Cancer patients view their problems differently. It is up to each one to chose the positive and discard the negative. By doing this your perception on life and your illness will change. You will not feel that you are just an unfortunate victim. It will then dawn on you that in any circumstances that you may be in, there is always a positive or brighter side to things. Therefore, we need not always view things from a negative view point. A relaxed and peaceful mind is very important for you to regain composure. At the same time it also provides the very best environment for your body to heal itself. Fear, confusion and negative emotions within will impede the body’s healing process.

Many cancer patients who do not fear their cancers anymore ultimately enjoy a peaceful state of mind. They learn how to live with their illnesses and feel at ease. When you are calm and have attained this stage of consciousness in your mind, many good things can happen and flow from you.

1) More blessed to give.

You will learn that it is more blessed to give than to receive. You open your heart to others and share. By sharing you not only give and help others but you also heal yourself from within. Jee Sun had renal cancer and has been on the herbs for the last nine years. He is still doing fine today. He told me: “The old Jee Sun is dead. I am the new Jee Sun. I have found peace and at the same time am healing myself by helping others.” Many people unfortunately do not see this point. They prefer to hide in their own shell, refusing to talk and share. Selfishness or fear does not help you heal. It is most regrettable too that some people believe that if you are well after an illness, you must keep your mouth shut. Going around telling others about your recovery is to “invite the devil” to come back and have his “revenge” again. Many patients used to tell me: “I don’t want people to know that I have cancer. It is bad luck or it is a curse, and I am ashamed.” Let me tell you this: “There is nothing to be ashamed about. To get sick is also not bad luck or a curse by the devil or God.” Sickness is a natural process. Look at the branches of any big tree. Some branches are diseased and they rot away. Some are broken and snap off due to strong winds while others grow straight and healthy. That is what Nature is. In the same way we need to look at our life as a natural process like that of a tree. In the old days, some religions taught us that illness was a punishment from an angry God. I say to you, it is not.

My own experiences tell me that by giving my heart more to others, I also benefit more in return. While on this point, I am reminded of one young lady, a bank officer. She came to our house late one night because of her mother’s cancer. She told me: “Oh, you are helping people. Your God will give you all the points when you die”. I told her: “Young lady, I do all these without even thinking of wanting to collect points. Fortunately, I do not believe in a God who gives out points for good work. My God is Love.” My message is if you give with an intention or hope of getting back something in return, you will be disappointed. Worldly possessions do not necessarily bring real happiness. When I help others and they become well, there is great indescribable sense of satisfaction and joy in the heart that no money can buy. Generating such feelings in yourself is good for health and healing! It is medicine unto itself and is more powerful than herbs or drugs.

2) Count your blessings.

The events in life can be perceived differently by different minds. A mind full of hatred and anger sees things as always being destructive. The good is never seen or appreciated. A mind ingrained with love sees things positively and always sees blessings in any crisis or circumstance. My advice is: Learn to count your blessings. Give thanks with a grateful heart for each new day. Be grateful for what you are and what you have. Live one day at a time. And most important of all, try to seek the inner meaning of your illness. Your mind, soul or body is giving you a message for being sick. Seek that inner voice and understand its message.

But the health benefits of flax seed do not conclude at this note. In fact, the flaxs potential as treatment for certain cancers has ignited tremendous hype in the field of medicine, stirring the interest of medical practitioners, scientists, and nutrition experts alike. Over time, these findings found its way into quite a number of scientific laboratories that seek to probe further into the merits of using flax seed with cancer patients through a series of controlled experiments that employ as variables a good number of content-restricted diets that have been supplied with pre-determined amounts of ground flax.

So far the results of these experiments have been conclusive enough to assert the potential of flax seed oil and its nutritional content to inhibit cancer growth. More often than not, proponents are surprised over the obtained findings that remarkably reveal a considerable reduction in tumor size and the controlled proliferation of cancer cells among breast cancer and prostate cancer patients whose controlled diets have been regularly supplemented with particular quantities of ground flax seed and flax lignan capsules. Incidentally, patients who were not nourished with flax in any way did not demonstrate any improvements over the spread of tumor or cancer cells in their bodies.

