Bone Marrow Transplants

Bone marrow transplantation (BMT) is a relatively new medical procedure being used to treat diseases once thought incurable. Since its first successful use in 1968, BMTs have been used to treat patients diagnosed with leukemia, aplastic anemia, lymphomas such as Hodgkin's disease, multiple myeloma, immune deficiency disorders and some solid tumors such as breast and ovarian cancer.
In 1991, more than 7,500 people underwent BMTs nationwide. Although BMTs now save thousands of lives each year, 70 percent of those needing a BMT using donor marrow are unable to have one because a suitable bone marrow donor cannot be found.

What is Bone Marrow?

Bone marrow is a spongy tissue found inside bones. The bone marrow in the breast bone, skull, hips, ribs and spine contains stem cells that produce the body's blood cells. These blood cells include white blood cells (leukocytes), which fight infection; red blood cells (erythrocytes), which carry oxygen to and remove waste products from organs and tissues; and platelets, which enable the blood to dot

Why Transplant?

In patients with leukemia, aplastic anemia, and some immune deficiency diseases, the stem cells in the bone marrow malfunction, producing an excessive number of defective or immature blood cells (in the case of leukemia) or low blood cell counts (in the case of aplastic anemia). The immature or defective blood cells interfere with the production of normal blood cells, accumulate in the bloodstream and may invade other tissues.
Large doses of chemotherapy and/or radiation are required to destroy the abnormal stem cells and abnormal blood cells. These therapies, however, not only kill the abnormal cells but can destroy normal cells found in the bone marrow as well. Similarly, aggressive chemotherapy used to treat some lymphomas and other cancers can destroy healthy bone marrow. A bone marrow transplant enables physicians to treat these diseases with aggressive chemotherapy and/or radiation by allowing replacement of the diseased or damaged bone marrow after the chemotherapy/radiation treatment.
While bone marrow transplants do not provide 100 percent assurance that the disease will not recur, a transplant can increase the likelihood of a cure or at least prolong the period of disease-free survival for many patients.

Types of Transplants

In a bone marrow transplant, the patient's diseased bone marrow is destroyed and healthy marrow is infused into the patient's blood-stream. In a successful transplant, the new bone marrow migrates to the cavities of the large bones, engrafts and begins producing normal blood cells.
If bone marrow from a donor is used, the transplant is called an "allogeneic" BMT, or "syngeneic" BMT if the donor is an identical twin. In an allogeneic BMT, the new bone marrow infused into the patient must match the genetic makeup of the patient's own marrow as perfectly as possible. Special blood tests are conducted to determine whether or not the donor's bone marrow matches the patient's. If the donor's bone marrow is not a good genetic match, it will perceive the patient's body as foreign material to be attacked and destroyed. This condition is known as graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and can be life-threatening. Alternatively, the patient's immune system may destroy the new bone marrow. This is called graft rejection.
There is a 35 percent chance that a patient will have a sibling whose bone marrow is a perfect match. If the patient has no matched sibling, a donor may be located in one of the international bone marrow donor registries, or a mis-matched or autologous transplant may be considered.
In some cases, patients may be their own bone marrow donors. This is called an autologous BMT and is possible if the disease afflicting the bone marrow is in remission or if the condition being treated does not involve the bone marrow (e.g. breast cancer, ovarian cancer, Hodgkin's disease, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and brain tumors). The bone marrow is extracted from the patient prior to transplant and may be "purged" to remove lingering malignant cells (if the disease has afflicted the bone marrow).

What is Radiation Treatment?

Radiation treatment, also known as radiation therapy, is the use of ionized radiation to eliminate or control cancerous cells in the body. Patients receive radiation treatment for a variety of reasons, mainly those which are listed below. Often, radiation therapy is combined with another form of cancer treatment including surgery or chemotherapy.
Radiation treatment causes damage to the DNA strands of cancer cells, forcing them to die or reproduce at a slower rate. Certain types of cancers, such as lymphomas and leukemia, are extremely vulnerable to radiation treatment. Other types of cancers, including melanoma and renal cell cancer, are highly resistant to radiation. Malignant tumors also become more resistant to radiation therapy as they increase in size.

