Cancer Foundation Ebook

 

Volume 14. Free Bloch Cancer Foundation Ebook about Cancer Therapies

 

Chapter 1. blochcancer.org/books/guide-for-cancer-supporters, Free ebook

 

Book Summary, The Guide for Cancer Supporters Step-by-step ways to help a relative or friend fight cancer

 

The Guide for Cancer Supporters Step-by-step ways to help a relative or friend fight cancer by Annette and Richard Bloch is a free ebook online:

 

blochcancer.org/books/guide-for-cancer-supporters

lochcancer.org/book/guide_for_cancer_supporters.pdf

 

R. A. Bloch Cancer Foundation, Inc

One H&R Block Way

Kansas City, Missouri 64105

816-854-5050

800-433-0464

BlochCancer.org

hotline@blochcancer.org

 

Learn about the disease, especially the holistic treatments.

 

Understand the patient that you’re helping.  Ask them what they want.  Know their personality like when they want to be alone.  Know when to push them to get out of bed to do stuff.

 

Make a decision to fight.

 

Don’t listen too much to the conventional medical people.  They’re so brainwashed by chemo, surgery and radiation/

 

Be realistic.  When someone is going to die, don’t shy away.  Be brave.  Help them through it.

 

Replace nonactivity and depression with any kind of action.  Action is the key to a good life.

 

Be positive.

 

This book has a section on Treatments which I will reproduce here:

 

Surgery

Chemotherapy

Gene Therapy

Radiation Therapy

Immunization Therapy

Hyperthermia

Hormonal Manipulation

Dye-Laser

Monoclonal Antibodies

Common Cancer Terms in Lay Language

 

With all your concern for the patient, do not forget to take care of yourself.

 

If you allow yourself to get overly tired, run down and ill, you will not only be of no possible help, but possibly a hindrance. Instead of an asset, you could become a burden at least emotionally if not physically.

 

Pace yourself.

 

Give yourself space.

 

Limit your time spent with the patient and allow yourself time for outside activities.

 

Get away by yourself or with others and clear your mind. In this way, you can actually do more for the patient in the long run.

 

Eat well.

 

Sleep well.

 

Take care of yourself.

 

Your goal is to have the patient recover and have the best quality of life possible.

 

Do everything you can that will help and nothing that will hurt their chances of recovery and their long term quality of life.

 

Don't be afraid to use the word cancer. Call it what it is.

 
Make it clear that you are with the patient to help and give support, not to offer sympathy. Be calm and just be there.

 
Be a good listener.

 
If the patient expresses feelings of being a burden, reassure them by saying you have chosen freely to be there.

 
Treat the patient as if you expect them to live. You need not believe they will, you only need believe they can recover.

 
Have patience. Not everyone hears the information the first time.

 
Don't be afraid to cry with the patient and family. This can lead to meaningful conversations.

 
Don't tell them to keep a stiff upper lip or keep smiling. You can say it must be very hard or very tiring or very frightening.

 
Allow them to express anger when it is to relieve stress.

 
Express love, caring and concern verbally and through actions at every opportunity. Letters, cards and flowers are tangible methods.

 
Cancer is not contagious. Touch, hug, kiss. Human contact is very necessary.

 
The patient needs reassurance that you love them even though their physical appearance might have changed.

 
Give them something special they might not want to buy for themself.

 
Provide companionship with the patient during meals and other appropriate times.

 
Act cheerful whenever you are around the patient. Being depressed and gloomy is contagious and the patient could catch it.

 
Be completely honest with the patient in a constructive and optimistic manner.

 
Keep no secrets from the patient.

 
Do not whisper to others in front of the patient.

 
Think of the patient as an individual, a unique human being, not a statistic.

 
Discuss all the normal things with the patient that they have always been interested in. While cancer might have become the dominant item in their life, their interests have not changed.

 

Encourage the patient to believe that their actions could make a difference in the outcome and the quality of their life.

 
Make no prognosis. It can only cast doubts on your credibility.

