‘It was the ‘are you pregnant?’ comments that did it,” says Suzy Norman. four years ago, the former primary school teacher from east London noticed her stomach was often unusually bloated; by Christmas 2008, it had swelled so much that her family, friends and even strangers began to ask when her baby was due.

Norman, 37, knew she was not pregnant. For months, her doctor had insisted she had irritable bowel syndrome. Unconvinced, she went to A&E. After a series of scans, one of her ovaries was removed and she was then told she had ovarian cancer. It was so advanced that the only option was to remove the other ovary and her womb; she then underwent three months of chemotherapy. “It was just horrendous,” she says. “I lost my hair; I had painful, aching legs. I went from being a busy teacher to just flopping on the sofa. but it did seem to work: I’m pretty well now.”

Norman is relatively fortunate to have caught the disease in time: the symptoms of ovarian cancer often go unrecognised by women and GPs, and it has one of the worst survival rates of all cancers. according to the charity Target Ovarian Cancer, around 6,500 women in Britain are diagnosed with ovarian cancer each year, and 4,400 lose their lives to the disease. the five-year survival rate in the UK is just 36%: that is one of the lowest in Europe, and has changed little over the past three decades. By way of comparison, UK survival rates for breast cancer have risen over the same period from around 50% to more than 80%.

The poor survival rate for ovarian cancer is strongly linked to late diagnosis because of a lack of awareness of the early symptoms, which include persistent bloating or abdominal pain; difficulty eating or feeling unusually full; and needing to urinate often or urgently. according to a study last month by Ipsos Mori for Target Ovarian Cancer, just 3% of women feel confident in their ability to recognise these symptoms (by contrast, more than three-quarters of the 1,004 women questioned recognised that a breast lump could be a sign of breast cancer).

For Annwen Jones, chief executive of Target Ovarian Cancer, increasing awareness of these early symptoms is a key factor in improving women’s chances of survival. “Our study showed a really positive increase in awareness of ovarian cancer among GPs,” she says. “But we need to improve awareness among women generally. if ovarian cancer is diagnosed in its earliest stages, the survival rate rises to 70%. the sooner we can diagnose, the more women will survive. It’s that simple.” the charity is campaigning for ovarian cancer to be included in the government’s be Clear on Cancer public-information project, which has seen TV ads made about the symptoms of other cancers, such as bowel cancer.

Rona Passmore, 50, a part-time support worker for adults with disabilities, from Dunbar, knows only too well how important it is to catch ovarian cancer in its earliest stages. in August 2008, she realised her stomach was often distended, but put it down to the menopause. One night, however, she woke with excruciating abdominal pains. the next morning, she went to see her GP; after ruling out a pregnancy, he sent her straight to A&E, suspecting ovarian cancer. His suspicions were confirmed. “I had a scan,” Passmore says, “which showed that I had a huge ovarian cyst. the doctors advised removing both the ovary and the womb; when they found a tumour attached to the cyst, they also advised a course of chemotherapy.”

The treatment was successful – Passmore is now down to six-monthly check-ups. her oncologists were very impressed with the speed of her GP’s response. “They kept saying how lucky it was that my GP had sent me straight to hospital. I knew about cervical cancer and breast cancer, but pretty much nothing about ovarian cancer. Now, I’m telling everyone about it.”

Norman is sure her own lack of understanding of the disease, and her GP’s failure to correctly diagnose her symptoms, led to a serious delay in treatment: two years elapsed between first noticing the bloating and admitting herself to hospital. “I just didn’t know anything about ovarian cancer,” she says. “I was busy, I was getting on with my life, as we all do, and my GP was very tardy in admitting that anything was wrong.

“I can’t help wondering,” she says, “about what might have happened if my doctor hadn’t been so slow. My husband and I hadn’t really been thinking about having children, but of course we did as soon as we realised that we wouldn’t be able to. Perhaps, if the cancer had been found earlier, they could have saved one ovary. we might have still been able to have children. Not knowing for sure either way is the hardest thing of all.”

