Cancer Blog

The most common Mesothelioma symptoms are shortness of breath and pain in the chest. These symptoms occur due to a buildup of fluid in the pleura, what is known as Pleural Mesothelioma. However the symptoms of Peritoneal Mesothelioma include weight loss, abdominal pain and swelling due to an accumulation of fluid in the abdominal cavity.

Peritoneal mesothelioma may include other uncomfortable symptoms too, such as bowel obstruction, blood clotting abnormalities, anemia and fever.

However these symptoms can appear before if malignant cancerous cells have spread beyond the mesothelium to other parts of the body, and other symptoms such as trouble swallowing, pain, and swelling of the neck or face may appear.

Mesothelioma or other less serious conditions may caused these symptoms, therefore the importance of going to a doctor if you feel any of these symptoms, because only an expert like him can make a correct diagnosis.

Mesothelioma cancer rate has increased over the past 20 years and although this disease is not as common as other cancer pathologies, the number of new diagnosed cases in the United States has risen up to 2,000 per year.

According to experts the major risk factor for developing Mesothelioma lies in working with asbestos, so if you are a asbestos worker remember following the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration recommendations in order to reduce your risk.

Next Article: Mesothelioma Diagnosis

Comediennes such as Gilda Radner and Madeline Kahn, Oscar-winning actresses like Loretta Young and Sandy Dennis, singers Laura Nyro and Dinah Shore, actor Pierce Brosnan’s wife Cassandra Harris, actress Jessica Tandy, former Connecticut governor Ella Grasso, and Martin Luther King’s wife Coretta Scott King all died of ovarian cancer. It’s not just celebrities, politicians or movie stars, who are stricken with ovarian cancer. One in every 55 U.S. women is at risk for ovarian cancer. The American Cancer Society estimates about 22,000 new cases of ovarian cancer will be diagnosed. More than 16,000 women will die because the symptoms are often subtle, and her doctor did not recognize the symptoms soon enough. It is the leading cause of death from gynecologic malignancies, and the fifth leading cause of cancer deaths among women.

Silent and undetected, this cancer often spreads beyond the ovary or ovaries into the abdominal cavity, or by the final stage, into other body organs such as the liver or lungs. Family doctors often fail to properly diagnose “The Silent Killer” until it is too late. Last August, University of California Davis researchers reported 40 percent of women told their doctors about their symptoms for as long as a year before they were correctly diagnosed. A British survey discovered 75 percent of family doctors believed symptoms are only present during the advanced stages of the cancer. By the time women are diagnosed for ovarian cancer, 40 to 50 percent of the patients are in the advanced stage, where there is little hope for survival.

Less than one-half the women diagnosed with ovarian cancer will live five years. About 10 to 14 percent live beyond five years after their diagnosis. Their choices have been limited, mainly reserved to variations of chemotherapy drugs or a new way to delivery the drug. The general public is often unaware of the side effects ovarian cancer patients suffer during chemotherapy. In mid March, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration criticized the safety profile of Eli Lilly’s Gemzar for ovarian cancer patients, saying the 2.8 months increased survival seen in studies of patients taking the drug wasn’t enough to offset the treatment’s increased toxicity which included anemia, neutropenia (a blood disorder) and thrombocytopenia (reduced platelets in the blood).

Presently used first-line treatments for ovarian cancer patients include Cisplatin, with associated side effects such as nerve, kidney and/or ear damage, Carboplatin (side effects: nerve damage in the arms and/or legs, joint pain, and/or thrombocytopenia), Paclitaxel (neurotoxicity), or Melphalan, with side effects which include irreversible bone marrow failure, bone marrow suppression).

A woman stricken with ovarian cancer faces first surgery, then chemotherapy. Recent widespread press heralding a new development in treating ovarian cancer, intra-abdominal or intraperitoneal chemotherapy, is just that: more chemotherapy. The “belly bath,” as it has been nicknamed by some television reporters, it has been highly praised because the treatment can extend life by about 16 months more than “regular” chemotherapy. The results were first published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine in December 2005. Most news reports failed to mention that only 40 percent of the women treated with the belly bath were able to complete all six cycles. Why? The therapy relies upon infusions of Paclitaxel and Cisplatin (see side effects in the previous paragraph). According to Dr. Robert Edwards, research director of the Magee-Women’s Gynecologic Cancer in Pittsburgh, “Many women don’t feel well enough to work for the duration of the intra-abdominal (therapy).” Some patients, such as Cindy Pakalnis of Marshall (Pennsylvania) have called the treatments “grueling.”

