Avastin is the brand name for Bevaciumab a monoclonal antibody or an antibody that is an identical clone of a single parent cell. It was approved in 2004 by the FDA for use in the treatment of some cancers and is used as a first or second line treatment for patients.

As the first clinically available angiogenesis inhibitor the United States it inhibits new cancer cells by blocking the growth of blood vessels in pre-existing tumors. A solid, non-liquid, tumor needs to grow additional blood vessels to be able to reach a certain size.

With an angiostatic agent such as Avastin the growth of new blood vessels is slowed stopping the cancer from growing indefinitely. It is usually given every 14 days intravenously in the arm and can be used with other drugs in combination and with intravenous 5-fluorouracil-based chemotherapy.

Developed by Genentech (NYSE: DNA), a leading biotechnology corporation, it is marketed in the United States under the Genentech name and outside the US under Roche.

When it was originally available in 2004 it was only FDA approved for the treatment of many forms of small cell lung cancer and metastatic colon cancer. A metastatic cancer, in this case colon cancer, is a cancer that spreads from one part or organ to another non-adjacent part or organ.

In 2008 the FDA opened up the doors and allowed for the treatment of breast cancer. There are also clinical trials under way to use Avastin for the treatment of non-metastatic colon cancer, metastatic renal cell carcinoma, metastatic breast cancer, metastatic glioblastoma multiform, metastatic hormone-refractory prostate cancer, metastatic or unresectable locally advanced pancreatic cancer, and metastatic ovarian cancer.

Avastin is also currently being used off-label, the practice of prescribing drugs for a purpose outside the scope of the drug's approved label, for the treatment of wet macular degeneration by some retinal specialists.

Wet macular degeneration or AMD is a condition that causes loss of vision from the growth of abnormal blood vessel choriocapillaries, through Bruch's membrane. This eventually leads to blood and protein leaking below the macula, an oval spot near the middle of the retina in the human eye. With AMD rapid, often irreversible vision loss can occur through the leaking, bleeding and scaring of the blood vessels if left untreated.

Dr. Philip J Rosenfeld, MD, PhD of the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute conducted a study that showed positive results for the treatment of AMD with Avastin. According to Dr. Rosenfeld's study Avastin improved vision in as little as one week for patients treated for AMD.

For AMD treatment Avastin is used in very low amounts by retinal specialists. They usually have a pharmacists transfer the drug from the original vile to a pre-filled needles containing single doses. The specialists will then usually treat the patient in their own office.

As with any drug it is always best to talk to your doctor or pharmacist before starting any treatment.

The benefits and real breakthroughs in cancer have been well documented over the years. Sadly, the medical/pharmaceutical establishment have ignored or quashed them: The pharmaceutical companies don't want you to know about these cheap, natural and non-toxic methods that can cure. They fear that their business would be greatly compromised if cancer sufferers or the public at large found out.

The governments, who rake in huge revenues from ineffective and potentially harmful cancer treatment through the pharmaceutical companies don't want you to know either. The press are by paid off by their main sponsors, the medical/pharmaceutical establishment and the governments to suppress information relating to these real natural cancer breakthroughs and cures. Consequently, many people remain ignorant through a lack of information related to all this and die of cancer.

I have written much material, touting the benefits of these natural approaches to cancer healing and I guess it is therefore a fair question to forward put to me: What would I do if I had cancer?

The first comment I would like to make is that I consider myself to be taking the reasonable precautionary measures that I have written about in my other articles and ebooks. However, this is what I would do.

The first thing I would do after the doc tells me the bad news is get a second opinion. If this confirms the first finding, then next, I would ask if there's anything that needs to be done immediately. For example, I would find out if an emergency operation was needed to remove a tumour that could be doing some serious damage by blocking a duct or obstructing blood supply...

If no immediate surgery were necessary, then I would flatly refuse orthodox medicine's treatment of chemotherapy or radiation. I wouldn't allow myself to be coaxed, cajoled or bullied into receiving this treatment. I have done my research on this and I'm convinced that these treatments are illogical, barbaric and should be redundant: They can do more harm than good, particularly chemotherapy.

