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Health, Research Learning

CANCER: LUNG


SOURCE: Mayo Clinic

Lung Cancer

Diagnosis

Testing healthy people for lung cancer

People with an increased risk of lung cancer may consider annual lung cancer screening using low-dose CT scans. Lung cancer screening is generally offered to people 55 and older who smoked heavily for many years and are otherwise healthy.

Discuss your lung cancer risk with your doctor. Together you can decide whether lung cancer screening is right for you.

Tests to diagnose lung cancer

If there’s reason to think that you may have lung cancer, your doctor can order a number of tests to look for cancerous cells and to rule out other conditions.

Tests may include:

  • Imaging tests. An X-ray image of your lungs may reveal an abnormal mass or nodule. A CT scan can reveal small lesions in your lungs that might not be detected on an X-ray.
  • Sputum cytology. If you have a cough and are producing sputum, looking at the sputum under the microscope can sometimes reveal the presence of lung cancer cells.
  • Tissue sample (biopsy). A sample of abnormal cells may be removed in a procedure called a biopsy. Your doctor can perform a biopsy in a number of ways, including bronchoscopy, in which your doctor examines abnormal areas of your lungs using a lighted tube that’s passed down your throat and into your lungs; mediastinoscopy, in which an incision is made at the base of your neck and surgical tools are inserted behind your breastbone to take tissue samples from lymph nodes; and needle biopsy, in which your doctor uses X-ray or CT images to guide a needle through your chest wall and into the lung tissue to collect suspicious cells. A biopsy sample may also be taken from lymph nodes or other areas where cancer has spread, such as your liver.

Careful analysis of your cancer cells in a lab will reveal what type of lung cancer you have. Results of sophisticated testing can tell your doctor the specific characteristics of your cells that can help determine your prognosis and guide your treatment.

Tests to determine the extent of the cancer

Once your lung cancer has been diagnosed, your doctor will work to determine the extent (stage) of your cancer. Your cancer’s stage helps you and your doctor decide what treatment is most appropriate.

Staging tests may include imaging procedures that allow your doctor to look for evidence that cancer has spread beyond your lungs. These tests include CT, MRI, positron emission tomography (PET) and bone scans. Not every test is appropriate for every person, so talk with your doctor about which procedures are right for you.

The stages of lung cancer are indicated by Roman numerals that range from 0 to IV, with the lowest stages indicating cancer that is limited to the lung. By stage IV, the cancer is considered advanced and has spread to other areas of the body.

More Information

Treatment

  • Lung cancer surgery

You and your doctor choose a cancer treatment plan based on a number of factors, such as your overall health, the type and stage of your cancer, and your preferences.

In some cases, you may choose not to undergo treatment. For instance, you may feel that the side effects of treatment will outweigh the potential benefits. When that’s the case, your doctor may suggest comfort care to treat only the symptoms the cancer is causing, such as pain or shortness of breath.

Surgery

During surgery your surgeon works to remove the lung cancer and a margin of healthy tissue. Procedures to remove lung cancer include:

  • Wedge resection to remove a small section of lung that contains the tumor along with a margin of healthy tissue
  • Segmental resection to remove a larger portion of lung, but not an entire lobe
  • Lobectomy to remove the entire lobe of one lung
  • Pneumonectomy to remove an entire lung

If you undergo surgery, your surgeon may also remove lymph nodes from your chest in order to check them for signs of cancer.

Surgery may be an option if your cancer is confined to the lungs. If you have a larger lung cancer, your doctor may recommend chemotherapy or radiation therapy before surgery in order to shrink the cancer. If there’s a risk that cancer cells were left behind after surgery or that your cancer may recur, your doctor may recommend chemotherapy or radiation therapy after surgery.

Radiation therapy

Radiation therapy uses high-powered energy beams from sources such as X-rays and protons to kill cancer cells. During radiation therapy, you lie on a table while a machine moves around you, directing radiation to precise points on your body.

For people with locally advanced lung cancer, radiation may be used before surgery or after surgery. It’s often combined with chemotherapy treatments. If surgery isn’t an option, combined chemotherapy and radiation therapy may be your primary treatment.

For advanced lung cancers and those that have spread to other areas of the body, radiation therapy may help relieve symptoms, such as pain.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy uses drugs to kill cancer cells. One or more chemotherapy drugs may be given through a vein in your arm (intravenously) or taken orally. A combination of drugs usually is given in a series of treatments over a period of weeks or months, with breaks in between so that you can recover.

Chemotherapy is often used after surgery to kill any cancer cells that may remain. It can be used alone or combined with radiation therapy. Chemotherapy may also be used before surgery to shrink cancers and make them easier to remove.

In people with advanced lung cancer, chemotherapy can be used to relieve pain and other symptoms.

Radiosurgery

Stereotactic body radiotherapy, also known as radiosurgery, is an intense radiation treatment that aims many beams of radiation from many angles at the cancer. Stereotactic body radiotherapy treatment is typically completed in one or a few treatments.

