Diabetes Drug Cancer Lawyer: Several Diabetes Drugs Have Been Linked to an Increased Risk of Cancer by Diabetes and Cancer Lawyer Jason Coomer

Diabetes Drug Cancer Risk Lawyer: Several Diabetes Drugs Have Been Linked to an Increased Risk of Cancer by Diabetes Drug Cancer Lawyer Jason S. Coomer

Several diabetes drugs have been linked to an increased risk of cancer including pancreatic cancer, thyroid cancer, and bladder cancer.  People taking diabetic medications should be aware of this increased cancer risk and discuss the cancer risk of any diabetic medications that they are taking with their medical provider.  Further, anyone that has been diagnosed with cancer after taking diabetic medications should report the cancer diagnosis to their physician and the FDA.

Drug Manufacturers Fail to Warn of Increased Cancer Risk

Despite being aware of the increased risk of cancer, some drug manufacturers have failed to warn about potential cancer risks.  In fact, some of the drug manufacturers have intentional hid cancer risks to increase sales of their diabetes drugs.  These drug manufacturers have determined that keeping their market share of the $50 billion dollar per year diabetic drug market is more important than warning diabetics and their physicians about the risk of cancer.

Diabetes Drug Cancer Lawsuits

Several Diabetes Drug Cancer Lawsuits have been filed.  More specifically, the following diabetes drug cases are being reviewed: Actos, Januvia, Janument, Victoza, Byetta, Onglyza, Tradjenta, Bydureon, and Oseni.  If you have been taking a diabetes drug and have been diagnosed with cancer or you have lost a loved one that was taking a diabetes drug and that loved one was diagnosed with cancer, please feel free to contact Diabetes Drug Cancer Lawyer Jason S. Coomer.  

Pancreatic Cancer Detection: Understanding and Identifying Symptoms of Pancreatic Cancer Can Be Important In Early Detection and Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer Resulting in Higher Pancreatic Cancer Survival Rates

Symptoms of pancreatic cancer can include: dark urine and clay-colored stools, fatigue and weakness, jaundice (a yellow color in the skin, mucus membranes, or eyes), loss of appetite and weight loss, nausea and vomiting, pain or discomfort in the upper part of the belly or abdomen, back pain, blood clots, diarrhea, and indigestion.

Pancreatic cancer is often not detected early on and is often advanced when it is first found.  As such, ninety-five percent of the people diagnosed with this cancer will not be alive 5 years later.  Some patients have pancreatic cancer that can be surgically removed are cured. However, in more than 80% of patients the tumor has already spread and cannot be completely removed at the time of diagnosis.  In the few cases where pancreatic tumors can be removed by surgery. The standard surgical procedure to remove pancreatic tumors is called a Whipple procedure (pancreatoduodenectomy or pancreaticoduodenectomy). This surgery should be done by an experienced surgeon and at a medical center that performs the procedure often. Some studies suggest that the Whipple procedure is best performed at hospitals that do more than five of these surgeries per year.

When the tumor has not spread out of the pancreas, but cannot be removed, radiation therapy and chemotherapy together may be recommended. When the tumor has spread (metastasized) to other organs such as the liver, chemotherapy alone is usually used. The standard chemotherapy drug is gemcitabine, but other drugs may be used. Gemcitabine can help about 25% of patients.

Patients whose tumor cannot be totally removed, but who have a blockage of the tubes that transport bile (biliary obstruction) must have that blockage relieved. There are two approaches including surgery and placement of a tiny metal tube (biliary stent) during ERCP.

Managing pain and other symptoms is an important part of treating advanced pancreatic cancer. Palliative care tams and hospice can help with pain and symptom management, and provide psychological support for patients and their families during the illness.