Next I would take up the strict dietary regime called 'metabolic nutritional therapy.' This involves eating good wholesome organic food, including the juicing of raw vegetables and some fruit in between meals. I'd make sure that my meals would be full of vitamins C, E, A, B15 and last but not least get plenty of Vitamin B17. A good supply of vitamin B17 can be got form of apricot kernels. I would make sure of getting a good diet of greens, mushrooms garlic and onions for my much needed supplies of zinc, selenium and calcium. Magnesium is another important anti-cancer mineral I would make sure I'm getting.

I'd be out in the sun regularly for about 30 minutes a day making sure I get my supply of vitamin D that way and exercise regularly. I'd make sure I get plenty of good mineral water.

In addition to the above, each day, I would use Bob Beck's blood electrification treatment and colloidal silver. If you don't know what this is, then I strongly suggest that you look it up in the Google.

Not sinking into victim consciousness, I would make a real commitment to having a positive outlook on life.

Finally, in conjunction with my nutritional and Beck's blood electrifier therapists I would find a place where my cancer progress could be monitored, using instruments such as infrared thermography. This is chosen because it is reliable and has no side effects unlike the orthodox medical methodologies.

I would be careful to avoid: Dairy products, meat, processed and fried foods, refined and artificial sugar, too many caffeinated drinks, too much alcohol, no smoking or no contact with smoke, unclean water and fluoride containing toothpaste. I would also avoid chemical laced toiletries.

A few words of warning...
This was written as a guideline and for educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for the trusted advice and direction of fully qualified health professionals, who you should consult for diagnosis, treatment and medical attention at all times.

Another very serious subject and not to be dealt with glibly, so I will not be making bold claims about a cure all.

It seems that cancerous cells are present in all of us but when our immune system fails to kill these cells they multiply rapidly.

Our immune systems needs a good diet to be able to function correctly and it is for this reason why scientists recommend 5 helpings of fresh fruit and veg a day:

* Poor levels of vitamin C have been linked with cancer of the oesophagus, larynx and the cervix.
* Cervical cancer has also been associated with low levels of folate and vit B6.
* Low levels of beta carotene are linked with cancer of the larynx, lung, stomach, large bowel and the bladder.
* Fibre is thought to be vital protection against cancer of the colon, rectum, prostate, uterus and breast.

The theme that seems to apply to all health problems is a good diet, which is based on a moderate intake of unrefined complex carbohydrates, moderate amount of protein, low amounts of saturated fat, plenty of fresh fruit and veg.

Berries contain ellargic acid, gallic acid, flavonoids, tannins, phenolic acid and lignans all of which, are thought to fight against the development of cancer. I am not sure if we are talking about every type of berry or a combination of different berries here, most likely the latter. Phenolic compounds from Blueberries apparently limit cancer cells ability to multiply and can also kill them.

Certain mushrooms apparently suppress oestrogen production, especially in post menopausal women. I have read a claim that 60% of pre-menopausal women and 75 % of post menopausal women with breast cancer had excess oestrogen, which had triggered the cancer. The mushrooms contain a phytochemical called conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). This inhibits the protein that makes oestrogen. If you know the name of the mushrooms containing the CLA please let me know. Since I first wrote this I have read up some more and looked at a few forums. It seems a number of mushrooms are quite useful for varying reasons, but I still cannot find a source to confirm which mushrooms contain CLA.

Selenium is a very important antioxidant. In some countries, such as the UK, levels of selenium in the soil are very poor. Therefore it would seem important to supplement the diet. Brazil nuts are a good natural source of the mineral.

* Pomegranates - research has shown the juice maybe able to prevent prostate cancer.
* Red grapefruit contains lycopene, as do tomatoes and sweet red peppers, which is a potent antioxidant. Grapefruit is also a good source of limonoids and vitamin C, both shown to have anticancer properties.

As I said earlier cancer is a very serious subject and I feel loathed to make claims about natural cures for the condition. Personally I rather prefer to talk about doing everything we can to prevent cancer from developing in the first place. Herbs play a strong role in this but you may wish to look at this site if you unfortunately do have cancer. I have no association with the site.