 
See that the patient makes a verbal commitment to do everything in their power to fight the disease.

 
Allow the patient to make all their own decisions when possible.

 
Encourage the patient to learn everything about their cancer that they can.

 
Make them do everything for themselves that they can. This includes making telecalls, reading, keeping lists, scheduling appointments and doing personal things.

 
See that they treat their cancer promptly, properly and thoroughly.

 
Make certain their doctor is qualified to treat them and believes he can successfully treat them.

 
See that they relate well to their physician. Have them write down all their questions before seeing their physician and make sure they understand the answers.

 
Be certain they read, understand and practice everything in Fighting Cancer.

 
They should understand each component of their treatment as to what it is, what it is supposed to do and how it is supposed to do it.

 
If the patient has adverse side effects from treatments, encourage them to realize what it is doing to those weak cancer cells.

 
Keep pleasant activities planned for the future.

 
True love is never having to say, "I'm sorry." Erase that phrase from your vocabulary. Sympathize with them, not for them.

 
See that the patient spends 15 minutes, 3 times a day practicing relaxation and visual imagery.

 
Be certain the patient takes the mental attitude quiz in the book Fighting Cancer

 
Get the patient into one or more support groups or set one up. Join one yourself if available.

 
Plan regular physical exercise in accordance with their abilities.

 
Advise the patient that you are saying prayers for them and urge them to say prayers for themself.

 
Do not assume the patient is going to die. Many are cured.

 
See that the patient eats a well-balanced diet sufficient to maintain their strength and their weight.

 
A pet can be very beneficial in providing a purpose, companionship, pleasant tasks in caring and amusement.

 
Tape record messages, favorite music or books.

 
Share your feelings with the children. Allow them to participate and help with the care. Help them talk and share their feelings.

 
Encourage the patient to keep as physically and mentally active as they are capable.

 
Don't be afraid to be funny and laugh. Laughter is therapy. Rent funny movies. Give joke books.

 
Do not tell horror stories of other cancer patients.

 
Talk about past occasions and reminisce about good times. Discuss how they have been special and meaningful to your life.

 
Never discourage an optimistic outlook.

 
See that the patient keeps themself clean and neat at all times. Personal hygiene is very important.

 
Provide pedicure, manicure, hair stylist or pretty scarves - anything to build their self-esteem. Give a make-up lesson or gentle massage.

 
Encourage a second opinion.

 
See that they keep all appointments on time.

 
Do not encourage the patient to try alternative therapies.

 
As the patient gets better, do not diminish your attention to them. Subconsciously, they may wish themself ill only to regain your lost attention.

 
Take care of yourself.

 

Do everything you can as the opportunity presents itself so that you will never look back and say, "I wish I would have"

 

You did not create the problem.

 

You did not cause the problem.

 

You have no control over the outcome.

 

Regardless of the results, if you care and do everything possible at the time, there can be no blame.

 

You tried your best and that is all any human being can do.

 

With your help, the medical team's help and the patient's efforts, let's hope and pray that the outcome is every bit as good as can be desired.

 

Be considerate of yourself. Remember that you are a supporter, not a magician.

 

You cannot change anyone else. You can only change the way you relate to them.

 

Find a hermit spot. Use it daily.

 

Give support, encouragement and praise to friends and professionals. Learn to accept it in return.

 

At times you are bound to feel helpless. That is normal. Don't be hard on yourself.

 

Change your routine often and your tasks when you can.

 Recognize the difference between complaining that relieves and complaining that reinforces negative stress.

 

Each night, focus on a good thing that happened during the day.

 

Be a resource to yourself.

 

If you never say "no," what is your "yes" worth?

 

Don't feel guilty when you take time off for yourself.

 

Winner vs. Loser

 
The Winner is always part of the answer.

 
The Loser is always part of the problem.

 
The Winner always has a program.

 
The Loser always has an excuse.

 
The Winner says, "Let me do it for you."

 
The Loser says, "That's not my job."

