Researchers from the University of Tennessee, Memphis, recently did a study to determine what factors might help predict whether methotrexate treatment will be successful. After comparing various factors, such as the size of the embryo and the presence of fluid in the abdominal cavity, the researchers determined that the level of a hormone produced during pregnancy was the single most important factor in determining whether drug treatment would be successful. High levels of the hormone suggest an embryo that is still developing and growing. Methotrexate treatment was more successful in women whose hCG levels were 15,000 or less. It is important to keep in mind that the women in this study had very early ectopic pregnancies and no signs of internal bleeding.
Ectopic pregnancy can be a painful experience both emotionally and physically.
Medical treatment with methotrexate, rather than surgery, can be a somewhat less traumatic way to handle this problem. The prostate gland is located underneath the bladder and produces a fluid that carries sperm out of the penis. Prostate cancer occurs when normal cells undergo a malignant transformation and begin to divide at an uncontrolled rate. An estimated 179,000 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer last year. If the cancer has not spread outside of the prostate, the most common treatment is surgery.