ABJ Oncology

28/02/2024

White Blood Cells Part 2:

What Is "Low white blood cell count"?

How many white blood cells (WBCs) someone has varies, but the normal range is usually between 4,000 and 11,000 per microliter of blood.

A blood test that shows a WBC count of less than 4,000 per microliter (some labs say less than 4,500) could mean your body may not be able to fight infection the way it should.
A low number is sometimes called leukopenia.

26/02/2024

White Blood Cells Part 1:
This series will focus on White blood cells, also called leukocytes.

Why Is My White Blood Cell Count Low?

White blood cells, also called leukocytes, fight infection. They move throughout your body in your blood, looking for invaders. And your body is continuously making a fresh supply.

Your doctor measures how many of these cells you have by sending some of your blood to a lab to do a complete blood count, or CBC. Your white blood cell count is one of the numbers you get back from this test. It may point toward or confirm a diagnosis, or show whether a treatment is working or not.

Most often, a low white blood cell count is nothing to worry about.

21/02/2024

Side effects of Chemotherapy

Of course, chemotherapy also affects the healthy cells and may cause a range of side-effects. The aim of the following information is to give you peace of mind. If you know what to expect this will avoid unnecessary anxiety and fear.

-Nausea and Vomiting
-Cystitis (Bladder infection)
-Discolouration of urine
-Diarrhoea & Constipation
-Hair Loss (Alopecia)
-Stomatitis (Sores in the mouth or throat)
-Bone Marrow Suppression

https://www.oncology-sa.co.za/chemotherapy/

19/02/2024

Efficiency of Chemo

The efficiency of chemotherapy depends on the type of cancer and the stage. The overall effectiveness ranges from being curative for some cancers, such as some leukaemias, to being ineffective, such as in some brain tumours, to being needless in others, like most non-melanoma skin cancers.

Limitations:
Chemotherapy does not always work, and even when it is useful, it may not completely destroy the cancer.

Blood vessels in tumours are very different from those seen in normal tissues. As a tumour grows, tumour cells furthest away from the blood vessels become low in oxygen (hypoxic). To counteract this, they then signal for new blood vessels to grow. The newly formed tumour vasculature is poorly formed and does not deliver an adequate blood supply to all areas of the tumour. This leads to issues with drug delivery because many drugs will be delivered to the tumour by the circulatory system.

18/02/2024

Diet & nutrition during Chemo treatment

It is a widely accepted fact that 50% of cancer patients experience weight loss even before diagnosis. Even minimal weight loss before treatment is started (less than 5% of body mass) may have an adverse effect on the outcome of treatment. A common secondary diagnosis in patients with advanced cancer is protein-energy malnutrition (PEM).

The overall goals of the nutritional care of the oncology patient are:

-Preventing or correcting nutritional deficiencies.
-Minimising weight loss and maintaining a sound nutritional status through early nutritional assessment and intervention as a preventative measure; therefore, screening for risk of nutritional problems should occur at diagnosis and continue throughout treatment.
-Providing guidelines regarding nutritional problems that may be experienced during treatment, e.g., guidelines for diet modifications, food selection and preparation.
-Counselling individual patients and their families on general nutritional principles, the basic rules for a healthy diet and eating habits, together with nutritional monitoring.

There are many myths about which foods are allowed or which are to be avoided when you have cancer. These misconceptions cause confusion and may ultimately lead to unhealthy food choices that could be detrimental to your wellbeing in the long run. The value of sound nutritional advice must, therefore, not be underestimated.

https://www.oncology-sa.co.za/chemotherapy/

16/02/2024

https://youtu.be/NgRKF_krux8

Cervical cancer is the 2nd most common cancer among South African women, but the cancer women die of most in our country.It can be successfully treated if de...

14/02/2024

12/02/2024

Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC) support programme

Online cancer survivor coping programme

31/01/2024

Cervical Cancer:

HPV (Human papillomavirus) vaccination:

There are 6 HPV vaccines available globally.

All protect against the high-risk HPV types 16 and 18, which cause most cervical cancers and have been shown to be safe and effective in preventing HPV infection and cervical cancer.

As a priority, HPV vaccines should be given to all girls aged 9–14 years, before they become sexually active. The vaccine may be given as 1 or 2 doses. People with reduced immune systems should ideally receive 2 or 3 doses. Some countries have also chosen to vaccinate boys to further reduce the prevalence of HPV in the community and to prevent cancers in men caused by HPV.

WHO fact sheet on cervical cancer, including key facts, causes, prevention and WHO response.

29/01/2024

Cervical Cancer, part 5 continues...

What are the cancer stages?

Different systems of cancer staging are used to describe the types of cancer. Below is a common method in which stages are ranged from 0 to IV.

• Stage 0: The tumour is confined to its place of origin (in situ) and has not spread to nearby tissue.

• Stage I: The tumour is located only in the original organ, is small, and has not spread.

• Stage II: The size of the tumour is large but has not spread.

• Stage III: The tumour has become larger and may have spread to surrounding tissues and/or lymph nodes.

• Stage IV: The tumour has spread to other distant organs of the body, which is known as the metastasis stage.

25/01/2024

Cervical Cancer, part 4...
Tumour Grade and Tumour Stage

Tumour grade and stage are terms used to describe the severity of a tumour, while tumour grade describes the appearance of cancerous cells in the tissue by examining them under a microscope.

Tumour stage encompasses:

• The location of the tumour.
• The size and/or extent of the original tumour.
• Whether cancer cells have spread to lymph nodes or anywhere else in the body.
• The number of tumours present.

Doctors use tumour grade, cancer stage, and a patient’s age and general health to decide the course of treatment for the patient and determine prognosis. Prognosis describes all factors including the disease course, cure rate, chances of survival, and risk of recurrence of cancer.

22/01/2024

Cervical cancer, part 3 continues...

Cervical cancer starts as a pre-cancerous condition called dysplasia. This pre-cancerous condition can be detected by a Pap smear and is 100% treatable. That is why it is so important for women to get regular Pap smears done.

Most women who are diagnosed with cervical cancer today have not had regular Pap smears or they have not followed up on abnormal Pap smear results.

Undetected pre-cancerous changes can develop into cervical cancer. From there is can spread to the bladder, intestines, lungs, and liver.

It can take several years for pre-cancerous changes to turn into cervical cancer.

Patients usually start experiencing problems when the cancer is already advanced
and has spread.

Read more about cervical dysplasia by clicking on the link below:
https://www.yalemedicine.org/conditions/cervical-dysplasia