Cancer

Cancer has a reputation for being a deadly disease. While this certainly applies to certain particular types, the truths behind the historical connotations of cancer are increasingly being overturned by advances in medical care. Some types of cancer have a prognosis that is substantially better than nonmalignant diseases such as heart failure and stroke.

Cancer Definition - Begins when one cells changes and starts growing and dividing rapidly and out of control. This cell divides to give two cells, then four, eight etc. until they end up forming a growing mass of cancer cells called a tumor.

Cancer may affect people at all ages, even fetuses, but the risk for most varieties increases with age. Cancer causes about 13% of all deaths. According to the American Cancer Society, 7.6 million people died from cancer in the world during 2007.

There are more than 100 types of cancer, including breast cancer, skin cancer, lung cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer, and lymphoma.

Metastasis Definition - The spread of a disease from one organ or part to another non-adjacent organ or part. They then begin to divide and grow again eventually forming a new tumor, called secondary tumors or metastases. Only malignant tumor cells and infections have the capacity to metastasize.

Malignant Definition - A medical term used to describe a severe and progressively worsening disease, mostly used as a description of cancer.

Benign Tumor Definition - A tumor that lacks the malignant properties of a cancer. A benign tumor does not grow in an unlimited, aggressive manner, does not invade surrounding tissues, and does not metastasize. Examples of benign tumors include moles and uterine fibroids.

Nearly all cancers are caused by abnormalities in the genetic material of the transformed cells. These abnormalities may be due to the effects of carcinogens, such as tobacco smoke, radiation, chemicals, or infectious agents. Other cancer-promoting genetic abnormalities may be randomly acquired through errors in DNA replication, or are inherited, and thus present in all cells from birth.

Cancer symptoms vary widely based on the type of cancer and treatment includes chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery.

Most cancers can be treated and some cured, depending on the specific type, location, and stage. Once diagnosed, cancer is usually treated with a combination of surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The choice of therapy depends upon the location and grade of the tumor and the stage of the disease, as well as the general state of the patient.

Radiation therapy - The use of ionizing radiation to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. Radiation therapy can be administered externally via external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) or internally via brachytherapy.

Surgery - In theory, non-hematological cancers can be cured if entirely removed by surgery, but this is not always possible. When the cancer has metastasized to other sites in the body prior to surgery, complete surgical excision is usually impossible.

Chemotherapy - The treatment of cancer with drugs ("anticancer drugs") that can destroy cancer cells. In current usage, the term "chemotherapy" usually refers to cytotoxic drugs which affect rapidly dividing cells in general, in contrast with targeted therapy (see below). Chemotherapy drugs interfere with cell division in various possible ways, e.g. with the duplication of DNA or the separation of newly formed chromosomes.

Cancer symptoms can be generally divided into three groups:

Symptoms of metastasis (spreading): enlarged lymph nodes, cough and hemoptysis, hepatomegaly (enlarged liver), bone pain, fracture of affected bones and neurological symptoms. Although advanced cancer may cause pain, it is often not the first symptom.

Local symptoms: unusual lumps or swelling (tumor), hemorrhage (bleeding), pain and/or ulceration. Compression of surrounding tissues may cause symptoms such as jaundice (yellowing the eyes and skin).

Systemic symptoms: weight loss, poor appetite, fatigue and cachexia (wasting), excessive sweating (night sweats), anemia and specific paraneoplastic phenomena, i.e. specific conditions that are due to an active cancer, such as thrombosis or hormonal changes.

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Further Information Regarding Cancer

MicroRNA Replacement Therapy may Stop Cancer
A new study suggests that delivering small RNAs, known as microRNAs, to cancer cells could help to stop the disease in its tracks. microRNAs control gene expression and are commonly lost in cancerous tumors.

New Treatment Safe for Head and Neck Cancer Patients
Patients undergoing treatment for advanced head and neck cancers may respond well to the addition of gefinitib to chemotherapy, according to a study sponsored by the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group.

Personalized Cancer Treatment: New Direction for RNAi Delivery
In technology that promises to one day allow drug delivery to be tailored to an individual patient and a particular cancer tumor, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, have developed an efficient system for delivering siRNA into primary cells.

Gel Studied as Treatment for Esophageal Cancer
The unique drug therapy delivers a highly concentrated dose of chemotherapy injected directly on to the hard-to-reach tumors in the esophagus non-surgically. Researchers at Rush are trying to determine if the gel treatment can reduce the size of the cancerous tumors.

Acupressure Wristbands Ease Nausea with Cancer Treatment
Cancer patients who wore acupressure wristbands had much less nausea while receiving radiation treatment, making the bands a safe, low-cost addition to anti-nausea medication, according to a study published in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management by University of Rochester Medical Center researchers.

Thyroid Cancer Information
Early thyroid cancer often does not have symptoms. But as the cancer grows, symptoms may include a lump in the front of the neck; hoarseness or voice changes; swollen lymph nodes in the neck; trouble swallowing or breathing; and pain in the throat or neck that does not go away.

Ureter Cancer Information
Ureter Cancer forms in transitional cells in the lining of the bladder, ureter, or renal pelvis. Risk factors can include prolonged misuse of certain pain medications, smoking cigarettes, exposure to certain dyes and chemicals used in making leather goods, textiles, plastics and/or rubber.

Small Intestine Cancer
Small Intestine Cancer forms in tissues of the small intestine. The most common type is Adenocarcinoma. Most of these tumors occur in the part of the small intestine near the stomach. They may grow and block the intestine.