The unsolved problem of chemotherapy is the reduction in the “quality of life.” While some life extension has been proven, the patient’s life deteriorates. Many patients struggle with balancing the loss in quality of life with the rigors of the therapy. Researchers are actively pursuing new directions that may some day provide new hope for the ovarian cancer patient. A University of Minnesota research study has suggested the use of thalidomide, which would be used in conjunction with chemotherapy, as a prospective means of increasing the likelihood of remission. Minnesota cancer researcher Dr. Levi Downs explained, “It prevents the tumor from making new blood vessels. Without new blood vessels, the tumor can’t sufficiently feed new cells, so the cancer can’t grow.” His randomized trial was small with only 65 patients (only 28 took thalidomide), and more testing will certainly be required.

New Hope for Ovarian Cancer Patients?

One promising technology that has been developed over the past decade is OvaRex® MAb. It was developed by ViRexx Medical Corp., an Edmonton-based company, which trades on the American Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: REX) and on the Toronto Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: VIR). Now licensed to Unither Pharmaceuticals, a wholly owned subsidiary of United Therapeutics (NASDAQ: UTHR), OvaRex® MAb is currently undergoing two identical Phase III trials at about 64 research centers across the United States. One trial has completed enrollment, according to a mid December news release issued by ViRexx Medical Corp.

We spoke with ViRexx Medical Corp’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Tyrrell who was the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Alberta and the Director of the Glaxo Heritage Research Institute. “OvaRex® MAb is our lead candidate for the treatment of ovarian cancer, and is an intravenous infusion of a monoclonal antibody,” he said. Monoclonal antibodies are a new breed of biotech drugs that are extremely specific; that is, each antibody binds to only one particular antigen. In the case of OvaRex® MAb, it is a monoclonal antibody that binds specifically to the CA-125 antigen. Dr. Tyrrell added, “The treatment doesn’t take long, and is given every 4 weeks for the first 3 injections, and then once every 3 months until the patient relapses”.

Dr. Tyrrell talked about the current Phase III studies, “The trials are ongoing. All of the patients have successfully completed their surgery and front-line chemotherapy and are now in what we call the ‘watchful waiting’ period. It is in this phase that we treat the patients with OvaRex® MAb with the hopes of increasing the time to disease relapse.” He explained the recurrence rate is very high in the stage III / IV late forms of ovarian cancer, with a time to relapse of about 10.4 months. Patients who have turned to OvaRex hope to delay that relapse. Tyrrell noted, “In the original study, the average time to relapse was delayed by about 14 months. If we can achieve that difference or better in the current Phase III trials, it would be a major advance for the treatment of ovarian cancer.” He expects an analysis of the current OvaRex® MAb studies to be completed by the second or third quarter of 2007.

What makes OvaRex® MAb different from other immunotherapeutic treatments is, instead of attacking the body’s cancerous cells directly, the monoclonal antibody targets the cancerous antigen in circulation. Some believe it helps retrain the body’s immune system to fight the ovarian cancer cells. The mechanism that reportedly has made OvaRex® MAb effective is how it alerts the body to recognize and fight the CA-125.

ViRexx has addressed the “tolerance problem” a body suffers when it has become inflicted with a malignant tumor. The hypothesis behind the tolerance issue is that the body fails to recognize the CA-125 antigen as harmful. Introducing a foreign antibody, in this case the mouse antibody against CA125, the body’s defense systems are awakened to the ovarian cancer cells. This begins a chain reaction alerting the immune system to battle the invading antibody CA125 complex. The body’s defense systems are reprogrammed to attack the CA-125 antigen and seek to destroy it. Along with that destruction comes the attempt of the immune response to eliminate the cancerous cells from the body.

As with many pioneering scientific breakthroughs, serendipity is what lies behind the OvaRex® MAb story. As one technology was being developed, another – the murine monoclonal antibody treatment for ovarian cancer – came about by accident. We talked to its inventor, Dr. Antoine Noujaim, about the biotech drug’s roots. “It came out of the imaging technology,” the Professor Emeritus of the University of Alberta explained. In the early 1980s, biotech companies, such as Immunomedics and Cytomedics were researching tumors and using antibodies to image the tumors so they could be evaluated in a cancer patient’s body. “I worked with Dr. Mike Longenecker and we established a company called Biomira (Toronto: BRA) in 1984,” Dr. Noujaim recalled. “We had a number of targets and then needed to make specific antibodies.” Part of his effort was to target certain cancers, such as prostate, breast and ovarian cancer.

“We developed antibodies against a mucin, which is really a glycopeptide,” explained Dr. Noujaim. “It’s a peptide that has a lot of sugars on it present in the ascitis fluid from ovarian cancer patients.” That is how Dr. Noujaim and his team developed the very early antibody which is now used for OvaRex® MAb. “We sent some of these antibodies to Professor Richard Baum in Germany for imaging of ovarian cancer patients,” Noujaim remembered. “Dr. Baum phoned back, after some time, and told me, ‘The patients I was imaging here had advanced ovarian cancer and some of them seem to have done quite well after we gave them a couple of shots (of the B43.13 antibody, the clinical name for OvaRex® MAb) to image the tumor.’ I thought he was joking with me.”