The cancer-fighting properties of the minute flax seed can be attributed to the high-lignan content of its oil. In fact, flax seed is the chief source of lignan among plants, to contain around 75% more of this compound than sesame seeds, soybeans, and broccoli. Plant lignans is an important phytochemical and anti-oxidant that helps minimize the risks and control the spread of colon, pancreatic, and bone cancers, among others.

It will probably take some time and perhaps even more research before these findings will merit full recognition of flax as a cancer-fighting agent. But then again, consider its nutritional profile and track record of providing healthful benefits. Surely you can assert that cancer-prevention is indeed viable with a daily dose of ground flax seed.

Chan recovered well from her surgery. On 26 May 2005, she was started on her chemotherapy with FEC (5-FU, epirubicin and cyclophosphamide). She had a total of six cycles of chemotherapy. In addition, Chan received 25 radiation treatments. In January 2006, Chan was started on Arimidex (anastrozole,1 mg daily) and was asked to come back to the hospital for check up every three months.

A mammogram of her left breast on 23 April 2006 showed no evidence of malignancy. An ultrasound of her abdomen done on the same day showed no evidence of liver metastasis. A bone scan was also done and indicated no sign of bony metastasis. Chan was asked to continue with Arimidex. The medical record on 7 November 2006 indicated: “no lump felt in her breast and patient had no complaints.”

According to her daughter, in December 2006, Chan started to have pains in her body. When she woke up she had difficulty walking. If she walked for a short distance her heart-beat increased. Sometimes she wheezed. Chan continued to take the Arimidex as directed (and she is still taking it as of this writing).

On 23 April 2007, Chan went to consult a specialist of a private hospital. She presented with shortness of breath and palpitation. She was found to be anemic. Her blood works showed: haemogloboin = 6.5 (normal 11.7 to 15.7), platelet = 28,000 (normal 150,000 to 400,000), ESR = 116. Chan was given platelets. CT scan of her abdomen and pelvis on 26 April 2007 showed her liver was enlarged. There were numerous hypodense nodules in both lobes of her liver. The radiologist concluded that these liver nodules represented liver metastases most likely derived from the breast cancer.

During a lovely holiday in Bermuda, I started to feel as though I had got the flu coming on and I had to go to see my doctor when I arrived home in England because by this time I couldn’t breath very well. I had actually got legionnaires disease – which to put it simply meant that I had pneumonia, the TB I had as a child showed up on my X rays, and I was very ill for 6 weeks. I was taking 8 different antibiotics daily to fight this off.

Interestingly, my husband was fine – no symptoms at all – I realise now that my white blood cells were already being attached by the cancer and this in turn brought my immune system down.

It was over a year after getting legionnaires that I knew something was wrong because I found I needed to go to bed in the afternoon due to fatigue – I had only to knock myself lightly and I would have a big black bruise.

After visiting my doctor again, who referred me to the local hospital, where tests were done which included blood tests and a sample of my bone marrow was extracted from my hip bone – not a ery pleasant experience I have to say,the diagnosis came in that I had hairy cell leukemia, it’s called that because the tumors look like they are covered in tiny hairs under the microscope.

The chemotherapy was simple – basically the chemicals needed to kill off the cancer cells are fed into you intravenously – I firstly had a liquid injected prior to the chemo, this was to stop me from being sick – thank goodness it worked. I was also lucky that my hair did not come out in clumps – I had severe dandruff but that was all.

I had to have 5 two hour chemo sessions Monday to Friday and I felt very weak by the last session, I was given some needles to inject myself with, these contained a solution described by the doctor as Fertiliser for White Cells. I did the injections and found I was getting rather a lot of discomfort in the hip and thigh bones – this was caused by the injections as the solution was stimulating my bone marrow and aiding the clean new white cells to grow (sorry I cannot explain it in more medical terminology) and that was what caused the discomfort. It was a small price to pay to get my blood clean again.

I have been very lucky, my sort of leukemia is treatable and as long as infections are avoided after and during the chemo, a full recovery after 6 months is perfectly achievable.

I have been in remission now for three years, visit my consultant every six months and he says my blood is very healthy, so I thank god for that and of course the medical profession who are just fantastic.