Types of Radiation Treatment

Radiation therapy can have several possible benefits when used to help treat cancer patients. The type of treatment a patient receives depends on the type, size and stage of his or her cancer. Generally, the purposes of radiation treatment fall into one of the following categories:
Curative: Radiation treatment is deemed curative when its purpose is to completely remove all cancerous cells.
Adjuvant: As a form of preventative care, adjuvant radiation treatment is administered when no other cancer cells can be detected – usually following surgery or another form of treatment. This helps ensure that all cancer cells are eradicated.
Neoadjuvant: This type of radiation treatment is usually administered prior to surgery to reduce the sizes of tumors or malignant growths, making it easier for them to be removed.
Palliative: Palliative radiation treatment is administered to help relieve pain and symptoms associated with cancer.

Effects of Radiation Treatment

Although radiation treatment is painless, the procedure has many possible side effects. Patients may experience hair loss, fatigue or dryness of the mouth, eyes and skin. Radiation therapy can also cause cancer to develop years after treatment has ended; it is also a source of heart disease among some patients.

What is homeopathy?

Homeopathy is a sub-system of natural health care in which extreme dilutions of substances from nature are used to stimulate a healing response. The basic principle of homeopathy is that substances that elicit a particular symptom picture in their physical form (for example onion causing itchy watery eyes and a runny nose with discharge that burns) can be used in a diluted form to stimulate the healing of the same set of symptoms.
Using this principle, a homeopath working with an individual that suffers from allergies (with the specific symptoms of watery itchy eyes and a runny nose with discharge that burns) might select homeopathic onion.
Homeopathic pharmaceutical companies prepare homeopathic dilutions according to FDA guidelines. Once completed, the diluted substances are called “remedies”. 
Most remedies are derived from plants (such as Belladonna or Pulsatilla), and minerals (such as Phosphorous and Silica). A smaller portion are derived from animal substances (such as dog's milk or dolphin's milk). Remedy symptom pictures are derived from research studies called “provings”. Once completed, proving information is recorded in homeopathic materia medicas (large reference books), and homeopathic material medica software.
The role of a professional homeopath is to understand the symptom pictures of a large number of remedies, and then to be able to select the remedy that most closely matches the symptom picture of the patient. (This is called the similimum.) When this match is achieved – that is, the symptom picture of the remedy matches the symptom picture of the individual suffering from a disease pattern – the individual's innate healing ability is activated and healing occurs.

How do homeopathic professionals use homeopathy treat cancer? 

There are several different treatment philosophies and approaches for using homeopathy to treat individuals with cancer. Often times practitioners that use homeopathy in the treatment of cancer use a combination of these approaches. 
One approach is to use homeopathic remedies to target the tumors themselves. In this case, the homeopath selects remedies which match the symptom picture of the tumor itself (e.g. Conium Maculatum for hard immovable tumors that develop slowly).    Homeopaths using this approach might also consider other symptoms (such as the individual's food cravings, disposition, etc), but their primary focus is to target the tumor and reverse its growth. Some physician homeopaths also give remedies at the tumor site itself (in the form of an injection) to more aggressively stimulate a response.
Another approach is to use homeopathic remedies to assist in healing the patient's eliminative channels (kidneys, urinary tract, lymphatic system, liver, etc), and strengthen cell detoxification. In this case, the homeopath may use drainage remedies. These are low potency combination remedies that are used to target specific systems, or detoxify particular substances (e.g. heavy metals, etc). Homeopaths using this approach select the drainage remedy based on an analysis of the case – or they may use an electro-dermal diagnostic tool, such as the Quantum machine.
Still another approach is to use homeopathy to address the overall constitution of the patient. In this case (called the classical approach), the homeopath does a complete interview of the patient's mental, emotional, and physical symptoms and then selects the best match accordingly. Often the best selected constitutional remedy will directly affect the tumor. By assisting the body in addressing and resolving the energy that underlies the tumor, it can result in complete elimination of the tumor. The best selected constitutional remedy can also support drainage and detoxification, although this is not the primary focus of a classical prescriber.

How effective is homeopathy in the treatment of cancer?

In the US, most alternative health care professionals use homeopathy in combination with other approaches (nutritional and immune system support, diet and detoxification programs, etc), so it's not typically considered as a primary or stand-alone therapy for cancer. However, when used correctly, and in combination with necessary therapies, it can be an amazingly powerful tool for empowering someone to heal themselves of cancer.  There are many cases in homeopathic literature (from other countries where homeopathy is more commonly used for cancer) in which the correct homeopathic recommendation resulted in the resolution of tumors, reversal of the cancer process, and recovery by the patient.
Also, homeopathy has an excellent track record in the treatment of animals with cancer and there is much anecdotal evidence that certain remedies (when correctly selected) are effective in reversing the cancer process.
Much of the success with homeopathy, however, depends on the skill level of the practitioner and the resources of the patient to heal on all levels.