This is serendipity at work as Dr. Noujaim explained to us. “Richard was imaging patients that were in the last stages of the disease,” he pointed out. Monoclonal antibodies can be used as diagnostic agents in oncology, when they are radiolabeled with a marker that can be imaged by external detectors. “These patients had maybe four or five months to live. All of a sudden, a year later and they’re still around.” Baum urged Noujaim to investigate this further. Dr. Noujaim recalls him saying, “Something is happening here. I’ve seen hundreds of patients, but nothing like this.” From this encouragement, Noujaim began formulating the potential mechanism of how this monoclonal antibody would work. His sharp mind chased the puzzling questions raised by Dr. Baum’s observations.

At this point of his recollections, Noujaim got excited, “Through sheer serendipity, we were using murine antibodies, not humanized antibodies. We were using foreign antibodies, a small amount of foreign antibodies.” How in the world did Noujaim know to use murine (mouse) antibodies? “Because that was the easiest way to do the imaging at the time,” he replied. “Before you make a chimeric (something derived from two different animal species) antibody, you start with a murine one. If that one works, you humanize the antibody.” From this research, Noujaim founded a company called AltaRex, which was taken public in 1995. “We raised about $30 million and expanded the program.”

The serious effort to develop the antibodies began in 1996. Having conducted trials in Canada and Europe, it was a “massive undertaking” Noujaim told us. “We had over 500 patients injected with the murine monoclonal antibody.” He extrapolated beyond OvaRex® MAb, saying, “We’ve proven completely the mechanism of action on this, how it works. It is so unique it may apply to all of the other antibodies we have.” Noujaim believes it can apply to breast, ovarian, prostate and pancreatic cancer. Indeed, BrevaRex® MAb for breast cancer and multiple myeloma patients has completed Phase 1 trials, and ProstaRex® MAb for prostate cancer patients is at the pre-clinical stage.

“Our studies to date may show that vaccines may slow the growth of the tumor with a very good safety profile,” concluded Dr. Noujaim. Then he added something which bears investigating further, “There is the very original (ovarian cancer) patient who was injected in 1987. She’s in Germany, and according to Dr. Baum she was still alive a year ago.” That’s nearly nine years later! “It’s a matter of great pride for me that some people who received OvaRex® MAb are alive today,” he said.

While the company has licensed, under a royalty agreement, the OvaRex® MAb technology to United Therapeutics, through that company’s subsidiary, Unither Pharmaceuticals, ViRexx has retained rights to most member nations of the European Union and certain other countries. Key ones include France, the United Kingdom and the Benelux countries. ViRexx has also established strategic relationships with Dompé Farmaceutici, Medison Pharma, Ltd. and Genesis Pharma S.A. for certain European and Middle-East Countries.

COPYRIGHT © 2007 by StockInterview, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Diagnosis

Confirming if Mesothelioma is present is done through a biopsy, performed by an oncologist or even a doctor specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer pathologies, removes a small sample of tissue from a patient and examines it using a microscope. Difficulty breathing, abdominal and chest pain, and fever can all be attributed to other causes, so this cancer can have the time to advance fairly well before diagnosis of the disease.

Because of the difficulty in diagnosing mesothelioma, the survival time after diagnosis is estimated at about one year. The time that occurs between exposure and the start of the disease, and the rate at which it progresses, makes diagnosis extremely difficult. Early diagnosis is thus crucial in treating this particular form of cancer.

Symptoms

Symptoms of Mesothelioma may not appear for up to 30 to 50 years after exposure.

Anyone who has been exposed to this type of asbestos may not have any kind of symptoms for up to forty years. An individual may visit a doctor numerous times with the symptoms but they are more often considered as respiratory infections. The non-specific symptoms can make it difficult for even experienced doctors to make a quick and conclusive diagnosis of mesothelioma patients.

Take note that these symptoms may be due to other reasons also. If you have a tumor in the pleura, which is the membrane surrounding the lungs, other symptoms that can occur are chest pain, coughing and a difficulty with breathing. The outer and inner layers of the pleura can become thickened. The most common Mesothelioma symptoms is a shortness of breath and pain in the chest region.

Peritoneal mesothelioma can also include other uncomfortable symptoms like bowel obstruction, clotting of the blood, anemia or fever. This is why diagnosis of Mesothelioma cancer is very difficult in many cases, because its symptoms may be associated with other diseases too.

