9 million Americans either have it or have had it. The chances of surviving from it is sixty-two per cent over a period of five years of having been diagnosed. More than five hundred thousand Americans are expected to die from it this year, that's about one thousand, five-hundred people a day. But what is "it-? Cancer, The second leading cause of death in the United States, exceeded only by heart-disease (Cancer Facts & Figures 2003). There are ways to get rid of or at least reduce the size of the cancer, the most common being surgery, chemotherapy and types of radiation therapy, and herbal remedies. Herbal remedies for cancer are being turned to now as another treatment rather than traditional medicine, like chemotherapy and radiation, and may just be the harbinger of safer alternatives.
Possibly the most common treatment of most cancers is surgery. Some common cancers that can be successfully cured by surgery are: breast, colon, lung and bronchus, ovary, and prostate cancer. However, just like every cure, there are risks when one goes "under the knife."" One possible side-effect of surgery is a disease called lymphedema. It results in the build-up of lymph, an infection and disease fighting fluid, under the fat tissues under the skin. This leads to the swelling of body parts, such as an arm or leg, and "abnormally high amount of tissue proteins, chronic inflammation, and thickening and scarring of tissue under the skin- (Lymphedema (PDQ ®): Supportive Care Page). Scars also result from surgery and are a long-term reminder of what once was.
Chemotherapy ("Chemo-) and forms of radiation are different forms of cures. Chemo is possibly the most popular known, and most feared, cure. Chemo is "the treatment of cancer with drugs that can destroy cancer cells- (Facts About Chemotherapy). It is given intravenously, by injection, on the skin, or by the mouth and is used in conjunction with surgery, radiation or biological therapy.