HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1979-03-29, Page 21Dr. Bruce Thompson, medical advisor to the
Goderich branch of the Cancer Society, discusses
the importance of continuing research with unit
vice -treasurer, Eugene Bender and second vice -
A
president, Harold Chase. This year the Goderich
branch has set a goal of $1 k,000 while the goal of the
HuronUnit is $45,000. (photo by Dave Sykes)
Colorectal cancer
• from page 8
chemotherapeutic drugs.
Chemotherapy has
proved useful for patients
with colorectal cancer
when their disease cannot
be treated surgically. A
chemical known as 5-
fluorour acil, or 5 -FU can
reduce the'size of a tumor
and can relieve pain,
occasionally for long
periods of time.
Most chemotherapy is
given in the doctor's
office or the outpatient
department of hospitals.
For some patients,
however, short periods of
hospitalization may be
'necessary to monitor
treatment,. .
Du>ing the treatment
there are certain com-
coNN
SOCETY '
CAN CANCER
BE BEATEN?
YOU
BET YOUR
LIFE
IT CAN.
mon side effects. They
include nausea and
vomitting; diarrhea, hair
loss, anaemia, reduced
blood -clotting ability,
susceptibility to in-
fections and mouth sores.
Individuals tolerate
drugs differently and
when treatment is
stopped, side effects
disappear; hair grows
back, for example or
anaemia is corrected. An
unexpected ,side effect
should be reported to the
physician.
PROGNOSIS
Almost two out of three
patients can be saved if
the disease is found early
and treated promptly.
When the colorectal
cancer is treated early, it
-if regarded as highly
curable. Even when the
cancer is advanced,
prospects may still be
good if proper surgery is
done.
Because of aftivances in
surgical techniques and
nursing care, surgery is
now possible for persons
who were once con-
sidered too old, or whose
disease was thought to be
too advanced for this
treatment.
Approximately 70
percent of patients un-
dergoing surgery for
early colorectal cancer
live at least five years
after diagno5i,s and
treatment and many of
them much longer and
may be considered cured.
Thousands of people
from all walks of life -
• •
businessmen, doctors,
lawyers, housewives,
teachers, laborers, ac-
tors, nurses - have had
colostomies and have
returned to normal,
useful, socially ac-
ceptable lives.
Recognizing that stoma
patients often find the
change in body habits
overwhelming at first,
both physically and
psychologically, many
American Cancer Society
Divisions sponsor
students and fund schools
for training enterostomal
therapists - a new kind of
allied health
professional.
Enterostomal
therapists, or ETs, have a
nursing or similar
background and are
given an intensive six-
week course of in-
struction, becoming
experts on every phase of
stomal care. They
sometimes confer with
surgeons prior to the
operation on the best
location for the opening,
and afterwards teach the
patient methods of daily
care.
Also through its local
Units and Divisions, the
ACS supports a volunteer
visitation program under
which an individual who
has had a colostomy.
works with a new
colostomy patient.
With the approval of
the attending physician,
these carefully selected
and trained volunteers
provide invaluable help -
someone for the patient to
see and talk to who has
successfully coped with
the same surgery.
These former patients
demonstrate that having
a colostomy does not
preclude a career,
marriage, sexual
relations, travelling or
engaging in sports or
other forms of recreation.
The real hope for the
future is in earlier
detection. Cancer
specialists all over the
world are improving
diagnostic techniques,
learning more about the
nature of "early" or
"minimal" cancer and
developing more ef-
fective combinations of
treatments.
The public and medical
profession must be
alerted to the need for
earlier detection by
better identification of
those people at high risk
of developing colorectal
cancer. *M
eJ
Huron
goal
$45,000
Won't you
help us
raise it?
Page 9
The voice box
The larynx
vulnerable
Here are the facts
about cancer of the
larynx - signs and
symptoms, progress in
diagnosis and treatment,
prognosis, rehabilitation
and hope for the futgsre.
Cancer of the larynx
strikes approximately
9,000 persons in the
United States each year
and causes about 3,000
deaths.
It is primarily a disease
of white males in their 50s
and 60s; it rarely occurs
before the age of 40 and
levels off after age 65.
The ratio of male to
female patients is about 7
to 1.
There has been an
increase in 'the oc-
currence of this type of
cancer in recent years,
especially among blacks.
The larynx, or voice
box, is a structure of
bone, cartilage and soft
tissue located at the
upper end of the trachea,
or windpipe. It is
responsible for the
sounds we ' make in
talking, humming and
singing since it contains
vocal cords which are
vibrated by the exhaled
air to create sounds.
The cords are generally
smaller in women than in
men, which accounts for
the difference in voice
pitch between the sexes.
Cancer is a disease
characterized by un.-
controlled
n=controlled growth and
spread of abnor nal cells.
Normally, the cells that
make up all parts of the
body reproduce them-
selves in an orderly
manner so that growth
occurs, worn-out tissues
are replaced and injuries
repaired. Occasionally,
certain cells grow into a
mass of tissue called a
tumor. Some tumors are
benign, others are
malignant (cancer).
Benign tumors may
interfere with body
function and require
surgical treatment but
they do not invade neigh-
boring tissue and seldom
threaten life. However,
malignant tumors invade
and destroy normal
tissue.
By a process called
metastasis, cells break
"away from a malignant
tumor and spread
through the blood and
lymphatic systems to
other parts of the body
where they form new
cancers. Sometimes
cancer grows and
spreads rapidly;
sometimes the process
may take years.
Several invironmental
and occupational factors
have been linked to
laryngeal cancer,;
habitual smoking and'
drinking are chief among
these.
Although the incidence
of laryngeal cancer has
not risen as sharply in
recent years as that of
lung cancer (a rise at-
tributed directly to
smoking), case histories
show that the vast
majority of men who
develop cancer of the
larynx have, a history of
'heavy smoking and -or
drinking.
And the Surgeon
General's Report on
Smoking and Health
pointed clearly \ to
"cigarette smoking as a
significant factor in the
causation of laryngeal
cancer in the male."
The disease has been
found to occur more
frequently among city
dwellers . than among
persons living in rural
areas.
Voice strain, as ex-
perienced by singers,
actors, and ministers,
has occasionally been
associated with cancer of
the larynx. Other en-
vironmental factors
include exposure to wood
and metal dusts, and
repeated inhalation of
some chemical sub-
stances.
The disease, keratosis,
which produces wart -like
growths on the larynx, is
believed to be a
precancerous condition -
and" anyone with the
condition should be
examined regularly by a
physician.
SIGNS, SYMPTOMS
The most frequent and
important sign of
laryngeal cancer is
persistent and
progressive hoarseness.
This hoaresness is a
direct result of a tumor
on the vocal cords, the
most common early site
of the disease.
However, early
growths can occur
elsewhere on the larynx
causing such signs or
symptoms as change in
voice pitch, lump in the
throat, coughing, dif-
Turn to page 10 •
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