Cow (bovine) colostrum is biologically transferable to humans and all mammals, it is much higher in immune factors than human mother’s colostrum. All species including humans benefit from bovine colostrum with no reports of allergic or anaphylactic reactions to date, according to several studies.

Over the past two decades more than 2003 research papers have been published that are supportive of both colostrum and its numerous components. Dr. Daniel G. Clark’s basic message that is printed on the back cover of his book Colostrum, Life’s First Food he states:

“bovine colostrum rebuilds the immune system, destroys viruses, bacteria, and fungi, accelerates healing of all body tissue, helps lose weight, burn fat, increase bone and lean muscle mass and slows down and even reverses aging.”

Bovine colostrum has been used therapeutically by the Ayurvedic physicians for thousands of years in India. The essential components of colostrum can be broken down to two categories: growth factors and immune system factors.

Growth Factors:

• Growth hormone (GH)
• Platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)
• Insulin-like growth factor-I and II (IGF-1 and IGF-II)
• Transforming growth factors A & B (TgA and B)
• Epithelial growth factor (EgF)
• Fibroblast growth factor (FgF)

Immune system factors:

The most abundant of the immune factors called immunoglobulins, that are found in colostrum, neutralizes microbes and toxins in the lymph and circulatory system and destroys bacteria.
Lactoferrin – anti-bacterial, an antiviral, anti-inflammatory, iron-binding protein with therapeutic effects in HIV, cancer, Cytomegalovirus, Chronic fatigue syndrome, herpes, Candida albicans, and other infections. Lactoferrin helps deprive bacteria of the iron they require to reproduce and releases iron into the red blood cells therefore enhancing oxygenation of tissues.
Proline-Rich Polypeptide (PRP) – a hormone that regulates the thymus gland, down regulating an overactive immune system, stimulating an under active immune system or as seen in autoimmune disease (MS, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, chronic fatigue syndrome, scleroderma, allergies, etc.)

The disease spreads to other parts of the body by releasing cells into the lymph or bloodstream which can result in secondary tumors growing in parts of the body that may be far away from the first or primary tumor. When it spreads and causes another tumor, that tumor is called a secondary cancer and is often noticed before the primary tumor. It is preferable if symptoms of the malignancy are detected before the migration process. The migration process is commonly called metastasis. At this stage, the disease is harder to treat, hence the importance of early recognition of its symptoms.

Common Types of malignancy

There are more than 150 different kinds of malignant growths. The most common types are those of the lung, breast, colon, skin, uterine, mouth and bone marrow. Other prevalent kinds of the tumor include those of the prostate, ovarian, testicular, throat, pancreatic, and liver.

What are the causes or risk factors. How do you get it?

Some of the most popular risk factors of the malignancy include:

Environmental and Occupational: – how you live, where you work; are there chemicals in the environment?
Viruses.
Over exposure to sunlight or x-rays. The vast majority of skin malignancies including melanoma are caused by the sun’s UV rays.
Cigarette smoking. Smoking is the single biggest cause of deaths as a result of this disease and the most preventable in our society. In 1982, the US Surgeon General’s Report states, “Cigarette smoking is the major single cause of cancer mortality in the United States.” That statement is still true today.
Your diet can affect your risk for developing the disease. Some malignancies bear a direct relationship with what you eat and drink.

Traditional treatments include surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy (which carries their own risks and down sides). Prevention and Early Detection are the most effective measures in the fight against the disease. It is strongly recommended that proper screening and physical examination for cancerous growth be done regularly because early recognition is crucial for successful treatment and recovery.

You don’t need a scientist to tell you that garbage in equals garbage out. But let’s hear what the experts have to say anyway.

Many studies on colorectal cancer prevention and diet have found that red and processed meats are a major contributor. However, a group of doctors in France were unconvinced by “existing evidence” and decided to do a comprehensive study for themselves.

So they followed a mere 478,040 men and women for nearly five years and finally concluded that red and processed meat was positively a cause of colon cancer AND that eating fish actually considerably reduced a person’s risk. [Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Vol. 15;97:906-16]

This isn’t the only research that implicated omega 3 oil from fish as a factor in reducing colorectal cancer.

