Drug therapy of tumors – an inherent component of the fight against cancer today. Surgery alone not sufficing, almost every patient is obliged to undergo further treatment. The most familiar is certainly chemotherapy, although antibody therapy or immunotherapy serves yet another method for a good while now. How these therapies work and which patients they are applicable to – these and more on onko.tv.

Today surgery is still an indispensable method in the treatment of malign tumors. While the so-called mastectomy – that is, the removal of the breast entirely – has been the standard treatment for decades, the methods nowadays are more sparing – and that at comparable chances of cure. How breast-conserving surgery is performed, to which patients it is applicable and why sometimes the entire breast must be removed – all that here and now at onko.tv.

Round 55.000 women develop breast cancer annually. The chances of a cure are good – provided the so-called mammary carcinoma is detected early. Precaution and early detection play therefore a significant role in the case of breast cancer. In our first broadcast we introduce to you all early detection measures – palpation at the gynecologist’s, mammography screening and ultrasound examination. We explain further diagnostics step by step and speak of risk factors.

HIFU - This abbreviation stands for “High-intensity focused ultrasound” and defines a relatively new treatment method in the fight against prostate cancer. An increasing number of clinics have recourse to this therapy form and attain favorable results with it. It is not applicable to every patient, though. How HIFU works, what the pros and cons are - all that now on onko.tv.

„That means I’m impotent!” That’s what almost all men think upon receiving the prostate cancer diagnosis, for impotence - or erectile dysfunction as well - is a typical consequence of cancer therapy. Doesn’t matter if it’s the operation, radiotherapy, or hormone therapy - The fight against cancer impinges upon potency in almost any case. Why is that so? And what does that imply to the patients? In the following broadcast we amplify the causes of impotence and cover various treatment options. Most importantly though, we will converse with men, who articulate their situation and experiences openly. Our guests here at onko.tv include patients and doctors as usual, as well as a special guest this time: sex therapy expert Dr. Ulrike Brandenburg.

Chemotherapy - this term is associated by many with cancer, or rather the treatment of it. While chemotherapy embodies a treatment often resorted to in many cancer types, the case is a little different with prostate carcinoma. In that case, the therapy is employed when the cancer endures in spite of an operation, radiotherapy, or hormone therapy. Chemotherapy cannot cure cancer, but it can impede the progress of the disease. How it works, to which patients it is applicable and how they handle this situation - all that now on onko.tv.

Whether operation, irradiation or another method – the choice as to which therapy option is applicable in each case depends on a number of factors and is always an individual decision. We have acquainted you with many therapy options last year, and more will follow in the coming months. We wish to begin with a laparoscopic technique, where the surgeon is assisted by a robot. Everything about the so-called da Vinci surgical system – now on onko.tv!

Some prostate carcinoma patients become incontinent. Though it can get better in the course of time, incontinence remains to be a direct consequence of the disease for many men.

The fact that they are deprived of such a natural bodily control as that over the urge to urinate is for most patients very depressing. Many withdraw into themselves, a good deal avoid social contact and even lock themselves away. But there can be done something against incontinence - or you can acquire healthcare products that make life with incontinence more tolerable. onko.tv inquires - we talk with doctors and patients about a subject that is, to this day, a taboo.

The significance of cancer is steadily increasing. The numbers have been rising for years, on the one hand because of the demographic development, on other hand because of changed nutritional habits and living conditions. Among women the mammary carcinoma, that is breast cancer, takes the first place, among men it is the prostate carcinoma. Among both sexes intestinal cancer rates are increasing. But there are early detection examinations for all three tumor forms which can detect and heal the cancer.

But unfortunately still far too few people make use of these early detection examinations. Especially men are quite unwilling to do check-ups, only every fourth man goes to prostate examinations on a regular basis. That is why education is more important than ever, especially in rural areas. The prostate support group Wachtendonk-Wankum organizes health days on a regular basis: The focus is on education and information around the issue of cancer. Everything about the health day 2009 in Straelen - now here on onko.tv!

The diagnosis prostate cancer - for most couples it comes as a complete surprise. If it is about fears, therapies, chances for recovery, prognoses - in most cases the partner is the fundamental support in this difficult time. Everything is about the patient, he is the measure for everything - but the diagnosis hits the partner with the same force as the patient. But the partners must and want to be strong - and often forget their own fears, hardship and needs.

How do partners deal with the disease? How do they cope with it and to what extent has the disease changed the relationship? That and more now on onko.tv!