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Treat breast cancer in less than a week New, safer radiation technology available in Tuscaloosa By L ydia Seabol Avant Staff Writer
TUSCALOOSA t is estimated that more than 182,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008, according to the National Cancer Institute. But a new technology at DCH Regional Medical Center could help treat the cancer in its early stages — in only five days. Tuscaloosa retiree Barbara Scarbrough never thought she’d get breast cancer. Then a regular mammogram detected a small lump in July. A biopsy confirmed her worst fear: the cells were cancerous. The good news was that the cancer was in its very early stages. “It was proof of the importance of early detection and mammograms,” Scarbrough said. “They said there was no way I could have found it by self-examination.” Normally patients like Scarbrough would undergo a lumpectomy to remove the tumor and then radiation treatment for about seven weeks. But Scarbrough was told that after her lumpectomy, she could have the radiation done in less than one week. She would be the first person locally to be treated with a new radiation technology. The Axxent electronic treatment uses a balloon inserted into the breast to transmit radiation for 10 minutes twice a day for five days. The electronic radiation is inserted through a tube into the balloon during the short treatment and then removed, meaning that instead of treating the whole breast, the radiation treats only the cavity. DCH is the first hospital in the state to have the technology, said Melanie Graham, a radiation oncologist at DCH Regional Medical Center. Graham successfully treated Scarbrough’s cancer. “We feel this is safer because there is less radiation for the staff and the patient,” Graham said. To be a candidate for the Axxent treatment patients must be 50 years or older with a breast SEE CANCER | 3D
I
Radiation therapy in just
five days Because of a new treatment being offered at DCH Regional Medical Center, what used to take seven weeks will now take less than one. Shown are the steps in treating the cancer using this new technology.
DID YOU KNOW?
1. Using tools
such as a mammogram or ultrasound, doctors pinpoint the cancerous tumor located in the breast of the patient.
Lobes Cancerous tumor Lobules
Breast cancer
Skin
2. A surgical lumpectomy is performed in which the tumor and surrounding tissues are removed through a surgical incision. Ducts
Incision
Incision
3. A few weeks after the
lumpectomy, a balloon applicator is inserted through a small incision and into the cavity left behind by the tumor.
Applicator taped down
4. Once inside, the balloon
is fully inflated using a sterile saline solution. Tissue surrounding the balloon will conform to the size and shape of the balloon.
6. When the patient is ready to begin radiation therapy, the applicator is docked to an Axxent controller, which delivers the radiation to the balloon and infected area.
5. After the fully inflated
7. A total of 10 treatments
balloon is in place, the incision is dressed and the shaft of the applicator is taped down to the skin and can be easily tucked into a bra.
lasting 15 minutes each will be given over a five-day period. STAFF ILLUSTRATION | ANTHONY BRATINA
ATLANTA | The government approved a new genetic test for the flu virus Tuesday that will allow labs across the country to identify flu strains within four hours instead of four days. The timesaving test could be crucial if a deadly new strain emerges, federal health officials said. The new test also could help doctors make better treatment decisions during a conventional flu season. The new test was developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Applied Biosystems Inc. of Foster City, Calif. The Food and Drug Administration approved the test kit
Tuesday, and state health labs are expected to start using it this fall. CDC officials celebrated it as a potential lifesaver, especially if the nation is hit by a pandemic of bird flu or some other mutant influenza. “We’ll now be able to detect influenza in the community faster, which allows us to take steps more quickly to protect and save lives,” CDC director Dr. Julie Gerberding said in a prepared statement. The CDC is requiring labs to buy Applied Biosystems equipment to run the test, and the CDC will provide the necessary chemicals. About 20 to 30 state labs should be up and running by the end of the year, CDC officials said. Until now, the tests used by different states varied. “Now we have all the states able to do this rapid method,”
TIP PELVIC INFLAMMATORY DISEASE Explanation: Also known as PID, this infection of the uterus, fallopian tubes and other reproductive organs can lead to infertility, ectopic pregnancy, abscess formation and chronic pelvic pain. Each year, it affects more than 1 million women. Cause: It occurs when bacteria move from the vagina or cervix into the reproductive organs. Germs found in gonorrhea and chlamydia are often the cause. Sexually active women in their childbearing years are most at risk, but teenagers and young women are more susceptible to sexually transmitted infections linked to PID because their cervix is not fully matured. Symptoms: PID is difficult to diagnose because some women experience no symptoms, although serious damage is being done. Others experience lower abdominal pain, fever, unusual vaginal discharge, painful intercourse, painful urination and irregular menstrual bleeding. Pain in the right upper abdomen is rare. Treatment: PID can be cured with antibiotics, but antibiotics will not reverse damage done to reproductive organs. In some cases, hospitalization may be necessary. Case report: In 2002, the Archives of Disease in Childhood described a case of pelvic inflammatory disease in a non-sexually active 13-year-old. The cause: pinworms. The drug albendazole cleared the infestation. — McClatchy-Tribune News Service
HOW TO DO A SELF-EXAM (TIME REQUIRED: 10 MINUTES) ■ Stand in front of a mirror. Look for any changes such as puckering, changes in size or shape, dimpling, or changes in your skin texture. ■ Look for changes to the shape or texture of your nipples. Gently squeeze each nipple and look for discharge. ■ Repeat these steps with your hands on your hips, over your head, and at your side. ■ Raise your right arm and examine every part of your left breast. Move in increasingly smaller circles, from the outside in, using the pads of your index and middle fingers. ■ Gently press and feel for lumps or thickenings. ■ Using body cream, if necessary, continue to circle and gently massage the area outside your breast and under your arm. ■ Repeat with your left arm and right breast. ■ Lie down. Put a pillow under your right shoulder, and your right hand behind your head. Again gently massage and feel your breast for lumps or other changes. ■ Repeat with towel under left shoulder with left hand behind head. Source: www.about.com.