Stomach Cancer

Stomach cancer is cancer that occurs in the stomach. Another term for stomach cancer is gastric cancer. These two terms most often refer to stomach cancer that begins in the mucus-producing cells on the inside lining of the stomach (adenocarcinoma). Adenocarcinoma is the most common type of stomach cancer.

Stomach cancer is uncommon in the United States, and the number of people diagnosed with the disease each year is declining. Stomach cancer is much more common in other areas of the world, particularly Japan.

Symptoms

Signs and symptoms of stomach cancer may include:

• Fatigue
• Feeling bloated after eating
• Feeling full after eating little
• Heartburn
• Indigestion
• Nausea
• Stomach pain
• Vomiting
• Weight loss

When to see a doctor
If you have signs and symptoms that worry you, make an appointment with your doctor. Your doctor will likely investigate more common causes of these signs and symptoms first.

Causes

Doctors aren't sure what causes stomach cancer. There is a strong correlation between a diet high in smoked, salted and pickled foods and stomach cancer. As the use of refrigeration for preserving foods has increased around the world, the rates of stomach cancer have declined.

In general, cancer begins when an error (mutation) occurs in a cell's DNA. The mutation causes the cell to grow and divide at a rapid rate and to continue living when normal cells would die. The accumulating cancerous cells form a tumor that can invade nearby structures. And cancer cells can break off from the tumor to spread throughout the body.

Types of stomach cancer
The cells that form the tumor determine the type of stomach cancer. The type of cells in your stomach cancer helps determine your treatment options. Types of stomach cancer include:

• Cancer that begins in the glandular cells (adenocarcinoma). The glandular cells that line the inside of the stomach secrete a protective layer of mucus to shield the lining of the stomach from the acidic digestive juices. Adenocarcinoma accounts for more than 90 percent of all stomach cancers.
• Cancer that begins in immune system cells (lymphoma). The walls of the stomach contain a small number of immune system cells that can develop cancer. Lymphoma in the stomach is rare.
• Cancer that begins in hormone-producing cells (carcinoid cancer). Hormone-producing cells can develop carcinoid cancer. Carcinoid cancer is rare.
• Cancer that begins in nervous system tissues. A gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) begins in specific nervous system cells found in your stomach. GIST is a very rare form of cancer.

Because the other types of stomach cancer are rare, when people use the term "stomach cancer" they generally are referring to adenocarcinoma.

Treatment

Your treatment options for stomach cancer depend on the stage of your cancer, your overall health and your preferences. Treatment for the adenocarcinoma type of stomach cancer may include:

Surgery
The goal of surgery is to remove all of the stomach cancer and a margin of healthy tissue, when possible. Options include:

• Removing early-stage tumors from the stomach lining. Very small cancers limited to the inside lining of the stomach may be removed using endoscopy. The endoscope is a lighted tube with a camera that's passed down your throat into your stomach. The doctor uses special tools to remove the cancer and a margin of healthy tissue.
• Removing a portion of the stomach (subtotal gastrectomy). During subtotal gastrectomy, the surgeon removes only the portion of the stomach affected by cancer.
• Removing the entire stomach (total gastrectomy). Total gastrectomy involves removing the entire stomach and some surrounding tissue. The esophagus is then connected directly to the small intestine to allow food to move through your digestive system.
• Removing lymph nodes to look for cancer. The surgeon examines and removes lymph nodes in your abdomen to look for cancer cells.
• Surgery to relieve signs and symptoms. Removing part of the stomach may relieve signs and symptoms of a growing tumor in people with advanced stomach cancer. In this case, surgery can't cure stomach cancer, but it can make you more comfortable.

Surgery carries a risk of bleeding and infection. If all or part of your stomach is removed, you may experience digestive problems, such as diarrhea, vomiting and dumping syndrome, which occurs when the small intestine fills too quickly with undigested food.

Radiation therapy
Radiation therapy uses high-powered beams of energy to kill cancer cells. The energy beams come from a machine that moves around you as you lie on a table.

