The prostate is a gland. It helps make semen, the fluid that contains sperm. The prostate surrounds the tube that carries urine away from the bladder and out of the body. A young man's prostate is about the size of a walnut. It slowly grows larger with age. If it gets too large, it can cause problems. The older men get, the more likely they are to have prostate trouble.

Prostate cancer is an abnormal, uncontrolled growth of cells that results in the formation of a tumor in the prostate gland. Prostate, the walnut sized gland, is a part of the reproductive system which lies deep in the pelvis. It is located in front of the rectum and underneath the urinary bladder and surrounds the urethra, (the urine tube running from the bladder, through the prostate and the penis). It contains gland cells that produce some of the seminal fluid, which protects and nourishes sperm cells in semen and supports the ejaculatory ducts, or sperm tubes. The prostate continues to grow till a man reaches adulthood and is maintained after it reaches normal size as long as male hormones are produced.

The growth of prostate cells and the way the prostate gland works is dependent on the male sex hormone, testosterone, which is produced in the testicles.

Prostate cancer develops most frequently in men over fifty. This cancer can occur only in men, as the prostate is exclusively of the male reproductive tract. It is the most common type of cancer in men in the United States, where it is responsible for more male deaths than any other cancer, except lung cancer. However, many men who develop prostate cancer never have symptoms, undergo no therapy, and eventually die of other causes. Many factors, including genetics and diet, have been implicated in the development of prostate cancer.

NHL (Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma) is yet another common form of cancer. This refers to a the growth of a large group of cancers that affect the immunity system. The symptoms of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma are those of fever and weight loss, a sure sign that the immunity system has been affected. This is a cancer that can affect any age group, and its treatment is completely dependent on the stage of detection of the cancer.

Prostate cancer usually grows slowly and initially remains confined to the prostate gland, where it may not cause serious harm. While some types of prostate cancer grow slowly and may need minimal or no treatment, other types are aggressive and can spread quickly. If prostate cancer is detected early — when it's still confined to the prostate gland — you have a better chance of successful treatment.

Prostate cancer is found mainly in older men. As men age, the prostate may get bigger and block the urethra or bladder. This may cause difficulty in urination or can interfere with sexual function. The condition is called benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), and although it is not cancer, surgery may be needed to correct it. The symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia or of other problems in the prostate may be similar to symptoms of prostate cancer.

Radical prostatectomy is a surgery to remove the whole prostate gland and the nearby lymph nodes.

Prostate Cancer Treatments
It has been said that "most men die with prostate cancer, not of it". Autopsy studies have shown that a high proportion of men who have died in other ways, have prostate cancer when the prostate is examined under a microscope. Thus screening may tend to detect cancers that would not have killed the patient or even been detected prior to death from other causes.An important way to take an active role in making decisions about supporting your prostate cancer treatment is to be as informed as possible. Learn all you want to know about prevention, treatment and living with prostate cancer. Although early-stage prostate cancer typically isn't painful, once it's spread to bones it can be.

Deciding the best prostate cancer treatment is a challenge. Prostatectomy is the removal of the prostate by surgical incisions in abdomen or perineum, or small incisions and laparoscope use. Radical prostatectomy is the removal of the entire prostate gland and possibly the seminal vesicles and surrounding nerves and veins. Although technically well done, radiation therapy may not be the answer or at least the whole answer to prostate cancer treatment and survival.

All prostate cancer treatments affect sexual potency. Complications from prostate cancer are related to both the disease and its treatment. Many men may feel depressed after a diagnosis of prostate cancer or after trying to cope with the side effects of treatment.

Prostate Cancer Treatment
Treatment options include radiation therapy (either through an external beam or radioactive seed implants), surgery, hormone therapy and watchful waiting. Selecting the right treatment for prostate cancer depends on many factors, including your husband's overall health, his age, the aggressiveness of his prostate cancer, and how he feels about the potential side effects. One of the biggest fears of many men who have prostate cancer is that treatment may leave them incontinent or unable to maintain an erection firm enough for sex (erectile dysfunction).

Male Urinary Incontinence
Male incontinence is relatively unusual, and is always associated with some sort of bladder or prostate disease. Yes, more than 330,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year, and many will require prostate surgery, the leading cause of incontinence in men. Stress incontinence may develop when a man's prostate gland is removed and there has been dysfunction of or damage to the nerves or the sphincter, resulting in inadequate support for the lower bladder (bladder neck). When a radical prostatectomy is performed to remove a cancerous prostate, the possibility of incontinence is greater.

Muscle-strengthening Exercises
The ability to fill and store urine properly requires a functional sphincter (the circular muscles around the opening of the bladder) and a stable, expandable bladder wall muscle (detrusor). Stress incontinence is a bladder storage problem in which the strength of the muscles (urethral sphincter) that help control urination is reduced. Exercises to strengthen the muscles which support your bladder neck (with or without the help of devices like electrical stimulation, biofeedback, or exercise cones) may be prescribed if your symptoms point to stress urinary incontinence. Muscle-strengthening exercises (called Kegel exercises or pelvic floor exercises) can be very helpful in treating bowel incontinence. These are performed by contracting the large muscles that make up the pelvic floor. When the pelvic muscles are contracted they send a message to the bladder muscle to relax.

Biofeedback And Electrical Stimulation
Biofeedback and electrical stimulation may be helpful for those who have trouble doing pelvic muscle training exercises. Biofeedback uses electrodes placed on the pelvic floor muscles, giving you feedback about when they are contracted and when they are not. Biofeedback and electrical stimulation will no longer be necessary once you have identified the pelvic floor muscles and mastered the exercises on your own.

Medications
Medications that may be prescribed include drugs that relax the bladder, increase bladder muscle tone, or strengthen the sphincter. Other medications such as diuretics, muscle relaxants, and blood pressure medication can also affect bladder function. Other medications, including flurbiprofen, capsaicin and botulinum toxin, are sometimes prescribed to relax the bladder muscles or to tighten the urethral sphincter. One of these drugs, duloxetine, differs from present medications in targeting the central nervous system's control of the urge to urinate rather than the smooth muscle of the bladder itself.