Cause

If this chemical is inhaled, it can be extremely toxic and thus cause this type of cancer. As asbestos fibers are released into the air they can be inhaled or digested which can cause the cancer. When asbestos fibres accumulate in the peritoneum (which is the lining of the abdomen) this can lead to peritoneal mesothelioma and the building up of fibres around the tissue of the heart causing pericardial mesothelioma.

If asbestos fibres accumulate in the lining of the lungs this can result in cells nearby becoming deformed eventually resulting in what is called pleural mesothelioma.

Pleural mesothelioma is a rare disease which attacks the lining of the lung and chest cavity and is usually cancerous, caused as a result of asbestos exposure and it could take 15 to 35 years to develop the disease, from the time of the asbestos exposure. Smoking does not cause it. The only known, established cause of Mesothelioma is asbestos.

To repeat, the primary cause of mesothelioma cancer is linked to exposure to asbestos fibers which are breathed into the lungs or swallowed.

Treatment

The most common and the basic form of Mesothelioma treatment is through surgery. Radiation treatment and chemotherapy may be helpful in the overall treatment program. Compensation received can help in alleviating some of the burden of the medical treatment costs, particularly for anyone who is uninsured, and can help an individual to live in a more comfortable way,obviously.

If Mesothelioma is actually diagnosed and if the cancerous tumor is small enough, surgery may be fairly successful. If this is not the case and the tumor is large, there is no successful treatment available, although sometimes radiotherapy may be used to help with relieving the symptoms. Research is being carried out in various research labs all over the USA and many pharmaceutical companies are also trying to come up with new drug and treatment methods. Your chances of recovering from Mesothelioma and the kind of treatment that will be used depends on what stage the illness is at.

As mentioned before, the type of mesothelioma has an impact on the prognosis, including the age of the patient, how much the tumor has actually developed and if treatment was given.

Many, many questions arise in our minds when someone close to us is seriously ill. It takes a while to realize that these questions do not have one answer. They have many answers, appear in different forms, and may have different impacts on us at different times.

Much of the time we live with the idea that all will stay just as it is. When illness comes we are shocked for a moment out of our stupor. We see that our time may not be endless and that right now we must say what has to be said, and do what has to be done.

In a sense a finger is being pointed in our direction. These questions are demanding a response from us. Life itself is demanding a reply.

Some of the questions which arise are -”How is suffering truly relieved?” What is the best way though serious illness and beyond?” “What is illness, anyway? Is it a random, senseless interruption of life, or Is it the beginning of new steps we must take?”

In order to answer these questions, we need to understand illness in a larger context, and also understand the true nature of suffering. During a time of crisis, rather than grapple with these questions, we often run in all directions, trying to ease the pain we or others are feeling. But these unanswered questions rumble beneath the surface, intensifying the discomfort we feel.

When Pain Comes

When pain comes we offer drugs, instead of offering ourselves. We may not have ourselves to offer. But if we stop running, even for a little while, we can see that the only true comfort will come from understanding, the only real healing will come from the truth. If we learn to listen closely, we will find that the pain itself has a meaning. It’s here to be listened to.

We have so much fear about-facing our feelings. We fear it will make us feel small and helpless. Actually, the opposite is true. In this way we become alive and strong, reclaiming for ourselves the fullness of all our experiences.

When you or someone close to you Is seriously ill, you are being asked for your willingness to stop running and to look inside. This itself is an act of tremendous courage. It will bring great rewards.

As we begin our journey through illness there is a fundamental assumption that must be questioned. It is the idea that pain is terrible and must be avoided at all costs.

As soon as we start to feel pain or discomfort, usually we try to stop it from happening. We look for some way to soothe or suppress what we are going through. We seldom stop and wonder specifically what the pain is saying to us.

Usually we expect the doctor to take control of our illness and make us well again. But this attitude itself is part of the original disease. We are relinquishing our part in the illness. We are denying the fact that it has come to us, and it is up to us to stop, listen, and discover the meaning and lessons the illness has to teach us.

Dialoguing With Pain

It seems almost unthinkable to dialogue with our pain, to ask the fundamental question of it, “What do you want from me? And why are you here now?”

No matter what we are feeling there is only one pain and it manifests itself in various ways. If we do not address it in one mode, often it will come in another. It can come physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually.

In whatever form this pain arises, it is extremely empowering to turn directly to our suffering and enter a dialogue with it. When we learn how to do this, we may even discover that the pain comes holding a gift in its hands.

Being caught in an illness and filled with pain is like being caught in a situation we cannot get out of.

“The best way out is the way in.” — Eido Roshi

The best way out is to make friends with the pain. Fighting intensifies it. If we can relax into it for a little while and explore it, many new possibilities arise.

Natural healing is always available in all situations, but it can be cut off by fighting and by our fear. When we let go and enter the flow of things, we became available to our greater source of energy, guidance and help.