Please feel free to discuss your experiences with me.

Children as young as eight are using sunbeds in Britain, the consumer watchdog Which? has revealed today.

Its survey of over 1,000 eight to 15-year-olds found that three per cent had used a sunbed - equivalent to around 170,000 children in Britain.

Further interviews with 47 16- to 17-year-olds found that 13 per cent had used a sunbed.

Young people using sunbeds increase their risk of a life-threatening form of skin cancer.

A recent report from the International Agency for Research into Cancer found that people who use sunbeds before the age of 35 increase their risk of malignant melanoma by over seven times.

The Sunbed Association (TSA) instructs its members to ban under 16s and to advise people with type one skin to avoid sunbeds, but its membership covers only a quarter of the UK's 6,000 salons, and other salons are not regulated at all.

The World Health Organisation advises that under 18s, fair-skinned people and people with a lot of freckles or moles should never use sunbeds.

Despite these guidelines Which? found that many staff are failing to warn potential sunbed users about the associated health risks.

The watchdog sent undercover researchers to ten salons. All ten said someone with very pale skin could use a sunbed and just three gave a verbal warning about the risks.

A government review is currently underway on possible regulation of the sunbed industry and a proposed public health bill in Scotland includes measures to improve staff training.

Which? editor Neil Fowler described the number of children using sunbeds as "shocking".

"Without regulation, the industry needs to be responsible about protecting those most at risk, but staff at the salons we visited failed to give adequate health warnings," he added.

"We're pleased to see that the government is looking at this issue. And in the meantime if you can't live without a tan, consider faking it with a bottle rather than putting your health at risk."

Commenting on the research, Rebecca Russell, Cancer Research UK's SunSmart campaign manager, said it is "extremely shocking" to learn that eight-year-olds are using sunbeds.

"This example of poor industry practice is exactly why Cancer Research UK is calling on the government to introduce legislation to regulate the industry," she added.

"Tighter control of the industry will help to ensure that children are protected from putting themselves at an increased risk of skin cancer and that adults who choose to use sunbeds themselves are made fully aware of the risks."

For most diseases, you may not see a doctor any more when you have been cured. But cancer is an exception. When a patient was discharged from hospital, he has always been told to have a regular reexamination. Why?

Results of cancer treatment are divided into four types: cure, improvement, stability and deterioration. Cure generally refers to completely eradicating tumor cells through surgery, radiotherapy or chemotherapy in the early or mid-term. However, the most important thing to test the treatment is time, for example, five-year survival rate or ten-year survival rate. The emergence of tumor is slow, and the development is covert, it is very difficult for people to find out that. It can be discovered via CT or B-mode ultrasonography only when abundant tumor cells assemble and take shape.

After the clinical treatment, it will take a period of time to find out the recurrence of a mass transfer if there are residual cancer cells. That's one of the reasons why patients should have a regular reexamination after be cured. In addition, many cancer recurrence can be cured if found in time, which may prove the necessity of regular reexamination. Patients should know some symptoms and signs of tumor metastasis and recurrence when they are discharged from hospital, so they can go back to the hospital for an examination immediately when these situations arise. Treatment such as radiotherapy and chemotherapy have certain side effects, including the near- and long-term harm, some symptoms can be reduced through the reexamination and treatment. Additionally post-operative complications may occur, and can be found through reexamination, then can be dealt with in time to promote rehabilitation.

For cancer treatment and prevention, we advocate the "three early": early detection, early diagnosis and early treatment. Early symptoms of cancer are not obvious, mainly must be found by professional inspection. Once there are symptoms, most of the cancers are in intermediate stage or terminal stage.

In recent years, the incidence of cancer was significantly increasing. 90% of the early cancers have no obvious symptoms, may not be found unless checked by professional doctors in specialist hospital. Unfortunately, most cancer patients went to the hospital to see a doctor when symptoms appeared, when cancer has developed into intermediate stage or terminal stage at that time, and they lost the best treatment opportunity. Previously, cancers mostly occurred in older groups, but in the past 20 years, cancer incidence age was 15-20 years ahead of time, and the 35-55 age group has been the major incidence groups.