 
The Winner sees an answer for every problem.

 
The Loser sees a problem for every answer.

 
The Winner sees a green near every sand trap.

 
The Loser sees sand traps near every green.

 
The Winner says, "It may be difficult but it is possible."

 
The Loser says, "It may be possible but it is too difficult."

 
Be a Winner!

 

Surgery

 

At a meeting at the National Cancer Institute, we were told that today surgery is given credit for 60% of those cured from cancer. 
 
Radiation therapy is credited for 25% and chemotherapy 15%. 
 
As you can see from these statistics, if someone has a tumor that is surgically removable, their case has an optimistic outlook.

But don't get the wrong impression. 
 
First of all, not too many years ago surgery was the only possible treatment for cancer. 
 
Therefore, surgery's current cure rate of 60% is a reduction from 100% a short time ago.

Secondly, don't confuse inoperable with incurable. 
 
Maybe they sound somewhat alike, but they don't mean anything similar. 
 
Inoperable means that at the moment, in the opinion of the doctor who is examining you, it cannot be operated on. 
 
It does not mean that the patient cannot be successfully treated without surgery. 
 
Also, it does not mean that other treatments could not make the patient operable. 
 
In my case, radiation and chemotherapy reduced the size of the tumor to the point where it was operable. 
 
In addition, it does not necessarily mean that another surgeon with more experience or skills could not successfully perform the surgery.

Surgery, other than taking a biopsy or debulking a tumor, is generally used in cancer treatment only when it can cure a patient or solve a particular problem, such as a stopped-up colon or ureter. 
 
Therefore, if surgery cannot be expected to completely cure a patient, it would not be considered the treatment of choice and other options should be examined. 
 
There is no reason to debilitate the patient, postponing possibly curative treatments, for the sake of performing surgery.

Furthermore, in my personal opinion, while surgery is properly given credit for 60% of those cured from cancer, I believe that failure to give additional treatments prior to or following surgery is responsible for many of the deaths from cancer. 
 
I was given radiation first to make my tumor operable, but I was also given a short course of chemotherapy prior to surgery so that my cancer would not metastasize during the period of time I was recuperating from the surgery. 
 
That is why I urge every patient to receive a multidisciplinary opinion prior to any treatment, or to confirm with a board-certified oncologist the surgeon's statement that no further treatments are necessary.

Some refuse surgery because of the fear that it will spread cancer. 
 
This should never be a concern. 
 
In the hands of a properly trained surgeon today, cancer cannot and will not be spread because of surgery. 
 

Since surgery is the treatment of choice in many cancers, the National Cancer Institute is proposing to direct a major expenditure for improving the use of surgery in cancer cases. 
 
At the beginning of a presentation on improving surgery, we were given a note of caution in the form of a quotation from an eminent surgeon: "There must be a final limit to the development of manipulative surgery. 
 
The knife cannot always have fresh fields for conquest and although methods of practice may be modified and varied and even improved to some extent, it must be within a certain limit, that this limit has nearly if not quite been reached. 
 
It will appear evident if we reflect on the great achievements of modern operative surgery; very little remains for the boldest to devise or the most dexterous to perform." This quote is from Sir John Erickson and was published in Lancet, a leading British medical publication on June 15, 1863!

 

Chemotherapy

 

Once the black sheep of cancer treatments, chemotherapy has become the leading weapon for increasing the number of patients who can be cured of cancer. 
 
At the same time, researchers are reducing the debilitating side effects that chemotherapy patients have typically had to endure.

"When chemotherapy was developed in the 1950's, cancer statistics were pretty much static," observed Dr. 
 
Bruce Chabner, head of the National Cancer Institute's Division of Cancer Treatment. 
 
"Surgery had gone as far as it could go in curing local disease and the radiation therapy of the 1960's and 1970's only improved the cure of local and regional disease. 
 
Unfortunately, at the time of diagnosis, about half of cancer patients already have spread of their disease beyond their original site and the only therapy that has made inroads against these cancers is chemotherapy." Now an additional 50,000 patients with cancer who cannot be cured by surgery or radiation are being saved each year by drug treatments. 
 
