Colorectal Cancer Part 5: Review of Medical Literature: Not All Patients Benefit From Chemotherapy

After surgery, microscopic cancer cells are still left behind in the body. As an "insurance policy" patients are told by their oncologists to undergo chemotherapy or radiotherapy (or both). The idea is to kill whatever cancer cells are left behind. But how effective is this? How valid is the assumption that chemotherapy can just do that?

I invite you to read the following research papers and give them some serious thought. Form your own opinion as to what you would want to do in the event that you suffer from early stage (Stage 2) colorectal cancer.

Scholefield J.H. in an article: "Challenges in colorectal cancer." (Book review. New England J of Medicine. September 2000. Vol: 343:893.) wrote:

"Colorectal cancer presents some of the most challenging problems for basic scientists, clinical investigators and practitioners. Surgery remains the centre of attention."

Question: All these years, why is the treatment of colorectal "most challenging?" Has the treatment protocol for colorectal cancer not been worked out yet?

Moertel, C. G. (in Chemotherapy for colorectal cancer. New England J. of Medicine. April 1994. Vol: 330: 1136-1142) wrote:

"Radiation therapy plays only a palliative role. In the past, chemotherapy resulted in only infrequent and usually transient shrinkage of the tumour. Its use is scarcely justified in view of the discomforts and costs of the treatment. However, now there have been some advances."

Question: The author is a renowned oncologist from the famous Mayo Clinic. It is most amazing to note that "in the past chemotherapy resulted only in temporary tumour shrinkage." Even shrinkage is infrequently achieved. But then, we were made to believe that chemotherapy was necessary. Was it a mistake then? Was undergoing chemotherapy in the past unjustifiable? What about the present? Is it going to be another mistake down the road? The author is implying that perhaps now, it is okay -- we are seeing some advances? Chemotherapy, even today is not a pleasant experience while some patients said they suffered badly. Besides, it still cost a lot of money. Has the present situation change?

Buyse M & Piedbois P. (in: Should Duke's B patients receive adjuvant therapy? A statistical perspective. Semin. Oncol. 2001.(Suppl. 1): 20-24) wrote:

"The benefit of adjuvant therapy, e.g., 5-FU + leucovorin, is a matter of debate for patients with Duke's B colon cancer. Five separate trials failed to show a significant benefit of adjuvant 5-FU + leucovorin compared with surgery alone."

Benson, A. B., et al. (in: American Society of Clinical Oncology recommendations on adjuvant chemotherapy for stage II colon cancer. J. of Clinical Oncology, August 2004. Vol: 22: 3408-3419) wrote:

"Direct evidence from randomized controlled trials does not support the routine use of adjuvant chemotherapy for patients with stage II colon cancer. Therefore the routine use of adjuvant chemotherapy for medically fit patients with stage II colon cancer is not recommended."

Figueredo A. et al. (in: Adjuvant therapy for stage II colon cancer: A systematic review from the Cancer Care Ontario Program in Evidence-based Gastrointestinal Cancer Disease Site Group. J. of Clinical Oncology, August 2004. Vol: 16: 3395-3407) wrote:

"The benefits of adjuvant chemotherapy are small and not necessarily associated with improved overall survival. Patients should be made aware of these results."

With the above research results would cancer patients take a pause and think seriously enough before they "follow" what their oncologists may want them to do?

For more information about holistic therapy visit: http://www.cacare.com, http://www.NaturalHealingForYou.com, http://www.cancer-answers.blogspot.com

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Ginseng As A Treatment For Prostate Cancer - How To Research The Medical Literature

Many people today are interested in the use of herbs such as ginseng in the treatment of prostate cancer. People are certainly interested in whether or not the benefit of ginseng has been studied scientifically.

Before we describe the scientific and medical literature on the use of Ginseng for the treatment of prostate cancer, here is a brief description of the different types of ginseng.

Ginseng is a herbal remedy that has been used in Asia as a medicinal remedy for a long time. It's commonly used as a herbal preparation in traditional Chinese medicine.

There are many types of ginseng freely available on the market today. However, there are really only 2 types of real ginseng:

1. Asian Ginseng (Panax Ginseng): and

2. North American Ginseng (Panax Quinquefolius).

Both types of ginseng differ in their chemical composition. This different chemical composition appears to give each type of ginseng different biological properties.

How To Research The Medical Literature And Find Abstracts And Free Full Text Articles On Ginseng As A Treatment For Prostate Cancer

To research the scientific literature and find medical articles written about the use of ginseng for the treatment of prostate cancer, you first need to go the online medical database of the National Library Of Medicine.

This site is called Pub Med and can be found at www.pubmed.com

The home page has a search box. In the search box type in -- Ginseng AND prostate cancer. Then click search. Notice that the search won't work if you type in ginseng as a treatment for prostate cancer.

As of August, 2006 a total of 6 medical articles have been written which turned up in our search. You can read the abstracts for free online. In addition, one of the articles is available as a free full text article on the subject of ginseng as a treatment for prostate cancer.

To tell if a free full text article is available, look to see if there are green lines in the file box to the left of the article title.

If there are only black lines then that means that only the abstract is available. This still can provide some valuable information on our subject of ginseng in the treatment of prostate cancer. You can read the abstract and, if you decide that you want to read the full text of the article for free, make a note of the journal title and the volume.

You can then go the closest medical library, find the actual medical journal, and read the full text of the article for free.

Dr. Glenn Sheiner is a medical doctor and the author of the ebook and video tutorials Cancer Research Online Made Easy. This downloadable package is available immediately and will help you find information you won't find on most cancer web sites. You'll quickly learn many sophisticated research techniques including how to find the latest medical articles on any type of cancer from around the world. And, how to find all the available clinical trials, including those from the world's most reknowned medical centers. Also, more information on prostate cancer can be found at Prostate Cancer Information.

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