Traditionally men are expected to be the stronger sex, the breadwinner, the hunter- gatherer, but when it comes to prostate cancer men can feel powerless. Hormone therapies are used to chemically castrate men as a means of treating the cancer through more personalised medicine. However, when the cancer becomes refractory, Docetaxel is used as a first line chemotherapy to treat metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer in combination with Prednisolone. Mr. Smith (pseudonym) was diagnosed with Advanced Metastatic Prostate Cancer which was controlled by Abiraterone Acetate (an androgen biosynthesis inhibitor and works by inhibiting the CYP17 enzyme that is used to feed the cancer) until the cancer started to progress, and was …show more content…
Cytotoxic chemotherapy was first discovered during World War II by Gilman and Philips when they perceived the effect that nitrogen gas (used during WWI) had on the number of human cells proliferating and recognised this as a potential treatment for cancer. From this discovery, biotherapy was born helping to increase our knowledge in how to achieve cell death and tumour control through use of cytokines and monoclonal antibodies (Young et al, 2006). Cancer is often described as unregulated cell growth through a multistep process (Brighton et al, 2005). Brighton (2005) describes the ‘Hallmarks’ of the cancer cell as needing to acquire these six steps in order to develop: ‘self-sufficiency in growth signals, insensitivity to antigrowth signal, avoiding apoptosis, limitless replicative potential, angiogenesis and tumour invasion/ metastasis’. These six Hallmarks of Cancer describe the pathogenesis that a cell undertakes until it develops into a tumour which can then potentially become malignant (Hanahan et al, 2011). While normal cells can control their own proliferation that allows a homeostasis amongst cells, that new cells are born once the old cells have died ensuring that there are enough cells available to fulfil the task at hand. Cancer cells are more neurotic, they interrupt the normal signalling pathway within the healthy cells, and then they begin to grow uncontrollably invading the
Metastatic prostate cancer is treated with drugs antagonizinf androgen action, but most patients progress to a more aggressive form of the disease named castration-resistant prostate cancer, driven by elevated expression of the androgen receptor (AR).
TREATMENT of localized prostate cancer usually includes prostatectomy and radiation therapy, occasionally augmented with hormonal therapies. However, Fu et al., (2012) have noted that recurrence of prostate cancer occurs in about 15% of patients within 5 years after prostatectomy and in about 40% patients within 10 years. Although, more than 70% of patients are expected to survive for more than 10 years after prostatectomy, radiation or hormone therapy, Cooperberg et al.,(2010) argued that localized prostate cancer patients with intermediate or high risk scores have higher mortality rate after these treatments. With chemotherapies as the existing treatment options for metastatic prostate cancers, patients are expected to have only a median survival of 12-15 months. Bono et al.,(2006). However, most of these traditional treatments are invasive and riddled with adverse side effects. Therefore, novel therapies are on high demand for the treatment of the malignant and recurrent forms of prostate cancer after these
A key factor in the development of tumors is the ability of cancerous cells to evade recognition from the bodies’ natural defense against cancer, the immune system. Immunotherapies effectively block the pathways that shield cancerous cells from being identified, and thus the promote the bodies own anti-tumor response. However, one challenge to immunotherapy has been its combination with chemotherapy, the mainstay of cancer treatment. While chemotherapy is extremely effective in stopping the rapid division of cancerous cells, its toxic immunosuppressive side-effect make it difficult to combine with
Abstract Cancer “Sucks” and many individuals today are dealing with it or know someone who has dealt with it. The late president Richard Nixon declared war on cancer in 1971 and we have been fighting the battle ever since (McCarthy, 2015, paras. 16). Since the declaration many possible cures were developed and chemotherapy is the one which seems to work on almost every cancer. However, this treatment has drawbacks that are either controversial or questionable as to what degree they help with defeating cancer.
Therefore, dose and duration of treatment is limited, which in turn limits the amount of normal and tumor cell death. A second mechanism is the suppression of cancer cells for variable periods of time without cell death. This mechanism is referred to as remission. Unfortunately, the cancer can return at any time, and it is sometimes stronger. Here another limitation is introduced. Some tumor cells can develop resistance to a particular chemical agent, or several chemical agents, limiting the types of chemotherapeutic agents available for effective use. The last mechanism is cell differentiation, which helps the immune system learn to recognize and fight tumor cells (1).