Cancer Clinical trials are the mechanism for improving survival and quality of life for individuals faced with a cancer diagnosis. Without trials, we would not know that mastectomy for breast cancer is equivalent to lumpectomy and axillary node dissection. We would not have the evidence that most patients with Hodgkin's disease, aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and advanced testicular cancer can be cured with chemotherapy. In order to achieve these milestones in cancer treatment success, cancer clinical trials are designed in phases. I have listed some valuable information for you to read in one easy-to-read webpage.

This is a free service for our valued readers which can be located on this link: Cancer Clinical Trials
Phase I Trials: The first step in testing a new approach in humans. Data from previous animal and laboratory studies are used to evaluate drug dose, drug metabolism, administration schedule and side effects. Patients are divided into small groups called "cohorts." Each cohort is treated with increasing doses of the agent or combination until the maximal tolerated dose is reached. The highest dose associated with acceptable side effects is chosen for future studies. Generally, phase I trials are conducted on patients who have advanced disease and a variety of malignancies.

Phase II Trials: Determining the safety and effectiveness of a new treatment are the primary endpoints of phase II trials. A new drug, combination, or technique is studied on a small and relatively homogeneous group of patients. The type of cancer chosen for a phase II treatment is based on results of Phase I trials and laboratory studies. The primary purpose of most phase II cancer trials is to determine the percentage of patients that show a measurable response to treatment. Additional information on side effects and safety are also collected.

Phase III Trials: These large-scale trials compare a new treatment or combination that has shown promise in Phase II trials to the current standard therapy. Patients are randomly assigned to the standard approach. Phase III trials are critical for advancing the quality of cancer treatment and may establish a new standard of care.

An investigational study or clinical trial refers to a drug or procedure that has undergone basic laboratory testing and received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to be tested in human subjects.

Clinical trials help to identify better and safer anti-cancer drugs. Advances in treatment occur as a direct result of clinical trials. These advances lead to new standards of care and improved quality of life for those battling cancer. For more information on cancer clinical trials feel free to visit our website.

Revolutionizing Light Emitting Diodes : Bringing Relief In Cancer Clinical Trials
Light emitting diodes that were earlier associated as only an electronic light source, today has become a part of a noble cause – to help cure a person of cancer. This might sound a little abhorrent, but the truth is that the professors of neurology, pediatrics and hyper baric medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin are convinced, that using LEDs can improve a bone-marrow transplant patient's quality of life, after conducting several successful human trials.

This light emitting diode, an indispensable part of the optics and optical components, ensures a painless and secure process wherein an array of light helps ease or prevent some of the pain and discomfort associated with cancer treatment. This clinical trial is presently in its second part. As the first part was very encouraging, the doctors could not resist themselves from indulging in the expansion of these trials to several U.S. and foreign hospitals.

The scientists as well as the researchers are of the opine that the cells exposed to near infrared light from LEDs, grow 150 to 200 percent faster than cells not stimulated by such light. Thus, the healing process speeds up as the light arrays increase energy inside these cells. It came to notice that in the first trial, the use of LEDs showed a significant relief to pediatric bone-marrow transplant patients suffering the ravages of oral mucositis. Thus, LEDs were found to be effective in overcoming the common side effects of chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

The treatment device that is creating this magic is the 3-by-5-inch portable, flat array of light-emitting diodes that is held on the outside of the patients cheek. However, a foil is placed between the flesh and the LED array to avoid any kind of sham treatment.

After comparing the result of the first trial it was found that the percentage of patients with ulcerative oral mucositis to historical epidemiological controls were just 53 percent of the treated patients in the bone- marrow transplant group developed mucositis, considerably less than the usual rate of 70-90 percent. The researchers are still awaiting the the approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, before the device can be made available for widespread use.

Among the optics and optical market, these light emitting diodes are also known to be beneficial in providing lights for plants that are grown on the Space Station as part of commercial experiments sponsored by NASA industry.

Breast cancer is automatically associated with women. There is good reason for this, as it is much more common for women to be diagnosed with breast cancer than men. However, breast cancer in men does exist even though it is quite rare.

It is reported that only 1 percent of the people suffering from breast cancer are actually men. The main reason why people do not think that male breast cancer actually exists is because men don’t have breasts. However, they do have breast tissue. This breast tissue in men normally stays small and flat. Some men develop what look like medium or large breasts. Some men do also grow actual breasts as a result of medication or unusually high hormone levels within the body.

There are a few factors to consider when looking at male breast cancer. It is important to remember when looking at the factors that because the chance of getting breast cancer in males is low, there haven’t been a lot of studies looking into male breast cancer.

* Aging – Getting older can be just a bigger factor as it is for women developing breast cancer. The usual age when men are diagnosed with breast cancer is around the mid 60’s.

* Higher estrogens levels than normal can be a factor for men developing breast cancer. If a man is taking hormone medication for some reason, he may begin to develop breasts. As a result, he may be more at risk of developing breast cancer.

* Being obese or overweight increases the body’s production of estrogens levels within a male. This then makes them more at risk of getting breast cancer.

* It can be genetically passed on from male to male in the family. If there is a history of breast cancer within other males in the same family, there is much more chance of developing it later on in life.

* If the male has had radiation treatment to treat such diseases like Hodgkin’s disease can increase a man risk of getting breast cancer.

Symptoms in male breast cancer are not unlike what women get when they develop breast cancer. While breast cancer in men is still fairly uncommon, it does seem to be on the rise. This could be contributed to the growing problem of people’s waistlines all across the world.

Men developing male breast cancer may experience a lump or bump in the breast, underarm or collarbone area, painful nipples, discharging nipples, inverted nipples and sores around the nipple area.

Just because men sometimes develop breasts, doesn’t necessarily mean that they will go on to develop breast cancer.

Men Can Get Breast Cancer Too
Male breast melanoma is a very uncommon occurrence, and only one percent of breast plague cases are those of chap breast increase, men should be alert of the risks to check such an episode.

