Encyclopedia of Health and Medicine

368 Cancer
in receiving conventional treatments that could
have health benefits.
Making Choices and Decisions
Choices and decisions in regard to treatment for
cancer are not easy to make, particularly when
the diagnosis comes after the cancer is fairly
advanced or has metastasized. Emotions are high,
and sometimes the route of conventional treatment
has little to offer beyond palliative care.
Alternative remedies may make claims that sound
too good to pass up. Cancer experts urge people to
fully explore the remedy and the evidence that
surrounds its usefulness. These key questions can
help put the claims of the therapy or remedy in
perspective:
• What does the remedy do—specifically? How
does it affect the cancer?
• Does the remedy claim to be able to replace or
support medical treatments?
• Who administers or provides the remedy?
• What are the remedy’s possible side effects?
• What kinds of research have tested the remedy?
• What is the cost of the remedy?
• Is the remedy available in the United States?
Unfortunately, many purported cancer remedies
are ineffective at best and potentially harmful.
In some circumstances those who are marketing
the remedy sincerely believe in its ability to treat
or even cure cancer. However, the market for
alternative remedies also offers abundant opportunity
for fraud. Complementary therapies that supplement
conventional treatment can provide
comfort and relief from many symptoms related to
cancer and cancer treatment. Choosing an ineffective
alternative remedy in lieu of conventional
treatment may have irreversible consequences for
health and for QUALITY OF LIFE.
An oncologist or credentialed cancer care center
can provide information and guidance for
choosing complementary therapies that are helpful.
The Web sites for the American Cancer Society
(www.cancer.org), the US National Cancer
Institute’s Office of Cancer Complementary and
Alternative Medicine (www.cancer.gov/cam), and
the US National Center for Complementary and
Alternative Medicine (nccam.nih.gov) provide
current information about alternative remedies
and complementary therapies for cancer.
See also CHEMOTHERAPY; COPING WITH CANCER;
DIAGNOSING CANCER; RADIATION THERAPY; SURGERY FOR
CANCER.
angiogenesis inhibitor drugs Substances that
stop tumors from developing new BLOOD vessels to
support their survival. Numerous proteins and
enzymes in the body function to encourage or
suppress the growth of new blood vessels. Cancerous
tumors are among the tissues that produce
proteins that foster new blood vessel growth;
these blood vessels then deliver to the tumor the
nourishment it needs to grow. Cutting off the
blood supply starves the tumor, causing its cells to
die.
Among the natural angiogenesis inhibitors in
the body are the INTERFERONS, which doctors have
used in therapeutic forms with some success to
slow tumor-related blood vessel growth. Some
CHEMOTHERAPY drugs also have a secondary antiangiogenesis
effect. In 2004 the US Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) approved the first DRUG
specifically developed to block angiogenesis, a
monoclonal antibody that is called bevacizumab
(Avastin).
Angiogenesis inhibition is of therapeutic interest
in health conditions other than cancer that
result from overgrowth of blood vessels, such as
AGE-RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION (ARMD) and
RETINOPATHY
of DIABETES. Research into drugs to
encourage angiogenesis to restore blood flow to
the HEART after HEART ATTACK or in severe ISCHEMIC
HEART DISEASE led to many advances in angiogenesis
inhibition as well.
See also CELL STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION; MOLECU-
LARLY TARGETED THERAPIES; MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES
(MABS); TRANSMYOCARDIAL LASER REVASCULARIZATION
(TMLR).
blastoma A cancerous tumor that arises from
the immature cells that form the basis for an
organ’s structure. The cells are undifferentiated,
which means they have not yet developed a specific
role within the body. Researchers believe
these are embryonic cells. Blastomas grow as the