Doctors associated with the New York University Women’s Health Study closely watched 14,727 women for an average of 7 years. They found “a progressive decline in risk of colorectal cancer with increasing intake of fish and shellfish.”

And there’s more. They also found a similar decline in the risk for women inversely proportionate to the amount of calcium they consumed. In laymen’s terms, that means the women who ate the most calcium had the lowest risk.

But interestingly, they weren’t as certain about the red meat connection as our friends in France were. As a matter of fact, the doctors at NYU said the association of red meat to colorectal cancer “remains unclear.” [Nutrition & Cancer, Vol. 28:276-81]

Another fascinating study out of Harvard suggests that it’s not so much the red meat and fats, but rather our “western” lifestyle that causes the problem.

They cite obesity, physical inactivity, a diet low in vegetables and fruit, while high in red meat and processed foods, all contributes to one common denominator of this lifestyle – high levels of insulin in the blood!

The researchers hypothesize that elevated blood insulin “promotes colon carcinogenesis” because insulin is a “growth factor” that causes cellular division of epithelial cells in the colon. [Cancer Causes & Control, Vol. 6, No. 2:164-79]

So what are we to do about colorectal cancer prevention and diet? It’s easy as pie as long as you don’t eat the pie.

Stick with whole foods, including lots of vegetables, fresh fruit, whole grains and other fiber rich foods, unprocessed oils, like extra virgin olive oil, lean meats (mostly fish and chicken, but an occasional T-bone won’t hurt), low fat dairy and plenty of pure water.

Studies suggest it’s important to cut way back on alcohol, practice stress management and exercise regularly (very important!)

Following these guidelines will not only reduce your risk of colorectal cancer, but many other cancers as well, plus heart disease and diabetes too. And it will also improve your vim, vigor and vitality!

Chondrosarcomas are malignant tumors of cartilage, usually developing in flat bones like the pelvis and shoulder blade. X-rays often reveal punctuate calcifications. These tend to occur in older adults. Ewing’s sarcoma of bone is a round-cell bone tumor usually occurring in the extremities and growing extensively. It is most often seen among people aged 10 to 25 years. Lymphoma of bone consists of small round cells and usually affects adults in their 40s and 50s. Pathological fractures are common in this condition. Giant cell tumors are rare and are usually located at the extreme end of the long bone. Chordoma, another rare bone tumor, usually tends to occur at the ends of the spinal column or near the base of the skull.

Treatment for all the above bone tumors usually consists of a combination of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Because of their individual characteristics, different bone tumors respond differently to these treatments, with different prognosis for each of the above mentioned conditions. Ayurvedic treatment can be given as additional treatment in order to improve therapeutic results, minimize side effects of modern treatment and improve the overall survival rate.

Ayurvedic medicines like Pancha-Tikta-Ghrut-Guggulu, Trayo-Dashang-Guggulu, Punarnavadi-Guggulu, Arogya-Vardhini, Kanchnaar-Guggulu, Pancha-Tikta-Ghrut and Laxadi-Guggulu are used to treat bone tumors. In addition, medicines like Shankh-Bhasma, Praval-Panchamrut-Bhasma, Godanti-Bhasma, Shrung-Bhasma and Asthishrunkhala (Vitis quadrangularis) are used to strengthen bone tissue. Medicines which act on the ‘Majja’ dhatu (tissue) are useful in all bone tumors. These include Guduchi (Tinospora cordifolia), Amalaki (Emblica officinalis) and Musta (Cyperus rotundus).

A special course of medicated enema called ‘Ksheer-Basti’ is given and is very useful in all bone tumors. Medicines like Nimba (Azadirachta indica), Patol (Trichosanthe dioica), Kantakari (Solanum xanthocarpum), Guduchi and Vasa (Adhatoda vasaka) are boiled with milk and water; Pancha-Tikta-Ghrut is added to this medicated milk, and the entire warm mixture is pushed into the rectum as an enema or given as a slow drip. This procedure is believed to act directly on the bone and bone marrow.

Ayurvedic treatment has to be given for prolonged periods in order to be effective in malignant bone tumors. Treatment may also need to be repeated in case of recurrence or spread of the disease to other sites of the body. All such patients need to be under the regular supervision and care of an Oncology team.