• For more information, visit: targetovariancancer.org.uk.

Drive to spot cancer signs early

9:12am Wednesday 15th February 2012 in News

HEALTH chiefs in Bolton are to give away £100 shopping vouchers as part of new moves to beat cancer.

the prizes are being offered as an incentive to people to learn how to spot the early signs of kidney and bladder cancer.

the deal comes after the NHS struck up a partnership with supermarket chain Asda. as part of that deal, Asda is to host information stands while people visiting them will be able to win shopping vouchers by guessing the value of the contents of a shopping basket.

Campaigners will be visiting the Burnden Park branch of Asda next week.

the move is linked to a national Be Clear on Cancer campaign which aims to educate people on the symptoms of the two cancers so they can be spotted early, massively increasing the survival rate.

Jan Hutchinson, director of Public Health for Bolton, said: “Too often, we hear the sad news about people who lose their battle against cancer and we know hundreds of deaths could be prevented if it was detected earlier.

With campaigns like Be Clear on Cancer, we hope people will contact their GP sooner rather than later if they spot the signs.”

Campaigners will be at Asda in Burden Park on Tuesday, February 21 between 11am and 2pm.

more News stories

Drive to spot cancer signs early

9:12am Wednesday 15th February 2012 in News

HEALTH chiefs in Bolton are to give away £100 shopping vouchers as part of new moves to beat cancer.

The prizes are being offered as an incentive to people to learn how to spot the early signs of kidney and bladder cancer.

The deal comes after the NHS struck up a partnership with supermarket chain Asda. As part of that deal, Asda is to host information stands while people visiting them will be able to win shopping vouchers by guessing the value of the contents of a shopping basket.

Campaigners will be visiting the Burnden Park branch of Asda next week.

The move is linked to a national be Clear on Cancer campaign which aims to educate people on the symptoms of the two cancers so they can be spotted early, massively increasing the survival rate.

Jan Hutchinson, director of Public Health for Bolton, said: “Too often, we hear the sad news about people who lose their battle against cancer and we know hundreds of deaths could be prevented if it was detected earlier.

With campaigns like be Clear on Cancer, we hope people will contact their GP sooner rather than later if they spot the signs.”

Campaigners will be at Asda in Burden Park on Tuesday, February 21 between 11am and 2pm.

More News stories

“I went in for a hysterectomy and when I woke up, they told me I had ovarian cancer. Let’s just say I was in total shock,” recalls Chartrand. Her shock was followed by five months of intense chemotherapy for advanced ovarian cancer that put her life on hold. the five-year survival rate for her stage III diagnosis was roughly one in three. Chartrand, a mother of three, was in for the fight of her life.

With few early symptoms, ovarian cancer–like many cancers–can be hard to detect without invasive and expensive procedures. “Early detection is absolutely not only key but probably the only way for us to win the war on cancer,” says Vadim Backman who is a biomedical engineer at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.

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With support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), in part funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), Backman’s research is shedding light on how early cancer detection can be made cheaper, more accurate and less invasive. “We’re developing new optics technologies to learn about tissue structure and composition, and we are applying these technologies for early cancer screening,” he says.

The team’s research is part of a field that’s called bio-photonics, where light becomes an analytical tool for biology. Backman and his colleagues perfected a new type of microscopy, which they most recently demonstrated using cheek cells harvested with a small brush stroked against the inside of the mouth. When the researchers shine light on the harvested cells, photons bounce off structures within them at different angles depending on whether the cells are healthy or not.

The process is highly sensitive, able to detect even subtle abnormalities that could indicate problems elsewhere in the body. Backman is currently developing screeners for a number of cancers by harvesting cells from areas near organs that could become malignant. For example, cheek cells are harvested as a pre-screener for lung cancer, and cells harvested from just inside the rectum can be analyzed to prescreen for potential colon cancer.