Radiation therapy can be used before surgery (neoadjuvant radiation) to shrink a stomach tumor so it's more easily removed. Radiation therapy can also be used after surgery (adjuvant radiation) to kill any cancer cells that might remain around your stomach. Radiation is often combined with chemotherapy. In cases of advanced cancer, radiation therapy may be used to relieve side effects caused by a large tumor.

Radiation therapy to your stomach can cause diarrhea, indigestion, nausea and vomiting.

Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is a drug treatment that uses chemicals to kill cancer cells. Chemotherapy drugs travel throughout your body, killing cancer cells that may have spread beyond the stomach.

Chemotherapy can be given before surgery (neoadjuvant chemotherapy) to help shrink a tumor so it can be more easily removed. Chemotherapy is also used after surgery (adjuvant chemotherapy) to kill any cancer cells that might remain in the body. Chemotherapy is often combined with radiation therapy. Chemotherapy may be used alone in people with advanced stomach cancer to help relieve signs and symptoms.

Chemotherapy side effects depend on which drugs are used. The type of stomach cancer you have determines which chemotherapy drugs you'll receive.

Clinical trials
Clinical trials are studies of new treatments and new ways of using existing treatments. Participating in a clinical trial may give you a chance to try the latest treatments. But clinical trials can't guarantee a cure. In some cases, researchers might not be certain of a new treatment's side effects.

Penile Cancer

Cancer of the penis can occur anywhere along the penile shaft, but most are on the foreskin or head (glans).

It is usually a slow-growing cancer and is curable if discovered early.

Cancer of the penis is rare in the U.S., affecting only one or two men in 100,000. It is almost never seen in those who have been circumcised as babies, which is a major argument in favor of newborn circumcision. Unfortunately, some men do not seek medical attention until after it has spread.

Nearly all penile malignancies are cancers of the skin, the most common being squamous cell carcinoma, similar to squamous cell carcinomas on other parts of the skin such as the face or hands.

Some penile cancers are melanomas, which appear as blue-brown flat growths and tend to spread more rapidly and more widely. Occasionally, the deep tissues of the penis develop cancer, typically sarcomas.

The tumor spreads gradually becoming larger in the area of the skin where it first develops. Ultimately, it spreads to deep tissues inside the body of the penis and to lymph nodes in the groin (inguinal area) or pelvis.

When the cancer is in the penis itself (local) and involves no more than a few nearby inguinal lymph nodes, it can be cured, but cure rates fall rapidly once it spreads to the pelvic lymph nodes.

Once cancer of the penis is found, more tests will be done to determine whether the cancer has spread from the penis to other parts of the body (staging). There are a number of stages:

• Stage 1: cancer cells are found only on the surface of the glans and on the foreskin
• Stage 2: cancer cells are found in the deeper tissues of the glans and have spread to the shaft of the penis
• Stage 3: cancer cells are found in the penis and have spread to the nearby lymph nodes in the groin
• Stage 4: cancer cells are found throughout the penis and the lymph nodes in the groin and/or have spread to other parts of the body

Causes and Risk Factors of Penile Cancer

Men who are circumcised at birth, a common practice in the U.S., almost never get penile cancer. If circumcision is performed at puberty, the incidence of cancer is slightly higher, and men who are circumcised as adults experience the same incidence of penile cancer as men who are never circumcised at all.

Cancer of the penis is, in a sense, a disease of poor hygiene. It is believed that the decaying cells of the undersurface of the foreskin (smegma) produce irritation leading to cancer.

In addition, there may be a relationship between venereal warts (condyloma acuminata) and penile cancer.

Recent studies have shown an association between certain types of the virus that causes condylomata (human papilloma virus types 16 and 18) and penile cancer in about one man in three who have penile cancer. These human papilloma virus (HPV) types are also found in women who have cancer in the uterine cervix.

It also has been shown that cancer of the uterine cervix may be higher in the sexual partners of men who are not circumcised.

Symptoms of Penile Cancer

Penile cancer typically begins as a raised lump or lesion on the penis. It can begin more as an area of unexplained change in the color of the skin.Treatment of Penile Cancer
Treatment is determined by the tumor size and staging. If the tumor is small and local, it can be treated surgically, chemically, or with radiation or laser without major damage to the appearance or function of the penis.

If it has penetrated the deeper penile tissues or is large, surgery is the preferred treatment for most men. Radiation is an option but results are less certain.

