Your Cancer Questions

People often worry about skin cancer and wonder what they should be on the look out for in the way of warning signs. People want to know what the most common signs are, and what they should and should not be concerned about when they look at themselves in the mirror. Sadly, there is no one telltale sign of skin cancer — rather there is a package of skin changes you should keep an eye out for, checking constantly that your skin is free and clear of them. This is especially important for those who spend a great deal of time outdoors and those who had a lot of sunburns when they were younger.

While there is no one sign of skin cancer that is experienced by everyone who has it, there are a few warning signs that you should be aware of, signs that may or may not point to skin cancer. The first of these deals with moles – if you notice any new moles, or old moles that have changed in size or color (especially becoming larger or darker), you should see a doctor. These types of changes are often signs of malignant melanoma. The most dangerous form in its early stages, malignant melanoma often takes the form of a common mole before developing into a more serious condition.

The second warning sign you should keep an eye out for is the development of new open wounds. This is especially important if these wounds appear in places on which you have previously experienced sunburn, or places which have gotten a great amount of sun exposure over the years. These types of sores may be serious — sometimes bleeding or emitting puss — and often have irregular edges, a sign that cancerous sells may be involved and growing beyond the sore’s boundaries.

Armed with the knowledge of these most common skin cancer warning signs, it is important to keep an eye out for them. Examine your skin relatively often, with these specific things in mind. If you spend a lot of time in the sun, you should make sure that you check your skin regularly for these warning signs, in order quickly spot the development of any potentially cancerous patches. If you spot something that you think may be a potential skin cancer warning sign, make an appointment with a dermatologist and have it looked at as soon as possible.

By: Adam Hefner

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Beastmode asked:


I just want to know, and I’m about to turn 13 and I’m going through puberty. Any fellow teens or adults who remember this stage help! And if testicular cancer can occur, what are the symptoms and is it contagious and deadly? Thanks a lot!

“It’s too early, it’s too late, I’m tired, my feet hurt, my whole body hurts, I’m hungry,” these are many of the excuses that keep us from exercising. It is really important that you don’t make excuses but make changes to your life. I’m saying this not because I enjoy working out all the time, which I don’t, but because your risk of ****** cancer can be diminished by exercise.

The latest American Cancer Society’s guidelines for physical activity recommend 30 minutes daily of brisk exercise at least 5 days a week. Is there any data to back this up? There sure is. In fact exercise can help prevent both pre and post menopausal ****** cancer and if you have had ****** cancer, a regular exercise program will improve your survival. Here’s the data.

The first study was recently published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (2008;100:608). This is a report from the Nurses Health Study II which included 64,777 premenopausal nurses. They were given questionnaires regarding physical activity starting in 1997. After 6 years of follow up, 550 women developed ****** cancer. Women whose total activity equaled 3.25 hours per week of running or 13 hours per week of walking had a 23% lower chance of getting ****** cancer. This was especially true when the activity occurred in younger women aged 12-22.

A similar article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in 2003 (2003;290:1331) demonstrated a 20% drop in the risk of ****** cancer in postmenopausal women who engaged in 10 hours per week of moderate intensity exercise like tennis, jogging or aerobics. This information is taken from the Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study involving more than 74,000 women aged 50-79. Don’t worry if you can’t jog, there were also benefits for those who walk, bike, or swim 5 days a week.

Finally, a study of 1491 women who had received treatment for early stage ****** cancer revealed a 44% improvement in survival if they engaged in 30 minutes of walking a day for 6 days every week (J Clin Oncol 2007;25:2345). This survival improvement was enhanced if the women also ate a diet high in fruits and vegetables. The interesting finding is that the benefit was regardless of weight. Your weight is less important than your lifestyle choices of exercise and diet preventing ****** cancer recurrence.

So, no more excuses. Get out there and move a little, walk, run, play tennis, or swim. Whatever you do, you can be sure that you will decrease your risk of ****** cancer.

By: Robert Avery M.D. FACP

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Cancer is a well known disease to almost all of us. Every year many victims are falling prey to this deadly disease. Up to now no such medicine has been discovered that can cure cancer disease. Cancer develops in the form of a tumor and slowly and steadily these cancer cells increase in number. The reason because of which cancer is a deadly disease is that it shows no external symptoms in the victim’s body. It is said that if cancer is diagnosed in the early stages, it can be cured. There are many forms of cancer which affect the lives of thousands of people. One of the forms is lung cancer. Lung cancer is still affecting the lives of thousands of people. There are many different causes of lung cancer. The top most factor of causing lung cancer is smoking. The harmful substances of smoke destroy the lung cells. It is not necessary that a person who does not smoke can’t get lung cancer. If a particular person is regularly exposed to the tobacco smoke, the risk of lung cancer is higher.

There are many other factors too which are responsible for cancer. These include some natural factors too which are not in our control. These things include radon, asbestos, nickel, chromium, tar etc. These things are highly responsible for causing lung cancer and they mostly affect those people who work in the factories of these substances. The other major cause of lung cancer is air pollution. The risk of becoming a victim of lung cancer is higher in those cities which have high percentage of air pollution.

If cancer is diagnosed in an early stage it can be cured using some medication and precautions. There are many medicines available which help in resisting the cancer cells from growing inside the body if diagnosed in an early stage. According to some experts, a good diet is very helpful in protecting the body from the deadly cancer disease. A diet rich in fruits, green vegetables, low fat stuff, grains and preservatives is very helpful in minimizing the risk of lung cancer. Avoiding the use of alcohol is also very helpful in reducing the risk of deadly lung cancer. The other factor which minimizes the risk of cancer is fitness of the body. According to experts, physically fit human beings are less prone to lung cancer. If a person is maintaining a high fitness level, he can avoid lung cancer even after performing cigarette smoking.

There are many vitamins, drugs and other chemical agents available which are helpful in reducing the risk or delaying the growth of cancer and are called as chemoprevention. Many scientists are trying their best to make a medicine using these drugs and vitamins which can be helpful in curing lung cancer. But up to now no such medication has been discovered which can be proved helpful in curing lung cancer completely.

By: Candis Reade

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???? ????? MissMapleLeaf asked:


How do you do a self examination on yourself for ****** cancer? What age should you start to do examinations? How many times should I do a self examination? What should I be feeling for? What is normal to be feeling ? Should I be doing this before, after, or while on my period? (my ****** get really tender just before my period, so I don’t know if i could touch them at that time)

Please be descriptive as possible, thanks.

drmdk asked:

Sasha Wainstein MD FACS Urology

Jake asked:


In other words what does a person do everyday if they have colon cancer

lexi asked:


My grandma has it, and not only am I worried about her, but I am wondering if I have a higher risk of getting it, or if my mom has a higher risk. I understand that cancer is a mutation, but I also know that some cancers can be hereditary especially if they are autosomal dominant. Is follicular thyroid cancer hereditary or not?

ovariancancerorg asked:

Kathy Bates talks about her experience with ovarian cancer. www.ovariancancer.org

rajiv gurung asked:


my mom is suffering from stage4 ovarian cancer and she has not gone any treatments yet.. we are going to start chemotherapy. We love her very much and do not want to loose her. Please help and suggest any remedies so that we can save her. We want to save her at any cost.