Backman says both technologies are minimally invasive and can be practiced in a primary care setting. he adds that the colon screening he’s testing doesn’t involve the discomfort of bowel prep that, as Backman says, “Everyone loves to hate.”

A slightly more invasive pre-screener takes cells from the upper intestine to screen for pancreatic cancer. the current test for pancreatic cancer involves taking a probe into ducts around the pancreas and poses a high risk of injury.

Once the harvested cells are analyzed, Backman says he can detect details previously unseen with conventional microscope technologies. “We see alterations in cells that are indicative of pre-pre cancer, if you will. If you were to take the cells under the microscope, you could not tell a difference.”

A few miles from Backman’s lab is Evanston Hospital. It’s part of Chicago Land’s NorthShore University HealthSystem. Dr. Hemant Roy is NorthShore’s director of gastroenterology. He’s also Backman’s research partner. Roy showed us a probe that takes Backman’s technology out of the lab and into practical use. the probe, which does not yet have a name, is currently used in clinical trials. It uses bio-photonics to analyze tissue inside the mouth for early lung cancer screening. It’s a small, elongated, flexible flashlight, no thicker than a pencil. It shines a small light on the inside of the mouth, reads back how the light is reflected and sends the data to a computer. Roy takes a reading by simply pushing a button while shining the light on tissue inside the cheek. Raw data sampled from the light is displayed as a small graph on the computer’s screen.

“With this probe, we’ve probably done a couple of hundred patients. We’re about 90 percent accurate,” says Roy. “I think if this works, we could really make a big difference in how we treat patients. We can make a huge impact on population screening.” One day Backman and Roy hope that devices similar to this will be used in physical exams as routinely as taking blood pressure or using that tongue depressor to make you say “ahh.”

Backman and Roy will soon be part of a new clinical trial using bio-photonics to screen cervical cells for signs of ovarian cancer. That’s something Melissa Chartrand, who has been cancer-free for over two years now, can truly appreciate. “If there had been some pre-screening tool or some kind of early detection, I might not have had to go through any of what I went through,” says Chartrand. “If they caught it earlier, it might have gone from stage III to hardly a stage I. maybe I’d have no chemo or even less surgery. Imagine that.”

If Backman and Roy’s research is any indication, the early detection that Chartrand imagines might soon be a reality.

Provided by National Science Foundation (news : web)

Published: Friday, September 23, 2011 at 10:57 p.m. last Modified: Friday, September 23, 2011 at 10:57 p.m.

LAKELAND | Prostate cancer gets the lion’s share of attention when men’s health is the topic of discussion, in large part because so many men are living with it.

Facts CANCER TRIALS IN LAKELAND

Both cancer centers in Lakeland do clinical trials for a variety of cancers, including lung cancer. Center for Cancer Care and Research’s contact number for those trials is 863-688-6826. its information can be found online at watsonclinic.com under clinical trials. Lakeland Regional Cancer Center’s number for clinical trials is 863-904-1900 or go to lrmc.com/cancer-center for information.

Far less is heard about lung cancer, but it kills more men each year in the United States than any other cancer.

The American Cancer Society estimates 156,940 people will die this year from cancers of the lung and bronchus — approximately 85,600 men and 71,340 women.

Not only does lung cancer affect a significant portion of the population in the United states, it is also a very unrelenting disease.

“With lung cancer, the survival rate is not as high,” said Robin Stewart, manager of clinical research at Lakeland Regional Cancer Center. “There’s a lot of research going on with lung cancer, but it’s not a disease with survivors pushing for a lot more things.”

Stewart and Dr. Fred Schreiber, a veteran Watson Clinic oncologist, agree on the chief cause of lung cancer and the best prevention.

“The best policy is avoid it, which means don’t smoke,” Schreiber said. “It’s a deadly cancer because it’s usually found in an advanced stage rather than early.”

