Posts Tagged ‘Five’

What are different methods to treat leukemia ?

Leukemia is not a single disease. Instead, the term leukemia refers to a number of related cancers that start in the blood-forming cells of the bone marrow. There are both acute and chronic forms of leukemia, each with many subtypes that vary in their response to treatment. Leukemia treatment plans often are personalized and geared toward each individual patient.
In general, there are five major approaches to the treatment of leukemia :

- Chemotherapy is the use of drugs that either kill cancer cells or preventing the cells from dividing. Chemotherapy can be given in a variety of ways, with IV infusion and pill being more common. The type of chemotherapy given depends on the stage and type of lung cancer.
- Interferon therapy to slow the reproduction of leukemia cells and promote the immune system’s anti-leukemia activity. – Radiation therapy to kill cancer cells by exposure to high-energy radiation. It is the use of certain types of energy, radiation is used to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. This energy can be waves or particles like protons, electrons, x-rays and gamma rays.
- Stem cell transplantation (SCT) to enable treatment with high doses of chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
- Surgery to remove an enlarged spleen or to install a venous access device (large plastic tube) to give medications and withdraw blood samples. The spleen collects leukemia cells and they accumulate, allowing the spleen to enlarge. An enlarged spleen can cause many complications.

Oncologists administer these treatments in a variety of combinations. Each method has its advantages and drawbacks. The treatment of leukemia depends on a number of factors. The most important of these are the histopathologic (diseased tissue) type of leukemia, its stage, and certain prognostic features, such as the patient’s age and overall health.

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Stages of Breast Cancer

Cancer stage is based on the size of the tumor, whether the cancer is invasive or non-invasive, whether lymph nodes are involved, and whether the cancer has spread beyond the breast. Breast Cancer Stages are the different stages in which the Breast Cancer can occur. The chances of making a full recovery are better when diagnosis is sooner.

Stage 0 is Carcinoma in situ

- It is used to describe non-invasive breast cancers, such as DCIS and LCIS.
- It occurs when abnormal cells have appeared inside the linings of the breast ducts. They have not spread yet.

Stage 1 Early stage invasive breast cancer

- The tumor measures up to 2 centimeters.
- No lymph nodes are involved.
- It has not spread to other parts of the body.

Stage 2(a) Breast Cancer

- Cancer is found in auxillary lymph nodes but there is no tumor found in the breast; or
- The tumor is 2 centimeters or smaller and has spread to the axillary lymph nodes; or
- The tumor is larger than 2 centimeters but not larger than 5 centimeters and has not spread to the axillary lymph nodes.

Stage 2(b) Breast Cancer

- The tumor is larger than 2 but no larger than 5 centimeters and has spread to the axillary lymph nodes, OR
- tTe tumor is larger than 5 centimeters but has not spread to the axillary lymph nodes.

Stage 3 Breast Cancer

- In stage 3(a) the tumor is larger than two centimeters but smaller than five centimeters and has spread to up to nine auxiliary underarm lymph nodes.
- In stage 3(b) the cancer has spread to tissues near the breast including the skin, chest wall, ribs, muscles, or lymph nodes in the chest wall or above the collarbone.

Stage 4 Breast Cancer

It represents a full spreading of the cancer to the other organs of the body, including the bones, liver, lungs, or the brain.