In this study, I believe the independent variables are the stage of illness of the patient, spiritual well-being, and gender. The dependent variable fatigue during the cancer treatment. In the setting and subject description, the selection criteria had inclusion, and exclusion criteria. Within the inclusion criteria, every one of the participants had to be 18, or older, and have active cancer related treatment with a cancer diagnosis with either a palliative or curative intent, willing to participate in the study. The criteria that was excluded were those individuals whom had completed the cancer treatment those whom only received treatment only palliative care.
Cancer is without a doubt a scary and deadly disease to have, but is it solely responsible for killing the patient? The term cancer is a term used for a several related diseases. All cancer has the similar abnormality where cells grow at an uncontrollable and exponential rate. In a healthy person “cells grow and divide to form new cells as the body needs them” (Institute). As the cells age they naturally become damage and degrade, these damaged cells die, and new cell are produced to replace them. This is the natural process of the cell. In the case of cancer cells, these natural functions mutate and become abnormal. Instead of old damaged cells
In the United States, it’s estimated that roughly 1 in 5 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer. According to the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program (SEER) of the National Cancer Institute, “the number of new cases of prostate cancer was 129.4 per 100,000 men per year. The number of deaths was 20.7 per 100,000 men per year. These rates are age-adjusted and based on 2009-2013 cases and
Chemotherapy drugs used to treat cancer kill the most rapidly dividing cells in the body,
Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide as it can develop in almost any organ or tissue. Significant advances in understanding the cellular basis of cancer and the underlying biological mechanisms of tumour has been vastly improved in the recent years (Jiang et al. 1994). Cancer is a genetic disease which requires a series of mutation during mitosis to develop, its characteristics can be associated with their ability to grow and divide abnormal cells uncontrollable while in the mean time invade and cause nearby blood vessels to serve its need. Even though many people are affected by cancer today, the abilities which cancer cells have make it hard to find a single effective treatment for cancer. The focus of research now lies
Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is one of several names given to a poorly understood, variably debilitating disorder of uncertain causation. CFS is thought, based on a 1999 study, to affect approximately 4 per 1,000 adults in the United States. For unknown reasons, CFS occurs more often in women than men, and in people in their 40s and 50s.
Prostate cancer is the most prevalent nonskin cancer among men in the United States and is the second leading cause of cancer death in men. While prostate cancer is most regularly diagnosed in men at the age of 65 years and older, the occurrence can begin at 50. One in 6 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetime. As researchers explore this form of cancer; men also need to know it’s essential to understand early prostate cancer is treatable. By these patients exploring these insights and investigating the lived experience of older men, it can provide a positive coping mechanisms.
As the world continues to suffer from these devastating diseases, researchers continue to find alternative therapeutic ways of addressing cancer treatment. It is on this premise that various immunotherapeutic alternatives have emerged and currently garnering the greatest level of attention and already raising hope throughout the world in addressing the treatment of NSCLC. However, this can no longer be viewed as a discovery but a wave in the medicine world that began in the 20th century. Various researchers have found the importance of the role of immune systems in fighting the growth of tumor caused by cancer cells. A study by Huncharek (2000) stated that specific immune boosters are capable of eliminating preclinical cancers. In contrast, Jermal et al. (2011) found that immunotherapy is an effective approach for the treatment of tumors that have already turned into solid. Similarly, the researchers highlighted that immunotherapy can be an effective approach to the treatment of melanoma as well as renal cell cancers (Lasalvia-Prisco, 2008). However, Jemal et al. (2011) noted that immunotherapy cannot achieve much in cancer treatment due to limitation brought about by the emission of immunosuppressive cytokines and subsequent loss of antigen expressions. Recent development in research studies on the immunotherapy approach to cancer treatment continues to elicit mixed reactions among researchers of medicinal ecology (Jadad et al., 1996). However, recent development in
A cancerous cell must adapt to various biological chemical pathways and modify itself to impose its malignant behavior not only in humans but as well as in other species. The authors, Douglas Hanahan and Robert A. Weinberg points out six significant variations in cell physiology that leads to the composition of most of these cancerous cell. The cell autonomy in growth signals, insensivity to growth-inhibitory signals, avoid apoptosis, endless replication, angiogenesis sustainability, as well as neighboring tissue invasion along with metastasis are main acquired capabilities of cancer cells. The article’s significance depends on its simplicity to convey information by providing concise methods as to how the cancer cell acquires the capabilities to turn normal human cells into cancerous one.
evidence suggests that the fate of malignant cells is altered by the behaviour of the surrounding nonmalignant