Women and Asbestos Exposure Effect on Infertility

Women and Asbestos Exposure Effect on Infertility

Wednesday, May 2

Being able to produce a healthy child is a wonder of the female body. Many women cherish the day that they can bring new life into the world. Challenges face this wonder when cancer development is part of the woman's life. With National Women’s Health Week approaching (Mother’s Day), learn more about cancer and its link to asbestos exposure. Lung cancers, including mesothelioma, can be the result of certain environmental factors.

Where Does Mesothelioma Come From?

Mesothelioma is technically a rare form of lung cancer. It stems from asbestos exposure. Asbestos is a fibrous substance that was used extensively in structures of the past for its heat-resistant qualities. Women's risk factors include workplace exposure or living in the same home with a partner who brings asbestos home on the clothes or shoes.

In fact, recent studies suggest that asbestos fibers can remain as dust in the household where women are constantly exposed to them. As asbestos triggers cancer tumors, women's fertility becomes an issue.

Understanding the Fertility Aspect

The hopeful aspect to fertility and cancer is the fact that a diagnosis doesn't automatically cause infertility. Women have a choice with their reproductive systems as this point. They can still have children, but extensive planning must be part of the treatment.

Infertility stems from cancer treatment and not the tumors themselves. The asbestos fibers that were breathed in over the years have impacted the lungs. Cancer may be present in this area, but the reproductive organs are still strong and viable for supporting a child.

Fighting Back With Advanced Medicine 

Science has linked infertility to asbestos exposure and mesothelioma, but women have definite choices. As soon as women know about their diagnoses, discussions should begin about saving eggs. Placing the eggs in a frozen state preserves them until a later date. It ultimately saves them from any infertility issues.

The eggs must be removed before cancer treatment. Radiation and chemotherapy are the reasons why women deal with infertility in the first place. The treatment that rids the body of tumors is just too strong for the delicate eggs. Removing them for fertilization later on is the best chance for a fertile future.

Looking Ahead to Future Children 

Women have a good chance at regaining their health through early diagnoses and aggressive treatments. Those frozen eggs can now be put to good use. The patient may be healthy enough to carry the child as a normal pregnancy. Doctors simply implant fertilized eggs into the woman.

Cancer treatment can be rough, however, which may lead to some complications. Keep hope on your side because surrogacy is an option. The woman's egg can be fertilized and implanted into a willing surrogate. New life overshadows the ailment now.

So many advancements have made it possible to fight off lung cancer. Take a moment during National Women’s Health Week to recognize these leaps toward a healthier future. Women can bring a child to term with attention to their health across the years. Don't let cancer define the child-bearing years. Infertility is a challenge that can be managed.

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Personalized Cancer Care: Gaining Advantage Against Cancer

Personalized Cancer Care: Gaining Advantage Against Cancer

Thursday, November 16

I still remember the day when my mom complained of pain in her abdomen. I convinced her that we should consult a doctor. I suspected something was seriously wrong. She had Stage 2B breast cancer and was declared "cancer-free" after undergoing surgery and chemotherapy. Eight years later, she was diagnosed with Stage 4 liver cancer.

When I asked my mom's oncologist what happened considering my mom was regularly monitored, she explained that while a cancer patient is in remission, the cancer will stay in other organs (organ depositor) like the liver, lungs, brain, or bones and stays dormant. Remission means a diminution of the seriousness or intensity of disease or pain; a temporary recovery.

According to Dr. Ioannis Papasotiriou, remission and cancer-free are two different things. It is not easy to put the label cancer-free to patients and more often than not, the term "cancer-free" is carelessly being used.

A cancer diagnosis is the most frightening news you'd hear from your doctor. While some will exhaust all means to win the battle against cancer, there are those who will fall into the pit of depression. 

What if it's possible to detect cancer in it's earlier stage and there's a better chance of managing the disease? 

There are cases where the treatment is nearly as bad as the disease itself. 

What if you can identify which therapy will deliver the best possible result through a more precise, more individualized management plan?

"There's no one-size-fits-all method to cancer 

diagnosis and treatment."

Each cancer is as unique as the person suffering from it. The Research Genetic Cancer Center (RGCC) is a world-class laboratory that specializes in medical and cancer genetics. It focuses on early detection, personalized chemosensitivity testing, and accurate monitoring. They believe that the only way for doctors to come up with an effective battle plan is to be fully knowledgeable of the cancer, at genetic level.

At RGCC, the first step in cancer therapy is isolating and indentifying Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs). CTCs are cells that have broken away from a primary cancer site and entered the blood stream. 

