of the drug for its approved indications.

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. Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals and Onyx Pharmaceuticals provided funding for the trial. Editor's note: Dr. Brose has received consulting fees and honoraria from these companies.
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report:

MLA

University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. "Sorafenib Stops Tumor Growth And Provides The First Effective Treatment For Thyroid Cancer Patients Who Progress Following Standard Therapies." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 4 Jun. 2013. Web.
5 Jun. 2013. APA
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. (2013, June 4). "Sorafenib Stops Tumor Growth And Provides The First Effective Treatment For Thyroid Cancer Patients Who Progress Following Standard Therapies." Medical News Today. Retrieved from
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/261331.php.

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'Sorafenib Stops Tumor Growth And Provides The First Effective Treatment For Thyroid Cancer Patients Who Progress Following Standard Therapies'

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Study Examines Use Of Creative Arts Therapies Among Patients With Cancer

Main Category: Cancer / Oncology
Also Included In: Depression;??Anxiety / Stress
Article Date: 13 May 2013 - 13:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Study Examines Use Of Creative Arts Therapies Among Patients With Cancer

JAMA Internal Medicine Study Highlights

Creative arts therapies (CATs) can improve anxiety, depression, pain symptoms and quality of life among cancer patients, although the effect was reduced during follow-up in a study by Timothy W. Puetz, Ph.D., M.P.H., of the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md., and colleagues.

Authors reviewed the available medical literature and included 27 studies involving 1,576 patients. Researchers found that during treatment, CAT significantly reduced anxiety, depression and pain, and increased quality of life. However, the effects were greatly diminished during follow-up, the study concludes.

"Future well-designed RCTs are needed to address the methodological heterogeneity found within this field of research," according to the study.

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. JAMA Internal Med. Published online May 13, 2013. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2013.836. Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report:

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Medicine, JAMA Internal. "Study Examines Use Of Creative Arts Therapies Among Patients With Cancer." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 13 May. 2013. Web.
20 May. 2013. APA

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'Study Examines Use Of Creative Arts Therapies Among Patients With Cancer'

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Combination of HER2-Targeted Therapies May Provide Breast Cancer Benefit

Among women with early, HER2-positive breast cancer, treatment with a combination of HER2-targeted therapies may produce better outcomes than treatment with only a single HER2-targeted therapy. This was the conclusion of two studies presented at the 2010 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. One of the studies evaluated neoadjuvant (before surgery) HerceptinR (trastuzumab) plus TykerbR (lapatinib), and the other evaluated neoadjuvant Herceptin plus pertuzumab.

Approximately 20-25% of breast cancers overexpress (make too much of) a protein known as HER2. Fortunately, the development of drugs that specifically target HER2-positive breast cancer has improved outcomes. These drugs include Herceptin, Tykerb, and the investigational drug pertuzumab.

Combinations of HER2-targeted therapies have shown a benefit in studies of women with metastatic breast cancer (cancer that has spread to other parts of the body), and researchers are also evaluating these combinations in women with earlier-stage breast cancer.

The NeoALTTO study is a Phase III clinical trial that has enrolled 455 women with early, HER2-positive breast cancer.[i] The study was restricted to women with operable breast cancer greater than 2 cm in size; women with inflammatory breast cancer were excluded. Study participants were assigned to one of three neoadjuvant (before surgery) treatment groups:

Tykerb plus chemotherapyHerceptin plus chemotherapyHerceptin plus Tykerb plus chemotherapy

The primary outcome of the study was the pathological complete response (pCR) rate. A pCR refers to the disappearance of detectable cancer at the time of surgery. After surgery, patients received additional chemotherapy and HER2-targeted therapy.

Response rates were highest among women treated with the combination of Herceptin and Tykerb: a pCR was achieved by 51.3% of women in the combined Herceptin/Tykerb group, 29.5% of women in the Herceptin group, and 24.7% of women in the Tykerb group.

In a second study, a Phase II clinical trial known as NeoSphere, researchers enrolled 417 women with Stage II or Stage III HER2-positive breast cancer.[ii] Study participants were assigned to one of four neoadjuvant treatment groups:

Herceptin plus chemotherapyHerceptin plus pertuzumab plus chemotherapyHerceptin plus pertuzumab (without chemotherapy)Pertuzumab plus chemotherapy

After surgery, patients received additional chemotherapy and Herceptin.

Response rates were highest among women treated with the combination of Herceptin, pertuzumab, and chemotherapy. A pCR was achieved by 45.8% of women treated with all three drugs, 29% of women treated with Herceptin plus chemotherapy, 24% of women treated with pertuzumab plus chemotherapy, and 16.8% of women treated with Herceptin plus pertuzumab without chemotherapy.

Taken together, these studies suggest that a combination of HER2-targeted therapies may be most effective against HER2-positive breast cancer.? While these data are very encouraging, both studies were small and we do not know that the improvement in pCR will result in fewer recurrences or longer survival.? At this point, these studies should stimulate additional research, but they should not be used as evidence to change clinical practice standards.

[i] Baselga J, Bradbury I, Eidtmann H et al. First results of the NeoALTTO Trial (BIG 01-06/EGF 106903): A phase III, randomized, open label, neoadjuvant study of lapatinib, trastuzumab, and their combination plus paclitaxel in women with HER2-positive primary breast cancer. Presented at the 33rd annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, December 8-12, 2010. Abstract S3-3.

[ii] Gianni L, Pienkowski T, Im Y-H et al. Neoadjuvant pertuzumab (P) and trastuzumab (H): antitumor and safety analysis of a randomized phase II study (‘NeoSphere’). Presented at the 33rd annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, December 8-12, 2010. Abstract S3-2.

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