Malignant Salivary Tumors - Rare Cancer
Malignant Salivary Tumors is a rare cancer that forms in tissues of salivary glands in the floor of the mouth and throughout the oropharynx, the parotid glands and the submandibular glands.

Head and Neck Cancers - Carcinoma
Head and Neck Carcinoma includes those cancers that arise in the head or neck region (e.g., nasal cavity, sinuses, lips, mouth, tongue, throat, or larynx).

Gallbladder Cancers
Gallbladder Cancers includes cancers that are formed in tissues of the gallbladder and the bile ducts in the liver (biliary system). Gallbladder cancer is a disease in which malignant (cancer) cells form in the tissues of the gallbladder. It begins in the innermost layer of tissue and spreads through the outer layers as it grows.

Esophageal Cancer
Esophageal cancer originates from the lining of the esophagus and presents as either squamous cell carcinoma (cancer that begins in flat cells lining the esophagus) or adenocarcinoma (cancer that begins in cells that make and release mucus and other fluids).

Osteosarcoma - Bone Cancer
Osteosarcoma is the most common type of bone cancer. It usually affects the large bones of the arm or leg and occurs most often in younger individuals. It affects more males than females. In children and adolescents, tumors appear most often in the bones around the knee.

Bladder Carcinoma - Bladder Cancer
Bladder Carcinoma is a disease in which malignant cells form in the tissues of the bladder. Most bladder cancers are transitional cell carcinomas.

Anaplastic Adrenal Cancer
Adrenocortical cancers (ACs) are uncommon malignancies that can have protean clinical manifestations. Adrenocortical masses are common; autopsy studies show that approximately 5-15% of the general adult population may have adrenal incidentalomas.

Adrenal Cancer Information
Adrenal Cancer forms in the outer tissue layer of the adrenal gland. Adrenocortical Carcinoma is also called Cancer of the Adrenal Cortex.

New Cancer Gene Identified
Researchers have identified a new cancer gene - one that is common to many cancers and affects the most basic regulation of our genes. The new example - a gene on the X chromosome called UTX - is found in 10% of cases of multiple myeloma and 8% of esophageal cancers.

Researchers Discover Molecular Interplay that Moves Cancer Cells
Based on research that reveals new insight into mechanisms that allow invasive tumor cells to move, researchers at the Mayo Clinic campus in Florida have a new understanding about how to stop cancer from spreading.

High Dosage Brachytherapy For Head and Neck Tumors
High-dosage perioperative brachytherapy (applied within the surgical process) obtains excellent results in the treatment of head and neck tumours, at the same time as reducing the period of radiation.

Radiation for Cancer Treatment
Radiation therapy is one of a number of treatments used in the treatment of cancer, either by itself, or in combination with additional types of treatment; most often chemotherapy or surgery. Radiation therapy is also referred to as, "Radiotherapy".

Chemotherapy for Cancer Treatment
The term, "Chemotherapy," is a general one used in association with any treatment involving the use of chemical agents to stop cancer cell growth. Chemotherapy may eliminate cancerous cells at sites which are at great distances from the original site of cancer development.

Calcium Intake Lowers Cancer Risk in Women
Women with higher intake of calcium appear to have a lower risk of cancer overall, and both men and women with high calcium intakes have lower risks of colorectal cancer and other cancers of the digestive system, according to a report in the February 23 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Starve Cancer Tumors of Blood
The development of cancerous tumors is highly dependent on the nutrients the tumors receive through the blood. The team of Dr. Janusz Rak, of the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Center (MUHC) at the Montreal Children's Hospital, including Dr. Khalid Al-Nedawi and Brian Meehan, has just discovered a new mechanism that tumors use to stimulate the growth of the blood vessels that feed them.

Cancer Fighting Foods
100 years ago cancer was a rare disease; today it has become a major problem in the industrialized world. Ask yourself these 2 questions; what did we eat back then and what do we eat nowadays? You will agree our food has changed dramatically over the last few decades and our choices now are often made from advertisements because we are influenced by them.

Radiation Treatments - Preparing for and Having Radiation Treatments
Having radiation treatment is sometimes part of having cancer, which can be scary if you are not sure what to expect. I have included an excerpt from my book, Navigating Across the Unpredictable "C", a true life story about the trials and triumphs of living with cancer which has some tips on what to expect prior to having radiation treatment.

New Genes that Fuse in Cancer
Using new technologies that make it easier to sequence the human genome, researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have identified a series of genes that become fused when their chromosomes trade places with each other. These recurrent gene fusions are thought to be the driving mechanism that causes certain cancers to develop.

Research Shows Cell Inactive State Critical for Cancer Treatment
A new study sheds light on a little understood biological process called quiescence, which enables blood-forming stem cells to exist in a dormant or inactive state in which they are not growing or dividing. Researchers identified the genetic pathway used to maintain a cell's quiescence, a state that allows bone marrow cells to escape the lethal effects of standard cancer treatments.

Dormant Cancer Cells rely on Cellular Cannibalization to Survive
A team found that expression of a gene called ARHI acts as a switch for autophagy, or self-cannibalization, in ovarian cancer cells. Often a mechanism for cancer cell death, in this case "self-eating" acts as a survival mechanism for dormant cancer cells.

Diets to Prevent Cancer
A hundred years ago when cancer was almost unheard of, we were all eating food that was freshly grown or was grown in our own gardens. Today, nearly all of our food is in supermarkets and has been processed and interfered with by man.