When a man has peril factors for gentleman breast menace, the breast tissues may flinch developing canker cells, and he may get breast scourge. There is no age necessary for chap breast tumor to strike; however, men between 60 times to 70 existence of age are most vulnerable. Exposure to radiation is an ordinary gentleman breast disease menace reason. Also, the stake goes high if there are family annals of breast pest. Men with Klinefelter's disease and cirrhosis have high risks too. Cirrhosis comes with high levels of estrogen, which is a big gentleman breast pest risk issue. Also, men with heaviness and alcohol harms are more flat to developing breast plague.

Men have an upper risk of developing breast pest if an appendage of their family has had it, compared to females, where only 5 females out of 100 mature pest due to genetics. Also, a mutation in the breast plague genes - BRCA1 and BRCA2 - can start development of breast sarcoma. Men show analogous symptoms as women when it comes to breast sarcoma, like a lump in the breast, the peau d'carroty syndrome, where the skin of the breast appears cavernous, like that of an orange, fluid discharge from nipples, thickness of breasts, change in breast size and skin around the nipples, and the breast skin appearing red.

Getting accepted breast examinations is as important is men as it is for females. For diagnosis, biopsy is recommended, even though mammography and ultrasounds work great because men don't have as dense tissues as females do, which makes detection of lumps easier. If the diagnosis is confirmed, getting the breast bandanna veteran for traces of estrogen and progesterone hormones is a good idea, since these hormones are known to promote evil growth, and can be medically exterminated.

Men can have non-insidious or in situ cancers, which have not paste exterior the breast vicinity, or invasive tumors that can hang out. Removal of lump in non invasive cancers - which is mostly the first step of sarcoma - is recommended. Invasive cancers adjust from Stage I to Stage IV, depending principal how vanguard the melanoma is. Stage I cancers almost always get treated. Mortality priced keeps vacant complex, depending leading the podium. By Stage IV, the plague becomes metastatic and spreads to body organs.

Treatment for men with breast bane is very analogous to handling females undergo. The customary therapies are adopted. For very advanced male breast cancer, as is the lawsuit with Stage IV invasive cancer, a combination of Systemic therapies like chemotherapy, radiation therapy and hormonal therapy is worn.

Abstain from alcohol intake and head a healthy life; this is all that is essential for better survival odds.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women affecting one in eight women during their lives. It may develop at any time but the risk of developing it increases as women get older.

CAUSE
The cause of breast cancer is not known and while it can also occur in men, the much higher occurrence in women implicates estrogen. Today, breast cancer, like other forms of cancer, is considered to be the final outcome of multiple environmental and hereditary factors.

Breathing secondhand smoke increases breast cancer risk by 70% in younger, primarily pre-menopausal women. A newly released study indicates a correlation between the drop in breast cancer and the drop in women taking HRT.

SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS
Breast cancer elicits so many fears, including those relating to surgery, death, loss of body image and loss of sexuality, however it is more easily treated and often curable if it is found early, therefore regular self examination and screening is essential. Breast cancer usually shows as a lump or thickening in the breast tissue, although most breast lumps are not cancerous.

Certain predisposing factors are clear.
Women at high risk are those who:
Have a family history of breast cancer.
Have long menstrual cycles, began menses early or menopause late.
Have never been pregnant
Were first pregnant after age 31.
Have had unilateral breast cancer.
Have endometrial or ovarian cancer.
Were exposed to low level ionizing radiation.
Many other possible factors are still under investigation including, obesity, alcohol and environmental factors.

Those with lower risk include women who:
Were pregnant before age 20.
Are Native American or Asian.

Breast cancer occurs more often in the left breast and in the upper quadrant.
Indications of breast cancer other than a lump may include changes in breast size or shape, skin dimpling, nipple inversion, or spontaneous single-nipple discharge.

TYPES
When breast cancer cells invade the dermal lymphatic’s, small lymph vessels in the skin of the breast, its presentation can resemble skin inflammation and thus is known as inflammatory breast cancer (IBC). Symptoms of inflammatory breast cancer include pain, swelling, warmth and redness throughout the breast, as well as an orange peel texture to the skin referred to as pea d'orange.

The most common pathologic types of breast cancer are invasive ductal carcinoma, malignant cancer in the breast's ducts, and invasive lobular carcinoma, malignant cancer in the breast's lobules.

Occasionally, breast cancer presents as metastatic disease, that is, cancer that has spread beyond the original organ. Bone or joint pains can sometimes be manifestations of metastatic breast cancer, as can jaundice or neurological symptoms.

TREATMENT
Much controversy still exists over treatment of breast cancer, options include; Surgery, chemotherapy, Radiotherapy, Hormonal therapies, Herceptin and complementary treatments.

The mainstay of breast cancer treatment is surgery when the tumor is localized, with possible adjuvant hormonal therapy (with tamoxifen or an aromatize inhibitor), chemotherapy, and/or radiotherapy.

In February 2007, the Mamma Print test became the first breast cancer predictor to win formal approval from the Food and Drug Administration. This is a new gene test to help predict whether women with early-stage breast cancer will relapse in 5 or 10 years, this could help influence how aggressively the initial tumor is treated.

PREVENTION
Routine (annual) mammography of women older than age 40 or 50 is recommended by numerous organizations as a screening method to diagnose early breast cancer and has demonstrated a protective effect in multiple clinical trials. Women with one or more first-degree relatives (mother, sister, and daughter) with premenopausal breast cancer should begin screening at an earlier age.

PROGNOSIS
There are many prognostic factors associated with breast cancer: staging, tumor size and location, grade, whether disease is systemic (has metastasized, or traveled to other parts of the body), recurrence of the disease, and age of patient.

With advances in screening, diagnosis, and treatment, the death rate for breast cancer has declined by about 20% over the past decade, and research is ongoing to develop even more effective screening and treatment programs.

