Tongue Cancer

What is tongue cancer ?
There are two parts to your tongue, the oral tongue and the base of the tongue. Cancer can develop in either part. The oral tongue is the part you see when you ‘poke your tongue out’ at someone. This is the front two thirds of your tongue. Cancers that develop in this part of the tongue come under a group of cancers called mouth (oral) cancer.

The base of the tongue is the back third of the tongue. This part is very near your throat (pharynx). Cancers that develop in this part are called oropharyngeal cancers (pronounced oar-o-farin-gee-al).

Types of tongue cancer
The most common type of tongue cancer is squamous cell carcinoma (SCCA). Squamous cells are the flat, skin-like cells that cover the lining of the mouth, nose, larynx, thyroid and throat. Squamous cell carcinoma is the name given to a cancer that starts in these cells.

Symptoms of tongue cancer
The symptoms of tongue cancer may include
A red or white patch on the tongue, that will not go away
A sore throat that does not go away
A sore spot on the tongue that does not go away
Pain when swallowing
Numbness in the mouth that will not go away
Unexplained bleeding from the tongue (that is, not caused by biting your tongue or other injury)
Pain in the ear (rare)
Do bear in mind that these symptoms may be due to a less serious medical condition. But it is important to check symptoms with your GP just to make sure.

Risks and causes of tongue cancer
We don’t know the exact causes of most head and neck cancers, but several risk factors have been identified. Smoking tobacco (cigarettes, cigars and pipes) and drinking a lot of alcohol are the main risk factors for cancers of the head and neck in the western world. There is more information about the risks and causes of mouth cancer in the mouth cancer section.

Treating tongue cancer
As with many types of cancer, diagnosing your cancer early means it will be easier to control and possibly cure it. Treating tongue cancer will depend on the size of the cancer and whether or not it has spread to the lymph nodes in your neck. You may have
Surgery
Radiotherapy
Chemotherapy
You may have one of these or a combination of treatments. The best treatment for very small tongue cancers is surgery. For larger tumours that have spread to the lymph nodes in the neck, you will most likely have a combination of surgery and radiotherapy. This means having an operation to remove the cancer from your tongue and the lymph nodes in your neck. You may need to have all the nodes on one or both sides of your neck removed. You may hear your doctor call this operation a radical neck dissection. It lowers the risk of your cancer coming back in the future. You will then have a course of radiotherapy to help get rid of any cancer cells left behind.

If your cancer has grown so big that it affects most of your tongue, you may need to have an operation to remove your tongue (glossectomy). This is a big operation and many doctors may suggest that you first try radiotherapy and chemotherapy to shrink the cancer. If this works, you may not need such major surgery.

If you do have this operation, it will permanently change your ability to speak and swallow. It will also affect the way you look. This is very hard to cope with and you are likely to need a lot of support and help following your operation. It is important to talk to your doctor before your operation and ask lots of questions about how it will affect your speech, appearance and eating and drinking.

There is more detailed information about treatments for mouth and oropharyngeal cancer in the mouth cancer section.

Treatment side effects
All treatments have side effects. Some are temporary but some may be permanent. Surgery to the tongue can cause problems with your speech, eating and drinking, and changes in your appearance.

Radiotherapy to the head and neck area can cause several side effects including a dry, sore mouth and taste changes. There is more information about the side effects of side effects of radiotherapy to the mouth in the mouth cancer section.

Two common chemotherapy drugs are used to treat head and neck cancers. They are
Cisplatin
5 fluorouracil(5FU)
Other drugs used less often include
Carboplatin
Bleomycin
Methotrexate

Meat increases kidney cancer risk

Eating red meat increases a person's risk of developing the most common type of kidney cancer, while eating vegetables has a protective effect.
Previous studies on diet and renal cell carcinoma (which accounts for 85 percent of kidney cancers) have shown inconclusive results. Therefore, researchers from America compared 335 patients with renal cell carcinoma with 337 healthy controls to investigate whether certain types of foods or food groups influenced the risk of renal cell carcinoma. The study participants reported how frequently they ate a variety of different foods.
It was found that people who ate lots of white bread and white potatoes had a higher risk of the disease than their peers who ate these foods less frequently. The relationship was particularly strong among women. While eating spinach and other greens, as well as tomatoes, reduced cancer risk in all the participants, especially men, white potatoes (including both fried and non-fried) increased it with the strongest effects seen in women. White bread also increased the cancer risk, with the strongest association seen in women.
Those who ate white bread five or more times a week were three times more likely to develop renal cell carcinoma than women who ate white bread less than once a week.
The researchers found no relationship between fruit and dairy food consumption and renal cell carcinoma. However, both men and women who ate red meat five or more times a week were more than four times as likely to develop the disease as compared to people who consumed red meat less than once a week.
Foods that affected the cancer risk did so due to their high glycaemic index. Glycaemic index indicates how quickly the blood glucose level rises after eating a particular food. Foods with a high glycaemic index are known to affect insulin resistance and also insulin-like growth factors.
The researchers concluded that meat consumption increased the risk of renal cell carcinoma and vegetables provided the protective effect. However, fruits and dairy products had no such relationship.

