Health Article Center

Health Article Center


How Radiofrequency Ablation Treating Cancer?

Posted: 12 Jan 2011 12:38 AM PST

21056899 78d57b435f m How Radiofrequency Ablation Treating Cancer?

Radio Frequency Ablation (RFA) is a relatively new therapy for cancer in which tumors are destroyed using heat energy. A needle is placed through the skin and into the tumor. A radiofrequency is sent through the needle which heats and destroys the tumor. This procedure is performed under conscious sedation and most patients can go home the same day.

Two superficial subcutaneous metastatic nodules were treated with percutaneous radiofrequency ablation. The patient received significant pain relief and improved quality of life.

RF ablation is a minimally invasive method used to treat multiple types of cancers. RF ablation is ideal for treating multiple tumors of the liver and lung and for relieving the pain of those with metastatic bone lesions. RF ablation is ideal for patients that have too many lesions for surgical removal or who are poor surgical candidates because of other coexisting medical conditions.

Cancer-associated pain is often the most debilitating aspect of malignant disease. Because of the lack of effective treatment options, it is a difficult clinical problem to manage. Treatment of pain from metastatic disease is often palliative in nature and is often limited in effectiveness.

Radiofrequency ablation has been studied in recent years for the treatment and eradication of focal tumors.9 Radiofrequency has long been used to treat painful disorders such as trigeminal neuralgia or osteoid osteoma.

There are many advantages of Radio Frequency Ablation over an open surgical procedure. Patients with multiple lung lesions are often unable to be treated with surgery because too much healthy lung tissue would have to be removed in order to rid the patient of all of the cancerous tissue. Radiofrequency ablation can be used to destroy the tumor while the remainder of the lung is spared. This means that patients can have multiple tumors in both lungs and can still be successfully treated with RF ablation. The same idea also holds true for liver lesions. The other advantage is that RF ablation can be performed multiple times on different occasions. It is very devastating when a tumor recurs after surgical resection. Recurrence after surgery may require another large surgery or may signal the end of the patient’s battle with the cancer. RF ablation can be easily performed to treat recurrent tumors.

Recent developments in the technology and techniques of ablation as well as in image guidance have allowed application of this treatment to other portions of the body. The use of thermal therapy to induce coagulation necrosis is being explored in a host of tumor types for cure, debunking, and palliation.

Determine the effectiveness of Radio Frequency Ablation (RFA), in terms of amount of
tumor coagulated and viable cell count, in patients with early invasive breast cancer
or low- or intermediate-grade ductal carcinoma in situ.

Determine the size, configuration, and pathological features of human breast tumors after treatment with RFA.
Determine whether RFA energy applied to breast cancer will result in cancer cell death.
Determine whether tumor-free margins are achieved by RFA in these patients.
Determine the rate of acute toxicities to skin after surgery in patients treated with
this regimen.

Surgical resection of RFA area: After RFA is completed, the electrode is removed and
patients undergo wide local excision of the residual tumor or mastectomy. Discover how RFA is being used to treat to different cancers.

What’s the Difference Between Hiv and Aids?

Posted: 12 Jan 2011 12:13 AM PST

Since the first cases of AIDS were identified more than 25 years ago, millions of people around the world have become infected with HIV, and the epidemic has claimed millions of lives. Globally, there are an estimated 33 million people living with HIV/AIDS, including more than one million in the United States. While there have been successes in addressing the epidemic on many fronts, multiple challenges remain in the areas of prevention, care and treatment, research, infrastructure and capacity development, and funding.

The most advanced stage of HIV infection is acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It can take 10-15 years for an HIV-infected person to develop AIDS; antiretroviral drugs can slow down the process even further.
HIV is transmitted through unprotected sexual intercourse (anal or vaginal), transfusion of contaminated blood, sharing of contaminated needles, and between a mother and her infant during pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding.

What’s the difference between HIV and AIDS?
HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. HIV stands for the ‘Human Immunodeficiency Virus’ and AIDS stands for the ‘Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome’. AIDS is a serious condition in which the body’s defences against some illnesses are broken down. This means that people with AIDS can get many different kinds of diseases which a healthy person’s body would normally fight off quite easily.
Once the immune system weakens, a person infected with HIV can develop the following symptoms:
·    Lack of energy
·    Weight loss
·    Frequent fevers and sweats
·    Persistent or frequent yeast infections
·    Persistent skin rashes or flaky skin
·    Short-term memory loss
·    Mouth, genital, or anal sores from herpes infections.

