Cancer – Causes, Treatments and Prevention
Cancer is a disease that develops when cells start to grow and divide without control or order. It starts in one part of the body and then moves to other parts of the body, where it forms a tumor or lump. It also can spread to other parts of the body through the blood or lymph system. If the cancer is in an early stage, it may not cause any symptoms and can be hard to diagnose. If the cancer is in a later stage, it may cause pain and other symptoms. New treatments are constantly being developed and tested. These include drugs that block the blood supply that tumours need to grow, drugs that correct the genetic defects that lead to cancer and treatments that help the body’s immune system fight the cancer.
Some people develop cancer because of changes (mutations) in genes that control how cells grow and divide. Mutations usually happen during normal cell growth, but sometimes they can change cells so that they no longer behave normally and begin to grow and spread. Some gene mutations are inherited, which means they can be passed down from parents to children. Others occur when a person is exposed to something that can cause DNA damage, such as smoking or sun exposure. Inherited gene mutations contribute to about 5-10 percent of cancer cases.
Different types of cancer can be treated with surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Other treatments that are being developed are targeted treatment, which zeroes in on specific molecules inside cancer cells that allow them to grow and spread and use energy, and hormone therapy, which blocks or lowers the amount of certain substances that cancer cells need to grow.
The type of cancer and where it is in the body determines which treatments will work best. Treatment also depends on how much the cancer has spread and what parts of the body are affected.
Cancer that has spread to the brain or nervous system may cause headaches and stroke-like symptoms, such as weakness on one side of the body. It can also cause problems with the bones, such as spinal cord compression (bone pressure on nerves) and a fractured pelvis. Some cancers can make the immune system attack healthy cells, a reaction called paraneoplastic syndrome.
Surgery is the oldest and most common form of cancer treatment. It involves removing the cancer and some surrounding healthy tissue. Surgery can be open (with larger incisions) or minimally invasive (using smaller incisions). Radiation therapy uses high-energy rays to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors, and it can be given externally, internally or as a liquid or pill you swallow or an injection that goes into a vein, called a port.
Chemotherapy is a group of drugs that kill cancer cells and destroy some of the normal tissue around them. It can be given as an IV infusion, as a shot, through a catheter placed into a large blood vessel of the chest (called a port) or as a pump that attaches to a catheter or port and delivers chemotherapy medication continuously.
Cancer is a disease that develops when cells start to grow and divide without control or order. It starts in one part of the body and then moves to other parts of the body, where it forms a tumor or lump. It also can spread to other parts of the body through the blood or lymph system. If the cancer is in an early stage, it may not cause any symptoms and can be hard to diagnose. If the cancer is in a later stage, it may cause pain and other symptoms. New treatments are constantly being developed and tested. These include drugs that block the blood supply that tumours need to grow, drugs that correct the genetic defects that lead to cancer and treatments that help the body’s immune system fight the cancer. Some people develop cancer because of changes (mutations) in genes that control how cells grow and divide. Mutations usually happen during normal cell growth, but sometimes they can change cells so that they no longer behave normally and begin to grow and spread. Some gene mutations are inherited, which means they can be passed down from parents to children. Others occur when a person is exposed to something that can cause DNA damage, such as smoking or sun exposure. Inherited gene mutations contribute to about 5-10 percent of cancer cases. Different types of cancer can be treated with surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Other treatments that are being developed are targeted treatment, which zeroes in on specific molecules inside cancer cells that allow them to grow and spread and use energy, and hormone therapy, which blocks or lowers the amount of certain substances that cancer cells need to grow. The type of cancer and where it is in the body determines which treatments will work best. Treatment also depends on how much the cancer has spread and what parts of the body are affected. Cancer that has spread to the brain or nervous system may cause headaches and stroke-like symptoms, such as weakness on one side of the body. It can also cause problems with the bones, such as spinal cord compression (bone pressure on nerves) and a fractured pelvis. Some cancers can make the immune system attack healthy cells, a reaction called paraneoplastic syndrome. Surgery is the oldest and most common form of cancer treatment. It involves removing the cancer and some surrounding healthy tissue. Surgery can be open (with larger incisions) or minimally invasive (using smaller incisions). Radiation therapy uses high-energy rays to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors, and it can be given externally, internally or as a liquid or pill you swallow or an injection that goes into a vein, called a port. Chemotherapy is a group of drugs that kill cancer cells and destroy some of the normal tissue around them. It can be given as an IV infusion, as a shot, through a catheter placed into a large blood vessel of the chest (called a port) or as a pump that attaches to a catheter or port and delivers chemotherapy medication continuously.