Dr. M. Chandrashekar

Cancer is a disease that is caused due to the multiplication and growth of abnormal cells in any part of the body. It is usually classified in terms of the type of tissue or the organs affected. While there are many types of treatment available for cancer patients, homeopathy can also be an effective way to treat cancer. This is because homeopathy aims at care analysis with individualised examinations which treats symptoms with the help of individual remedies.

Following are some commonly used homeopathic remedies for cancer.

1. Calcarea fluorica: Knots and kernels are usually treated with the help of this medicine. Hardened lumps in the breasts can also be managed with this medication. Stony hardness within indurated glands and enlargements are also treated with CalcareaFluorica. This medicine can also help in preventing the development of malignancy or cancer. The medicine can be considered in case there are suspicious lumps present in the breasts.
2. Lapis Albus: The pain that one undergoes as a result of cancer can be treated with the help of this medicine. It can also treat yellow discharge that comes with cancer.
3. Hecla Lava: This medicine can help in treating ivory tumours which are spongy in texture.
4. Conium: Conium helps when there is a lot of hardness in the glands that have been infiltrated by the cancerous, multiplying cells. It can be used to treat mammary tumours that form at the onset of scirrhus. It also helps when it comes to gland related scars and bruises.
5. Condurango: When the cancer affects different parts of the stomach and abdomen, this medicine can help by modifying the pain substantially. It can help in treating open tumours.
6. Phytolacca: This medicine is helpful for patients who are suffering from fat formation along with cancer. These fatty tumours can be treated with this medicine so that their removal becomes easier. This medicine also helps in treating hardened lumps found in the breasts. It can also act as an absorbent when it comes to the fibroid tumours found in the uterus.
7. PlumbumIodatum: When there is inflammation of the masses and growths in the breasts that are busy developing slowly, this medicine can help. This slow development can be stemmed with the help of PlumbumIodatum.
8. Arsenicum: This is a treatment that specifically helps patients who are suffering from Lupus as well as cancer. It can help in treating weakness as well as debilitating symptoms as well as a burning pain.
9. Iodine: This medicine is helpful for a number of ailments and can help in treating cervical cancer and symptoms like intense haemorrhage.

Cancer

Cancer is an uncontrolled proliferation of transformed cells in any part of the body. Neoplasm or tumor are used variably to describe any swelling or new growth. Benign growths don't have the potential to spread to other organs or parts of the body while malignancy or malignant growths have uncontrolled proliferation and metastatic potential. Transformation is a multistep process with genetic alterations by which normal cells acquire malignant potential, uncontrolled proliferation capacity and capacity to spread to other parts of the body (metastasis) worldwide cancer is responsible for 1 in 8 deaths. Most common cancers are:

Men: oral cancer (in India), prostate, lung

Women: breast, cervix and endometrium, colorectal, lung


What causes cancer? cancer is usually multifactorial 


1. Age- more in age group greater than 60 yrs compared to younger age group

2. Obesity- body mass index greater than 30

3. Tobacco - cigarette, cigar, bidi, hookah, smokeless tobacco like gutka, zarda etc. There is no safe form of tobacco.

4. Pan masala and supari

5. Alcohol

6. Ultraviolet rays exposure

7. Radiation exposure

8. Genetic factors

9. Others- pollution, certain chemicals, infections


Prevention of cancer: 


1. Stay away from tobacco products

2. Eat healthy and daily physical activity- fresh fruits and vegetable are good, maintain optimal body weight

3. Be safe in sun

4. Cancer awareness and early detection: alarming signs are (caution)-
 

• Change in bowel or bladder habits
• A sore that will not heal
• Unusual discharge or bleeding
• Thickening or lump in the breast, testicles or elsewhere
• Indigestion or difficulty swallowing
• Obvious change in a wart or mole
• A nagging cough or hoarseness

5. Cancer screening: screening is for healthy individuals with education. Rather than going for unnecessary blind tests, a programme for screening should be planned in consultation with your oncologist as requirements are different for different cancers and differ as per age groups and gender. Also, screening is not effective in all cancers. Cancer education and awareness have due importance. Some cancers in which screening has been shown to be effective includes breast, colon, rectum, cervix, prostate, lung in high-risk groups but as mentioned earlier it is planned with participation of both individual and oncologist.


Types of cancer treatment:


Cancer treatment is now a multidisciplinary management in which different surgical, medical and radiation oncologist plan treatment protocol for best possible chances of cure. Advancement in all these fields and their contribution in comprehensive management results in 25-30% improvement in cure rate over previous decades.
 

• Surgery: involves surgical principles to remove the tumor with adequate margins and possible draining lymph nodes regions. Improvements and understanding of surgical principles even make resection of distant disease or cure of stage iv disease in some selected cases.
• Chemotherapy: cytotoxic drugs are given either in injectable or oral forms which acts on uncontrolled cancer cells. Advances in this fields result in drugs with better efficacy and less side effect profile and at the same time resulting in better cancer control. Targetted therapy acts on specific pathways of cancer growth. Hormone therapy targets specific hormone receptors for controlling cancer.
• Radiation therapy: is the delivery of radiation generated by radioactive source over the region of cancer. More and more advances in radiation technologists are emerging like imrt, sbrt to focus radiation over the specific location so as to avoid toxic effect over surrounding area.