Five years ago, chemotherapy cured just a few thousand patients annually. 
 
The future promise of chemotherapy is very bright. 
 
Recent discoveries of ways to improve the effectiveness of drugs and overcome resistance to them, as well as better understanding of how cancer cells spread to other parts of the body, are beginning to produce new treatment tactics that should further increase drug cures and extend chemotherapy to common cancers not currently vulnerable to its effect.

"The prognosis for patients with disseminated malignancy has improved considerably," Dr. Chabner said. 
 
Especially notable is the increase in long-term disease-free survival time for patients with testicular cancer from 10% in 1973 to 70% in 1983. 
 
Supposedly today the cure rate approaches 100%. 
 
Similarly, the response rate for patients with ovarian cancer has risen from 30% in 1973 to 90% today. 
 
Further improvements in the efficacy of chemotherapy are expected to be attained with the refinement of high-dose chemotherapy, regional chemotherapy, bone marrow transplantation, the use of colony-forming assays to predict response, the use of combinations of noncross-resistant drugs and the development of analogs of currently used agents.

The new chemotherapy approaches are increasing the damage done to cancer cells and diminishing effects on normal tissue. 
 
Chemotherapists are also better able to control the occasional side effects of nausea and vomiting. 
 
Currently, one patient in four who receive chemotherapy is cured!

The importance of drugs is universally acknowledged now that cancer specialists realize that the disease is often systemic, or bodywide, not confined to one site or tissue. 
 
In such cases, only treatments like drugs that can reach the nooks and crannies of the body wherever cancer cells may be hiding can be successful.

Cancer cells lose their ability to control their own growth. 
 
Normal cells know when to stop growing. 
 
If half of your liver is removed in an operation, for example, your liver will grow back. 
 
Once local repair is complete, growth stops.

 

Something happens to cancer cells so that they lose their ability to respond to the body's signal to stop growing. 
 
They become wild, erratic cells that keep multiplying.

By themselves, cancer cells are not usually destructive, but they keep proliferating in the body so that they eventually crowd out the normal tissue of organs. 
 
That's what kills the patient. 
 
If the cancer is in the lungs, for example, the eventual replacement of healthy tissues by malignant cells interferes with breathing.

 

Many of the new drugs and biological agents now being tested are aimed at controlling the growth of cancer cells rather than destroying them. 
 
In a sense, we want to give cancer cells the correct signal to stop growing and behave like normal cells.

The drugs fall into four main categories:

Alkylating agents. 
 
The genetic material, or DNA, of a cell is made up of molecules, called bases, that must be duplicated and precisely paired when the cell divides. 
 
Alkylating agents interfere with the orderly pairing process and prevent successful division. 
 
Some of the prominent drugs in this family: Cytoxan and L-PAM.

Antimetabolites. 
 
These compounds chemically resemble vitamins or other nutrients and are therefore absorbed by the cell. 
 
But once inside, they disrupt the cell's metabolic machinery. 
 
Such agents include methotrexate, 5-FU and 6-mercaptopurine (6-MP). 
 
5-FU, for example, resembles uracil, a substance the cell needs to make DNA. 
 
It is not, however, a proper substitute and effectively blocks DNA synthesis.

Antibiotics. 
 
Some of these were discovered in research for new drugs to fight infections. 
 
They disrupt the synthesis of RNA, a substance the cell needs to make essential proteins. 
 
Two leading antibiotics in cancer therapy: bleomycin and adriamycin.

Steroids. 
 
It isn't precisely known how these hormones, which include prednisone and estrogen, work against cancer. 
 
They are believed to prevent the production of proteins or other key enzymes.

Some of the anti-cancer drugs don't fall into general categories. 
 
Vinblastine and vincristine, derived from the periwinkle plant, prevent the cell from doubling. 
 
