Radiation Therapy
Radiation therapy is usually part of cancer treatment administered under the guidance of an oncologist. It is used along with other treatments such as chemotherapy and surgery to control malignant cells. Radiation controls cell growth and plays a vital role in destroying cells or keep them from multiplying. The oncologist will decide on the kind of radiation and dosage of radiation. Some amount of healthy cells are likely to be targeted in the radiation therapy. There are two forms of radiation therapy.
External beam radiation: High powered x-rays are directed into or near the tumor from outside the body.
Internal beam radiation: Here the radiation is done from inside or near the tumor.
The side-effects of radiation therapy are hair loss, nausea, vomiting, skin problems, increased susceptibility to infection and low blood counts. Radiation therapy cannot be used on a pregnant woman. Hyperthermia
Hyperthermia is a name given to a variety of heat related illnesses, when the body temperature is higher than normal. This may be due to illnesses such as fever or heat stroke. But hyperthermia also refers to heat treatment, controlled use of heat for medical purposes, like cancer. When the body is exposed to very high temperatures, changes take place inside the cells. Radiation therapy or chemotherapy can kill cancer cells outright and can also injure normal cells and tissues. That is why hyperthermia must be carefully controlled and should be undertaken only with doctor supervision.
There are two primary ways in which hyperthermia is used. Very high temperatures can be used to destroy a small area of cells such as tumor. This is called local hyperthermia or thermal ablation. The other method is when the temperature of the whole body can be raised to a higher than normal level. Radiation therapy, immunotherapy or chemotherapy are instances of this. This is known as regional hyperthermia or whole body hyperthermia.
Hepatoma
Hepatoma is primary liver cancer which occurs in the liver itself and did not spread from another area of the body to the liver. Often associated with cirrhosis of liver and hepatitis B infections, malignant hepatoma is common among alcoholics. It is found in people above 40 years of age and more noticed among men than women.
While the exact cause of malignant hepatoma is not known, there are several risk factors that contributes to the cause of hepatoma. These include being above 40 years of age, male sex, history of cirrhosis and exposure to hepatitis viruses B, C, D and G. Symptoms of malignant hepatoma may be the same as other liver diseases, including pain and swelling in the abdominal area, loss of weight, appetite, jaundice, fatigue and fever. Crucial pain extending to the back and shoulder is another symptom, when the cancer progresses. A collection of fluid known as ascites in the abdomen occurs in some patients, while some show signs of bleeding in the digestive tract.
The procedure for diagnosis is for the medical practitioner to go through the medical history of the patient first and physically examine the patient's abdomen for lumps if any. The liver could be swollen, hard and sore. Certain diagnostic parameters inclusive of blood tests are conducted to determine and evaluate the liver condition and function. An ultrasound and CT scan are undertaken to detect possible tumors in the liver. If necessary, a sample of liver tissue is sent for a biopsy to confirm if the hepatoma is malignant. Sometimes, a doctor looks for chest x-ray to understand if the liver tumor is primary or has spread to the lungs as well.
Hepatomas are neither contagious nor hereditary. They could be cured, if detected in the early stages. But unfortunately, most hepatomas are detected late making the rate of survival very low. In most advanced stages, malignant hepatoma cannot be cured although treated to relieve pain. Surgery is recommended if cancer is contained in one lobe of the liver and the patient is healthy enough without afflictions of cirrhosis, jaundice or ascited. Sometimes, chemotherapy or radiation therapy is undertaken to destroy the cancer cells in order to slow the disease spread. Although chemotherapy is not very successful but is tried in patients whose tumor is too large or advanced to be surgically resected. Liver transplant is adopted in patients who suffer acute liver damage with too large a portion of the tumor in the liver.
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