Cancer

It seems like it used to be that there were only a few known types of cancer.  But today, new ones seem to be popping up almost weekly or monthly.  My neighbor was discovered to have a very rare form of cancer in a growth on his forehead. They basically thought it was probably skin cancer, perhaps melanoma.  However, it turned out to be a very rare cancer and the very doctors in the cancer center had to check it out themselves before they would know how to treat it.  He has had to go through a great many tests and his surgery is finally set up for Monday.  They will have to go into the growth and go deeper to the bone by his hairline.  He will probably lose that part of his hair forever.  Not only that, but it has spread down both sides of his face and under his chin near his thyroid.  They will have to open his face on both sides to take out the cancer and also under his chin.  It will be a 7 hour surgery. He is also diabetic which adds to the complications. I think he is 74 and I hope he is able to come through this major surgery alright.

Antioxidants May Boost Cancer Treatments

All are not in agreement that patients on chemotherapy should take antioxidants. Do supplements like Vitamin E and C, beta carotene and selenium counteract cancer treatment. There is a new review out of 1500 patients and it found that taking antioxidants with chemotherapy actually might increase survival rates, tumor shrinkage and the patient's ability to tolerate chemotherapy. It is not scientifically valid, to discourage taking antioxidants.

Cancer: The Facts

Did you know that one in three of us will be diagnosed with cancer during our lifetime? This disease tends to affect older people but it can stirike at any time. Many young women in their 40's are diagnosed with breast cancer, lung cancer, ovarian cancer, and colon cancer. We have known quite a few friends and relatives who have received this diagnosis. When you are that young, you don't expect to just go in for routine testing for these things. Mammograms, for instance are usually recommended for over age 50 women but now it is starting younger and that is a good thing. There is so much skin cancer too now. They say there were more than 270,000 new cases of the disease in 2001 and that is excluding certain skin cancers. But it is increasing about 1 percent a year. Breast cancer is becoming more common whereas lung cancer is dropping due to the drop in the number of smokers.