Cancer, also called malignancy, is an abnormal growth of cells, which can invade and destroy surrounding healthy tissue, including organ. Cancer sometimes begins in one part of the body before spreading to other areas. This process is known as metastasis.
There are more than 100 types of cancer, including breast cancer, skin cancer, lung cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer, and lymphoma.
Breast cancer is the second most common cancer in women after skin cancer.
As in all forms of cancer, the abnormal tissue that makes up breast cancer is the patient's own cells that have multiplied uncontrollably. Those cells may also travel to locations in the body where they are not normally found. When that happens, the cancer is called metastatic.
Although the precise causes of breast cancer are unclear, we know what the main risk factors are. Among the most significant factors are advancing age and family history.Researchers have now identified two genes responsible for some instances of familial breast cancer -- BRCA1 and BRCA2. About one woman in 200 carries one of these genes. Having a BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene predisposes a woman to breast cancer, and while it does not ensure that she will get breast cancer, her lifetime risk is 45%-80%. These genes also predispose to ovarian cancer and are associated with pancreas cancer, melanoma, and male breast cancer (BRCA2).
Lung cancer is a disease in which malignant (cancer) cells form in the tissues of the lung. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in both men and women. Lung cancer includes two main types: non-small cell lung cancer and small cell lung cancer. Smoking causes most lung cancers, but nonsmokers can also develop lung cancer.
The following are risk factors for lung cancer:
Cigarette, cigar, and pipe smoking / Secondhand smoke / Family history / HIV infection / Environmental risk factors / Beta carotene supplements in heavy smokers
Liver cancer is a disease in which malignant (cancer) cells form in the tissues of the liver.
Hepatocellular cancer (HCC) can have different growth patterns:
Some begin as a single tumor that grows larger. Only late in the disease does it spread to other parts of the liver.
A second type seems to start as many small cancer nodules throughout the liver, not just a single tumor. This is seen most often in people with cirrhosis (chronic liver damage).
Worldwide, the most common risk factor for liver cancer is chronic (long-term) infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) or hepatitis C virus (HCV).
Cirrhosis / Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease / Primary biliary cirrhosis / Inherited metabolic diseases / Heavy alcohol use / Obesity / Certain rare diseases
Diseases that increase the risk of liver cancer include: Tyrosinemia / Alpha1-antitrypsin deficiency / Porphyria cutanea tarda / Glycogen storage diseases / Wilson disease
It's cancer of your blood cells caused by a rise in the number of white blood cells in your body. They crowd out the red blood cells and platelets your body needs to be healthy. All those extra white blood cells don't work right, and that causes problems.
No one knows exactly what causes leukemia. People who have it have certain abnormal chromosomes, but the chromosomes don't cause the leukemia.
You can't really prevent leukemia, but it may be possible that certain things in your environment could trigger the development of it. For example, if you are a tobacco smoker, you are more prone to some types of leukemia than a nonsmoker.
It's also associated with a high amount of radiation exposure and certain chemicals.
Some kinds of chemotherapy and radiation therapy used to treat other cancers can actually cause leukemia. The chance that you'll develop leukemia depends on the types of chemotherapy drugs used.
Family history is another risk factor for leukemia. For example, if an identical twin gets a certain type of leukemia, there is a 20% chance the other twin will have it within a year.
The earlier cancer is diagnosed and treated, the better the chance of its being cured. Some types of cancer - such as those of the skin, breast, mouth, testicles, prostate, and rectum - may be detected by routine self-exam or other screening measures before the symptoms become serious.
Cancer diagnosis begins with a thorough physical exam and a complete medical history. Laboratory studies of blood, urine, and stool can detect abnormalities that may indicate cancer.
If your doctor says you should get a lymph node biopsy, it's because he needs to check for signs of disease, such as cancer. He takes out a small piece of one of your lymph nodes and sends it to a specialist, who will look at it under a microscope.
A bone biopsy is a test that takes a sample of tissue or cells from your bone to check for cancer or other bone diseases. The sample comes from the outer part of your bone. It's different from a marrow biopsy, which takes the cells from deep inside.
Needle biopsy uses a special needle to remove the sample.
Open biopsy removes the piece of bone through an opening in your skin. You'd have this type of biopsy if the doctor needs a larger sample.