Breast Cancer Symptoms
Breast cancer symptoms can be experienced by men as well as women but breast cancer is very rare in men compared to women. More than 1 in 10 women are likely to suffer from breast cancer symptoms, and be diagnosed with breast cancer, in a lifetime. Breast cancer symptoms can be detected when a lump, tumor, or cyst grows large enough to either be felt or seen on a mammogram. Breast cancer symptoms don’t often manifest themselves until the cancer is already in its later stages of growth, and may have already metastasized to other more vital areas of the body. Breast cancer symptoms are often subtle, and self discovery can be elusive. Due to the high incidence of breast cancer among older women, screening is now recommended in many countries.

Lumps or masses in the breast are not unusual, and most of them are not cancerous. Some breast masses can be felt during a breast exam. Lump may form in the breast, chest or under the arm if the cancer is in the breast or near the chest wall. You will also notice a change in the size, shape and skin of the breast.

Earlier the diagnosis of breast cancer always involved the removal of the breast and the surrounding skin, muscles underneath the breast and the lymph nodes underneath the arm. Today’s method of diagnosis is well advanced without the above mentioned procedure radical mastectomy.

Among young women, a lump that moves may be a sign of fibrocystic breast disease. Generally, breast cancer is a much more aggressive disease in younger women. Generally a lump that is cancerous will not be tender to the touch, it will be hard, non-movable, and not change rapidly in size (within several days or weeks). If a lump is tender, it could be a cyst or a swollen lymph node. Genetic counseling and genetic testing should be considered for families who may carry a hereditary form of cancer.

Inflammatory breast cancer is an uncommon type of breast cancer, which includes the breast being warm, red, and swollen. The inflammation occurs because the cancer cells block the lymphatic vessels in the skin of the breast. Breast cancer is a common disease. Each year, approximately 200,000 women in the United States are diagnosed with breast cancer, and one in nine American women will develop breast cancer in her lifetime. Breast cancer occurs much more commonly in women and less than 1 in 100 of breast cancers occur in men. In the UK, approximately 250 men are diagnosed with breast cancer each year. Breast cancer starts in the cells of the breast. The breast tissue covers an area larger than just the breast.

Women with one of these defects have up to an 80% chance of getting breast cancer sometime during their life. Women who attend Infinite Boundaries retreats are in all stages of breast cancer.

The more you drink, the greater your risk
Women had limited knowledge of their relative risk of developing breast cancer, of associated risk factors and of the diversity of potential breast cancer-related symptoms. Older women were particularly poor at identifying symptoms of breast cancer, risk factors associated with breast cancer and their personal risk of developing the disease. Women, sometimes, have lumps in their breasts which have been there for a lifetime. They’re usually harmless fibroids, and never conclusively mean you’ve developed breast cancer. Women are very conscious about their breast care. Beautiful and healthy breast are one of the most cherished dream of women.

If you have been recently diagnosed as having breast cancer, your doctor may recommend a full mastectomy or a partial one.

On the other hand, you may already have had a mastectomy or a partial mastectomy and you're left with a number of questions about how to best take care of yourself at this point. This article will try to answer some of your unanswered questions if you're facing surgery or have already had it.

To help you organize your questions, it will be beneficial for you to carry around a small notebook on which you can jot your questions as well as the answers your doctor gives you. How long will your hospital stay be? Have your lymph nodes been affected by cancer? How will your body react after one or more lymph nodes have been removed? What is the best method of taking care of your incision? How much scarring is anticipated by your doctor after surgery? Will removing one or more lymph nodes affect the range of motion of your shoulder and arm? Have you considered how you will care for the areas of your body that are affected by surgery after your operation?

It's often a good idea to have a support group standing behind you at this tough time of your life. Having someone who's already been through this experience to share what they went through could help you get an idea of what's going to happen to you as well.

After the removal of one or both of your breasts, your sense of balance may be affected. In time your body will adjust to this. However, the services of a physical therapist may help you a lot to regain your former agility. There are special exercises you can do to help remove the stiffness and help you feel better after surgery.

After breast cancer surgery, you will need to take care of yourself and be especially careful about the arm and hand on the side where lymph nodes were removed -- if any lymph nodes were found to contain cancer cells.

Following surgery, your arm on the side where your lymph nodes were removed may swell. You need to protect your arm and hand on that side after your operation by paying attention to the following tips:

1. Don't use that arm to carry heavy packages or other items.
2. Avoid wearing tight clothing.
3. Don't wear snug bracelets or watches.
4. Don't receive shots or other medical procedures on your affected arm and hand.
5. Don't use harsh cleaning solutions unless you protect your arms and hands by wearing plastic or rubber gloves.
6. Be sure to wear protective gloves when you do heavy-duty cleaning or gardening.
7. Be on your guard against sunburn.
8. Be especially careful when trimming your nails and cuticles to avoid cutting them.
9. Wear an elastic sleeve if your arm swells.
10. Protect your affected arm from cuts and insect bites.

If your lymph nodes are going to be removed or have already been removed, be sure to see your doctor if your arm bothers you.

Today there are numerous medical advancements that help women overcome the effects of breast cancer, so take advantage of the medical advice your doctor can provide for you.

Breast Reconstruction after Breast Cancer Surgery
Breast Reconstruction after breast cancer surgery has changed dramatically over the past several years. More options are now available to women to give them the natural looking breasts they desire and deserve. Your plastic surgeon has performed extensive research in the field of breast reconstruction. Thanks to effective legislature, breast reconstruction after cancer is a right and not a privilege. In this manner, all insurance companies must cover breast reconstruction.

Options for breast reconstruction naturally depend on the type of deformity that is present after breast cancer surgery. In those who have had a small portion of their breast removed and no radiation therapy, a breast implant can be an excellent option. If the opposite normal breast is too large, another option is to make the larger breast smaller to match the affected breast. Radiation therapy makes matters a bit more complicated: breast implants have a much higher chance of becoming hard if you have had radiation.

Better options in such cases would be a breast lift on the opposite breast, or if the deformity on the affected breast is large, your plastic surgeon can reconstruct your breast with your own tissue. There are several options when it comes to using your own tissue for breast reconstruction. These include your latissimus dorsi muscle (on your back) or your tummy tissue which would be obtained from a tummy-tuck (TRAM flap). In the second case, your plastic surgeon would perform a tummy-tuck on you, and then use the excess skin and fat that was removed to reconstruct your own breast. This type of surgery under the microscope is the most cutting-edge approach to breast reconstruction.

