The Whipple procedure (pancreaticoduodenectomy) is a surgery that aims in removing the cancerous part of the pancreas. It involves the removal of the head of the pancreas, the first part of the small intestine (duodenum), the gallbladder and the bile duct. The remaining organs are reattached to allow you to digest food normally after surgery.

It mostly involves the patients who are suffering from pancreatic cancer and is their hope to be healthy again. Along with that, it is the most common surgery to remove tumors in the pancreas. Surgery to remove a tumor offers the best chance for long-term control of all pancreatic cancer types.

What is the post-surgery recovery like?

This is a complex operation that will require hospitalization for one to two weeks with the first post-surgery night spent in the intensive care unit before being transferred to the surgical floor. Patients usually remain fatigued for about two months after this operation. Follow-up with the surgeon normally occurs on a weekly basis. Radiation and chemotherapy are frequently administered in addition to any primary post-surgical care.

When breast cancer is detected early and the tumor is still small, it can often be treated by removing just the area of abnormal tissue, rather than the whole breast. This allows the rest of the breast to be preserved, and a more normal appearance maintained.

Because the rest of the breast tissue is being retained, this surgery is followed by a course of breast radiation therapy to reduce the risk of cancer recurring in the breast in the future.

What the surgery involves?

Breast-conserving surgery involves removing the tumor along with a small amount of healthy surrounding tissue - this is to ensure that cancer has been completely removed. The aim of this procedure is to remove cancer but also leave the breast looking as natural as possible. A small scar will be visible on the breast in the area where the tumor was located, or if possible this may be placed around the edge of the areola. The surgery will be performed in a hospital and require either a day or an overnight stay.

Prostate cancer is a common type of cancer in males, but it is highly treatable in the early stages. It begins in the prostate gland, which sits between the penis and the bladder. There are often no symptoms during the early stages of prostate cancer, but screening can detect changes that can indicate cancer. Screening involves a test that measures levels of PSA in the blood. High levels suggest that cancer may be present.

What are the effects on fertility?

The prostate gland plays a role in sexual reproduction. Prostate cancer and many of its treatments affect fertility in several ways. For example, if a male has surgery to remove either the prostate gland or the testicles, it will affect semen production and fertility.

Also, radiation therapy can affect prostate tissue, damaging sperm and reducing the amount of semen for transporting it. Hormonal treatment can also affect fertility.

Breast cancer develops in breast cells. Typically, the cancer forms in either the ducts or lobules of the breast. Lobules are the glands that are responsible to produce milk, and ducts are the path that brings the milk from the glands to the nipple. This Cancer can also occur in the fibrous connective tissue or fatty tissue within your breast.

The uncontrolled cancer cells often occupy the other healthy breast tissue which can move to the lymph nodes under your arms. The lymph nodes are a primary track that helps the cancer cells to travel to other body parts.

What are the major stages?

There are stages of Breast cancer, and each has its own complexities.

Stage 1

Again it is categorized into two types:

Stage 1A: The first tumor is wide in 2 centimeters, and the lymph nodes are less affected.

Stage 1B: In this stage, cancer is found in nearby lymph nodes, and the lymph is either negligible in the breast, or it is smaller than 2 centimeters.

Stage 2

Again it is divided into two categories:

Stage 2A: Here, the cancer tumor is either smaller than 2 centimeters and has spread to 1 to 3 nearby lymph nodes, or it’s between 2 to 5 centimeters and hasn’t spread to any lymph.

Stage 2B: In this stage, the tumor is between 2 to 5 centimeters and has spread to armpit lymph nodes, or it’s larger than 5 centimeters and doesn’t spread to any lymph nodes.

Stage 3

There are three main stages of stage 3 breast cancer.

Stage 3A: The tumor is bigger than 5 centimeters in dimension and a small number of cancer cells are found in the lymph nodes.

Stage 3B: A tumor has spread in the skin or chest wall and can or can not have spread up to 9 lymph nodes.

Stage 3C: In this stage, cancer is found in 10 or more armpit lymph nodes, this lymph is near to the collarbone or internal mammary nodes.

Stage 4: This stage can have a tumor of any size, and its cancer cells have spread to nearby and distant lymph nodes and the organs both.