For cancer treatment and prevention, we advocate the "three early": early detection, early diagnosis and early treatment. The medical examination of cancer is the effectual means to find early cancer. Not everyone will be suffering from cancer, but we recommend that people should have at least one medical examination annually. To the people who have a family history of cancer, it is very necessary to have 4 medical examinations annually.

There are three groups need to do preventive medical examination:

1. Someone suffered from cancer among the direct relatives.
2. People over 45 years old.
3. Find some carcinogenesis factors.

Someone telling you that you have cancer is one of the most horrible things one can hear. Just thinking about all the problems that can come up and how long treatment takes can affect not only the person who has it, but also the people around them. However, the scariest part of cancer is that there are so many types of it out there, and people might not even know anything about them. Yes, everyone knows the main ones like lung, breast and brain cancer, but what about the other not so common ones. Bone cancer is one such example and is a type that is often overlooked, but it's never too early for us to become informed about it.

More than 2,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with bone cancer or a bone tumor each year. The tumors often occur in children and adolescents more than it occurs in adults. If an adult does have bone cancer, it's most likely because the disease has spread from another area in the body.

There are several types of bone cancer and the most common is called Osteosarcoma. Osteosarcoma is primarily a malignant form of the cancer occurring mainly in males between 10 to 25 years of age. The cancer forms in the long bones of the arm and legs at time of rapid growth rate.

Another form of bone caner is Ewing's sarcoma. This is the most aggressive form of bone cancer and occurs in children between 4 to 15 years of age. It is more common in males but rarely occurs if they are over 30 years old.

Chondrosarcoma is the second most common form of bone cancer. It accounts for about 25% of all malignant bone tumors. However, what is interesting about this form of cancer is that it is most commonly found in adults over 40 years old. It is most commonly found in males and has a tendency to spread to the lungs. It occurs in the hips and pelvis.

These types of bone cancer are the more common forms although there are several more types which are not covered here. Cancer is becoming increasingly hard to diagnose because there are just so many different types of it. In addition, it's actually quite difficult to know where to look for it. However, the more we know about the different types of cancer, the more easier it is for us to recognize them when they occur and to take early remedial action to arrest or eradicate this deadly disease. Earlier positive intervention can increase our chances for an early recovery and a higher survival rate.

Brain cancer accounts for about 1.4% of all cancer cases and about 2.4% of all cancer deaths. This may not seems like a lot but don't let the numbers fool you on the severity of brain cancer. Once the cancer turns malignant, the tumors grow aggressively and overpower the healthy cells taking up their space, blood and nutrients. This is an area of grave concern because the brain is the most important part of your body and controls everything. Whenever there is something wrong with your brain, it affects the entire body. Knowing what the brain cancer symptoms are and able to recognize these symptoms is incredibly important for our prognosis and survival from this deadly disease.

The biggest problem with brain cancer and brain tumors is that their symptoms are often nonspecific making it is very difficult to know if you have it or not, unless you are seriously looking for it. The most common symptoms of brain cancer are headaches, general weaknesses, difficulty in walking, clumsiness and seizures. Other more serious symptoms include difficulty with speech, abnormal vision, nausea, vomiting, quick emotional changes, and an altered mental state. An altered mental state can include changes in concentration, memory, intellectual capacity, attention and alertness.

Several different factors can cause these symptoms. Some of these symptoms are caused by the tumor pressing on different parts of the brain and impairing them from functioning properly. The symptoms can also be caused by the swelling of the brain, the tumor or the area around the tumor. Unfortunately, these brain cancer symptoms usually develop very slowly and gradually over time and this makes it really difficult for anyone to confirm the existence of this deadly disease. For instance, people often think that a headache is just a headache or that the dizziness felt is due to any other reasons except cancer. If these symptoms occur frequently and very rapidly, you should definitely visit your doctor to see what the problem is.