Lung cancer tends to be faster growing and more prone to spread than prostate cancer, Schreiber said,

That explains in part why lung cancer isn’t detected until the later stages for many patients, said Stewart, an oncology nurse with a doctorate in human services.

Another reason is that people are in denial about their risk of getting lung cancer, said Noreen McGowan, a registered nurse who heads Watson Clinic’s clinical trials programs.

They advocate abstaining from smoking and said for people who do smoke, quitting is the best deterrent.

Those who won’t quit or feel they can’t quit should, at minimum, avoid smoking in enclosed spaces where they will get exposed to both first- and second-hand smoke, Stewart said.

Persistent coughing, shortness of breath and changes in a person’s type of coughing can be symptoms of lung cancer, they said, although those can signal other illnesses as well.

Clinical trials involving various combinations of drugs for lung-cancer treatment take place at both Lakeland cancer centers: LRCC, which has cancer doctors employed by Lakeland Regional Medical Center; and Center for Cancer Care and Research, which has cancer doctors from Watson Clinic and Clark and Daughtrey Medical Group.

Trials often involve combinations of standard chemotherapy and new experimental drugs.

The only trial current enrolling new patients at LRCC pairs an unnamed experimental drug with the now-standard combination of carboplatin, paclitaxel and bevacizumab, Stewart said. It’s for patients with non-small cell lung cancer. Small cell lung cancer is a fast-growing type of lung cancer that spreads much more quickly than non-small cell lung cancer.

Bevacizumab was approved as part of lung-cancer treatment during the past three years, Stewart said, after having been tested in earlier clinical trials.

The experimental drug in LRCC’s still-enrolling clinical trial is targeted therapy, which increasingly is being used in additional to standard chemotherapy.

“Targeted therapy is the wave of the future,” Schreiber said. “We have several (cancer trials) going on involving targeted therapy.”

Targeted drugs are designed to go straight to receptor sites on cancer cells, as opposed to traditional chemotherapy that destroys all rapidly dividing cells, Stewart said.

Eclipse, one of two lung-cancer trials enrolling new patients at the Center for Cancer Care and Research, uses targeted therapy. It’s for some squamous non-small-cell lung cancer patients who are at stage IV, when the cancer is the most extensive, McGowan said.

While hopeful about targeted therapy, Schreiber said he doesn’t want anyone thinking its development changes the realities of lung cancer.

“Therapies are slowly getting better, but avoiding lung cancer is a smarter policy than thinking you can be (successfully) treated,” he said.

The status of lung-cancer patients sought for Center for Cancer Care and Research trials bears that out. along with the stage IV patients treated in its Eclipse study, there’s another drug combination trial for “poor performance status” patients with advanced non small-cell lung cancer.

A trial that recently closed for enrollment there had sought patients with “extensive stage’ small cell lung cancer.

[Robin Williams Adams can be reached at or 863-802-7558. Read her blog at robinsrx.blogs.theledger.com. Follow on Twitter at ledgerROBIN.]