Oncocount is RGCC's screening test that gives information on the presence and concentration of CTCs. These cells could potentially spread the disease even to distant organs.

Oncotrace shows the presence of CTCs, their concentration, and immunophenotype (what type of cell it is).

Oncotrail is the test tailor-made for specific types of cancers used for follow up control on old cancers. 

With the information that these tests provide, new cancers are detected and diagnosed; existing cancers are monitored; and information about the possible risk of recurrence of a current or previous cancer is provided.

Once the cancer cells have been identified and targeted, the next step is the test for chemosensitivity or chemoresistance. These tests provide guidance in deciding on the best available treatment for the patient. These tests take out the trial and error aspect in cancer treatment because the effectivity of a specific treatment is already determined. Also, the significant side effects are also known before embarking on a chemotherapy program.

Onconomics gives information on whether or not a specific drug works on the cancer cells of the patient. Oncomomics Extracts, in the meantime, shows if natural biological substances or extracts can counter cancer cells. This gives the patient the option of using natural substances as a complementary treatment strategy. Onconomics Plus is a combination of the two tests.

Emphirical chemotherapy may have a low percentage of efficacy because each person’s response to drugs can be different. Every person has a unique genetic response to cancer, depending on their genetic fingerprint. 

There are the Rapid Metabolizers, whose cells can process the drug so fast that it doesn’t have an effect on them; Accumulators, on the other hand, cannot take out the by-products of a drug so they often suffer from debilitating side effects and toxicities; and there are the Normal Metabolizers, who can normally process a drug to its active form and releases its byproducts. 

ChemoSNiP examines the inherited variations in genes that dictate drug response and explore the ways these variations can be used to predict how the patient will respond- positive, negative or non-response- to the drug. 

Meanwhile, the Immune-Frame looks for the type of cells that are responsible for the activation or repression of one’s immune system. Cells of the primary tumor may have the ability to spread to other organs. To help doctors and patients in proactive monitoring of the metastases trends, Metastat can help identify the potential organ that can be affected in the future, like the lungs, bone, liver, and brain.

The main goal of RGCC Genetic Cancer tests is to discover, analyze, and screen the cancer cells at every stage of the disease to give the patient an advantage against the fight against cancer. 

With the information from the tests, patients and their doctors are better equipped in creating a precise, effective and sustainable health management plan. Meanwhile, health and wellness facilities focused on creating health can work with the patient and physician in developing a health plan that would keep the rest of the body strong and healthy, through diet and lifestyle modification, to help prevent the spread of the cancer. The attending physician or oncologist can focus more on the cancer treatment and management plan.

The RGCC Genetic Cancer tests are made available and accessible by Global Medical Technologies (GMT). GMT has been at the forefront of making some of the most up-to-date and relevant medical technologies and diagnostics from developed countries accessible to Filipino medical practitioners and patients, and help them outsmart health issues. 

The RGCC tests can be requested through your Physician. It is exclusively distributed in the Philippines by Global Medical Technologies, for more information, patients and health practitioners may visit www.gmtmanila.com.

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Brother Philippines Supports Philippine Cancer Society Relay For Life

Brother Philippines Supports Philippine Cancer Society Relay For Life

Friday, March 18

Probably the biggest and most enthusiastic group at the Philippine Cancer Society (PCS)’s Relay for Life event recently held at the Quezon City Memorial Circle, the 250 plus-strong contingent from Brother International Philippines, Corp. (Brother PH), along with their partners, family and friends, took turns going around the oval track in this year’s cancer awareness overnight vigil.

This is the fifth consecutive year that Brother PH joined PCS’s Relay for Life, which annually raises funds for cancer awareness and patients’ services.

Brother Philippines President Glenn P. Hocson said that their continued support for the event allows the company to contribute funds for cancer patients and support groups, give moral support to all patients battling the disease, and cheer on the cancer survivors who already won the fight against the Big C.

Hocson said that it is also the company’s way of providing its employees, as well as the company’s partners, opportunities to give back to those in need of compassion and support and to make them aware of the health risks that may lead to cancer.

The company’s support for the program is in line with the Brother Group’s “Golden Ring Project”, where different offices of Brother worldwide participate in Relay for Life events in their respective countries. A symbolic sash embroidered with the flag of each of the participating countries is being routed yearly so that they can add their latest year of participation in the embroidery work.

“We echo Relay for Life’s battle cry: celebrate life, remember those who died of cancer, fight back and—If I may add—prevent cancer by living a healthy lifestyle,” said Hocson.

In line with Brother’s Golden Ring Project, the global Brother group initiated a symbolic sash which is being routed yearly so that each participating country can add their latest year of contribution in the embroidery work.

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