DFHCC

Being diagnosed with cancer is already considered as an emotional burden, and facing it is rather difficult. There are various forms of cancers nowadays and researchers are still continuing their studies about cancer treatments and how to totally eradicate it.

Cancer happens when certain group of cells has been diving at an abnormally fast and uncontrollable rate. Usually, cancer is also called as malignancy. Cancer is staged according to its severity and how widespread it is. One of the most common approaches for treating cancer is chemotherapy. However, chemotherapy doesn’t only target the cancer cells but also the normal cells that are rapidly dividing; thus, chemotherapy have various side effects. Some of the side effects of chemotherapy include:

* Nausea and vomiting
* Anorexia and weight loss
* Anemia
* Skin and nail discolorations
* Hair loss
* Sexual dysfunctions

Probably, a lot of people do not know that chemotherapy can cause sexual dysfunctions because nausea and hair loss are the most common side effects of it.

Male cancer patients who are undergoing chemotherapy can actually experience loss of libido or reduced sexual desire, impotence, and erectile dysfunction. There are various treatments available for these problems and male patients should not worry too much because these sexual dysfunctions are temporary and will go away after the treatment is finished. What can actually bother them are the after effects of chemotherapy.

Some chemotherapeutic drugs can actually lower the sperm count in males, which can result to infertility. Patients who have undergone chemotherapy can take supplements that can increase the sperm volume in order to prevent infertility. Aids such as Semenax are proven volume enhancer supplements. Typical volume enhancers promote healthy production of sperm cells; thus, sperm volume should be increased and comprised of mature sperm cells which promote fertility.

Surviving cancer is considered as a great achievement. Thus, this should always be the goal of cancer patients and they should not lose hope for there is a solution in every problem.

Obesity is a Major Risk Factor for Breast Cancer in Postmenopausal Women

Scientists have found out that almost fifteen percent of cases of breast cancer in industrialized countries are caused by obesity. In addition, women who are obese or overweight and finished their menopausal stage are at great risk of developing breast cancer.

There are various highly funded studies that were conducted about obesity and breast cancer. All of the results from these studies have shown that obese women who have finished menopause have a higher risk of developing breast cancer than women who have a healthy weight.

The connection of obesity to breast cancer prior to menopause is not very significant, but at this point in time, women should lose weight and maintain the ideal weight in order to prevent future disease conditions such as breast cancer. The problem that researchers have found out is that, women who are about to reach their menopausal stage have difficulties of losing weight, especially those who are obese.

The best thing to do is to start as early as possible. Losing weight doesn’t happen overnight and it takes a lot of effort in order to lose weight and be able to maintain it. Healthy and natural ways to lose weight include a regular exercise regimen and a well balanced diet. For those who are having difficulties in losing weight, there are weight loss supplements that can be used together with exercise and diet in order to achieve positive results. Phentermine is one example of these weight loss supplements. Unfortunately, due to FDA regulations, you cannot buy Phentermine online, so be sure to consult your physician about taking over the counter weight loss alternatives. Losing weight and avoiding obesity is a goal that should be achieved in order to have a longer life and be free of obesity related diseases such as breast cancer.

Doctors and researchers are always looking for new ways to treat cancer. One of those new ways is with radiofrequency ablation. This is a treatment that’s considered to be minimally invasive, and it holds a lot of promise for people who are dealing with cancer.

It has been used at places like the Mayo Clinic and has worked on hundreds of patients with tumors of the liver or kidneys. It has also been used with success on patients who have bone cancer. The cancer cells are heated up and destroyed, and the laser-guided system targets them so well that it doesn’t destroy the healthy tissue around the tumor.

When surgery has failed or will not work based on the location of the tumor, or when there are other conditions that make surgery medically unsafe, radiofrequency treatments can be a great choice to prolong both the length and the quality of life. There is generally very little pain with this treatment and there is also minimal risk to the patient. The hospital stay is not long, there is no incision, and the treatment is very effective for smaller cancers.

Now there is something else that can be used in the fight against cancer – nitrosylcobalamin. This is a new compound that acts somewhat like a Trojan horse to target the cancer cells without them expecting it. It also doesn’t cause toxicity in the body and it doesn’t harm the surrounding tissue, which makes it a great choice for people who are in need of cancer treatments and are very concerned about how the chemicals that are needed for treatment might affect their body overall.

The treatment was used in dogs, and they saw an almost eighty percent reduction in tumors. Out of the three original dogs, one of them is also completely free of cancer and has been that way – and off of treatment – for two years. If it continues to do well, the researchers will put it to the FDA for a human trial request.

Whether or not it will work in humans is something that remains to be seen, but it is one of the most promising new treatments that is in the works today.

Cancer is a serious issue, and many people are afraid of it. A lot of them know people who have succumbed to the disease or at least have been touched by it, so they are crusaders for the disease, as well.

Now there is a new weapon in the arsenal against cancer, and that is the use of nano particles. These are designed to target much smaller areas than standard therapies like chemo or radiation, and that means that they can be used with better success and fewer problems for surrounding tissue.

Right now, the chemotherapy chemicals and the radiation that are used are both very dangerous for the tumor and for the tissue that is still healthy and that surrounds the tumor. To protect the surrounding tissue, the nano particles can be used because they only work on the tumor and they aren’t large enough to bother any of the tissue that is around it.

They may not be a cure, but they will go a long way toward ensuring that the treatments that are designed to kill off the cancer cells won’t kill healthy tissue in the patient’s body as well.

The essential components of the clinical organization of DF/PCC and DF/HCC are individual Disease Programs, with cross-institutional members with common research interests in the disease area, which encompass the major types of adult human malignancies. Each Disease Program is responsible for fostering research collaboration among its participants, defining the research agenda for those malignancies under its review and generating a set of research protocols to carry out this agenda.

The operating model for DF/HCC rests on implementation of the clinical care and research agenda of the Disease Programs at the HMS-affiliated institutions. For this purpose, the institutions utilizes a multi-modality Disease Center approach at each of its major locations of care for each of the most common malignancies, including breast, thoracic, gastrointestinal, and genitourinary cancers, as well as seven less common types of neoplasm. The clinics are served by teams of specialists from the participating hospitals, including but not limited to medical oncologists, radiation therapists, surgeons, and other allied health professionals.

The Disease Programs and Disease Centers are fundamental to both the research and clinical care mission. The guiding principles for these programs are: 1)multi-modality participation in clinical care and research and 2) a unified system of clinical trials in each disease category. All Disease Programs are served by the same system for clinical trials management and support. The decision to coordinate clinical research through the multi-modality Disease Program committees was based on the belief that the optimal management of cancer patients requires the input and close cooperation of multi-disciplinary teams.

Shared Clinical Trial Resources:

1. Single Point Contracting with Industrial Sponsors
2. Common Protocol Activation/Management system

Scientific and Human Protection Review Process
On-Line Protocol System
Data Management
Regulatory Affairs

3. Integrated Quality Control Center

Protocol Patient Eligibility Checking and Registration System
Forms Design and computerization for DF/HCC initiated protocols
Education/Training
4. Common Protocol Auditing System
5. Integrated Biostatistics
6. Integrated Research Pharmacy Support
7. Clinical Trials Operations Committee

Contact:

Director

Jeffrey W. Clark, MD
jclark@partners.org
(617)726-8743

Quality Assurance Officer for Clinical Trials

Jane E. Russell
(617)632-3764
jrussell@partners.org