TREATMENTS
STUDIES & RESEARCH
Faster test for flu approved
October is breast cancer awareness month, focusing on the importance of early detection. People are being asked to support the effort by wearing a pink ribbon, getting a mammogram or doing a self-breast exam. Early detection of breast cancer through monthly breast self-exam and particularly yearly mammography after age 40, offers the best chance for survival.
said Pete Shult, who oversees infectious disease testing at Wisconsin’s state laboratory. “It’s good to use the same method so the results will translate from state to state, and CDC can better understand what’s happening,” he added. Six state labs evaluated the new test and found it to be as good as the “gold standard” traditional viral culture method, said Shult, who was involved in that review. The test correctly detected the most common flu viruses about 99 percent of the time. It also picked up some viruses that the older test missed. Shult and others said the new method’s main selling point is its potential against a dangerous new pandemic. “The bottom line, for us, is that it will allow us to more rapidly detect introduction of a new strain,” said
Rosemary Humes, senior adviser for scientific affairs at the Association of Public Health Laboratories. But the test could be handy for conventional flu, too, said Dr. Doug Lowery-North, an Emory University emergency physician who does flu research. Doctors usually don’t have the luxury of waiting three or four days for lab tests before deciding how to treat a flustricken patient. But getting a faster, better reading on the type of flu might help in prescribing the best medication, Lowery-North said. Each year, the flu results in 200,000 hospitalizations and 36,000 deaths, according to official estimates. The elderly, young children and people with chronic illnesses are considered at greatest risk. — The Associated Press
LIFESTYLES
Chew gum and get well at the same time CHICAGO | Can you chew gum and recover from surgery at the same time? British researchers say it’s a great idea for some patients. Chewing gum may speed the return of normal bowel function after colon surgery, a new analysis of five studies suggests. Some patients have trouble moving their bowels after colon surgery but chewing gum may fool the body into good digestion. Gum gets the juices flowing, literally. Besides saliva, it may stimulate gut hormones and pancreatic secretions, according to the study’s authors, researchers at Imperial College London. The findings, in the August issue of Archives of Surger y, come from an analysis of five studies with a total of 158 patients. As the patients recovered from colon surger y, some chewed sugarless gum three times a day for five to 45 minutes. Others did not chew gum. The gum chewers had a
faster return of bowel function, measured in the time it took after surgery for them to pass gas for the first time (a half-day earlier than non-chewers) and to have a first bowel movement (a day earlier). Four studies examined how many days patients stayed in the hospital. The gum chewers were discharged, on average, one day earlier, but the difference wasn’t statistically significant. In the studies, there were no problems caused by the gum. So could a few pennies worth of gum save millions of dollars in hospital costs? With more than 320,000 colorectal surgeries performed in the United States annually at a cost of $2,100 per day in the hospital, that could be the case. Chewing sugarless gum could also help recovery after other abdominal surgeries, said study co-author Sanjay Purkayastha. Sorbitol, a common artificial sweetener in gum, is known to have a laxative effect, he said. — The Associated Press
How to treat constipation
How can you tell if you’re truly constipated? Everyone’s bowel marches to the beat of a different drummer. You might normally poop once a day, while someone else’s typical pattern is three times each day. If you have consistent, solid bowel movements that aren’t difficult to pass, you are not constipated. But pooping should not be constantly difficult. If you regularly struggle to pass feces, feel like you are weighed down by the need to defecate, or have fewer than three compact, difficult bowel movements in a week, you are probably constipated. Dehydration is one of the most common causes of constipation. If you’re constipated, drink more water and fewer liquids that ultimately dehydrate you — like alcohol, coffee and tea. As you drink more water, add fiber to your diet. Lack of fiber can definitely cause constipation, and many of us don’t eat enough of it. However, make sure you increase your water intake if you increase fiber consumption; eating more fiber while dehydrated can worsen your constipation. Regular exercise is part of the treatment as well. Along with increased water intake and fiber consumption, exercise can help you get rid of constipation and prevent it from returning. If you feel the need to poop, don’t wait for a more convenient time. Nobody really loves to poop at work or in a public bathroom, but the longer you delay the inevitable, the more moisture exits the feces inside your body, leaving it increasingly desiccated and harder to pass. If these adjustments don’t relieve your constipation, or if they bring only small improvement, schedule an appointment with your doctor. A doctor can determine whether prescription medication is to blame. Antidepressants, drugs for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease, and also some blood pressure medications can cause constipation. Even overuse of laxatives can lead to constipation. — McClatchy-Tribune News Service