Chemotherapy is an attacking form of some chemical drug therapy that is specially meant to destroy the rapidly growing cells in the body. Well, the therapy is normally used to treat cancer, as these cancer cells grow and divide faster than any other cell. It is also known as ‘Chemo.’ Chemotherapy is a process of using anticancer drugs designed to slow down or halt the growth of quickly dividing cancer cells in the body.

What are the Different Chemotherapy Delivery Methods?

Some of the chemotherapy delivery methods include:

• Oral method (by mouth as a liquid or pill)
• Intravenously method (by infusion into a vein)
• Topically method (applying as a cream on the skin)
• Injection
• Direct placement method (through a lumbar puncture or a device placed under the scalp)

When drugs move through the bloodstream to reach cells throughout the body, it is known as systemic chemotherapy. Whereas, when chemotherapy drugs are directed to any specific area of the body, it is known as regional chemotherapy.

A positron emission tomography (PET) scan is an imaging test. This helps and allows your doctor to check for diseases in your body. This scan uses a special dye containing radioactive tracers. These tracers are either swallowed, inhaled, or injected into a vein in your arm depending on what part of the body is being examined.

The tracer will collect in areas of higher chemical activity, which is helpful because certain tissues of the body, and certain diseases, have a higher level of chemical activity. These areas of the disease will show up as bright spots on the PET scan.

Post PET Scan

After the test, you can go about your day unless your doctor gives you other instructions. However, because radioactive material will remain in your body for about 12 hours, you’ll want to limit your contact with both pregnant women and infants during this time.

Drink plenty of fluids after the test to help flush the tracers out of your system. Generally, all tracers leave your body after two days.

Meanwhile, a trained specialist will interpret the PET scan images and share the information with your doctor. The results are usually ready for your doctor within two business days, and your doctor will go over the results with you at your follow-up appointment.

Blood cancers affect the production and function of your blood cells. Most of these cancers start in your bone marrow where blood is produced. Stem cells in your bone marrow mature and develop into three types of blood cells: red blood cells, white blood cells, or platelets.

In most blood cancers, the normal blood cell development process is interrupted by the uncontrolled growth of an abnormal type of blood cell. These abnormal blood cells, or cancerous cells, prevent your blood from performing many of its functions, like fighting off infections or preventing serious bleeding.

Types Of Blood Cancer

The three main types of blood cancer are leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma: Leukemia is a blood cancer that originates in the blood and bone marrow. It occurs when the body creates too many abnormal white blood cells and interferes with the bone marrow's ability to make red blood cells and platelets.

Cervical cancer is cancer that arises in the cervix. Like all other cancer, it grows due to the abnormal growth of cells that have the ability to spread to other parts of the body. At the early stage, typically no symptoms are seen. Over time symptoms may visible which include abnormal vaginal bleeding, pelvic pain or pain during sexual intercourse. Cervical cancer treatment may help to cure the growth of these cells.

Types of Cervical Cancer Treatment:

Cervical cancer treatment depends on various factors, like the stage of cancer, other health problems, and your preferences. For the treatment doctor can use surgery, radiation, chemotherapy or a combination of the three may be used.

Surgery

Early-stage cervical cancer generally can be treated with surgery to remove the uterus which is known as hysterectomy. A hysterectomy or uterus removal can cure early-stage cervical cancer and prevent a recurrence. But removing the uterus makes it impossible to become anyone pregnant.

Radiation

Radiation therapy for cervical cancer treatment uses high-powered energy beams, such as X-rays or protons, to kill cancer cells. It may be used alone or with the combination of chemotherapy before surgery to shrink a tumor or after surgery to kill any remaining cancer cells.

Chemotherapy

This therapy for cervical cancer treatment uses medications, usually injected into a vein, to kill cancer cells. Low doses of chemotherapy are usually combined with radiation therapy, Well, it can enhance the effects of the radiation. Higher doses of chemotherapy are used to control advanced stages of cervical cancer that may not be curable.

Follow-up Care

After you complete the cervical cancer treatment, your doctor will recommend regular checkups. Ask your doctor how often you should have follow-up exams.

Supportive (palliative) Care

It is specialized medical care that focuses on giving relief from pain and other symptoms of serious health issues. These specialists work with you, your family and your other doctors to in order to provide an extra layer of support that supports your ongoing care.