Questions and Answers about Cancer

What is cancer?
Cancer is a group of many related diseases. All cancers begin in cells, the building blocks that make up tissues. Cancer that arises from organs and solid tissues is called a solid tumor. Cancer that begins in blood cells is called leukemia, multiple myeloma, or lymphoma.

Normally, cells grow and divide to form new cells as the body needs them. When cells grow old and die, new cells take their place. Sometimes this orderly process goes wrong. New cells form when the body does not need them, and old cells do not die when they should.

The extra cells form a mass of tissue, called a growth or tumor. Tumors can be either benign (not cancerous) or malignant (cancerous). Benign tumors do not spread to other parts of the body, and they are rarely a threat to life. Malignant tumors can spread (metastasize) and may be life threatening.

What is primary cancer?
Cancer can begin in any organ or tissue of the body. The original tumor is called the primary cancer or primary tumor. It is usually named for the part of the body or the type of cell in which it begins.

What is metastasis, and how does it happen?
Metastasis means the spread of cancer. Cancer cells can break away from a primary tumor and enter the bloodstream or lymphatic system (the system that produces, stores, and carries the cells that fight infections). That is how cancer cells spread to other parts of the body.

When cancer cells spread and form a new tumor in a different organ, the new tumor is a metastatic tumor. The cells in the metastatic tumor come from the original tumor. This means, for example, that if breast cancer spreads to the lungs, the metastatic tumor in the lung is made up of cancerous breast cells (not lung cells). In this case, the disease in the lungs is metastatic breast cancer (not lung cancer). Under a microscope, metastatic breast cancer cells generally look the same as the cancer cells in the breast.


Where does cancer spread?
Cancer cells can spread to almost any part of the body. Cancer cells frequently spread to lymph nodes (rounded masses of lymphatic tissue) near the primary tumor (regional lymph nodes). This is called lymph node involvement or regional disease. Cancer that spreads to other organs or to lymph nodes far from the primary tumor is called metastatic disease. Doctors sometimes also call this distant disease.

The most common sites of metastasis from solid tumors are the lungs, bones, liver, and brain. Some cancers tend to spread to certain parts of the body. For example, lung cancer often metastasizes to the brain or bones, and colon cancer frequently spreads to the liver. Prostate cancer tends to spread to the bones. Breast cancer commonly spreads to the bones, lungs, liver, or brain. However, each of these cancers can spread to other parts of the body as well.

Because blood cells travel throughout the body, leukemia, multiple myeloma, and lymphoma cells are usually not localized when the cancer is diagnosed. Tumor cells may be found in the blood, several lymph nodes, or other parts of the body such as the liver or bones. This type of spread is not referred to as metastasis.

Melanoma

Melanoma is a malignant tumor of melanocytes which are found predominantly in skin but also in the bowel and the eye (see uveal melanoma). It is one of the less common types of skin cancer but causes the majority of skin cancer related deaths. Malignant melanoma is a serious type of skin cancer. It is due to uncontrolled growth of pigment cells, called melanocytes.Despite many years of intensive laboratory and clinical research, the sole effective cure is surgical resection of the primary tumor before it achieves a Breslow thickness greater than 1 mm.

Around 160,000 new cases of melanoma are diagnosed nationally each year, and it is more frequent in males and Caucasians. It is more common in Caucasian populations living in sunny climates than in other groups. According to a WHO report about 48,000 melanoma related deaths occur worldwide per year.

Malignant melanoma accounts for 75 % of all deaths associated with skin cancer.

The treatment includes surgical removal of the tumor, adjuvant treatment, chemo- and immunotherapy, or radiation therapy.

Detection

To detect melanomas (and increase survival rates), it is recommended to learn what they look like (see “ABCD” mnemonic below), to be aware of moles and check for changes (shape, size, color, itching or bleeding) and to show any suspicious moles to a doctor with an interest and skills in skin malignancy.

A popular method for remembering the signs and symptoms of melanoma is the mnemonic “ABCDE”:

* Asymmetrical skin lesion.
* Border of the lesion is irregular.
* Color: melanomas usually have multiple colors.
* Diameter: moles greater than 6 mm are more likely to be melanomas than smaller moles.
* Enlarging: Enlarging or evolving

job hazards in Lung Cancer

As we know cigarettes are the most important cause of lung cancer,But chemicals and other on-the-job hazards "play a remarkable role" in lung cancer risk.

5% of lung cancers in men are job-related. Men in the known to be risky occupations were 74% more likely to have been diagnosed with lung cancer.

The strongest associations were seen for ceramic and pottery jobs and brick manufacturing, as well as for those working in manufacturing of non-iron metals.

A Chest X-Ray shows a right upper lobe (RUL) mass due to lung cancer.

Risk Factors for Cancer

Cancer doesn't discriminate, and anyone can get this disease. However, some factors can increase your likelihood of developing cancer.

Cervical Health:How to reduce the risk of cervical cancer.

It's time to ask yourself if you're doing all you can to reduce your risk of cervical cancer. So what's the best way to protect your cervix? For starters, you should know the facts about HPV.
HPV or human papillomavirus, is a sexually transmitted virus responsible for causing genital warts and has been linked to cervical cancer as well as other cancers. Women under thirty can decrease their risk of HPV infection by getting the HPV vaccine and/or using a condom during sexual intercourse. Regular pap smears are also recommended for women 21-30 to detect any abnormal changes in the cells around the cervix.

According to the American Cancer Society, between 60% and 80% of women diagnosed with cervical cancer have not had a pap smear in the past 5 fears. The ACS website advises that “women who have their Pap tests as often as they should are least likely to get cervix cancer.” Women who are at a higher risk of cervical cancer include those who have HPV and it doesn't go away, those who have HIV or AIDS and those who smoke.

For women over 35, however, replacing pap smears with HPV testing may be more effective, according to a new Italian study. Researchers studied a group of Italian women for over three years and found that HPV testing in women over 35 led to fewer cervical cancer deaths. Once women over 35 receive a negative HPV test, they can wait five years before their next test, according to the researchers. HPV testing in place of a pap smear would not be suitable for women under 35, however, since most HPV infections in young women clear up on their own.
A separate study at McGill University in Canada found that 56% of college couples have HPV.The researchers gave questionnaires to 263 college students between the ages of 18 and 24. The participants had been sexually active with their partners for no longer than six months. The study found that HPV spreads quickly in new sexual relationships; most of the couples were infected with HPV within the first couple months after they began having sex. The researchers stressed the need for prevention. 44% of the participants had the type of HPV that causes cancer.

According to the CDC, about 50% of sexually active people will be infected with HPV, but most will not experience any symptoms and the virus will usually clear up on its own. The American Cancer Society also stresses that though most women who have sex will get HPV, most of them will not develop cervical cancer.