Jan 6, 2006

Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy Improves Survival In Ovarian Cancer

Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy Extends Ovarian Cancer Survival Intraperitoneal method for delivering chemotherapy offers women with ovarian cancer the chance to live longer than standard treatment.

In an analysis evaluating the intraperitoneal (through the abdomen) technique for delivering chemotherapy to the more commonly used intravenous chemotherapy, researchers established that average survival time for women with stage III ovarian cancer could be increased by nearly 16 months - to an average of 65.6 months - with intraperitoneal therapy.

Dr. Deborah Armstrong, an associate professor oncology and gynecology and obstetrics at Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center in Baltimore stated that this is the longest survival reported to date for advanced ovarian cancer.

Intraperitoneal chemotherapy is infused straight into the abdomen through a catheter surgically located under the skin. Armstrong said the catheter is normally placed beneath the lower left rib cage. Because the drug is going directly to the area affected by the cancer, rather than throughout the body, elevated doses of chemotherapy can often be used.

Women getting intraperitoneal chemotherapy are more likely to have side effects, such as gastrointestinal complexity, hematological troubles, infection, fatigue, pain and neurological problems. The average survival times were appreciably increased for these women.

Dr. Stephen Cannistra, director of gynecologic medical oncology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, wrote a supplementary editorial in the New England journal of Medicine. He said, "We are slowly but surely making progress against this terrible disease."

Janet      

Do You Read All Of Our Cancer Blogs?

Do you read all of the blogs published by medicineworld.org? Many of our bloggers are busy keeping you updated on the various health related topics. We publish the following blogs at this time.

Cancer blog: I manage the cancer blog with lots of help and support form other bloggers. Through this cancer blog my friends and I try to bring stories of hope for patients with cancer. The cancer blog often republishes important blog posts from other cancer related blogs at Medicineworld.org. If you are searching for a blog that covers wide variety of cancer topics, this may be the one for you.

Breast cancer blog: Breast cancer blog is run by Emily and other bloggers and they bring you the latest stories, news and events that are related to breast cancer. Increasing awareness about breast cancer among women and in the general population is the main goal of this breast cancer blog.

Lung cancer blog: Lung cancer blog is managed by Scott with the help of other bloggers. Through this blog Scott and his friends constantly remind the readers about the dangers of smoking. It's a never-ending struggle against this miserable disease with which a social stigma of smoking is associated.

Colon cancer blog: Colon cancer blog is run by Sue and other bloggers. Sue brings a personal touch to the colon cancer blog since her mother died of colon cancer few years ago. She writes about stories, research news and advances in treatment related to colon cancer.

Prostate cancer blog: Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among American men. American Cancer Society estimates that over 230,000 new cases of prostate cancer occur in the United state every year. This important blog about prostate cancer is run by Mark and other bloggers. This blog brings news, stories, and other personal observations related to prostate cancer.

Medicineworld.org publishes a diabetes watch blog and this blog is run by JoAnn other bloggers. This diabetes watch blog brings you the latest in the field of diabetes. This includes personal stories, advances in diagnosis and treatment, and other observations about diabetes. Improving awareness about diabetes is an important mission of this group.

Janet      

Cancer
Cancer is a very common disease, approximately one out of every two American men and one out of every three American women will have some type of cancer at some point during the course of their life. Cancer is more common in the elderly and 77 percent of cancers occur in people above age 55 or older. Cancer is also common in children. Cancer incidence is said to have two peaks once during early childhood and then during late years in life. No age period is completely exempted from development of cancers. Some cancers occur predominantly in the elderly, other types occur in children, Cancer occurs in all ethnic races, however the cancer rates and rates of specific cancer types may vary from group to group. Late stages of cancer may be incurable in most cases, but with the advancement of medicine, more and more cancers are becoming curable.