It has been known since the 19th century that radiation will kill cancer cells. The challenge has been to use radiation effectively while doing minimum damage to healthy tissue. Advances in radiation therapy technology have rendered radiation a much more effective weapon in the battle against many cancers.
What is radiation oncology? (first question)
How does radiation kill cancer cells? (skip to 1:26)
How effective is radiation in treating cancer? (skip to 3:10)
What types of cancers are typically treated with radiation? (skip to 4:27)
How is the decision made to use radiation, chemotherapy or both in treating cancer? (skip to 5:22)
How has radiation therapy improved? (skip to 6:20)
What are the potential side effects to treating cancer with radiation? (skip to 9:53)
The U.T. Health Science Center at Tyler has a new linear accelerator which delivers radiation treatment to patients. How is it different from most linear accelerators? (skip to 13:08)
What does the future hold for radiation therapy in the treatment of cancer? (skip to 16:34)
East Texas leads the state in many things, but lung cancer is not one of those things we should be proud of. In this post to HealthConnection.TV, UT HEALTH Northeast cancer expert Dr. Bill Hyman answers questions about lung cancer among East Texans.
What causes lung cancer?(first question)
What are the symptoms of lung cancer? (skip to 0:44)
How is lung cancer diagnosed? (skip to 1:00)
How serious is a diagnosis of lung cancer? (skip to 1:07)
How is lung cancer treated? (skip to 1:43)
Why is the incidence of lung cancer higher in Northeast Texas than in the rest of the state? (skip to 2:31)
Why is lung cancer an even more serious disease among African-American and Hispanics?
Surgery is more often than not a front-line attack against a diagnosis of breast cancer. But what type of surgery performed by what type of surgeon? These are the questions addressed by the U.T. Health Science Center at Tyler’s Dr. Ed Sauter in this post to HealthConnection.TV.
Why is surgery the first line of attack against breast cancer?(first question)
What are the surgical options for treating breast cancer? (skip to 0:31)
What is the difference between ‘mastectomy’ and ‘radical mastectomy?’ (skip to 1:07)
If breast cancer surgery becomes necessary, what are the advantages to having a surgeon who specializes in cancer? (skip to 1:55)
What factors influence a woman’s decision regarding her options for breast cancer surgery? (skip to 2:49)
Do surgery and radiation automatically go together in treating breast cancer? (skip to 3:31)
A growing number of women, especially younger women, are choosing to have both breasts removed as a preventive measure, even if only one breast is affected by cancer. What is driving this trend and is it a good idea? (skip to 3:58)
Some women who have a strong family history of breast cancer but no symptoms and no diagnosis of breast cancer themselves elect to have both breasts removed as a precaution against the disease. What are your thoughts on this? (skip to 5:11)
Is it better to wait until after breast cancer surgery before considering or beginning reconstruction? (skip to 6:22)
Do breast reconstruction or augmentation negatively impact the chance of detecting a new or recurring breast cancer? (skip to 7:18)
Is there anything a woman can do to reduce the likelihood of getting breast cancer? (skip to 8:39)
Are there lifestyle choices that are important with respect to avoiding breast cancer? (skip to 10:35)
Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among men and causes about 36,000 deaths in the U.S. each year. Some men, based on ethnicity, occupation, family history and age, are more susceptible. The U.T. Health Science Center’s Dr. Hitesh Singh talks about the screening, diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer in this latest post to HealthConnection.TV.
What is the likelihood that a man will develop prostate cancer over the course of his lifetime?(first question)
What causes prostate cancer? (skip to 0:43)
How is prostate cancer detected? (skip to 2:00)
Why has the PSA test for prostate cancerbecome controversial? (skip to 2:37)
What would be the impact if the medical community stopped using the PSA test as a screening tool?(skip to 4:15)
What are the symptoms of prostate cancer? (skip to 4:47)
How serious is a diagnosis of prostate cancer? (skip to 5:22)
How is prostate cancer treated? (skip to 6:25)
Are there things a man can do to prevent getting prostate cancer? (skip to 8:15)
What does the future hold for prostate cancer treatment? (skip to 8:53)
Diabetes is a very serious disease in and of itself. But it doesn’t stop there. Ongoing clinical research is revealing that diabetes has causal or complicating links to a range of other serious health problems including the most common cancers, hearing loss, dementia, heart attack and stroke. In the latest post to HealthConnection.TV, the U.T. Health Science Center at Tyler’s Dr. David Shafer answers questions on the diabetes links.
What is diabetes and why does there appear to be links between it and other serious diseases? (first question)
Are the links to other diseases equally attributable to Type I and Type II diabetes? (skip to 1:32)
What is the link between diabetes and heart attack or stroke? (skip to 3:23)
Why do people with diabetes have a greater risk of hearing loss? (skip to 4:18)
What is the connection between diabetes and cancer? (skip to 5:29)
Why would someone with diabetes be more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease or dementia? (skip to 7:03)
What is the link between diabetes and hypertension (high blood pressure)? (skip to 9:30)
Are these risks increased irrespective of how well diabetes is managed by the patient? (skip to 10:40)
A cancer diagnosis is never good news but the fight against the disease is winnable in many cases with the right therapy, the right support and the right attitude. In this post to Health Connection.TV, Oncology Nurse Practitioner Deirdre Leung of the U.T. Health Science Center at Tyler talks about putting up the best possible fight against a diagnosis of cancer.
Can you really fight cancer? (first question)
Why is exercise important in fighting cancer? (skip to 0:48)
Are there cancer fighting foods? (skip to 1:09)
What role, if any, do holistic treatments such as detoxification, heat treatment and herbal therapy play in the fight against cancer? (skip to 2:16)
How important are support groups in fighting cancer? (skip to 3:54)
What role does spiritual wellness play in fighting cancer? (skip to 5:03)
Does having a positive mental attitude impact the fight against cancer? (skip to 6:03)
Describe the character traits of someone who does well in fighting cancer? (skip to 6:58)
In 1971, the U.S. Congress passed the National Cancer Act and devoted millions of dollars to cancer research. Forty years later, that research is bearing fruit as many cancers have yielded to better detection, better treatment, better survivability and better cure rates. U.T. Health Science Center oncologist Dr. William Hyman discusses progress in the War on Cancer in this latest post to HealthConnection.TV.
Have we made progress in detecting, treating and curing cancer in the past 30 to 40 years? (first question)
For what types of cancers has there been the most progress in terms of survival rates and cures? (skip to 0:45)
For what types of cancers has it been the most difficult to improve outcomes? (skip to 1:38)
What do we need to do in order to wage a more effective war against cancer? (skip to 2:00)
If a young person starts smoking but quits early in life, is the risk of lung cancer still significant? (skip to 2:30)
As the population ages, cancer rates increase. Why is this so? (skip to 3:11)
Because of improved mortality rates for other diseases, have we statistically increased the chances for getting cancer? (skip to 4:12)
How has genetic research impacted the diagnosis and treatment of cancer? (skip to 4:48)
What does the future hold for genetic testing for cancer? (skip to 6:16)
Some have predicted that there will one day be a vaccine for cancer. How likely is it that this prediction will come true? (skip to 6:39)
Will there ever be a cure for cancer? (skip to 7:22)
