Did you know that last year around 96 lakhs people worldwide and 8 lakh people in India died due to cancer? According to the World Health Organization(WHO) cancer stands in the second position in terms of causes of death worldwide.
Cancer is a broad term given to related diseases. The one thing they all have in common is uncontrolled or unregulated cell growth. Typically our body controls specific cell growth to maintain proper function and keep different systems separated. While specific cells divide uncontrollably and potentially invade surrounding tissues, then this is called cancer. Some grow fast,
What is Cancer:
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| What is Cancer? |
Cancer is a broad term given to related diseases. The one thing they all have in common is uncontrolled or unregulated cell growth. Typically our body controls specific cell growth to maintain proper function and keep different systems separated. While specific cells divide uncontrollably and potentially invade surrounding tissues, then this is called cancer. Some grow fast,
It can also spread through the bloodstream or lymphatic system– not just to surrounding tissues. There are over a hundred kinds of cancer, and it's impossible to screen or prevent all of them, as cancer, in general, is very difficult to predict.
But there are many that we can test for and help prevent. Talk to your primary care provider at a yearly physical to discuss your personalized, routine screening recommendations. You can also learn more at CDC.gov or mcfarlandclinic.com.
What are the types of cancer:
There are numerous different types of cancers, and each organ in the body such as the breast, lungs, prostate gland, thyroid gland, large intestine, adrenal gland and the kidney all can lead to abnormal cells which can be diagnosed as cancer. So each organ can have its type of cancer; in general, there are three major types of cancers.
There are so-called common epithelial cancers which include cancers of the breast, lung, colon and prostate, that can be cancers of soft tissues which are known as sarcomas. There can be cancers of the bone, which are known as osteogenic sarcoma or they can be cancers of the blood-forming organs or the lymph nodes which are called either leukaemia.
In the case of cancers of the blood-forming cells while lymphoma, which is the cancer of the lymph nodes, so in general, there are many different types of individual cancers that can develop from these organs.
Although there's not a specific number of different kinds of diseases, we can categorize cancers according to epithelial cancers such as breast colon, lung, prostate or liver sarcomas which are cancers of connective tissue of bone and leukaemias and lymphomas which are cancers of the blood-forming organs.
The most common type of cancer is skin cancer, and skin cancer comes in three primary forms called squamous, carcinoma or basal cell carcinoma of the much more aggressive type of skin cancer known as melanoma. There are also lesser frequent forms of cancer called small cell cancer.
In the case of lung cancer, there are four significant forms of cancer in the lung called adenocarcinoma, squamous carcinoma, large cell carcinoma or something that's called small cell carcinoma. Those are the primary forms of cancer.
Within breast cancer, the most common form is called an infiltrating ductal adenocarcinoma. Within a liver, the most common type is called hepatocellular carcinoma.
Within the pancreas, the most common type is called pancreatic adenocarcinoma. So each organ can have its form of cancer, and as we mentioned in some of the organs that can be many many different types of actual cancers that can develop in that organ.
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| Breast Cancer |
Causes of Cancer:
Cancer can happen in any part of our body, globally the most cases of cancer are of Lung cancer and breast cancer. Defects (Mutation) in DNA can indeed come at any time. But if we do not keep our body healthy, then these defects can become more enhanced.
Like we can take the example of typing whenever we type with a keyboard the chances of committing a mistake is always there but if we are tired or sleepy or ill, then these mistakes become more frequent. Likewise, there are many factors because of which changes in our DNA can come, and we can suffer from cancer.
On the top, comes the use of tobacco and according to WHO, 22% of the people dying of cancer, die due to the use of tobacco. By the way, if you want to know what is there in a cigarette because of which we can get cancer.
You can see that video by clicking here. Consumption of tobacco, alcohol, bad eating habits with low fruit and vegetable intake and lack of physical activity are counted as the four significant causes of cancer.
Along with that, due to some infection caused by bacteria and viruses, one may develop cancer like HPV or Hepatitis B Virus. Some radiations can be so intense that they can cause changes in the DNA of our cells. And because of which we can get cancer.
One of its most significant examples is UV rays. As we grow old, the chances of having cancer are also increased because it has been observed that as we grow old, the ability to correct the problems inside us decreases.
According to data, in the world, around 30-50% of cancer cases can be prevented by rectifying our habits. By the way, more than half the diseases occur because of our unhealthy lifestyle. We need to pour chemicals inside us, eat unhealthy food and not want to do any exercise but we don't want any disease, and we don't want cancer either this can't be happening.
Treatment for different types of Cancer:
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| Treatment for types of Cancer |
Radiotherapy has been used to treat cancer for over a century, but new technology is making it modern and precise. It works by aiming intense bundles of energy at cancer cells damaging their DNA. If a cancer cell can't repair its damaged DNA, it dies, but the radiation also damages nearby healthy cells. This is what causes side-effects in neighbouring tissue.
This treatment is given using x-rays and new experimental techniques or improving accuracy. MRI scans could help track tumours that are difficult to pinpoint, such as lung cancers that move as we breathe. Experimental MRI guided radiotherapy is being designed, so it only fires the radiation when the tumour is in its crosshairs shapes.
The radiation beam matches the tumour. This reduces the damage to surrounding healthy tissue and a technique called Sabre. It uses more intense radiation beams that give a higher chance of killing the tumour cells and means patients need fewer Hospital trips to finish their treatment.
One problem with x-rays is they continue to travel through the body after they hit the tumour. This damages cells but a different type of radiation given by proton beam therapy stops when it hits the tumour. This spares the tissue behind and helps treat tumours in sensitive locations. Radiotherapy that's given from inside the body can precisely kill cancer cells.
Thyroid cancer can be treated with a radioactive iodine drink. The radioactive iodine is taken up by thyroid cells, but not others and so has few side effects. Brachytherapy is a surgical technique where a radioactive implant is placed inside the tumour.
The implants can be tiny metal pellets or wires, and they put the radiation precisely where it's needed. These different techniques help make radiotherapy more precise, minimizing the damage to healthy cells, and thorough research, this reduces side-effects and could speed up recovery time.
Conclusion:
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