Cancer Treatment
In recent years Cancer is disease that has seemed to captivate and
frighten
Americans. Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the
U.S. with more
than 1 million new cases occurring a year. With each day
scientific findings aid
a better understanding of the causes of the disease.
These findings have opened
doors to help treat cancer patients more
effectively. Scientists have gained a
more specific knowledge of individual
cancers and now through the wonders of
science have found effective
treatments for the disease. To treat Cancer doctors
and scientist need an
understanding of what the disease actually physically
does. Cancer is defined
as "new growth of tissue resulting from a
continuing proliferation of
abnormal cells that have the ability to invade and
destroy other tissues."
Cancer is not restricted to what type of cell and
tissue it may emerge from.
Therefore, they describe the disease as a large
number of diseases as opposed
to just on single disease. Because Cancer involves
cells that can easily
enter the bloodstream the disease has the ability to
spread rapidly
throughout the body making it an even more dangerous disease.
Another
factor in successful treatment of Cancer is to understand the causes for
the
disease. It is believed that a combination of several factors produce
the
disease. Inheritance is said to play a roll in about 20 percent of
Cancers.
Although it is more prevalent in cancer types such as breast and
colon. Viral
infections play a large role in cancer of animals. In humans
different DNA
viruses can cause leukemia and Burkitt's lymphoma. Long term
radiation also
plays a role in the mutation of DNA that may cause Cancer.
Environmental factors
are estimated to be responsible for about 80 percent
Cancers. Factors such as
tobacco smoking are said to cause 30 percent of
cancers and diet is believed to
cause about 40 percent. Only with a complete
understanding of the physical
characteristics and causes of Cancer can
scientists and doctors begin to develop
effective treatments. Currently there
are three major ways of treating Cancer;
surgery, radiation, and
chemotherapy. The idea behind surgery for treatment of
cancer patients is to
remove all malignant cells and tumors. With new, more
precise, surgical
advances, far less tissue is required to be removed thus
resulting in a
quicker recovery and less chance for serious disability. Surgery
is most
effective if done in the early stages of Cancer, although it is
effective in
more developed stages in relieving symptoms. Surgery is also used
to make
other forms of treatment, such as radiation, more effective. With
the
reduction of the tumor through surgery radiation treatment may
effectively
eliminate the tumor. Radiation treatment of cancer uses gamma
rays attack Cancer
causing tissue. Since tumors are more sensitive to
radiation than normal tissue
radiation can effectively eliminate or reduce
harmful tissues that surgery can
otherwise not remove. Since normal tissues
are not as easily harmed by
radiation, the negative effects on healthy tissue
are not as severe. If the
tumor is reduced through radiation, it may become
possible for a doctor to
eliminate the tumor through surgery. Radiation can
also sterilize tumors thus
preventing or slowing the spread of the Cancer
through the body. This can also
help doctors remove the tumor more easily
through surgery, and provides a much
less involved, painful surgery. The
combination of radiation and surgery, if
effective, can offer a cure with
fewer negative side effects to the patient. The
final traditional means of
treating cancer is Chemotherapy. This form of
treatment involves the use of
drugs. Chemotherapy is used when Cancer has grown
throughout the body and is
no longer accessible through radiation or surgery.
Although after
chemotherapy, surgery is often used to eliminate remaining
Caceres
tissue. In this treatment drugs are administered and pass through the
blood
stream effecting Cancer tissue and healthy tissue. Since the drugs
affect
healthy tissue the patient will become sick from the treatment but
because
healthy cells divide faster than malignant cells the patient is able
to
recuperate. Chemotherapy, like all Cancer treatments, is most effective
when
administered early the early stages of the disease. It is also important
that
the treatment is consistent and administered frequently in order to
achieve the
most successful results. Cancer is disease that has not only
plagued American
society, but the world for several decades. With new
advances in science and
technology humans inch closer to effective treatments
of the disease. Presently,
medical advances occur daily and bring new hope to
the victims and potential
victims of diseases like Cancer. In a world that
has had its fair share of ups
and downs with technology, medical advances
have proved not only interesting but
useful. Without these advances in
medical technology many lives would never have
been saved and many more in
great danger.