If the tumor has spread to lymph nodes, surgery or radiation is used. Chemotherapy is of little value in extensive carcinoma of the penis.

Ovarian cancer: what is it?

In scientific terms, ovarian cancer is a cancerous growth in females that can arise from different parts of the ovary. The risk of developing ovarian cancer increases with age and decreases with each pregnancy. Symptoms can include back pain, constipation, tiredness, vaginal bleeding, and bloating, however these symptoms are non-specific. The best course of action is to see a doctor if you have any of these symptoms, especially if there is a family history of cancer. 

Causes of ovarian cancer

The cause of ovarian cancer is unknown, though there are a few factors that the disease is affected by. Hormonal changes due to medication have been shown to increase the chance of developing ovarian cancer. Family genetics also play a part, especially so if there is a family history of cancer. Studies have shown that those who imbibe large quantities of alcohol daily have an increased of ovarian cancer, along with many other health issues in the future. A recent study is also theorizing that consuming milk may also increase the risk of cancer.

Diagnosing ovarian cancer

Ovarian cancer is very difficult to diagnose until later stages due to non-specific symptoms. During the testing stage of diagnosis, doctors may take blood tests in order to get a blood count, however this is not a 100% accurate way to tell if the patient indeed has ovarian cancer. In order to definitely diagnose, a procedure to look into the abdomen is needed. All suspicious areas are removed and taken to the lab for testing. This method is also used to determine the growth and stage of the cancer.

Ovarian cancer treatment

For some, surgery is possible to remove a tumor if the cancer is confined and not far spread. Chemotherapy may also be needed.  For those whose tumors are already widespread Chemotherapy is not an option, though surgery can be used to remove larger growths. More advanced stages require surgery, and as much cancer is removed as possible.

Prognosis of ovarian cancer patients

The prognosis of ovarian cancer is extremely poor due to the inability to identify the disease early.  More than 60 percent of all patients who have been diagnosed are already in the middle to late stages, where the cancer has already spread past the ovaries. For those who have ovarian cancer diagnosed early, the five-year survival rate is 92.7 percent.  For those in the later stages the chance is about 45.5 percent.

Liver Cancer

Liver cancer is cancer that begins in the cells of your liver. Your liver is a football-sized organ that sits in the upper right portion of your abdomen, beneath your diaphragm and above your stomach.
Liver cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer in the world, but liver cancer is uncommon in the United States. Rates of liver cancer diagnosis are increasing in the United States.
In the United States, most cancer that occurs in the liver begins in another area of the body, such as the colon, lung or breast. Doctors call this metastatic cancer, rather than liver cancer. And this type of cancer is named after the organ in which it began — such as metastatic colon cancer to describe cancer that begins in the colon and spreads to the liver.

Liver Cancer Symptoms

Most people don't have signs and symptoms in the early stages of primary liver cancer. When symptoms do appear, they may include:

• Losing weight without trying
• Loss of appetite
• Upper abdominal pain
• Nausea and vomiting
• General weakness and fatigue
• An enlarged liver
• Abdominal swelling
• Yellow discoloration of your skin and the whites of your eyes (jaundice)

When to see a doctor

Make an appointment with your doctor if you experience any signs or symptoms that worry you.

Causes of Liver Cancer

It's not clear what causes most cases of liver cancer. But in some cases, the cause is known. For instance, chronic infection with certain hepatitis viruses can cause liver cancer.
Liver cancer occurs when liver cells develop changes (mutations) in their DNA — the material that provides instructions for every chemical process in your body. DNA mutations cause changes in these instructions. One result is that cells may begin to grow out of control and eventually form a tumor — a mass of malignant cells.

Types of liver cancer

Primary liver cancer, which begins in the cells of the liver, is divided into different types based on the kind of cells that become cancerous. Types include:

• Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This is the most common form of primary liver cancer in both children and adults. It starts in the hepatocytes, the main type of liver cell.

• Cholangiocarcinoma. This type of cancer begins in the small tube-like bile ducts within the liver. This type of cancer is sometimes called bile duct cancer.

• Hepatoblastoma. This rare type of liver cancer affects children younger than 4 years of age. Most children with hepatoblastoma can be successfully treated.

• Angiosarcoma or hemangiosarcoma. These rare cancers begin in the blood vessels of the liver and grow very quickly.