The drug L-Alparaginase is an enzyme that destroys asparagine, an amino acid that some cancer cells can't make for themselves and must draw from the bloodstream. 
 
Normal cells, which synthesize the asparagine they need, are apparently unaffected by the drug.

Among the new developments are these:

The growing use of drugs to treat possible hidden cancer immediately after the obvious tumor has been removed by surgery or destroyed by radiation. 
 
This approach is called adjuvant chemotherapy. 
 
The drugs are believed to kill off the seeds of spreading cancer, or metastasis.

The realization that chemotherapists have been "too timid" and that more intensive drug regimens given for shorter periods of time are likely to result in a greater number of lasting remissions, which are considered tantamount to cure. 
 
Dr. Chabner said, "We get the best results when patients are given full doses of the drugs as fast as possible immediately after surgery or radiation." Traditionally, when toxic effects of drugs got too severe, therapists reduced or stopped treatment. 
 
Now they know more about how to help patients survive the treatment, both physically and emotionally.

The use of drug treatments to shrink tumors before they are treated with surgery or radiation, a technique that converts some inoperable cancers into ones that can now be removed or destroyed. 
 
At the same time, this technique can improve the cosmetic effects of cancer treatment, permitting less radical surgery or less extensive radiation. 
 
Tumors are often most responsive to chemotherapy when first discovered, before they are treated with surgery or radiation.

The development of analogues of established drugs that retain their cancer fighting properties but have fewer toxic effects.

The linking of toxic chemicals to immunological weapons like monoclonal antibodies that are capable of recognizing and attacking specific cells. 
 
This technique allows the linked chemotherapy agents to attack just the cancer cells and not normal cells.

The administration of drugs to a limited area of the body, such as the bladder, colon or abdominal cavity, to destroy cancerous tissue with minimal damage to normal tissue. 
 
This technique, called regional perfusion, can improve the drug response, reduce the risk of recurrence and minimize the side effects in some patients.

The discovery of new drugs that can overcome the resistance cancer cells often develop to established drugs. 
 
Drug resistance has been the major roadblock to the successful use of chemotherapy in patients with widespread metastatic disease.

Of the 10,000 new compounds that are now tested annually, approximately 8 are brought to clinical trials each year. 
 
From 1971 through 1985, 25 of the 91 compounds that reached clinical trials have shown significant antitumor activity.

Out of 1,000 laboratory-engineered chemical relatives of cis-platinum, the most potent of the recently developed chemotherapy agents, 2 have been found to retain their potency but have less severe side effects. 
 
Many people expect worse side effects from chemotherapy than actually occur. 
 
The patient's doctor must and rightfully so, warn them of all the possible side effects that have happened to anyone taking that particular drug. 
 
Many patients are able to work and perform most or all of their normal activities while receiving chemotherapy. 
 
Ask the doctor to detail the expected side effects after enumerating all the possible side effects.

Cyto-differentiators: A new class of nontoxic drugs that render malignant cancer cells benign instead of killing them. 
 
In recent years, researchers discovered that normal cells, when very young, are much like cancer cells. 
 
They divide and spread rapidly and are undifferentiated, that is, without specific functions like skin or blood cells. 
 
If the young cell is disrupted, perhaps by a carcinogen, as it is growing toward the more mature, differentiated stage, it can become stuck in its immature phase, proliferating randomly and eventually forming a tumor.

 

Gene Therapy

 

Gene therapy has a particular potential application to cancer because there is a strong genetic basis to many cancers. 
 
Cancers often grow and spread because of the mutations in their genes. 
 
The cancer cell's mutations may make them invisible to the immune system so they can't be rejected, or the mutations may take away the growth controls built into all cells resulting in their uncontrolled growth. 
 
Gene therapy puts genes into cancer cells to make them stimulate the immune system or to restore growth control. 
 
Another approach is to put genes into the body's white blood cells to make them effective killers of the patient's cancer cells.

Gene therapy, at the present time, is considered to be highly experimental. 
 
