Cancer Treatment Reviews

Being diagnosed with breast cancer can be a devastating experience for women. Along with the fear of death, surgery and harsh cancer treatments , breast cancer also elicits fears on loss of sexuality and body image. It is of utmost importance that the patient and her physician have an in-depth discussion, so that they can make the best decisions about her care.

Most women are ill-informed about the questions they must be asking their doctor before the treatment starts. Young women who are yet to have children and mothers who are planning for more children are advised to talk to their physician about how cancer treatment can put their fertility at risk.

Chemotherapy may affect your ability to have children. Many well-informed young women decide to freeze their eggs before the chemo starts, but not all women have sufficient knowledge about how the treatment can affect their fertility or about the options that are available to preserve their fertility.

Fertility issues during breast cancer

Most physicians will advise you that breast cancer treatment must take priority over fertility. Fortunately, breast cancer does not mean that your dreams of becoming a parent are doomed forever. Even with cancer treatment as your first priority, you can still maximize your chances of becoming a parent. Continue Reading

Do you know that dietary supplements may not be safe or effective in breast cancer patients? Why? Because most supplements contain a huge amount of antioxidants, which can work against anti-cancer drugs and render them ineffective against cancer cells. A 2008 review of clinical trials concluded that the use of supplements, which contain antioxidants, during chemotherapy and radiation therapy should be discouraged because of the possibility of tumor protection and reduced survival.

In addition, here are two supplements that may be harmful to breast cancer patients:

Arginine - In high dosage, arginine (and amino acid produced in your body) may increase immune cell activity in breast cancer patients. On the contrary, one study demonstrated that arginine may stimulate breast tumor growth in vivo. More research is needed to examine this mechanism.

Royal Jelly – Royal jelly is a viscous substance secreted by worker bees to feed queen bees and their larvae. It is commonly consumed as a health food. Royal jelly exhibits oestrogenic activity, and has been shown to increase the number of a particular human breast cancer cell that was reversed by tamoxifen. However, royal jelly has been shown to inhibit the growth-promoting effects of the environmental oestrogen bisphenol-A in similar human breast cancer cells. Because of the orstrogenic effects, women with oestrogen-receptor positive breast cancer should avoid products containing royal jelly.

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