With company to complement these tasty delicacies, life couldn’t be more fulfilling. while this may appear as a harmless way chilling out on a weekend, lurking behind could be cancer that can catch you off guard.Pancreatic cancer, which comprises only five per cent of cancers, is at risk of occurring when diet leans heavily towards barbequed meat, fatty food and excessive alcohol.while chronic pancreatitis, a disease of the pancreas induced by excessive alcohol, increases the chances by 20 times, heavy smoking increases the risk by two to three times. being overweight too can make one susceptible to it. the commonest pancreatic cancer arises from the secretory ducts of the pancreas. Unfortunately the prognosis in this form of cancer is poor. However less common cancers arising from hormone producing cells of the pancreas or pancreatic cysts have a much better outcome with treatment. Many a time the cysts are ignored, taking them to be benign, preventing cure. the early symptoms are often non-specific with loss of appetite, weight loss and dyspepsia. Tumours arising from the head of the pancreas can cause jaundice associated with itching. However, tumours occurring towards the tail of the pancreas can be silent killers, as often no symptoms occur until they are large and reach the final stage. at this point the enlarged tumour may be felt through the abdomen as a lump or can result in back pain.? ?Without treatment the average life span of these patients is only about 6-9 months. while surgery is the main form of treatment, only 5 to 10% of patients are amenable to surgery. Surgery extends the life span up to 2-3 years and is able to achieve cure in 15-20% of patients who are operated upon. Unfortunately, no transplant is possible for pancreatic cancer. Chemotherapy and radiation therapy help to extend the life span when surgery is not possible. They may be added to surgery to enhance its benefit.Contrary to popular belief about restrictions on diet after surgery, the patient can revert to normal healthy diet, as the pancreas continues to secrete enzymes.? Pancreatic cancer is more common in men though there is no particular reason for this. while it is not specifically genetic, certain rare diseases like Heredity Pancreatitis, causing inflammation of the pancreas, are caused by genetic abnormalities. In this case, the inflammation recurs starting from a young age, with a steep chance of developing into cancer in adulthood. the most common age group prone to pancreatic cancer is 40 to 60, while the incidence amongst children is extremely rare, almost non-existent.? the silver lining here is that expert care is available in the country to treat pancreatic cancer. However, since prevention is better than cure, a change towards a healthy life style, with less alcohol, abstinence from smoking and eating sensibly, can go a long way in checking its occurrence.

Uterine Cancer is one for this deadliest cancers, which actually commence in the lining for this structure in the uterus. the womb or even the uterus is a vital part for this reproductive system in a woman.

Type of Uterine Cancer

Uterine cancer will probably denote many sorts of cancers, which take place in a woman’s uterus. Uterine sarcomas, commonly acknowledged to be leiomyosarcomas really are a type of uterine cancer, which takes place in the muscular layer of the uterus. Endometrial cancer is another type of uterine cancer, which originates from the structure that happens to be located in the glands for this uterine lining or even the endometrium. Cervical cancer is a different type of uterine cancer, that is acknowledged to arise from the reduce portion of the uterus. It extends to the transitional zone of the woman’s cervix and connecting to the top part of her vagina.

Symptoms of Uterine Cancer

A woman having uterine cancer can discover some common symptoms. However, they are likely to probably differ from person or woman to person or woman based upon the sickness in consideration. Commons signs and symptoms include painful or difficult urination, unusual discharge or vagina bleeding, too much pain in the course of the time of having porn intercourse, a standard pelvic lump, excessive weight loss, pain in the pelvic region and having under no circumstances breast-fed. in fact, uterine cancer takes place rarely ahead of menopause, in the course of which a lady have frequently used menstrual periods.

It generally takes place in the course of the time once the frequently used menstruation period stops. if a lady notices reappearance of bleeding at this stage of her life, she must quickly provide it to the awareness of her general physician, as there will probably be considered a chance of uterine cancer.

The most common symptom of uterine cancer is excessive bleeding from a woman’s uterus just after her menopause. the bleeding will probably be in the type of the our blood streaked, watery discharge containing greatly more blood. in some cases, a lady will probably undergo reduce ab pain too.

Causes at the rear of Uterine Cancer

There are different causes of uterine cancer, which have been discovered until date. Diabetes, obesity, polycystic ovaries having prolonged anovulation, nulliparity or having borne not only one child, lack of menstruation, lengthy usage of tamoxifen for the procedure of boobs cancers and taking unopposed oestrogen without progestin are some for this legitimate causes of uterine cancer.

Diagnosing the Disease

Uterine cancer can be diagnosed by endometrial and endocervical sampling. apart from these techniques, photos ultrasonography can be accustomed to discover the thickness for this endometrium because increased thickness for this uterus will probably figure out some serious cancerous change. apart from this, the Pap test might also be an exact way detecting uterine cancer but can’t be termed as a trustworthy source.