All gene therapy treatments are part of scientific protocols which investigate the safety and side effects of the treatment as well as its effect on the cancer. 
 
All gene therapy protocols are also highly regulated in order to protect the patient participants. 
 
This includes a special committee of the National Institute of Health called RAC (recombinant DNA advisory committee). 
 
It consists of doctors, scientists, ethicists, lawyers and lay people.

The most highly developed approach to cancer gene therapy is the use of gene-modified cancer cells as vaccines. 
 
Patient's tumors are removed, the cancer cells extracted, the genes are inserted and then the patients are immunized with their own gene-modified tumor cells. 
 
This approach works very well in animal models of gene therapy, but it is to be confirmed in human cancer.

Overall, gene therapy is a highly promising approach to cancer treatment but it is experimental and unproven at the present time.

 

Radiation Therapy

 

As a result of technical advances and training programs, radiation oncology has developed into a highly refined specialty. 
 
Now, with superb accuracy, a radiation beam can be focused on the tumor without damaging surrounding normal tissue. 
 
Linear accelerators, which hit tumors with up to 40 million electron volts, many times the dose of earlier machines, provide deeper penetration and a more precise beam that does less damage to healthy cells. 
 
By itself, as well as in combination with other therapies, radiation therapy is an increasingly potent tool.

Radiation therapy, in contrast to what many people imagine, does not destroy or dissolve cancer cells like a laser beam would. 
 
Possibly, if the dose were multiplied many, many times, it would. 
 
However, it is given in such small doses that its prime mission is to damage the DNA of a malignant cell. 
 
The cell does not die instantly, but when it tries to divide, it is unable to and dies at that time. 
 
Therefore, radiation treatments continue to be effective on the tumor after the treatments are completed, often for 90 days and more. 
 
Sometimes, tumors shrink primarily after the therapy is finished. 
 
Radiation treatments are normally given 5 days a week, not because the doctors don't like to work on the weekends or have a strong union, but because during the other two days, normal healthy cells will repair the damage done to their DNA. 
 
Cancerous cells are unable to repair this damage.

Because scar tissue will continue to build up, changes could be noticed in follow up X-rays even though the tumor is gone. 
 
Also, no changes may be noticed in a bone scan for some time even though the radiation did its job because the bone mending itself after radiation will give the same image as a tumor on a scan.

 

Immunization Therapy

 

Some of the most exciting possibilities are offered by drugs that work in entirely different ways from the conventional ones. 
 
One such approach is immunotherapy, using drugs that cause the body's immune system to attack cancer just as it fights off infections. 
 
The concept is based on two theories. 
 
First, cancer cells can be perceived by the immune system as "foreign" and, with proper help, rejected. 
 
The second is that cancer victims have lost their natural powers of rejection because of their debilitating disease.

 

The widely publicized drug, interferon, stemmed from immunological research. 
 
Discovered in the 1950's, it is a protein produced by body cells to help fight off viral infections. 
 
In cancer, researchers think it fastens onto cells and causes the release of enzymes that inhibit growth. 
 
And, because it is a natural substance, experts hope the side effects will be limited. 
 
So far, this is mostly theory; until recently, large scale testing of interferon hasn't been possible because it could be extracted only in minute quantities and at great cost from donated white blood cells. 
 
The emergence of recombinant DNA technology, in which common bacteria can be programmed genetically to manufacture quantities of proteins, has only recently made it possible to obtain enough interferon for cancer research.

 

On December 5, 1985, the New England Journal of Medicine carried a story on Dr. Steve Rosenberg's treatment of Interleukin II combined with LAK cells. 
 
That started a torrent of publicity throughout the winter of 1985-1986. 
 
Simply stated, this treatment took the natural killer cells from a patient's blood, treated them with IL-2 and reinjected them and more IL-2 back into the patient. 
 
These IL-2 armed white cells, called LAK or lymphokine-activated "killer cells," destroy tumors for months after administration in some cases, until the patient is clear of detectable cancer.

Only patients who had failed all other treatments were accepted for this protocol. 
 