Radiosurgery may be an option for people with small lung cancers who can’t undergo surgery. It may also be used to treat lung cancer that spreads to other parts of the body, including the brain.

Targeted drug therapy

Targeted drug treatments focus on specific abnormalities present within cancer cells. By blocking these abnormalities, targeted drug treatments can cause cancer cells to die.

Many targeted therapy drugs are used to treat lung cancer, though most are reserved for people with advanced or recurrent cancer.

Some targeted therapies only work in people whose cancer cells have certain genetic mutations. Your cancer cells may be tested in a laboratory to see if these drugs might help you.

Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy uses your immune system to fight cancer. Your body’s disease-fighting immune system may not attack your cancer because the cancer cells produce proteins that blind the immune system cells. Immunotherapy works by interfering with that process.

Immunotherapy treatments are generally reserved for people with advanced lung cancer.

Palliative care

People with lung cancer often experience signs and symptoms of the cancer, as well as side effects of treatment. Supportive care, also known as palliative care, is a specialty area of medicine that involves working with a doctor to minimize your signs and symptoms.

Your doctor may recommend that you meet with a palliative care team soon after your diagnosis to ensure that you’re comfortable during and after your cancer treatment.

In one study, people with advanced non-small cell lung cancer who began receiving supportive care soon after their diagnosis lived longer than those who continued with treatments, such as chemotherapy and radiation. Those receiving supportive care reported improved mood and quality of life. They survived, on average, almost three months longer than did those receiving standard care.

Health & Beauty, Nutrition, Recipes, Video

The Giant Cancer-Fighting Salad

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This is Chris Wark’s recipe. He Beat Cancer and you can read all about his journey and his Success

Awesome Cancer Fighting Recipe

by Chris Wark (Chris Beat Cancer)

To strengthen your body’s ability to fight cancer, you need to eat what I ate:
The biggest baddest healthiest salad on the planet!
It consists of raw organic vegetables, sprouts, seeds, nuts and homemade dressing.
This salad is super healthy, delicious and will fill you up without zapping your energy.

The Raw Vegan Diet was a huge part of my anti-cancer strategy and I ate this salad every day, sometimes twice a day, during the first few years of my Chemo-Free Cancer Battle.

I wanted to put as many vitamins, minerals, nutrients and enzymes into my body as possible and there’s no better way than Juicing and eating fresh raw organic fruits and vegetables.

There’s really no secret formula to this salad, but there are some guidelines to follow:

Absolutely no cheese, meat, or store-bought salad dressing.

It’s also a good idea to avoid fruit which can cause some indention when eaten with vegetables.

It is important that you use organic produce, which is free of toxic chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
And of course wash everything before you eat it. Then just chop it all up and throw it in a bowl!

Note: You’re might need some bigger bowls.  Mine doesn’t look very big in the photo, but it holds over 6 cups. That’s six servings of vegetables! 6-10 servings per day of fruits and vegetables is ideal for cancer prevention and healing.

The Giant Cancer Fighting Salad
-Start with the most nutrient dense dark leafy greens: Kale and Spinach. (Do not exceed 10 cups per day)
-Broccoli (The best source of sulforaphane which promotes liver detoxification, and Indole-3-carbinol, an anticarcinogenic compound )
-Broccoli Sprouts (Concentrated sulforaphane & I3C. Do not exceed four cups of sprouts per day)
-Cauliflower
-Purple cabbage (cheapest source of antioxidants per ounce in the world!)
-Slice of red onion, (yellow or green onions may actually be better)
-Leeks
-Artichokes
-Red, Yellow, or Green Peppers
-Mushrooms Bella, Cremini, Shiitake, etc.
-1/2 an Avocado
-Squash
-Zucchini
-Raw Sunflower seeds (sprouted is better)
-Raw Almonds (sprouted is better)
-Sprouted Garbanzo Beans
-Sprouted Mung Beans
-Sprouted Red or Green Lentils

Then I top it off with either one of these naturally fermented foods:

-Bubbies Old Fashioned Sauerkraut
Bubbies is made with only three ingredients: cabbage, water and salt.  It is fermented and cured with all natural enzymes intact and there is no vinegar added. (Bubbies Kosher dill pickles are super tasty too.)Look for it in the refrigerated section of your local grocer or health food store.

-Kimchi (Pronounced “Kim Chee”)
Kimchi is a spicy Korean version of sauerkraut typically consisting of fermented cabbage, onions, garlic, and pepper. Kim Chi has high concentrations of Vitamin C and Carotene in addition to Vitamin A, B1, B2, Calcium, Iron and beneficial lactic acid bacteria.
Recognized as one of the Top Five “World’s Healthiest Foods” by Health magazine.  Also in the refrigerated section.

Fermented foods are great for digestion and repopulate your intestinal flora with beneficial bacteria essential for health.