In those who have had the entire breast removed for cancer, reconstructive options would include breast implants or using their own tissue as described above. There is far too much information to discuss on this important topic, and you are encouraged to schedule a consultation with your plastic surgeon so your particular case and preferences can be discussed in detail.

During your consultation and the pre-surgical visits, your plastic surgeon will help you decide which is your best surgical option. If you are having breast implants, they are typically inserted through the already existing scar from your prior surgery. If necessary, breast lifts on the opposite normal breast are typically performed with a short scar technique. This will accomplish symmetry between the affected breast and its opposite normal breast.

Your own tissue can be derived from your back, tummy, thighs, or buttocks. Each donor site has its own benefits and disadvantages which would have to be discussed. When using tissue form the back (latissimus dorsi muscle) the muscle and its overlying skin and fat are carefully separated from the back and rotated to the chest to reconstruct the affected breast. When using tissue from your tummy (TRAM flap), a tummy-tuck is essentially performed and the excess skin and fat is rotated to the chest to reconstruct the breast.

You can enjoy regular food after your surgery, but start slow. You should be pain-free until the day after your surgery. If you experience some discomfort, prescription pain medication will be available to you. You should walk around the house with some assistance. Your plastic surgeon will see you in the office the day following your surgery. We expect that you walk around the house every day, slowly increasing your level of activity daily.

Staff will be in regular contact with you every day to assure that your recovery is a smooth and comfortable one. The swelling will decrease every week, such that by 6-8 weeks, about 80% of the swelling will have dissipated.

Other reconstructive options at this point would include nipple and areola reconstruction, nipple and areola tattoo, and fine tuning of the breasts to make them look as natural and symmetrical as possible.

Skin cancer treatment is given to a patient to remove and destroy a cancer and leave as small and unnoticeable scar as possible. The size and location of the skin cancer, patient’s age, patient’s medical history, patient’s health and the risk of scarring will help to determine the best form of skin cancer treatment for the patient. Skin cancer treatment is usually a form of radiation therapy, surgery or chemotherapy. The doctor may even suggest a combination of these methods to eradicate the skin cancer from the patient.

Common types of skin cancer treatment are:
1. Surgery offers an easy and quick method to remove the skin cancer. The cancer is cut from the skin and the recovery time is very short.

2. Moths surgery is a special skin cancer treatment that aims at removing a minimal amount of healthy tissue and all of the cancerous tissue. It is also used for treating recurring cancers and large tumors in hard-to-treat places.

3. A popular method with doctors is to use curettage. This treatment is where cancer is scooped out using a curette which is a sharp instrument, with a spoon shaped end. 4. Laser therapy is used for treating cancer involving the outer layer of skin where a narrow beam of light destroys and removes cancer cells.

5. Precancerous skin conditions and small skin cancers are best treated with cryosurgery. Here liquid nitrogen is applied to the growth to freeze and kill abnormal cells. The dead tissues falls off once the area thaws. This skin treatment does not hurt, but there may be pain and swelling once the area thaws out.

6. With topical chemotherapy, anticancer drugs such as lotion or creams are applied to the skin and are best for cancers limited to the epidermis.

7. The best treatment is radiation where high energy rays are used for damaging cancer cells and to stop them from growing. This treatment is mainly used for treating areas that are difficult to treat with surgery like the tip of the ear and nose.

8. Skin grafting may be required close to the wound if a large tumor is removed, this will help to minimize the amount of scarring. With this skin cancer treatment, a piece of healthy skin from another part of the body is used for replacing skin that was removed.

Even though there is effective skin cancer treatment, it can reoccur somewhere else on the skin. This is why following up treatments with regular doctor checkups, regular self examinations and following of the doctor’s instructions are important to minimize the risk of skin cancer recurring again. If you have skin cancer you may be constantly worried about the cancer spreading throughout your body and getting worse. Not all cancers are curable, but many are, so never give up looking for an answer to your skin cancer problems.

Skin Cancer Treatment Tips
Skin cancer is the most common form of human cancer. Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States. Skin cancer generally develops in the epidermis (the outermost layer of skin), so a tumor is usually clearly visible. The two most common types are basal cell cancer and squalors cell cancer. It accounts for more than 75 percent of all skin cancers. Squalors cell carcinoma also can spread internally. They account for about 20 percent of skin cancers in the United States. Melanoma is generally the most serious form of skin cancer because it tends to spread (metastasize) throughout the body quickly.

They usually form on the head, face, neck, hands and arms. Skin cancer is most closely associated with chronic inflammation of the skin. Sunburn or excessive sun damage, especially early in life. Chronic non-healing wounds, especially burns.

Treatment for skin cancer and the precancerous skin lesions known as actinic Kerasotes varies, depending on the size, type, depth and location of the lesions. The best ways to lower the risk of non-melanoma skin cancer are to avoid intense sunlight for long periods of time and to practice sun safety. For low-risk disease, radiation therapy and cryotherapy (freezing the cancer off) can provide adequate control of the disease; both, however, have lower overall cure rates than surgery.

Interferon and interleukin-2 are under study to treat melanoma and no melanoma skin cancers. Wear sunglasses with 99% to 100% UV absorption to provide optimal protection for the eyes and the surrounding skin. Wearing protective clothing (long sleeves and hats) when outdoors. Photodynamic therapy destroys skin cancer cells with a combination of laser light and drugs that makes cancer cells sensitive to light. Avoid other sources of UV light. Tanning beds and sun lamps are dangerous because they can damage your skin. Avoid the sun between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Radiation may destroy basal and squalors cell carcinomas if surgery isn't an option. Reapply sun block every 2 hours and after swimming. In chemotherapy, drugs are used to kill cancer cells.

Skin Cancer Treatment and Prevention Tips
1. Radiation may destroy basal and squalors cell carcinomas.
2. Reducing exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation, especially in early years.
3. Wearing protective clothing (long sleeves and hats) when outdoors.
4. Using a broad-spectrum sunscreen that blocks both UVA and UVB radiation.
5. Wear sunglasses with 99% to 100% UV absorption to provide optimal protection for the eyes.