Treatment of Uterine Cancer

The procedure of uterine cancer is completed near to the basis of quality and stage for this cancer. ab hysterectomy is a frequently used therapy, which involves in the surgical removal for this woman’s uterus along with the two the ovaries and fallopian tubes, laundering for this ab cavity to figure out malignant structure as nicely since the selective removal for this aortic and pelvic lymph nodes. many doctors choose usage of hormone therapy that removes the chance of metastatic cancer. again, females also go for radiation therapy for the procedure of their uterine cancer.

Although procedure is a chance for Uterine Cancer, still you must acquire immediate motion just after noticing the symptoms. Don’t let it reach a level from where it can’t be cured!

Ovarian cancer is a pain killer best way of all the variable types of cancer. about 80% of cancers known to be recommended for recurrent ovarian. The business of sound beyond the native brush-year analysis is about 50%, not high, if it was day was 2.3 or 4. This data is now a demand for absolute rigid for my life. I am a survivor of ovarian cancer.

a keen sense of ovarian cancer is so disturbing isbecause it is very difficult to detect. often at the time of diagnosis, cancer is the advance to the genitals of the body. There are no screening for ovarian cancer, like breast cancer and cervical cancer. There can be a test with an OB / GYN mentioned alone. so it is for all women to achieve and maintain an important service for annual inspections.

There is a dent marker CA-125, in red wine that may have the appearanceParticipation in ovarian cancer. It 'used as a screening measure, because not sufficiently reliable. In cases where a woman is a danger in the range of antenna, AC-125 branded can actively Dr. acclimated tests added.

a daydream pain the woman is the analysis of tumors. but fear is the best way to grow native people expect of cancer and stretching. Booty booty own misery and the time the annual review.It could save your life.

Cancer is known to be a silent killer. But it isn’t always as silent as we think it is. most cancers do have warning signs and symptoms that you might be ignoring. this is why it is important to be careful and cautious that what you are going through might be serious. Knowing stomach cancer symptoms and signs can always be helpful – you should get yourself checked out soon enough. And the earlier the cancer is detected the more chances there are of a life being saved. the right treatment for stomach cancer can increase stomach cancer survival rate.

Symptoms of Stomach Cancer

If you have any of these stomach cancer symptoms and signs you should consult your physician:

Abdominal Pain

This is a symptom for people with stomach cancer. But it doesn’t have to be a higher amount of pain and discomfort that should get you to the doctor’s office – some people only suffer a mild abdominal pain which might be persistent. usually the pain occurs in the upper side of the abdomen but it can happen in any other areas as well.

Presence of Blood in Stool

Blood in the stool doesn’t always mean its symptoms of stomach cancer. Many diseases like anal fissures and other severe health issues can bring about blood in the stool. But it can also be one of the stomach cancer symptoms and signs. Sometimes you won’t even be able to notice the blood and only an FOBT can detect the amount of blood in stool.

Vomiting or Nausea

Persistent nausea might be a little non specific as a symptom but it does happen in patients with colon cancer. if you have a constant urge to vomit and constant nausea it might be time to get tested. if you ever see blood in your vomit you should head to the doctor right away too. Esophagus lining damage usually causes this symptom.

Losing Weight for No Reason

If you are not on a diet plan and you are not trying to lose weight but still see weight loss happening quite rapidly, it can be one of the stomach cancer symptoms and signs. the problem is that most people actually like when they lose weight and ignore the possibility that there might be something wrong.

Loss of Appetite

While it is a vague symptom, a lot of patients find they are unable to eat and don’t have any appetite even for their favorite food items.

Other Symptoms of Stomach Cancer

Other stomach cancer symptoms and signs that you might experience, include difficulty in swallowing, bloating of the abdominal area, even after a small meal you feel bloated, excessively tired feeling, changes in bowel habits, anemia, constant fatigue and tiredness. if any such symptoms trouble you, it is good to get yourself checked out as soon as possible. Cancer is a disease that usually stems from one organ and spreads to another. this is why a lot of people experience some vague symptoms that might not be in the area where the cancer originated in the first place. the problem with malignant cancer cells is that they can travel in the blood stream and can land somewhere else and begin to grow and ruin the system in other parts of the body as well. they do not remain confined to one area. this is why even a sign like fatigue and shortness of breath should be taken seriously.