PROCESS

Lie down on the floor, take off your shoes and just feel whatever it is you are feeling. Gently become aware of whatever is going on inside. Do not try to fix or change anything. Just take it in as it is. Where are you? How does the floor feel under you? How much space are you taking up?

Let your body react anyway it wants to. It can find its own way to become comfortable right now. (Get out of the way as much as possible.) Ask your pain if there is anything it wants to say to you? Stop and listen for any kind of reply.

Do this again and again.

Now, you are making friends with all of yourself. Take a moment. Take another moment. All moments belong to you.

When you can do this, your illness does not become something foreign and frightening. You can live with it better, and also are better able to discover fine alternatives to it too.

To make friends with all of our experience, we need only become aware, moment by moment, of what we are feeling, doing and thinking about. We simply make a practice of saying “yes,” to whatever comes to us.

Rejecting something over and over never makes it go away. In fact, it will come back time and again, just for you to accept it. Everything needs to be loved and accepted, including our illness and pain.

Health comes with learning how to say yes. Wellness emerges out of the balance and harmony of all parts of ourselves. It is the essence of reconciliation.

When we are well, we are in harmony with ourselves and the world we live in.

Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma is a lethal cancer that starts in the lining of the lungs. The main cause is believed to be unprotected contact with asbestos. Every year about 3000 new cases of this disease are reported in the United States. It is estimated that over the past fifty years nearly eight million people have been exposed to asbestos and that 300,000 new cases would be reported by the year 2030. The peak may be around 2020 and thereafter the incidence is likely to taper down because of the preventive measures that are being taken.

Like in all cases of cancer, early detection and appropriate treatment improve the survival rate. On both counts the pleural mesothelioma patients are at a disadvantage. Symptoms take anywhere between 20 to 50 years to manifest. Because of this, the patients are generally in the fifty plus age group. And the outwardly noticed indications of the sickness are similar to that of several lesser ailments. This makes the diagnosis difficult. Because of all these, by the time the problem is detected, the cancer is likely to have spread. As yet there is no fully effective line of treatment. It is generally accepted that a combination therapy is better than monotherapy. A great deal of research is being done in this area.

A number of studies have been made about the survival rate among pleural mesothelioma patients. They all come to the same conclusion – the disease is almost always fatal. The lifespan of a person diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma is about six months to two years. There have been exceptions and their stories are inspiring. The life expectancy varies according to the stage (pleural mesothelioma has four different phases) and the type. One research based on the histologic (tissue structure)tests shows a median survival of 11 months – 9.4 months for sarcomatous, 12.5 months for epithelial and 11 months for mixed.

Several inspirational books are available for the patient to read and fortify himself. Also helpful are chat rooms with others in the same condition.

Each year more and more research is conducted on how to reduce your risk of developing cancer. For some forms of cancer, it’s fairly simple to understand how to reduce risk. For example, we know that most lung cancer victims are smokers, and that many cases of skin cancer are caused by unprotected over exposure to the sun.

For other cancers, understanding how to reduce our risk is not so simple, because we don’t really understand what causes them.

Even in cancers that we don’t fully understand, scientists are working to determine how our lifestyle might increase our risks. For example, a study was conducted in Nagoya, Japan to help better understand the lifestyle factors that might contribute to the development of urinary bladder cancer.

The study also evaluated lifestyle habits that actually reduce your risk of bladder cancer. The findings were interesting, and can help us make lifestyle choices that can protect our health.

This study examined the following lifestyle habits and their ability to increase or reduce risk for urinary bladder cancer:

Cigarette Smoking – Cigarette Smoking was found to increase the risk of developing urinary bladder cancer. The increased risk was more significant in women than men.

Drinking cocoa – Interestingly enough, drinking cocoa was associated with an elevation in risk of urinary bladder cancer in men, but not in women.

Hair Color – Women who used hair color had a slightly elevated risk of developing urinary bladder cancer if they also smoke. However, non smoking women had no significant risk factor if they used hair color.

Drinking coffee- Coffee drinking showed no elevated risk – but it showed no benefit, either.

Drinking alcohol – No significant risk was associated with alcohol intake.

Drinking sodas – No significant risk was associated with drinking sodas.

Drinking fruit juice- Fruit juice was associated with a decreased risk in developing urinary bladder cancer in men. No risk or benefit was notable in women.

Drinking Tea – Women who drank black tea and powdered green tea showed a reduced risk of developing urinary bladder cancer. The figures for men showed no increase or decrease of risk.

What’s So Great About Tea and Fruit?

This study echoes the findings of many other studies, indicating that tea and fruit are of benefit in preventing cancer. Scientists are now fully beginning to understand how important these substances are to protecting our health. But, why are they so important? Well, the answer is in anti-oxidants.