One common form of treatment today for localized prostate cancer is radiation therapy which uses high energy x-rays to kill cancer cells. These x-rays can either be delivered using an external radiation beam or by implanting radiation 'seeds' into the prostate gland.

External beam radiation therapy treatments are normally given on a daily basis 5 days a week (Monday to Friday) for anything up to about 6 or 7 weeks and each treatment, which is painless, lasts for just a few minutes. (Such treatments are also commonly given to patients whose cancer are no longer localized to the prostate gland but have spread into the pelvis and can also be used to relieve pain and reduce tumors in cases of advanced prostate cancer.)

In cases where tumors are large it is also common to give hormone treatment alongside radiation therapy in order to block the action of the male hormones which feed the growth of prostate cancer tumors. External beam radiation targets not only the prostate gland but also the seminal vesicles, to which prostate cancer can readily spread. In previous forms of this treatment it was also common to irradiate the pelvic lymph nodes but today this is only done in a minority of cases where evidence suggests that this is necessary.

There are generally few immediate side-effects to external beam radiation other than fatigue and possibly diarrhea when radiation is applied to the rectum, but both of these soon pass once treatment is completed.

Longer-term affects include impotence which affects about 40% to 50% of patients. This figure is however declining with the introduction of computer technology which now allows treatment to be tailored precisely to the anatomy of the patient with far more precise targeting than has previously been possible.

Turning to internal radiation therapy, this is a procedure in which dozens of tiny seeds are implanted directly into the prostate gland to deliver a high dose of radiation directly into the affected tissue.

Ultrasound is used to guide very thin needles from the perineum into the prostate gland to deposit the tiny seeds of palladium and iodine in a pattern which has previously been mapped using a very sophisticated computer program. One alternative approach is to use more powerful temporary seed implants which are introduced over several days and possibly to combine this with low dose external radiation therapy. This procedure does however require hospitalization.

Internal radiation therapy carries few side-effects and normally leads to impotence in less that 15% of patients under the age of 70. It is not however suitable for everybody, especially men with large tumors or those who have undergone a transurethral resection of the prostate for benign prostatic hyperplasia.

Do Men With Prostate Cancer Who Undergo Surgery Need Radiation Therapy, Too?
There are a number of treatment options for men with prostate cancer. These include a surgical procedure, known as radical prostatectomy, as well as radiation therapy. Are there any situations wherein a man who undergoes a radical prostatectomy will need radiation therapy afterwards?

The answer is yes, in special circumstances. The reason is that radiation therapy can increase the odds of survival for such men.

A recent study reviewed the data of 635 men with rising PSA levels after radical prostatectomy. In the study, 160 of the men received salvage radiation therapy, 78 received salvage radiation therapy and hormonal therapy (which lowers the level of prostate cancer stimulating male hormones in the blood stream), and 397 received no treatment.

Over the ensuing ten years, of the men who received salvage radiation therapy alone or radiation therapy plus hormonal therapy, the rate of death from prostate cancer was nearly 60% less than that of the men who were not treated.

Salvage radiation therapy is noted to be most beneficial for men with rising PSA levels when it is administered promptly after the problem is identified. In contrast, if radiation therapy for men with climbing PSA levels is deferred more than two years after the initial PSA spike, no benefit is noted.

Additional analysis revealed that the beneficial effect of salvage radiation therapy was confined to those men, whose PSA levels doubled in less than six months, suggesting that a rapid PSA doubling time is indicative of more aggressive disease.

Therefore, the good news is that for men whose PSA levels climb after radical prostatectomy, radiation therapy can be life saving.

Breast cancer is automatically associated with women. There is good reason for this, as it is much more common for women to be diagnosed with breast cancer than men. However, breast cancer in men does exist even though it is quite rare.

It is reported that only 1 percent of the people suffering from breast cancer are actually men. The main reason why people do not think that male breast cancer actually exists is because men don’t have breasts. However, they do have breast tissue. This breast tissue in men normally stays small and flat. Some men develop what look like medium or large breasts. Some men do also grow actual breasts as a result of medication or unusually high hormone levels within the body.

There are a few factors to consider when looking at male breast cancer. It is important to remember when looking at the factors that because the chance of getting breast cancer in males is low, there haven’t been a lot of studies looking into male breast cancer.

* Aging – Getting older can be just a bigger factor as it is for women developing breast cancer. The usual age when men are diagnosed with breast cancer is around the mid 60’s.

* Higher estrogens levels than normal can be a factor for men developing breast cancer. If a man is taking hormone medication for some reason, he may begin to develop breasts. As a result, he may be more at risk of developing breast cancer.

* Being obese or overweight increases the body’s production of estrogens levels within a male. This then makes them more at risk of getting breast cancer.

* It can be genetically passed on from male to male in the family. If there is a history of breast cancer within other males in the same family, there is much more chance of developing it later on in life.

* If the male has had radiation treatment to treat such diseases like Hodgkin’s disease can increase a man risk of getting breast cancer.

Symptoms in male breast cancer are not unlike what women get when they develop breast cancer. While breast cancer in men is still fairly uncommon, it does seem to be on the rise. This could be contributed to the growing problem of people’s waistlines all across the world.

Men developing male breast cancer may experience a lump or bump in the breast, underarm or collarbone area, painful nipples, discharging nipples, inverted nipples and sores around the nipple area.

Just because men sometimes develop breasts, doesn’t necessarily mean that they will go on to develop breast cancer.

General Synopsis of Male Breast Cancer
Though far less common than in women, men's breast cancer is possible. According to the American Cancer Society, over 2000 men are diagnosed with breast cancer each year, meaning men account for approximately 1% of all breast cancer cases diagnosed nationally.

Male Breast Cancer Symptoms
Though most lumps or changes in the breast for men are benign (not cancerous) abnormalities, men should still report any major changes, irritations or problems to their doctors as soon as possible.

