Cancer

Cancer is abnormal and uncontrolled growth of cells in human body. The cells divide at a very faster rate and even rupture to infect other tissues. They may travel in the blood stream or the lymph fluid. There are close to 100 different types of cancer. They are named after the organ they infect or originate from. Broadly cancer can be categorized as

1.       Carcinoma

2.       Sarcoma

3.       Leukemia

4.       Lymphoma and Myeloma

5.       Central Nervous System (CNS) Cancer

Carcinoma is a cancer that begins in skin and the tissues lining internal organs. Sarcoma is cancer of the bones, cartilages, blood vessels or muscle. Leukemia is blood cancer and CNS cancer is the cancer of brain and spinal cord. Other common types of cancers are bladder cancer, breast cancer , colon and rectal cancer, endometrial cancer, renal cell cancer, lung cancer , pancreatic cancer, prostate cancer and thyroid cancer. Cancer can be detected by strange growth of body tissues, biopsy and other tests.

Stages in Cancer

All forms of Cancer start at the cellular level. In a normal body, whenever there is a damaged cell, it is discarded by the body. Cancer damages the genetic composition of a cell and alters the DNA coding. Once the DNA of a cell is changed by a carcinogen, the cells do not die and such cells accumulate to form a callus of dead cells called tumor. There are 2 types of tumors

1.       Benign tumor

2.       Malignant tumor

Benign tumors can be treated by surgically treating them by removal and they do not spread over to other parts of the body. However, if benign tumor starts spreading, they are termed malignant and they also infest the neighbor organs and cells. Malignant tumors are cancerous and their spreading to other organs is termed as metastasis.

Causes of Cancer

Cancer causing agents are called carcinogens. Smoking, tobacco, inheritance, exposure to radioactive substances, exposure to UV Radiations, unsafe sex, lack of physical activity, blood transfusion and environmental factors are the major causes of different forms of cancer.

1.       Smoking is responsible for one-third of all cancer fatalities. Almost all cases of lung cancer can be associated to smoking. Smoking Is also known to cause kidney, cervical and stomach cancer.

2.       Chewing tobacco causes oral cancer. Like smoking it may also triggers cancerous activity in kidney, cervical and stomach. It is also known to cause acute myeloid leukemia.

3.       If you have a family history of cancer then it is very likely that you have inherited a mutant gene. It stays in passive mode in most of the cases and in such cases you need to be extra cautious

4.       People who work at nuclear plant bear a great risk of gene mutation and this may cause various cancers.

5.       Exposure to UV Rays from sun is known to cause skin cancer.

6.       Unsafe sex causes infection by human papillioma virus or HPV. HPV increases the risk of cervical, vulvar and vaginal cancer.

7.       Exercising regularly helps fight obesity which is known to cause prostate, colon, breast, endometrial and lung cancer.

8.       If the blood donor has any form of cancer, he greatly has the chances of transferring cancerous cells through his blood to the recipient.

9.       Environmental factors like asbestos dust, exposure to benzene, gasoline or various pollutants is also known to causes cancers.

Treatment

Cancer can be treated by the following methods:

1.       Chemotherapy includes killing of micro- organisms, mutant and cancerous cells by exposure to chemicals

2.       Radio therapy or radiation therapy is used to treat certain forms of cancer by exposing the affected area or organ to ionized radiations

3.       The affected region or organ can also be surgically removed to remove and discard the cancerous cells and preventing them from spreading further

4.       Other treatment may include angiogenesis inhibitors therapy by cutting out blood supply to tumors, biological therapy, bone marrow transplant, peripheral blood stem cell transplant, gene therapy and targeted cancer therapies