Ovarian Cancer Treatment

Ovarian cancer, a condition characterized by an overgrowth of malignant cells in one or both of the ovaries, is one of the deadliest and under-recognized cancers affecting women. Every year, there are more than 25,000 women that suffer from this deadly disease. Half of them are most likely to die within a period of five years.

Early Detection: Improves Ovarian Cancer Treatment

The sad thing about ovarian cancer is that during the early stage, there are usually no signs and symptoms that tell you about this disorder. Symptoms start to show up when the cancer is already widespread, making ovarian cancer treatment too difficult.

However, there are women who are lucky enough to detect the symptoms early on; hence, diagnosis is hastened up and ovarian cancer treatment is given immediately. Tests such as pelvic and rectal screening, ultrasound, x-ray and laparoscopy may help a doctor detect tumors in the ovaries.

At present, almost 75 percent of women diagnosed with ovarian cancer are not treated immediately due to late detection of the cancer. Experts say that when detection of the cancer is made early and when ovarian cancer treatment is given immediately, women diagnosed with the disease have 90% survival rate since the cancer can be easily treated in its early stage.

Diagnosis and Ovarian Cancer Treatment

When symptoms finally show up and the doctor suspects that a patient may have ovarian cancer, laparoscopy is conducted to confirm diagnosis. It is a direct visual examination of the abdominal cavity, the ovaries, the exterior of the fallopian tubes and the uterus using an instrument that is inserted just underneath the navel.

Upon confirmation of ovarian cancer, the doctor explores the extent of the cancer and submits the patient for surgery. The surgeon removes the growth or much of the malignant tissue. In most cases, the whole ovary or both of the ovaries and the fallopian tubes are removed as they the malignant cancer cells have already affected these areas. This kind of surgery is called salpingooophorectomy. If the malignant cells affect the uterus, hysterectomy is conducted (surgical removal of the uterus).

Surgery is usually ensued by radiotherapy, which is the use of high energy radiation to destroy malignant cancer cells in the body and shrink remaining tumors, which may later on become malignant. This procedure may be done using an external machine or a radioactive material put inside the body near the malignant cells.

The patient also undergoes chemotherapy, whereby the patient is given anti-cancer drugs to help hasten up ovarian cancer treatment. Drugs may be administered orally (through the mouth), intravenously (through the veins) or through the muscles (by means of injection of a needle.

Most anticancer drugs given to the patient have chemical compounds that are toxic to the malignant cells; thus, growth of the cancer cells is reduced or stopped. These anticancer drugs are called cytotoxic drugs. Other anticancer drugs used are synthetic forms of sex hormones such as androgen drugs and progesterone drugs.

In most instances, different kinds of anticancer drugs are prescribed in combination in order to speed up ovarian cancer treatment. However, not all ovarian cancer patients are given with the same anticancer drugs. The drugs given to a patient depends on the extent or stage of development of the ovarian cancer and her general health condition.

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Mesothelioma New Cures on the Horizon for Asbestos Causing Cancer

Mesothelioma and Asbestosis exist without a cure. Singular methods of chemotherapy and radiation have gone through medical scrutiny only to be declared potentially ineffective. The secret to extending the longevity of life in mesothelioma patients, and reducing the searing pains of cancer and asbestosis, may be found in the magical mix of the next array of clinical trials and experiments involving combination drugs.

Mesothelioma is a disease with little hope. Scientific studies have shown that chemotherapy, radiation or surgery alone often have little value over choosing no treatment. A rare disease appearing late in life, experiments and trials for this cancer haven’t undergone the funding and urgency of the well-known cancers of the masses - yet research for treatment does exist. Pharmacies, hospitals, health professionals and scientists that are dedicated to curing mesothelioma and reducing its painful side effects continue to conduct scientific studies on treatment efficacy for mesothelioma and asbestosis, and strive to develop new treatment options that can improve the quality of life for asbestos diseased patients.

Killing a tumor isn’t easy, and mesothelioma does not regress like other cancers, even after lung surgery. Just as a mix of the right individual talents can produce a powerful team, so can a mix of the right medications and treatment produce a powerful solution. Elementary science best demonstrates this with baking soda and vinegar. Each product has their unique properties that serve product-specific purposes, but when mixed together they can produce a volcanic effect. Finding the synergistic effect from combination drugs and therapies that can debilitate or conquer asbestos related diseases is the goal of mesothelioma and asbestosis clinical trials.

A 2007 medical study added on three months to the lives of mesothelioma patients who participated in clinical trials that used the vitamin supplements of B12 and folic acid along with Emetrexed and Cisplatin, when compared to mesothelioma patients that received Cisplatin without any supplements. Three months may not seem long to a person embraced in the rush of life, but it is a gift of life to the cancer sufferer facing imminent death.

Doxorubicin, a cancer drug for asbestos disease that’s been around for a while, is now being combined with Onconase. Doxorubicin damages the cancer cells, but the cancer cells can heal. Onconase is a drug that goes in and blocks the healing process. A similar clinical study is being done with Pemetrexed disodium, a drug classically prescribed for mesothelioma, combined with Gemcitabine or Carboplantin to determine the better combination. This would compare the results of two powerful drugs that block cancer cell growth versus a combination of one of those drugs with a drug that damages cancer cells.

Mesothelioma and its close relative Asbestosis are expected to reach higher diagnosis rates in the future. Asbestos use has been regulated in many countries, but its wide-spread use still remains. Hundreds of clinical trials for these asbestos diseases exist that will provide help, and maybe even a cure, for the asbestos-induced sufferers of the future. There is a light at the end of the long dark tunnel of mesothelioma. With continued medical research and clinical trials, the light will become brighter and brighter - until hopefully, mesothelioma will be left behind to become a part of the distant past.

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