How HIV is transmitted
You can become infected with HIV in several ways, including:
·    Sexual transmission. You may become infected if you have vaginal, anal or oral sex with an infected partner whose blood, semen or vaginal secretions enter your body. You can also become infected from shared sexual devices if they’re not washed or covered with a condom.
Transmission through infected blood. In some cases, the virus may be transmitted through blood and blood products that you receive in blood transfusions.

Transmission through needle sharing. HIV is easily transmitted through needles and syringes contaminated with infected blood. Sharing intravenous drug paraphernalia puts you at high risk of HIV and other infectious diseases such as hepatitis.

Transmission through accidental needle sticks.

Transmission from mother to child. Each year, nearly 600,000 infants are infected with HIV, either during pregnancy or delivery or through breast-feeding.

Three means of HIV prevention
Doing her part during the campaign, Damienne met with a group of high school students excited by the opportunity to have an open conversation about HIV/AIDS. The students took turns asking Damienne questions and engaged her in a debate regarding the three recommended means of HIV prevention: abstinence, fidelity and the use of condoms.

Protect yourselves
“It is not by taking the test that you get infected. You get infected by not protecting yourself. As for the mystical beliefs, if such herbal potions could cure, there would be no more HIV/AIDS in Africa! Protect yourselves, it is much safer!” she said.

The Causes and Risk Factors for Liver Cancer

Posted: 11 Jan 2011 09:40 AM PST

3985877688 ebcd77df47 m The Causes and Risk Factors for Liver Cancer

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) disease is the main causes of liver cancer. Liver cancer relates to the regularity of chronic hepatitis B virus disease. Studies in animals also have provided that hepatitis B virus can cause liver cancer. For example, liver cancer develops in other mammals that are obviously infected with hepatitis B virus-related viruses. As a final point, by infecting transgenic mice with certain parts of the hepatitis B virus, scientists caused liver cancer to develop in mice that do not usually develop liver cancer.

It is not easy to find out what causes cancer from one person to another, but researchers have found several factors that add to a person’s likelihood of developing liver cancer. Some risk factors for liver cancer include:

Viral hepatitis – Researchers have linked the disease of hepatitis-B virus (HBV) and hepatitis-C virus (HCV) with the progress of liver tumor. It is estimated that 10-20 percent of people with HBV will increase liver malignancy, and HBV is present in about one fourth of cases of liver cancer in the United States.
Exposure to aflatoxin – This is a carcinogenic body that can be found in molds that may infect peanuts, corn, grains and seeds. In tropical and subtropical regions, measures have been taken to change and get better storage in order to decrease exposure to aflatoxins.
Cirrhosis – The Countrywide Cancer Institute estimates that 5-10 percent of people with cirrhosis will develop liver tumor. Cirrhosis caused by viral hepatitis B and C, alcohol abuse and certain genetic disorders puts people at higher risk for developing liver malignancy.
Exposure to vinyl chloride and thorium dioxide – Revelation to these chemicals is more to be expected to cause angiosarcoma of the liver, a different type of tumor than HCC. They add to the risk of developing HCC to a far lesser degree.
Birth control pills – Types of by word of mouth contraceptives used in the past was linked to some varieties of liver cancer, but infrequently to HCC. Most of these types of oral contraceptives are no longer available, and it is unknown if those now in use increase risk for HCC.
Anabolic steroids – Long-term steroid use can a little increase the risk for liver tumor.
Arsenic – In some parts of the world, drinking water contaminated with arsenic causes increased risk for developing liver malignancy.

Treatment of liver cancer
The treatment of liver malignancy is overall condition of the patient. First action if liver tumor is Chemotherapy. Chemotherapy is a powerful drug to kill cancer cells. Chemotherapy is a not effective not some cases of liver malignancy but type of chemotherapy is known as chemoembolization is an central part of treatment for HCC. Chemoembolization causes many of the same side special effects as other forms of chemotherapy, as well as abdominal pain, nausea and sickness. Second treatment is surgery.

Surgery is best treatment for local resectable tumor is usually an operation known as surgical resection. In some cases, the area of the liver where the malignancy is found can be completely indifferent. Alcohol injection has been shown to improve survival in people with small hepatocellular tumors. It may also be used to help reduce symptoms in cases of metastatic liver cancer. The most common side effect is leaking of alcohol onto the liver or into the abdominal cavity.

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