Better Proven Radiosurgery Over Craniotomy

Although there are a few different ways of delivering radiation to destroy tumors or slow their growth, they have found a great deal of success and preference among neurosurgeons, oncologists and doctors with subspecialties in brain tumor growths.

Radiosurgery is considered a relatively "recent" technique for treating brain tumors. Its main advantage is that it is non-invasive, which means that the flesh and skull do not need to be cut, sawed or bled in any way. This will be a brief discussion on how radiosurgery gives doctors and clinicians advantages over invasive brain surgery applications and some information about how it's applied.

When a patient undergoes radiosurgery for a tumor they generally use one of two techniques to expose the growth to radiation. The two main methods of application are either through a linear accelerator or a stereotactic frame. The applications of each are through such trade names as the Lineac (linear accelerator) or the Gamma Knife (stereotactic frame). Each uses subatomic particles that can be focused on the tumor while passing through the flesh invisibly, which gives the patient and hospital advantages such as:

- Reducing the cost of staff and tools that are needed for normal surgery techniques
- Less time in the hospital (often the patient can leave the same day)
- Smaller bill to the patient and insurance company
- Better avoidance of healthy tissue damage to healthy parts of the brain

Gamma Knife: The Gamma Ray Helmet Technique

The Gamma Knife is not actually a knife at all, as explained earlier. This is a technique that uses gamma rays to bombard with the intent to disable the growth of a tumor. Its biggest advantage is that it normally only needs to be administered once, no going back into the brain, no extensive time is needed like a scalpel and saw procedure.

The Gamma Knife is a form of radiosurgery that uses a helmet type of radiation applicator. Radioactive isotopes of cobalt within the helmet emit gamma rays. They can be fashioned onto the head of the patient and aimed at the tumor with superb accuracy. The gamma wave forms are positioned so that they pass through all the healthy tissue harmless as can be and converge upon the tumor in an attempt to disable the tumor's ability to subdivide and perpetuate its destructive behavior of branching out.

The Gamma ray is one of many particles used in radiotherapy; protons, neutrons and x-rays are also used in various techniques.

Source:
The Human body
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Stress may boost cervical cancer risk in women

A new study at the Fox Chase Cancer Centre has found that stress may increase the risk of developing cervical cancer in women.
Cervical cancer is caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) subtype. HPV 16 spread during sexual intercourse.
The study led by Calolyn Y. Fang hypothesized the stress could lead to alterations in immune functioning.
“HPV infection is healthy women will disappear spontaneously over time. Only a small percentage will progress to become precancerous cervical lesions or cancer.


Source:
The Human Body

Chemical in fried food may double cancer risk in women

A new study at the University of Maastricht has found that a common chemical called acrylamide caused by frying, roasting or grilling a food substance can double the risk of cancer in women.

The study, which enrolled 120,000 people – half of whom were women – established a direct association between consumption of the chemical and the incidence of ovarian and womb cancer.

It also revealed that the chemical is found in cooked foods such as bread, breakfast cereals, coffee and also meat and potatoes which had been fried, roasted, grilled or barbecued.

The Dutch study discovered that women who had more acrylamide were twice as likely to develop ovarian or womb cancer as those who ingested a smaller amount. The higher amount eaten by the women involved was the equivalent to a single packet of crisps, half a pack of biscuits, or a portion of chips a day.

Scientists develop UV technology to treat cancer

It can be called a medical breakthrough which is guaranteed to bring hope to millions of cancer victims. – a new technology to destroy tumour.
Yes, scientists in Britain have developed the cancer fighting technology which uses beams of ultraviolet light to activate antibodies which specifically attack and destroy tumours, the Daily Mail reported on Tuesday.
“I would describe this development as the equivalent of ultra-specific magic bullets,” lead researcher Professor Colin Self of Newcastle University was quoted bt the British daily as saying.
According to him, the new technique could be used for tumours close to the skin, such as breast cancer, and for any cancer accessible by a light probe. These include stomach and bowel cancers as well as ovarian cancer.
The researchers tested the technology successfully on six volunteers who fell gravely ill at Northwick Park Hospital because the antibodies they activated affected their entire body, driving their immune systems into overload.
To get over this problem, the Newcastle team cloaked antibodies in an organic oil which rendered them inactive until illuminated by UV rays. By using a probe to shine a light on the tumour, the antibodies at the right place in the body were brought to life.
The activated antibodies then caused immune cells in the blood called T-cells to attack the cancer.

Garlic-rich diet helps fight cancer

Garlic has long been taught as health booster, but it is never been clear why the herb might good for you. Now new research is beginning to unlock the secret of the odoriferous, bulb. In a recent study published in the proceedings of the national academy of science, researchers show that eating garlic appears to boost our natural supply of an organic substance called hydrogen sulphide. In the later study, performed at the university of Alabama at Birmingham, researchers extracted juice from super market garlic and added small amounts to human red blood cells. The cells immediately begins emitting hydrogen sulphide, the scientists found. The power to boost hydrogen sulphide production may help explain why a garlic rich diet appears to protect against various cancers, including breast, prostrate and colon cancer, say the study authors.