The success in reducing tumor burden by 50% or more was striking in several types of advanced cancer. 
 
In February, 1986, we received a report that Dr. 
 
Rosenberg had been successful in 100% (6 out of 6) of the cases of renal cell cancer and 50% (5 out of 10) of the cases of advanced malignant melanoma. 
 
Both of these types of cancers were relatively untreatable using other methods of treatment if surgery failed. 
 
Steps are underway to confirm and extend these results in other centers.

 

The most exciting aspect of this treatment is that IL-2 is not intended to harm the malignant cells. 
 
It is solely to stimulate the patient's own immune system which in turn destroys the cancer. 
 
Surgery, radiation or chemotherapy, the methods of treatment most physicians are used to discussing in fighting cancer, are each designed to damage malignant cells in their own way. 
 
The mere concept of IL-2, as well as the success of the treatments, emphasizes the importance of the patient's immune system. 
 
It throws wide open a new and separate field in fighting cancer.

It seems that there are a number of substances that occur naturally in the body to maintain normal growth and development which may be utilized to stimulate the body's natural defenses against cancer. 
 
The National Cancer Institute has established a special research program to explore intensively the therapeutic applications of these naturally occurring substances called "Biological Response Modifiers." In addition to IL-2 and interferon, this group includes thymosin, IL-1, IL-3, IL-4, IL-6, IL-12 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF).

 

Hyperthermia

 

This is the process of heating a tumor approximately 10 degrees Fahrenheit. 
 
It is generally done with a microwave type mechanism. 
 
This in and of itself is capable of killing certain types of cancers. 
 
But that is not where the great promise lies. 
 
It has been found that hyperthermia can magnify the benefits of chemotherapy or radiation therapy several fold without much downside risk. 
 
A critical matter is monitoring the exact temperature of the tumor and the surrounding tissue. 
 
For this reason, it had previously been done on lesions relatively near the surface. 
 
However, great advances are being made and it is being tried with many types of cancers. 
 
The moderate increase in temperature is not damaging to ordinary cells and not dramatically uncomfortable to the patient. 
 
In many applications, hyperthermia is considered experimental today with tremendous potential.

 

Hormonal Manipulation

 

The art of treating certain cancers by denying needed hormones, hormonal manipulation is normally one of the more pleasant treatments as it is non-toxic and has very minimal side effects. 
 
The possibility of its use is tested for regularly in breast cancer. 
 
If applicable, it is certainly a treatment of choice and can be used along with other forms of therapy. 
 
A pathologist described it in a fascinating way. 
 
A malignant cell is examined and found to be estrogen or progesterone positive, meaning it is dependent on those substances for survival. 
 
There is a door on the side of each malignant cell that opens to allow those substances to enter. 
 
By giving a certain pill, those doors are sealed shut and the malignant cells are deprived of this hormone they need to survive and divide and are killed.

 

Dye-Laser

 

Also known as photodynamic therapy, it was developed at Roswell Park Memorial Institute in Buffalo, New York in the early 1970's. 
 
A non-toxic drug, Hpd, is injected and is absorbed only by malignant cells. 
 
It sensitizes these malignant cells to light. 
 
About three days later, an intense laser light is shined on the tumor for 8 to 10 minutes, producing high-powered singlet oxygen inside the cell so reactive that it burns up everything in sight, destroying the cancerous growth. 
 
Since the light can only penetrate 5 to 10 millimeters, it does not work well on treating thick or deep-seated tumors. 
 
It appears to work best on early to middle-stage cancers of the lung, bronchi and bladder. 
 
The use of die laser is increasing dramatically in many major cities, but it is still generally considered an experimental therapy.

 

Monoclonal Antibodies

 

These are stirring great interest among researchers. 
 
The surfaces of viruses, bacteria and even normal cells contain specific molecules that are called antigens. 
 
When they enter the body, these molecules trigger certain blood cells to produce antibodies, proteins that lock onto the antigens and render them harmless. 
 