Repeat: Absolutely no cheese, meat, fruit, or store-bought salad dressing.

I know it seems weird to exclude fruit.  Here’s why:

Fruits and vegetables need different digestive juices, and when eaten together can create excess acid and indigestion. That is why it’s a good idea to eat them separately, especially if you are sick.  This even includes non-sweet fruits like tomatoes and cucumbers.

My Homemade “Zesty Italian” Salad Dressing
This is hands down the healthiest salad dressing on the planet!
It’s super easy and delicious.  Here’s how you make it:
-Add 1 tbsp Bragg organic extra virgin olive oil to your salad
-Add 1 tbsp Barleans cold-pressed flax oil to your salad
-Lightly drizzle Bragg Organic Apple Cider Vinegar to taste (another super healthy fermented food!)

Then shake on as much of these Four Cancer Fighting Spices as you can stand:
-Organic Oregano
-Organic Garlic Powder
-Organic Turmeric or Curry Powder
-Organic Cayenne Pepper (this will spice it up quick, go easy the first time)

I can’t tell you many times I have eaten this salad!   Over a thousand I bet.
And what’s funny is I have several books filled with of raw vegan recipes, but the Giant Salad ended up being my staple meal.

Most days I ate it for lunch and dinner. I didn’t mind eating the same thing every day because it was simple and quick to prepare.  I didn’t have to put any time into planning my meals. I knew exactly what to buy at the grocery store every week, and it’s so delicious and full of flavor it never got old!

One final note: The salad really doesn’t have to be “giant”, I make big ones because that’s what it takes to fill me up. Not everyone needs to eat that much. A small version is fine too. Just focus on getting as many nutrient dense vegetables in there as you can and make it big enough to satisfy your appetite.

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Health & Beauty

New Study Shows Ginger Is 10,000x Stronger Than Chemo (And Only Kills Cancer Cells)

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New Study Shows Ginger Is 10,000x Stronger Than Chemo

(And Only Kills Cancer Cells)

turmeric-health-benefits
turmeric-health-benefits

Turmeric has widely been toted for its effect on cancer, but new research has shown that its cousin ginger is just as powerful. Not only that, an active compound in ginger has potentially been found to be more effective than some cancer medications at killing cancer. There is even preliminary evidence of some cancer medications being ineffective and actually accelerating the death of cancer patients.

ginger

The Power Of Ginger
One study, conducted by Georgia State University found that whole ginger extract was able to reduce the size of a prostate tumor by 56% in mice. In addition to its effect on cancer, ginger was also observed to reduce inflammation and supply the mice with life-enhancing antioxidants.

Another study published in PLoS found that one particular component in ginger known as 6-shogaol is superior to conventional cancer medication, namely chemotherapy, at targeting the root cause of breast cancer malignancy: breast cancer stem cells.

Sometimes referred to as ‘mother cells’, cancer stem cells are the cause of a wide range of cancers, not simply breast cancer. These ‘mother cells’ are responsible for creating the different ‘daughter’ cell types that makeup the tumor colony. While cancer stem cells only constitute .2 to 1% of the cell makeup of the tumor, they seem to be almost ‘immortal’.

What that means is, these cancer stem cells are able to self renew, they are capable of continuous differentiation, are resistant to conventional chemotherapeutic agents, and are capable of splitting off and forming new tumor colonies. The only way to fully ensure that your body is cancer free is to destroy the cancer stem cells within a tumor.

This new study found that the pungent constituent in ginger known as 6-shogaol was very active when it came to anti-cancer stem behavior. This constituent is produced when the root is either dried or cooked, to very common uses for ginger already. But there is something very specific about 6-shogaol that makes it superior to chemotherapy treatments for cancer.

Researchers found that these cancer-destroying effects occurred at concentrations that were non-toxic to non-cancer cells. That means that this particular component of ginger only killed cancer cells, leaving healthy cells alone. This makes it very different from conventional cancer treatments that do not display that kind of selective cytotoxicity.

 

When it comes to breast cancer, 6-shogaol significantly affects the cell cycle, resulting in increased cancer cell death. It induces programmed cell death through the induction of autophagy. It also inhibits breast cancer spheroids (lumps) from forming. But that isn’t the only astounding thing about 6-shogaol.

This study also found, that in tests of the cancer drug taxol, it did not show the same level of effectiveness at destroying cancer stem cells and tumors as 6-shogaol. Even when the concentrations of taxol were increased, it was still found that 6-shogaol was 10,000 times more effective at killing cancer stem cells, stopping tumors from forming, and keeping healthy cells alive.

More research needs to be done to show how ‘modern cancer medicine’ is not as effective as natural remedies. We can not be making our bodies sick while trying to cure a disease, that is simply not enough anymore.

More research needs to be done to show how ‘modern cancer medicine’ is not as effective as natural remedies. We can not be making our bodies sick while trying to cure a disease, that is simply not enough anymore.

 Do you Know what to pack for a disaster?

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