Causes ,effects symptoms and treatments of thyroid cancer

Thyroid cancer: Thyroid cancer occurs in the thyroid gland. Thyroid gland is useful in producing two cells, follicular cells and C cells. Follicular cells produce thyroid hormone to control the effect of heart rate, energy levels and body temperature and C cells control the level of calcium in the body by producing calcitonin hormone. Thyroid cancer blocks the production of this hormone by producing cancer cells in the thyroid glands. Thyroid cancer is defined as the disorder in the life cycle of thyroid gland cells. this occurs due to the unusual growth of the thyroid cells without controlling limit. these cancer cells move from original state to distant state and causes destruction to adjacent body tissues by the spreading of uncontrolled cells through blood or lymph.

Thyroid cancer is a combination of several cancers with different types of causes, symptoms and treatments. this cancer is of three types, in which abnormal growth of cells is common in all of them. The normal cells are the basic unit of life, they grow and divide into more cells when the body requires them. these cells forms the tissues and then organs, they are the building blocks of the body system. if there is an abnormal growth and division of cells without any controlling limit, then it results in forming tumor (excess tissue) in the body.

Tumors are of two types, they are as follows:

• Benign tumor • Malignant tumor

Benign tumor: this tumor is not cancerous. they can be treated easily. they don’t spread to other parts of the body.

Malignant tumor: this tumor is cancerous, they causes damage to the adjacent organs by spreading the cancer cells at high rate. The cells in this tumor invade the distant organs and forms new tumors through blood flow or by lymphatic system. The new tumor has the same characteristic features of the primary tumor. for example, if the thyroid cancer spreads to the lungs, the cancer cells in the lungs are actually belonging to the thyroid cancer cells but not to the lung cancer cells. then this disease is called as metastatic Thyroid cancer.

Types of Thyroid cancer: There are three main types of thyroid cancer. • Papillary and follicular thyroid cancers: this disease grows slowly. this disease occurs in the follicular cells. so detection of this disease in the early stages can be cured successfully by surgery treatment. About 80 to 90 cases of thyroid cancer cases are related to this papillary and follicular thyroid cancer.

• Medullary thyroid cancer: this cancer is easy to control because it grows slowly. this cancer occurs in the C cells and not in follicular cells. About 5 to 10 percent cancer cases are related to medullary thyroid cancer.

• Anaplastic thyroid cancer: this cancer is very rare one, only 1 to 2 percent of cancer cases are related to anaplastic thyroid cancer. this cancer occurs in follicular cells .this cancer is not easy to control and identify because  this cancer cells grow rapidly and quickly.

Causes of thyroid cancer: till now no one knows the exact reason for the causes of this cancer, but the risk factors for this thyroid cancer are identified.

Risk factors for thyroid cancer:

• Smoking: Smoking increases the risk factor for causing lung cancer and thyroid cancer. Due to intake of nicotine content for longer time there will chances in the failure of working system of stem cells. so, please avoid smoking to reduce the risk factors.

• Radiation: Due to excess radiations to the body, the risk factors for leukemia increases. Radiations like diagnose X-rays or UV rays increase the risk factors.

• Family history of thyroid cancer: Family history of cancer also plays a key role in increasing the risk factors. so go for regular screening to diagnose the disease.

• Age: people with above 40 years of age are more likely to face this risk factor for thyroid cancer.

• Gender: Woman has 3 to 4 times higher chances of risk factors for thyroid cancer.

• Less iodine in the diet: Thyroid gland requires iodine to produce thyroid hormone, due to less intake of iodine the risk factors for thyroid cancer increases.