The most common symptoms of breast cancer in men are actually quite similar to the symptoms for women. These include nipple inversion; detecting a lump, unexplained tissue growth, change in breast size, skin puckering or dimpling, nipple discharge, itchiness or redness.

Men generally have less breast tissue than women, making it much easier to detect lumps.

Contributing Factors for Men's Breast Cancer

Elder Age
Most men diagnosed with male breast cancer are between the ages of 60 and 70.

Family History
Approximately 20 percent of men with breast cancer have one or more close family members who have or have had the disease.

Prior Radiation Exposure
Radiation exposure to the chest (for example, past treatment for lung cancer) can be a risk factor for the development of male breast cancer.

History of Liver Diseases
The liver works to regulate hormones, meaning men who have survived liver failure or liver disease often have lower levels of androgens, the male hormones. Those low levels can put them at a higher risk for developing breast cancer or non-cancerous tissue growth.

Estrogen Therapy
Often men who are being treated for prostate cancer are put on estrogen treatments to help control the disease. These men may be at a higher risk for developing breast cancer. That said, the American Cancer Society says those risks are small and worth the benefits of improved health for prostate cancer patients.

Klinefelter's
Typically, men are born with one Y chromosome and one X chromosome. Klinefelter's Syndrome is when a man is born with two or more X chromosomes (female chromosomes). Approximately 1 in 850 men were born with Klinefelter's.

Men with this syndrome generally have lower levels of androgens and higher levels of estrogen and are therefore at a greater risk for developing male breast cancer.

How Breast Cancer in Men is treated
Methods for treating men's breast cancer include surgical removal of the tumor and any cancerous cells, chemo, radiation therapy, hormone therapy or a combination of all these treatments.

The survival rates for men with breast cancer often depend on the stage of the disease but range from 96% for stage me diagnosis to 24% for a stage IV diagnosis.

Men experiencing symptoms of breast cancer may be inhibited through embarrassment from requesting the assessment of a qualified physician. But given the severity of any type of cancer, the potential risk merits an extra effort to swallow one's pride and make sure.

Liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma) is a cancer arising from the liver. It is also known as primary liver cancer or hepatoma. The liver is made up of different cell types (for example, bile ducts, blood vessels, and fat-storing cells). However, liver cells (hepatocytes) make up 80% of the liver tissue. Thus, the majority of primary liver cancers (over 90 to 95%) arises from liver cells and is called hepatocellular cancer or carcinoma.

Primary liver cancer is rarely discovered early and often doesn't respond to current treatments — thus, the prognosis is often poor. Even when treatments fail to provide much improvement in the liver cancer itself, pain and other signs and symptoms caused by liver cancer can be aggressively treated to improve quality of life. But the most important news about primary liver cancer is that you can greatly reduce your risk by protecting yourself from hepatitis infection and cirrhosis, the leading causes of the disease.

Secondary Liver Cancer Most of the time when cancer is found in the liver it did not start there but spread to the liver from a cancer that began somewhere else in the body. For example, cancer that started in the lung and spread to the liver is called metastatic lung cancer to the liver. The rest of the information given here covers only primary liver cancer, that is, cancer that starts in the liver.

Signs and Symptoms of Liver Cancer
Most people don't have signs and symptoms in the early stages of liver cancer, which means the disease, may not be detected until it's quite advanced. Pain that occurs in the right upper area of the abdomen. The liver is a very nerve rich organ and can be sensitive to changes.

Appetite - People with liver cancer may experience a continuous loss of appetite or feel very full after a small meal.

Worsened hepatitis or cirrhosis symptoms - More severe symptoms in people who have chronic hepatitis or cirrhosis are signs of liver cancer. These symptoms could include fluid in the abdomen, a symptom known as cites, or the need for more and more water tablets (diuretics) to control the amount of fluid in the abdomen.

Abdominal pain is a very common symptom, and also common in children. Unfortunately, because there are so many possible causes of abdominal pain, and many cases are not serious, many cases of acute appendicitis are misdiagnosed each year as gastroenteritis or some other similar condition, especially in children and infants. Although appendicitis is an uncommon condition, it can be fatal. And there are many other serious conditions that may cause abdominal pain.

Jaundice (yellowing of the skin and the whites of the eyes caused by an accumulation of bile pigment -bilirubin- in the blood).
Esophageal varices (occurs when the tumor invaded and blocked the portal vein and the blood drains through esophageal veins).

Rarely: bleeding problems. Many of the proteins required for proper blood clotting are created in the liver. Remove these proteins and blood clotting decreases. Chronic weight loss or wasting. The liver processes all the building blocks. If it fails to process, the body fails to maintain itself

Liver Cancer - Causes, Symptoms and Treatment
The liver is the largest internal organ in the body. It is also known as primary liver cancer or hepatoma and hepatocellular carcinoma is a cancer arising from the liver. The liver performs several vital functions. It processes and stores many of the nutrients absorbed from the intestine. It starts in blood vessels and Hepatic adenomas are benign tumors that start from the main type of liver cells (hepatocytes). Women have a much higher chance of having one of these tumors if they take birth control pills, although this is rare.

Stopping the pills can cause the tumor to shrink. Hepatic adenomas cancer begins in many spots throughout the liver and is not confined to a single tumor. Hepatic tumors also called Liver cancer. Hepatic tumors are tumors or growths on or in the liver. There are many forms of liver tumors primary is Malignant. Malignant, primary liver cancer is hepatocellular carcinoma (also named hepatoma, which is a misnomer). These growths can be benign or malignant (cancerous).

They may be discovered on medical imaging (even for a different reason than the cancer itself). Most of the time when cancer is found in the liver, it did not start there but spread to the liver from a cancer that began somewhere else in the body. Symptoms can include a lump or pain on the right side of your abdomen and yellowing of the skin.

Some researchers believe that cancer starts with damage to DNA the material that contains the instructions for every chemical process in your body, including the rate of cellular growth. DNA damage causes changes in these instructions. Liver cancer also occurs as metastatic cancer, which happens when tumors from other parts of the body spread (metastasize) to the liver. In the liver cancer some cells begin to grow abnormally. One result is that cells may begin to grow out of control and eventually form a tumor a mass of malignant cells.

