Tag: risk

How To Lower The Risk Of Cancer

Some forms of cancer have no known causes and just seem to develop at random, regardless of any preventative measures that you may have taken. For more information on how to fight back against cancer, read this advice.

To beat cancer, finding it early is essential. Talk with your doctor and set up regular times for screenings to best eliminate the chance for early cancer growth to get out of hand without treatment. Breast and testicular cancers can be detected through self examination, so do this once a month.

Prepare yourself for the changes you will go through, while being treated for cancer. Either your doctor or nurse can describe the side effects of the drugs and radiation treatment you will receive. If you lose your hair, get a wig and if your skin looks pale, use makeup.

Ask questions when you need to or make the effort to share …

New study suggests proton therapy for lung cancer lowers risk of heart disease

When treating lung cancer with radiation therapy, there is a significant concern that the treatment dose will expose the heart to excess radiation. One way to avoid this unnecessary radiation is by using proton therapy, a more precise form of radiation therapy as compared to traditional radiation therapy (x-rays/photons).

Researchers now say there is a link between lung cancer proton therapy and a reduced risk of certain heart diseases, including mini-strokes and heart attacks.

ABOUT THE STUDY

The findings of a new study from Penn Medicine were presented at the American Society for Radiation Oncology’s (ASTRO) annual meeting in October by Timothy Kegelman, MD, PhD, chief resident in the department of Radiation Oncology in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

Kegelman and his team of researchers followed more than 200 patients who underwent either proton therapy or traditional radiation therapy for locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer. The retrospective …