The doctors will often make you take a CT scan if they feel you have brain cancer. A CT scan is like an x-ray except in shows the brain in three-dimensions. A harmless dye is usually injected into your bloodstream to make abnormalities more visible in the CT scan. Other tests include blood tests, liver tests, urine tests and blood coagulation profiles. MRI scans are sometimes used instead of CT scans. The reason for this is because MRI has a better ability to assess the changes in a tumor.

Brain cancer is an incredibly serious form of cancer and it is important for us to know what these brain cancer symptoms are so that we can take necessary action to arrest the situation early. If you suspect you are suffering or are suffering from these symptoms, please consult your doctor early to ascertain your actual medical condition. If brain cancer is confirmed, discuss with your doctor for an appropriate course of treatment best suited for you. An early intervention increases your chances for an early recovery and a prolonged survival.

Antioxidants are substances that may protect cells from the unstable molecules known as free radicals. Free radicals are molecules with incomplete electron shells, making them unstable. Free radical formation can be caused by various environmental exposures, including cigarette smoke, radiation, and surgery. This situation may lead to cancer if the body lacks the necessary antioxidants or is too overrun with free radicals.

In humans, the most common type of free radical is oxygen. When oxygen molecules becomes electrically charged or "radicalized," it tries to steal electrons from other molecules, causing damage to DNA and other molecules. These free radicals can be neutralized by antioxidants donating their electrons to stabilize them. Antioxidants themselves possess the special quality to be able to lose its electrons without becoming free radicals themselves. Considerable laboratory evidence indicates antioxidants may slow or prevent the development of cancer.

There are currently six classes of free radicals linked to chronic illnesses such as cancer. They are referred to as reactive oxygen species (ROS). The ORAC (oxygen radical absorption capacity) scale was developed to measure the capacities of antioxidants against free radicals. The test is used extensively in scientific research, and is used by the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging.

Antioxidants are abundant in fruits and vegetables, as well as in other foods such as grains, nuts, and select meats, poultry, and fish.The ORAC test gives the values of fruits and vegetables. The higher the score, the better to fight free radicals. Simply stated, antioxidants obtained from a healthy diet can effectively fight free radicals. However, being that there are thousands of free radical families and that no one single antioxidant can neutralize all of them, it is of extreme importance to eat a wide variety of different, brightly colored fruits and vegetables. This is something that barely 17 percent of Americans do. What percentage are you in?

The main cause of cancer particularly because of internal factors:

External factors:

Chemical carcinogens such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (mainly exists in the modern industrial and modern transport emissions and cigarettes, Xunkao food); aromatic amines and azo dyes category (stored in the textile printing and dyeing, cosmetics); Asia Glass amines (widespread in the food system), metals (asbestos-containing products containing chromium compounds and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons of high, which can be carcinogenic).

Physical factors, such as ionizing radiation (including medical and occupational exposure); long-term exposure, such as the sun.

Biological factors, such as Aflatoxin (found in mouldy peanuts, corn); virus (human herpes virus, EB virus, hepatitis B virus, etc.); parasites (Xixue Chong, etc.).

Internal factors:

The lower immune function;
Large, long-term hormone;
Nervous system disorders (mental and emotional tension in long-term poor, to endocrine disorders);
Genetic factors (liver cancer, nasopharyngeal cancer, and other families with a genetic phenomenon).

Prevention:

Reduce chronic stimulation: stop smoking, avoid drinking alcohol, eat too hot and provocative-food.
Infection control: prevention and treatment of hepatitis B and schistosomiasis, and other cancer-related diseases.
The timely treatment of precancerous lesions: such as chronic ulcers, chronic atrophic gastritis, such as colon polyps.
Avoid eating food containing carcinogenic substances: if mouldy peanuts, grain, salted products, preservatives.
The consumption of vitamin-rich large number of A, B, C and E of food: fresh vegetables from the main intake.

A balanced diet: fresh multi-fiber foods, to avoid.
Develop long-term the good habit of tea drinking, especially green tea.
Attention to personal hygiene: to maintain mood, appropriate exercise, avoid the use of carcinogenic substances in cosmetics, hair dyes, and so on.