Copyright (c) 2008 Stephen Lau
To be diagnosed with cancer is a traumatic experience in life. Out of desperation, a cancer patient often immediately turns to different cancer treatment options. There is an array of treatment options available, both conventional and unconventional, that it may be stressful for a cancer patient to make a wise choice.
Conventional cancer treatments generally include surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy.
Cancer surgery is an invasive procedure involving the removal of a cancerous tumor. Surgery is generally recommended if the cancer is operable, if it is in its early stage (there are four stages of cancer: the first stage being the early development stage, and the fourth stage indicative of advanced cancer), or if the tumor is localized, that is, without spreading to other parts of the body. The problem is that it may sometimes be difficult to determine the exact stage of cancer development.
All surgery is invasive, and all cancer surgery is traumatic – causing cancer stress. Cancer surgery reduces the body’s resistance to cancer, and therefore predisposing the patient to recurrence of the disease. In addition, surgical biopsy may actually contribute to the spread of cancer, according to some studies.
Chemotherapy involves the application of chemicals not only to shrink the cancer but also to wipe out any cancerous cell that may remain hidden in the body after all visible cancer has been removed during the surgery.
The problem with chemotherapy is that these chemicals are extremely toxic not only to cancerous cells but also to nearby healthy cells and tissues. These toxic chemicals suppress bone marrow, which may lead to low immunity to infections due to reduction in white blood cell production. Infection could be a major cause of disease in patients who are already weak in immunity. Other lethal side effects of chemotherapy include damage to muscles of the heart, loss of fertility, and risk of developing a second cancer. In addition, loss of appetite, diarrhea, fatigue and nausea are some of the other unpleasant side effects as well.
Radiation therapy is the use of high-intensity X-rays to destroy cancerous cells. Essentially, chemotherapy therapy damages cells by destroying the genetic material that controls how cells grow and divide. Radiation is much more harmful to cancerous cells than it is to normal cells. While both healthy and cancerous cells are damaged by radiation, the goal of radiation treatment is to destroy as few normal, healthy cells as possible during the radiation process.
In mainstream treatments, more than half of the patients receive some type of radiation therapy to kill cancerous cells. Radiation therapy may be used before surgery to shrink a cancerous tumor, during surgery to direct large doses of radiation at a tumor, or after surgery to inhibit the growth of any remaining cancerous cells. Radiation therapy may also be used with chemotherapy not only to destroy cancerous cells, but also to shrink tumors in order to decrease the pressure, pain or other symptoms they may have caused.
Sores or ulcers in the mouth, throat, or intestines may develop after radiation therapy, causing difficulties in eating, thereby affecting the nutrition of patients. In addition, patients who have undergone radiation therapy may have a higher risk of developing leukemia.
Remember, cancer is a multi-billion dollar industry, involving pharmaceutical companies and the medical profession. This alone explains why Western medicine does not want any focus on unconventional cancer treatments. As a matter of fact, most Western doctors know very little about alternative cancer treatments because these unconventional treatments seldom find their way into prestigious medical journals. Some states even have enacted laws to prohibit unorthodox cancer treatments. Understandably, there are many unethical cancer quacks exploiting and preying on the fears of many cancer patients. However, some unconventional treatments are effective in combating and controlling the disease.

Presently, there is no known factor that can be said that is the basic cause or causes of cancer. There are some facts that have long been held about cancer that has been discovered to be false, but new facts about this deadly have equally emerged. The lists below are however, some of the facts that are widely believed to be the true facts about cancer.

1) Heredity is among the factors that influence the occurrences of cancer in human life. However, the hereditary lines in an individual cannot be used to diagnose a cancer victim. Rather, this makes it difficult if not impossible to actually say what will become of a cancer patient. There has been striking similarity in the development of breast cancers in the life of people of the same family, especially with identical twins.

2) Cancer is not contagious. There is no proven fact that shows that one can contact cancer by taking care of another cancer patient.

3) There is no scientifically proven influence that diet has on the development of any type of cancer. There are people that believe that some diets has some contributing factors towards the development of cancer, but since there is no scientifically proved evidence presently either in support of it or not, there is no basis also to say that such belief is wrong.

4) A repeated injury or a long term irritation has the potential to cause cancer.

5) Cancer sometimes behaves like infections, and certain animal experiments of malignant tumors seemed to stimulate cancer formation.

6) Certain hormones in the body, like the estrogenic hormones of the ovary stimulate the growth of cancer in the body. The implication of this is a suggestion that the existence of unbalanced hormone formation or growth in the body can lead to the development of cancer.

These are the basic facts one should know about cancer. However, we need to know that everyday, discoveries are coming out and new facts are equally coming out, so one should not take the above as the only things or the only facts that is worthy to note about cancer. There are other important things that we need to take note of about this deadly disease called cancer. Let’s discuss some of them as they will equally make some meanings in the topic of our discussion today.

A) One of the recognized causes of the cancer of the lower lip is smoking, especially pipe smoking. Also, it can be said authoritatively that one of the major causes of lung cancer is inhaled cigarette smoke. So if we can do away with this, we are doing a whole lot of good for our health.

B) Cancer of the tongue is mostly preceded by either jagged teeth, rough filling of the teeth or even syphilis of the tongue.

C) Cancer of the skin is not common except when this part of the body comes under undue or severe burns on the skin.

D) Cancer of the mouth is more common with those that chew often or hold objects long in their mouth thereby putting the mouth to undue pressure.

E) Excessive exposure to sunlight and wind can lead to skin cancer.

Cancer used to be classified as a disease that is more prevalent to the women folk, due largely the high incidence of breast cancer and other types of cancer that has to do with the sex organ, but there is a reversal of the trend today. More men suffer cancer these days than women. This is due largely to the increase of lung cancer among men. Avoiding all the causes mentioned above will guarantee 100% prevention of cancer, but will greatly reduce it. This is because there are other factors not mentioned here that can equally lead to cancer development in the body. So we should always be on the look out for any symptom that suggests that there is a development of cancer, then go me medical check and if it is discovered to be cancer and treated early, there will be better chance of success than when it has actually grown very large.