Symptoms and signs of thyroid cancer:

• Difficult in breathing and swallowing • Formation of lump nears Adam’s apple • Hoarseness • Pain in the throat

Many of the above mentioned symptoms are not due to cancer but to some infection causes. if you find any of these symptoms lasts for longer time please report to your health care provider to diagnose the problem.

Treatment methods for Thyroid cancer: Generally for every cancer treatment following factors are considered like age, health condition and the stage of the cancer. By considering these factors treatment is carried.

Surgery: Surgery is the most common available treatment for removing cancer cells. Surgery is carried to remove the thyroid tumor. Surgery can be carried in the early stages of the tumor occurrence. Surgery is taken place only if the cancer is located in only one part of the body. During the surgery process the damaged lymph nodes are also removed along with the thyroid tumor.

The surgery process is carried in two ways they are:

• Total thyroidectomy: The total removal process of thyroid gland is called as total thyroidectomy. By making small incisions, the thyroid is removed completely along with the lymph nodes if necessary, because to stop the spreading of the disease to other parts of the body. People will receive external radiation therapy and radioactive iodine therapy after having this total thyroidectomy. During this process some head and neck tissues will also be removed.

• Lobectomy: this surgery is given for the people who are facing Papillary and follicular thyroid cancers. In this process the cancerous lobe module is removed along with the nearby lymph nodes. People having this surgery will receive radioactive iodine therapy and additional incision surgery to remove the remaining thyroid tissue.

Radioactive iodine therapy: Radioactive iodine therapy uses radio active I-131 drug to kill cancer cells in the neck. this I-131 drug is given only in the form of pill or liquid through mouth with fewer doses. People facing medullary thyroid cancer and anaplastic thyroid cancer doesn’t need this treatment.

Hormone treatment: Hormonal therapy can be useful to cure and control the endometruim cancer cells from growth. Hormonal therapy process changes the level of endometruim hormones in the body and blocks the hormones from affecting from cancer cells.

Chemotherapy: Chemotherapy is one of the treatments useful in killing cancer causing cells by the usage of drugs. this treatment process is carried by either pills or through intravascular injections. The anti-cancer drug enters into the bloodstream and travels towards the damaged tissues and destroys the cancer cells.Chemotherapeutic drugs attacks the cancer cells by stopping their unusual growth. The nature of this thyroid cancer cells were brought to the normal condition by controlling the divisibility of the cells. this cancer chemotherapy drug can be given at either clinic or at home. The usage of this drug can be daily, weekly or monthly depending on the stage of the cancer and body immune system. Chemotherapy treatment is given by considering the following basis like age, gender, drug toxicity and body weight. The dosage and usability should be carried under proper supervision.

Radiotherapy: this treatment is based on the extent of the disease. Radiotherapy is a useful process helps in removing thyroid cancer cells by using high intensity x-rays. these high energy x-rays are aimed at the thyroid tumor to destroy the cancer cells .this process also causes damage to the normal cells for its side effects. so, external radiation therapy is used to treat this thyroid cancer with fewer side effects. • External radiation therapy: External radiation therapy process is carried out from outside the body. The powerful x-ray beams are aimed at the effected area from outside the body and destroy the cancer causing cells permanently without re-occurrence.

• Internal radiations: High intensity X-ray beams are passed into the body by making some small incisions in the bone area. this treatment gives better results than the external radiation therapy.

Thyroid cancer is referred as malignant cancer. Treatment methods for this cancer involve surgery, chemotherapy, external radiotherapy and radioactive iodine. Thyroid cancer can be cured successfully only in the starting stage of its occurrence.

Author shares information on causes, symptoms, effects, risk factors, preventions, treatments, prognosis of diseases like cancer, diabetes, heart attack, obesity and also shares information on Men’s health, women’s health, sexual health, mental health, health and fitness, pregnancy, Blood disorders, Muscles, bones and joints, Health issues, and Weight loss.

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