Journal of the American Dietetic Association
April 2009

Cancer Education & Prevention

Our target & motto is :

Conducts health education talks at community clubs, corporations, institutions and schools. Promotes Cancer Awareness Month and Smoke-Free Day. Organizes public symposia to raise cancer awareness. Disseminates general cancer information via Internet webpage and Can-Tel, the cancer telephone information services. Supplies cancer education printed materials to hospitals and specialists clinics. Conducts quit-smoking talks & counseling sessions to support smoker who want to quit the habit.

Cancer Screening

Provides free Pap Smear test (Cervical Cancer), clinical breast examination(Breast Cancer), faecal occult blood test (Colorectal Cancer) to members of the public.

Cervical cancer, a major killer in India

In low-resource settings, testing for human papillomavirus (HPV) might be the most effective method of cervical cancer screening. Compared with cytologic testing and visual inspection of the cervix with acetic acid (VIA), a single round of HPV testing significantly reduced the incidence of advanced cervical cancer and related mortality among women in rural India. About 1.3 lakh new cases of cervical cancer (a quarter of the 5 lakh cases globally) are reported every year in India. Cervical cancer is a malignant cancer of the cervix (the neck of the uterus). It may present with vaginal bleeding but symptoms may be absent until the cancer is in its advanced stages. Lack of awareness, multiple sexual partners and unhygienic living conditions are mainly attributed for the rise of cervical cancer, which causes the largest number of deaths among women worldwide. Researchers surveyed the incidence of cervical cancer and the associated rates of death in the Osmanabad district in India. In this cluster-randomized trial, 52 clusters of villages, with a total of 131,746 healthy women between the ages of 30 and 59 years, were randomly assigned to four groups of 13 clusters each. In all, 34,126 women underwent screening by HPV testing, 32,058 underwent cytologic testing or VIA (Visual Inspection of the cervix with Acetic acid - 34,074 women) against 31,488 women in the control group who received standard care. Women who had positive results on screening underwent colposcopy and biopsies, and those with cervical precancerous lesions or cancer received appropriate treatment. There were 34 deaths from cancer in the HPV-testing group, as compared with 64 in the control group. No significant reductions in the numbers of advanced cancers or deaths were observed in the cytologic-testing group or in the VIA group, as compared with the control group. This indicates that a single round of HPV testing was associated with a significant reduction in the numbers of advanced cervical cancers and deaths from cervical cancer. PTI April 2009 NDTV DOCTOR

THE GIVEN ARTICLE IS BASED ON TRUE FACTS!

Please do not turn on A/C immediately as soon as you enter the car. Open the windows after you enter your car and turn ON the air-conditioning after a couple of minutes. 

According to a research done, the car dashboard, sofa, air freshener emits Benzene, a Cancer causing toxin (carcinogen - take note of the heated plastic Smell in your car). In addition to causing cancer, it poisons your bones, causes anemia, and reduces white blood cells. Prolonged exposure will cause Leukemia, increasing the risk of cancer. May also cause miscarriage. Acceptable Benzene level indoors is 50 mg per sq. ft.. A car parked indoors with the windows closed will contain 400-800 mg of Benzene. If parked outdoors under the sun at a temperature above 60 degrees F, the Benzene level goes up to 2000-4000 mg, 40 times the acceptable level... & the people inside the car will inevitably inhale an excess amount of the toxins.

It is recommended that you open the windows and door to give time for the interior to air out before you enter.

Benzene is a toxin that affects your kidney and liver, and is very difficult for your body to expel this toxic stuff.

'When someone shares something of value with you and you benefit from it, you have a moral obligation to share it with others.' - Chinese Proverb.

Diet can cut ovarian cancer risk

Women who eat larger amounts of plant-based foods and drinks with the naturally occurring flavonoid - apigenin may have a low risk for ovarian cancer.
Flavanoids are compounds with antioxidant properties that protect cells against damage by oxygen molecules. Apigenin, found in celery, parsley, red wine, tomato sauce, and other plant-based foods may be particularly beneficial.
Researchers from United Kingdom assessed 1,141 women with ovarian cancer and 1,183 matched controls to evaluate the association between dietary flavanoid intake and ovarian cancer risk. Intake of 5 common dietary flavanoids - myricetin, kaempferol, quercetin, luteolin, and apigenin (frequently obtained by drinking tea or red wine, or eating apples, lettuce, blueberries, oranges, celery, or tomato sauce) and their total intake was calculated for over a period of one week in all the participants.
There was no association found between total flavonoid intake and ovarian cancer risk in analyses that allowed for factors potentially associated with ovarian cancer risk such as age, oral contraceptive use, childbirth, breastfeeding, history of tubal ligation, and physical activity. However, on comparing flavonoid intake among women with and without ovarian cancer, women who reported the highest apigenin intake had a borderline significant decrease in ovarian cancer risk over women reporting the lowest apigenin intake.
The women had similar characteristics except that women with ovarian cancer reported more known risk factors for the disease and had slightly greater body mass and daily calorie intake. In contrast, the disease-free controls had a slightly healthier overall diet.
The findings support an association between flavonoid intake and ovarian cancer risk, but more studies are needed for confirmation.

International Journal of Cancer
April 2009