Anti-oxidants have the power to combat free radicals. Free radicals are produced naturally by our body during the process of converting the food we eat to energy. These free radicals speed up the aging process, and can cause clogged arteries, cancer and other disease by damaging our cells and DNA.

Fruits, vegetables and tea are filled with anti-oxidants. A diet rich in these foods, therefore, help rid our bodies of the free radicals that put our health at risk. Some foods and beverages have more potent anti-oxidants than others. Doctors recommend that we make these “super foods” part of our everyday life.

Fruits

All fresh fruits are rich in anti-oxidants. However, the ones that are the most potent include blueberries, pomegranates, strawberries and cranberries.

Vegetables

Again, fresh vegetables supply a good dose of anti-oxidants. Tomatoes, which contain lycopene, are one of the best vegetables you can eat. However, artichokes and red beans are also very good anti-oxidant sources.

Tea

Tea is a simple way to get your anti-oxidants. Tea comes from the camellia sinensis plant. There are many types of tea on the market, but all tea comes from the same plant.

The difference between green, white and black tea comes from the way the tea is processed. Black tea is fermented; white and green are not. Green and white tea have been found to be better sources of anti-oxidants because they fermenting that black tea goes through changes the anti-oxidants into compounds that are not as healthy.

The study quoted above found that black tea had the same benefits as green tea in preventing urinary bladder cancer in women. However, most other studies conducted on the benefits of tea have concluded that green tea is better.

Green tea began gaining attention because of the significantly lower incidence of cancer and heart disease in Asian culture. Even though Asians are more likely to smoke than Americans, they have lower incidence of cancer and heart disease – even lung cancer. It appears that their high consumption of green tea protects their health in a way that other dietary habits do not.

Research has even suggested that green tea may be effective at treating patients who already have cancer. Several studies, on different forms of cancer, have shown that traditional cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy, are more effective when green tea is administered along with the treatment. Green tea seems to increase the concentration of the drugs in the cancerous cells and slows down cancer progression, perhaps even preventing metastasis.

Much of the research that has been performed has been on mice or in-vitro, though the study outlined above was performed on humans. The next step in truly understanding how foods, including tea, can protect our health, preventing cancer and other disease, is to conduct more human trials. The results could take years, because human trials on prevention require following subjects over a long period of time.

Preventing cancer is a national health concern. Certainly, much more study is required before we can gain true understanding of how to protect our health. One thing’s for sure, however; a diet rich in fruits, vegetables and tea is a good start!

Over the last few years, scientists have discovered compelling evidence that green tea protects our bodies against many serious diseases, including cancer. Though the research continues, it seems that it’s safe to conclude that adding green tea to your diet is likely a great way to protect your health.

One of the most serious cancers in our time is stomach cancer. Though its incidence has declined in recent years, it is still the second most common cancer in the world. In addition, chronic gastritis is a common problem today, and many doctors believe that those with chronic gastritis are more likely to develop stomach cancer in the future.

In Yangzhong, China, researchers from the UCLA School of Public health studied a total of 732 patients. 133 of these patients had stomach cancer, 166 had chronic gastritis and 433 were healthy and used for control purposes.

After adjusting the study for age and other factors like smoking, heavy alcohol consumption and body mass index, the study concluded that drinking green tea did, in fact, reduce your overall risk of developing gastritis and stomach cancer. *

This news is very exciting; particularly to those who are at high risk for developing gastritis and stomach cancer.

Who should be concerned about developing stomach cancer?

As with any other disease, there are certain factors that make you more susceptible to developing stomach cancer. Following are risk factors for developing this type of cancer. You can better assess your risk by seeing how many of these risk factors apply to you.

Helicobacter pylori infection: This infection of the stomach is fairly rare in the US, but can be found among many people in other countries, including Eastern Europe. Many doctors believe that long term infection with this bacteria is a major contributor to development of stomach cancer. The infection usually leads to chronic gastritis and makes changes to the lining of the stomach, which can cause cancer.

Diet – Those who eat a large amount of smoked foods, salted fish and meats and pickled vegetables have a higher risk of developing stomach cancer. These products contain large amounts of nitrites, which are believed to lead to cancer. On the other hand, if your diet is rich with fresh fruits and vegetables, you can reduce your risk of stomach cancer. Tobacco and alcohol abuse: Your risk of developing stomach cancer doubles if you smoke. In addition, it is believed that alcohol abuse also contributes to stomach cancer, though this has not been proven.

Obesity: Obesity increases your risk of developing stomach cancer, particularly in the part of your stomach closest to your esophagus.

Having Previous stomach surgery: Certain types of stomach surgery, including surgery to remove part of the stomach for treatment of ulcers or other diseases, increases the risk of developing stomach cancer later on.