Bladder Cancer Detection and Symptoms

Bladder cancers are classified, or staged, based on their aggressiveness and how much they differ from the surrounding bladder tissue. There are several different ways to stage tumors. Recently, the TNM (Tumor, Nodes, Metastasis) staging system has become common. This staging system categorizes tumors using the following scale:

Stage 0 -- Noninvasive tumors that are only in the bladder lining

Stage I -- Tumor goes through the bladder lining, but does not reach the muscle layer of the bladder

Stage II -- Tumor goes into the muscle layer of the bladder

Stage III -- Tumor goes past the muscle layer into tissue surrounding the bladder

Stage IV -- Tumor has spread to neighboring lymph nodes or to distant sites (metastatic disease)

Bladder cancer can metastasize or spread by extending into the nearby organs or through the lymph nodes.  It can spread into the Prostate, Rectum, Ureters, Uterus, Vagina, Bones, Liver, and Lungs.

Bladder cancer can manifest through many different symptoms.  Most of these symptoms can also occur with non-cancerous conditions. However, if you have these symptoms and a suspect bladder cancer, it is important to get evaluated by a qualified medical doctor to determine, if you may have bladder cancer.  Some of these symptoms include: 1) Blood in the urine, 2) Painful urination, 3) Urinary frequency, 4) Urinary urgency, 5) Abdominal pain, 6) Anemia, 7) Bone pain or tenderness, 8) Lethargy or fatigue, 9) Urinary incontinence, and 10) Weight loss.

Testing for bladder cancer can include performing 1) a physical examination, including a rectal and pelvic exam, 2) Abdominal CT scan, 3) Bladder biopsy (usually performed during cystoscopy), 4) Cystoscopy (examining the inside of the bladder with a camera), 5) Intravenous pyelogram - IVP, 6) Urinalysis, and 7) Urine cytology.

There are several types of treatment for bladder cancer.  The selection of treatment for bladder cancer will vary depending on the patient, health care provider, and stage of bladder cancer. In Stages 0 and I, surgery is usually performed to remove the tumor without removing the rest of the bladder.  Also, chemotherapy or immunotherapy can be applied directly into the bladder.  People with stage 0 or I bladder cancer can be treated with transurethral resection of the bladder (TURB). This surgical procedure is performed under general or spinal anesthesia. A cutting instrument is inserted through the urethra to remove the bladder tumor.

In Stages II and III treatment, chemotherapy can be used to shrink the tumor before surgery, then surgery can be performed to remove the entire bladder (radical cystectomy) or surgery can be performed to remove only part of the bladder, followed by radiation and chemotherapy.  For bladder cancer patients that cannot have surgery or choose not to have surgery, a combination of chemotherapy and radiation can be used.

Many people with stage II or III bladder cancer may need to have their bladder removed (radical cystectomy). Partial bladder removal may be performed in some patients. Removal of part of the bladder is usually followed by radiation therapy and chemotherapy to help decrease the chances of the cancer returning. Patients who have the entire bladder removed will receive chemotherapy after surgery to decrease the risk of the cancer coming back.

Radical cystectomy in men usually involves removing the bladder, prostate, and seminal vesicles. In women, the urethra, uterus, and the front wall of the vagina are removed along with the bladder. Often, the pelvic lymph nodes are also removed during the surgery to be examined in the laboratory.

A urinary diversion surgery (a surgical procedure to create an alternate method for urine storage) is usually done with radical cystectomy. Two common types of urinary diversion are an ileal conduit and a continent urinary reservoir.  An ileal conduit is a small urine reservoir that is surgically created from a small segment of bowel. The ureters that drain urine from the kidneys are attached to one end of the bowel segment. The other end is brought out through an opening in the skin (a stoma). The stoma allows the patient to drain the collected urine out of the reservoir. People who have had an ileal conduit need to wear a urine collection appliance outside their body at all times.  A continent urinary reservoir is an alternate method of storing urine. A segment of colon is removed. It is used to create an internal pouch to store urine.

This surgery is becoming more common in patients undergoing cystectomy. A segment of bowel is folded over to make a pouch (a neobladder, which means "new bladder"). Then it is attached to the place in the urethra where the urine normally empties from the bladder. This procedure allows patients to maintain some normal urinary control. However, there are complications (including urine leakage at night). Urination is usually not the same as it was before surgery.

Unfortunately, for most patients with stage IV tumors, the bladder cancer cannot be cured and surgery will not appropriate. In these stage IV bladder cancer patients, chemotherapy is often considered.