All vaccines are made from antigens that induce the formation of antibodies in advance to ward off infectious diseases.

First, researchers inject a mouse with an antigen, for example, a human cancer cell. 
 
The mouse then makes antibodies to different components of the cancer cell, including abnormal proteins associated with cancer itself. 
 
The investigator removes the mouse's spleen, where much of the antibody production occurs and extracts its cells. 
 
They then fuse these cells with cancer cells from another mouse with myeloma. 
 
These tumor cells are used because they are immortal: they will continue to divide ad infinitum and make the fused hybrid do the same. 
 
Finally, the scientists select the hybrid cells that are producing the particular antibodies they want and encourage them to reproduce, or clone, in separate tissue cultures. 
 
All of this is done in the laboratory.

 

The products are called monoclonal antibodies because each come from a single line, or clone, of cells.

 

If special antigens can be found on cancer cells that are not present on normal cells, the lab-produced antibodies would home in on tumors like heat-seeking missiles while ignoring normal tissue. 
 
These antibodies could be tagged with radioactive substances or chemicals to carry lethal doses directly to cancer cells while bypassing normal cells. 
 
One application currently being tried for pancreas cancer is arming these monoclonal antibodies with the patient's own white blood cells to kill the malignant cells. 
 
The entire treatment is done in one day with usually no side effects for this normally fatal disease.

Also, they have the potential of causing a revolution in diagnosis. 
 
Doctors can tag these antibodies with radioisotopes and scan the whole body for individual clusters of cancer cells that cannot be detected with current methods. 
 
While today they have been developed for only a few of the many types of cancer and what has been developed is in extremely short supply compared to the demand, the entire concept of monoclonal antibodies is mind boggling and the potential is enormous.

 

Common Cancer Terms in Lay Language

 

Adjuvant treatment. 
Treatments to fight cancer when there is no physical evidence of remaining cancer in the body.

 

Benign. 
Cells forming a tumor that are not presently cancerous and cannot spread from their original site and reach the blood stream or lymphatic system.

 

Biopsy. The examination of tissue to determine whether it is malignant or benign.

 

Cancer. The uncontrolled growth of malignant cells.

 

Carcinogen. A cancer causing substance.

 

Carcinoma. A malignant tumor arising in the sheets of cells covering the surface of the body and lining of various glands.

 

Chemotherapy. Treatment through the use of chemicals.

 

Immunization Therapy. Treatment by activating the immune system.

 

Leukemia. Cancer arising in the blood forming cells of the bone marrow.

 

Lymphoma. Cancer arising in the lymph nodes.

 

Malignant. Cells which will continue to grow geometrically and

are considered cancerous.

 

Metastasize. The breaking away of cancer cells from the original tumor, settling elsewhere in the body and forming a new tumor.

 

Nuclear Medicine. Another term for scans or tomagrams.

 

Oncologist. A doctor specializing in the treatment of cancer. He may further specialize in medicine, radiation or surgery, but always in relation to cancer.

 

Palliative Treatment. Treatment that relieves pain and symptoms

but is not intended to cure disease.

 

Pathology. The examination of tissues and body fluids to determine whether malignant cells are present and to ascertain the type or origin of these cells.

 

Prognosis. The projected future course of the illness.

 

Protocol. A specific treatment or series of treatments that has been developed to treat cancer.

 

Radiotherapy. Treatment by the use of radiation or X-rays.

 

Recurrence. The return of cancer after it was thought to be in remission or cured.

 

Remission. When cancer can no longer be found to be present but cannot be determined as cured.

 

Sarcoma. A malignant tumor arising in supporting structures such as fibrous tissue and blood vessels.

 

Scan. A picture of a particular part of the body, such as bones, brain or liver, produced by counting the radiation caused by radioactive particles being absorbed by that part of the body.

 

Tomogram. A computer produced vertical X-ray capable of giving continuous "vertical slices" of various parts of the body.

 

Tumor. The mass caused by a concentration of cells, either benign or malignant.