Having Type A Blood – Scientists don’t really know why, but people with Type A blood have a slightly higher risk of developing stomach cancer.

History of Cancer in your family – If you have first degree relatives who have had stomach cancer, colorectal cancer or breast cancer, you have an increased risk of developing stomach cancer. There are certain inherited genetic disorders that make you more prone to certain cancers. If your family members have had these other cancers, you may possess this genetic disorder.

Stomach polyps: Polyps are non-cancerous growths on the lining of the stomach that can turn into cancer. One particular type of polyps, called adenomas appear to increase your risk of developing stomach cancer.

Geography: Stomach cancer is most common in Japan, China, Southern and Eastern Europe, and South and Central America. It is least common in Northern and Western Africa, South Central Asia, and North America.

Epstein-Barr virus: This is the virus causes infectious mononucleosis. Almost everyone is infected with the virus at some time in their lives, and it has been linked to some forms of lymphoma. But, it has been detected in 5-10% of people with stomach cancer, too. It usually causes a slow growing, less aggressive cancer. Doctors don’t quite understand the relationship between this virus and cancer.

Other Factors: Stomach cancer is more than twice as common in men as it is in women, and is more common in Hispanics and African Americans than in non-Hispanic whites. It is most common in Asians and Pacific Islanders. It is also more common after the age of 50, with a significant increase in incidence once you reach your late 60’s.

If you have more than three of these risk factors, you may need to be concerned about the development of stomach cancer later in life. Drinking green tea, along with a diet rich in fruits and vegetables may be one of the most important things you can do to protect your health.

Cervical cancer ranks high on the list of common cancers that plague women worldwide; it comes second after breast cancer in prevalence. More than 300,000 women die of cervical cancer every year, worldwide, while in the United States alone, 13,000 cases of cervical cancer are diagnosed every year, with about 4,000 deaths. Most cases of cervical cancer are reported in women between 40 and 55years of age, though it is not unusual for women in their late thirties to be infected.

However, unlike breast and other forms of cancer, the cause and factors inducing cervical cancer is well established, except in very limited number of cases. The culprit in most cases of cervical cancer is a sexually transmitted virus known as the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). This virus can remain in the female genitalia for a very long time, wreaking havoc on the cells of the cervix over a long period of time. It is reported that not all cases of HPV infections lead to cervical cancer, however what is clear is that the virus is capable of inducing abnormal changes in the cervical cells. Some of these abnormal changes in the cells result in what is medically known as ‘high grade lesions’, which, sometimes may progress into cervical cancer.

Though HPV is recognized as the reason behind most cases of cervical cancer, there are other factors that play important roles in the cause and progression of cervical cancer, these include; numerous sex partners over a period of time; this increases the chance of HPV infection, the presence of other sexually transmitted diseases, weak immune system, which reduces the ability of the body to fight the virus, early sexual activity, as non-matured cells of the cervix are more likely to succumb to viral infection, and sometimes, cigarette smoking, though this has not been conclusively established. It is important to point out that the body’s immune system is usually capable of suppressing the viral activity of HPV, thus cervical cancer only results in women whose immune system could not sufficiently control the virus.

Pap smears are the only established method for cervical cancer screening. This test involves brushing cells off the surface of the cervix and examining the cells under a microscope for the presence of cancerous or precancerous changes or lesions. Presently, Pap smear is a routine test for women in most developed countries and this has really helped to reduce the number of deaths that are recorded due to cervical cancer. However, some critics have argued that the Pap smear test is not always completely accurate. It is advisable to carry out the test in at least two laboratories, seek at least two professional opinions and then compare, especially if you observe early symptoms of cervical cancer or you believe you are perfectly alright but the test result shows otherwise.

Though there are no clear cut symptoms of cervical cancer, as it often progress without warning, the presence of the following symptoms or signs might be an indication of the presence of cervical cancer; vaginal bleeding after sexual intercourse or pain during intercourse, unusual vaginal discharge, unusual bleeding between menstrual periods or abnormally heavy bleeding during menstrual periods, increased urine frequency or pelvic pain. Again, these symptoms do not necessarily mean that you have cervical cancer, but they are good reasons for you to go see your doctor.

The credit score is an indication of a person’s financial creditworthiness. It is used to verify whether the person qualifies for a loan, or other credit, based on whether he has repaid his last loan satisfactorily. A credit score is used by banks and other lending companies for estimating how risky the borrower is. It helps them to know how large a loan can be given and at what rate of interest. In other words, a credit report is a reflection of the past credit history of an individual.