In the United States, most cancer found in the liver spread there after originating elsewhere. Rather than being called liver cancer, this type of cancer in the liver is named after the organ in which it began such as metastatic colon cancer in cancer that starts in the colon and spreads to the liver.

Causes of liver Cancer
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is the main causes of liver cancer. Liver cancer relates to (correlates with) the frequency of chronic hepatitis B virus infection. Studies in animals also have provided that hepatitis B virus can cause liver cancer. For example, liver cancer develops in other mammals that are naturally infected with hepatitis B virus-related viruses. Finally, 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.

Symptoms of liver cancer
Liver cancer is very common larges countries in world wide. Generally is discovered at a very advanced stage of cancer disease for several reasons. In addition, patients from these regions actually have more aggressive liver cancer disease. Live cancer tumor usually reaches an advanced stage and causes symptoms more rapidly. Abdominal pain is the most common symptom of liver cancer and usually signifies a very large tumor or widespread involvement of the liver and other symptom is weight loss. These symptoms are less common in individuals with liver cancer in the U.S.an additionally symptoms is as cites (abdominal fluid and swelling), jaundice (yellow color of the skin), or muscle wasting.

Treatment of liver cancer
The treatment of liver cancer is overall condition of the patient. First treatment if liver cancer is Chemotherapy. Chemotherapy is a powerful drug to kill cancer cells. Chemotherapy is not effective not some cases of liver cancer but type of chemotherapy are known as chemoembolization is an important part of treatment for HCC. Chemoembolization causes many of the same side effects as other forms of chemotherapy, including abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting. Second treatment is surgery. Surgery is best treatment for localized respectable cancer is usually an operation known as surgical resection. In some cases, the area of the liver where the cancer is found can be completely removed. 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.

In the U.S., over 90 percent of breast cancer diagnoses happen during the early breast cancer stages. Early detection is good news for the patient as it often translates to effective treatment.

Other disease characteristics, like hormone receptors and lymph nodes, can aid in prognosing results and help doctors and patients choose the right treatment.

Although breast cancer is on the rise in North America and the UK, the mortality rate is decreasing. This decline in mortality is credited to an increased number of women obtaining mammograms, improved evaluation techniques, and effective ancillary treatments.

Thus if the majority of diagnosed breast cancer cases are discovered during the preliminary stages, what effect does that have on patients and what are the best treatment courses?

The Early Stages of Breast Cancer
Earlier breast cancer stages are called TNM stages 1, 2 and 3a. This scoring system approximates how far the carcinoma has advanced. Most instances of early-stage breast cancer are curable through surgery, radiation therapy or systemic therapy. The survival rate for patients diagnosed this early have a 5-year success rate of over 75%.

Normal Treatment Reactions
Treatment reaction generally hinges on lymph node engagement, the size and grade of any tumors, the age of the patient, hormone (estrogen and progesterone) receptors, and the status or condition of biologic markers like HER2/neu.

Lymph Node Indicators
Lymph nodes are an effective way to predict the effects of breast cancer. Essentially, the more positive lymph nodes that are present, the lower the patient's survival rate and the higher the chances of relapse. Commonly, patients with earlier stage breast cancer are classified into those presenting negative nodes, 1 to 3 positive lymph nodes, 4 to 9 positive nodes, or 10 and more nodes.

Tumor Size
If a patient exhibits negative lymph nodes and a tumor that is smaller than 1cm, the prognosis is often very good. Most doctors use tumor size as an effective and critical indicator during the early stages of this disease.

The Grade of Tumor
As the grade of the tumor increases, so does the potential relapse rate?

Estrogen and Progesterone Receptors
Estrogen and progesterone receptors within the tumor are also used to prognosticate breast cancer during the earlier stages. Generally, those patients with a receptor-positive form of breast cancer tend to have a better prognosis and survival rate than those who don't.

HER2/neu as an Indicator
HER2/neu is what's called a marker - it's a biological element typically present in the body or within the tumor in about 25% of all breast cancer cases. When HER2/neu levels are high, that usually translates to a more aggressive variety of breast cancer and a worse prognosis.

Age of the Patient
Generally, patients who are older (50 and up) have a better prognosis than patients under the age of 35.

Breast Cancer Facts
The breast cancer signs and symptoms can be widely different for every woman. Some experience lumps, some experience skin changes that appear quite drastic and other women get no definite signs of breast cancer.

Some women experience similar signs and symptoms of breast cancer when it may just be a simple infection or maybe a cyst. All women of all ages – from teens upwards – should check their breasts for unusual lumps and bumps. If you think you find a lump or your breasts feel and look different, it is best to get an appointment with a doctor as soon as possible.

The prognosis of a diagnosis for breast cancer can sometimes take many weeks and can include many different types of testing to undergo. This can be extremely frustrating and quite an upsetting time in any woman’s life. You can sit down with your doctors and formulate some kind of plan for treatment which will be specifically tailored just for you.

There are a few myths surrounding breast cancer and the breast cancer facts.

Some people believe that breast cancer only becomes a risk when you are older.

Some people also believe that if breast cancer doesn’t run in the family they won’t actually get breast cancer. It is thought that nearly 80 percent of women who have had breast cancer have no family history of the disease.

It was reported years ago that antiperspirants can put women at risk of developing breast cancer. This is unfounded and has never been proved that a link between using antiperspirants and breast cancer even exists. It has also been reported that using birth control pills can contribute to a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer. There are many studies done over time that show no founded link between the two. One of the studies combined all the information received from all of the other studies and found a very slight increase. This increase was over time, but was not significant enough actually prove the link.

There has also been a lot of press about the association of high fat foods and the risk of breast cancer. While eating high fat foods isn’t good for health, there is no definitive research that the link between eating fatty foods and breast cancer actually exists. This could be a misinterpretation of the link between obesity and breast cancer which does actually exist and has been proven many times. If you make a lifestyle choice and eat lots of high fat foods, you will eventually become overweight and possibly obese. This will then in turn, increase your risk of developing breast cancer at a later date.