In its early stages, breast cancer doesn’t show any sign and when it does the first sign is usually a painless lump that is found in the breast. When breast cancer becomes more advanced and spreads to other parts of the body then the symptoms could be more obvious depending on the part of the body affected. The symptoms could range from neurological problems, bone pain, weight loss, fatigue and anaemia.

Along with traditional medicine, changing the diet and one’s lifestyle can help with breast cancer. Keeping to a vegetarian style diet by reducing animal fats in the diet; eating very little meat and cutting down on dairy products, will help. Only eating organic vegetables and meat (this will reduce the exposure of pesticides and hormones), consuming lots of tomatoes as these are high in lycopene which can inhibit the proliferation of cancer cells, consuming plenty of olive oil, increasing fiber in the diet, reducing the exposure of soft, fatty or acid foods to soft plastics; not using cling film, buying food that comes in paper, glass or ceramic containers or if food is supplied in a plastic container then removing and storing in a glass or ceramic container in the fridge. Cutting out stimulants such as caffeine, sugar and alcohol, changing one’s lifestyle to minimize stress, maybe taking up Yoga and meditation, increasing exercise, cutting out smoking and increasing the consumption of the essential oils Omega 3 and Omega 6 which are found in oily fish, seeds, evening primrose oil, borage oil and flax oil.

Some food materials are known to be anti cancer in action. Increasing the amount of such food in your daily diet regime could go along way to preventing cancer. Such foods include sweet potatoes, carrots, watercress, peas, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, Brussels sprouts, spinach, onions, leeks, garlic, soy products, lemons, mangoes, melon, peppers, pumpkin, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, elderberries, pears, shiitake mushrooms, tomatoes, cabbage, grapefruit, kiwi fruit, oranges, seeds, nuts, squash, tuna, mackerel, salmon, wheat or rice bran, oats, wild rice, rye, apricot, walnuts, beans and the herbs and spices – rosemary, thyme, oregano and turmeric. These vegetable and fruits should be eaten raw and as fresh as possible or lightly steamed so that no goodness is lost. Soybeans and products are extremely good in reducing tumor growth and inducing cancer cells to revert to normal. Soybeans have genistein in them, which is an angiostat (anti-growth compound that prevents cancer from growing by preventing the formation of new blood vessels that aid cancer cells to grow).

There are so many factors linked to breast cancer that are beyond our control. Factors like exposure to radiation and chemicals, caused by environmental pollution, a family history of breast cancer and a couple of other factors are outside our reach. It makes real sense therefore, to play the little part we can in the prevention of this dreaded disease.

Epithelioid mesothelioma cells are the most common and relatively easiest to treat of all types of mesothelioma. This type of cell appears to be a papillary or tubular growth that usually affects the outer membranes and linings of the internal organs and other bodily surfaces. Somewhere between 50 and 70% of all mesothelioma cases belong to this category, and although this cancer is usually extremely difficult to treat, epithelioid mesothelioma is the most likely to respond to treatment.

The second type of mesothelioma is sarcomatoid mesothelioma. This type is the most serious form of the disease, as it is the least likely to respond to treatment. These spindle-shaped pattern of cells that appear to overlap each other are also fortunately the rarest type of the cancer, with approximately 10-20% of all mesothelioma cases falling into this type. Sarcomatoid mesothelioma is so dangerous because it attacks and arises from the support tissues of the body, such as bone, cartilage, fat, and muscle, and cancers in these areas are notoriously difficult and painful to treat. Patients with this form of cancer rarely live longer than six months after diagnosis.

The final condition, biphasic mesothelioma, is not an independent type of mesothelioma, but a combination of sarcomatoid and epithelioid. It is also a mixed bag of conditions in that it can take the good and bad aspects of the other two types, and almost 20-35% of all mesothelioma cases fall into either mixed or biphasic areas.

Without a doubt, mesothelioma is one of the most devastating types of cancer. Most people rarely live beyond a year after their initial diagnosis, and few victims reach five years. Mesothelioma is almost always caused by asbestos exposure, and millions of people have had contact with this deadly substance.