In the US, the credit score is based on the FICO (Fair Isaac Corporation) score that is calculated using mathematical and statistical techniques. There are also other versions of calculating credit scores such as the kind that Beacon and Empirica use. A FICO score is based on various factors including: punctuality of payment in the past, capacity used (ratio of current revolving debt to total available revolving credit), length of credit history, types of credits used and recent credits obtained. FICO scores range from 300-850, wherein a score below 600 is considered “bad”, and a score above 720 is considered “good”.

Every person has free access to credit scores from three credit bureaus: Experian (Experian/Fair Isaac Risk Model), Equifax (BEACON®) and TransUnion (EMPIRICA®). Apart from these, lenders can have their own credit scores from other credit bureaus or their internal systems. Free credit scores and reports can be obtained from these three bureaus, one from each, once a year, under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). All three reports can be ordered at the same time. The reports can be obtained by visiting the website: www.annualcreditreport.com or by mailing an Annual Credit Report request form to the Annual Credit Report Request Service. Certain information has to be submitted for accessing the free reports: name, address, social security number, and date of birth. A free report can also be obtained more than once within the same year in certain situations, for example, if a person is on welfare, or if the report is inaccurate because of fraud, or if the person is unemployed and is looking for a job. If a company takes adverse action against the applicant such as denying an application for credit, insurance, or employment, one can request a report within 60 days.

Colon cancer, clinically called as colorectoral cancer, is the growth and spread of cancerous cells in the colon, rectum, and appendix. These cancerous cells form into tissues, and the mass then turns into a tumor. Tumor in colon cancer arises from the inner wall of the large intestine. If the tumor is benign, it is called polyp. If the tumor is malignant, then it is cancer.

Polyps do not reach the stage of metastasis. If detected and removed early enough, polyps can be prevented from being a threat to life and can be removed through colonoscopy. But if polyps are not removed early on, they eventually evolve into the malignant stage and can be very deadly. When the case is already malignant, the cancer cells are most likely to spread to tissues and other parts of the body, resulting in more damages. Colon cancer cells usually attack the liver and the lungs, and form new tumor growth in them.

Just like in most cancers, the medical field has not yet tracked the main cause of colon cancer. There are only known several factors that increase the risk of developing colon cancer. The most unavoidable of all is the predisposition of genetic structure. People from a family with cancer history are more likely to develop colon cancer, or any cancer at that. Genetics also play a big role in having colon cancer syndromes. First identified genetics-caused syndrome is the familial adenomatous polyposis or FAP. In FAP, affected family members develop countless numbers of colon polyps, starting in the teenage years. Unless the condition is detected and treated (treatment involves removal of the colon) early, a person with FAP is almost a hundred percent sure to develop full-blown colon cancer. The second genetics-caused syndrome is the attenuated familial adenomatous polyposis or AFAP. It is a milder version of FAP, where less than a hundred polyps develop in a person’s body. Third is the hereditary nonpolyposis colon cancer or HNPCC, where colon polyps develop in the right colon during early ages of 30 to 40. Last known genetics-caused syndrome is the MYH polyposis syndrome where 10-100 polyps occur around the age of 40.

What can further trigger the genetic factor in colon cancer are high-fat diets and unhealthy lifestyles. Studies have shown that a diet high in red meat and low in fresh fruit, vegetables, poultry, and fish increases colorectal cancer risk. However, the link between high-fiber diet and lower risk of colon cancer still needs a lot of proving. Smoking, on the other hand, makes people more susceptible to develop not just lung cancer but colon cancer as well. In one study conducted by the American Cancer Society, it was found out that women smokers have 40% chances of dying from colon cancer than those women who do not smoke. The same goes for men smokers who are at a 30% higher risk level in contrast to men who do not or never smoked. High alcohol intake and physical inactivity are also known elements of lifestyle, increasing the risk of developing colon cancer.

Generally, abnormalities in a person’s bowel movement is the major indicator or a possible colon cancer. But more symptoms can exist like fatigue, weight loss, abdominal pain, cramps, or bloating. Conditions such as ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, diverticulosis, and peptic ulcer may have the same symptoms as that of colon cancer; so clinical diagnosis is necessary to really determine if the condition is colon cancer or not.

Surgery is the most availed treatment for this type of cancer. Tumor surgery has five classifications. First is the surgical treatment for localized tumor. This type of surgery may require full mesorectal excision (anterior resection) or abdominoperineal excision. In the second classification, palliative resection, the primary tumor is being removed to at least mitigate the damages its metastasis might cause. The proximal fecal diversion, the third classification, is for cases where excision is technically difficult to administer. This is done when the tumor has already invaded the surrounding vital structures of the colon. The fourth is the bypass (alternate to fecal diversion) and the last is the open-and-close surgery. The open-and-close surgery is administered in worst cases where the tumor is unresectable and resorting to other options is more harmful than beneficial. Chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and immunotherapy are the post-surgery support therapies being administered to reduce the chances of the cancer recurring.