These tests can show whether you have cancer or another problem. You might get anxious over the thought that you might have cancer or over having the procedure. That's a natural reaction, but it's important to have the test done.
It can help your doctor diagnose you and find the right treatment.
A computed tomography (CT or CAT) scan allows doctors to see inside your body. It uses a combination of X-rays and a computer to create pictures of your organs, bones, and other tissues. It shows more detail than a regular X-ray.
You can get a CT scan on any part of your body. The procedure doesn't take very long, and it's painless.
Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) is a test that "maps" the genetic material in human cells, including specific genes or portions of genes.
Because a FISH test can detect genetic abnormalities associated with cancer, it's useful for diagnosing some types of the disease. When the type of cancerhas previously been diagnosed, a FISH test also may provide additional information to help predict a patient's outcome and whether he or she is likely to respond to chemotherapy drugs.
Doctors don't always see obvious signs of cancer growth after a diagnosis. They need to hunt for clues. One way they can do that is with a carcinoembryonic antigen test. It measures a protein called CEA in the blood.
People with some types of cancers have higher than normal levels of this substance. This test helps your doctor find out if yours has grown and whether your treatment has worked.
Most people with cancer will have some type of surgery. The main goal is to remove tumors, tissue, or areas with cancer cells, such as lymph nodes. Doctors also may do it to diagnose the disease or find out how serious it is.
In many cases, surgery offers the best chance of getting rid of the disease, especially if it hasn't spread to other parts of the body.
Chemotherapy is one of the most common treatments for cancer. It uses certain drugs to kill cancer cells or to stop them from growing and spreading to other parts of your body. Your doctor might prescribe chemo by itself or with surgery or radiation therapy. You might also take newer kinds of cancer-fighting drugs along with chemotherapy.
You can take chemo as pills or shots. You might go to a clinic or hospital so you can get the drugs through an IV, what doctors call an infusion.
This common treatment uses high-energy particles or waves to destroy or damage cancer cells to keep them from spreading. It might be your only treatment, or you might get it along with surgery or chemotherapy.
Radiation itself isn't painful, but afterward you may have pain, fatigue, and skin rashes around the place you got the treatment. Side effects depend on where your cancer is. For example, if you're having head or neck radiation, you may get a dry mouth.
Targeted therapy is a type of treatment that uses drugs or other substances to identify and attack specific cancer cells without harming normal cells. Monoclonal antibodies, tyrosine kinase inhibitors, cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors, mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitors, and PARP inhibitors are types of targeted therapies used in the treatment of breast cancer.
Monoclonal antibody therapy is a cancer treatment that uses antibodies made in the laboratory, from a single type of immune system cell. These antibodies can identify substances on cancer cells or normal substances that may help cancer cells grow.
The antibodies attach to the substances and kill the cancer cells, block their growth, or keep them from spreading. Monoclonal antibodies are given by infusion. They may be used alone or to carry drugs, toxins, or radioactive material directly to cancer cells. Monoclonal antibodies may be used in combination with chemotherapy as adjuvant therapy.
Exercise can help control fatigue, muscle tension, and anxiety in those with cancer.
Exercise is a synergistic agent for cancer treatment, said by Robert Newton, foundation Professor in Exercise and Sports Science, and Co-Director of the Exercise Medicine Research Institute and Associate Dean Medical and Exercise Sciences at Edith Cowan University, Perth, Western Australia.
In addition to helping patients to better endure treatment, exercise can directly affect the development of cancer. It also helps patients improve their quality of life, appetite and treatment tolerance associated with physical condition through specific aerobic exercise and resistance training programs.
Exercise prescription refers to a method that prescribes the content and amount of exercise in the form of a prescription for an individual's physical condition. It is characterized by different people and drugs for "symptoms".
According to the medical examination (including exercise test and physical strength test), and their health, physical strength and disease status, the types, intensity, time and frequency of exercise should be stipulated to guide people to exercise purposefully, in a planned and scientific way. Put forward the precautions in the exercise to ensure the effectiveness and safety of the exercise prescription!
Making a prescription for exercise generally involves three steps: physical examination and evaluation, exercise testing, and physical fitness testing.
Develop principles of personalization, specialization, safety, and timely adjustment.
Psychological therapies improve quality of life for cancer patients by alleviating pain, nausea, vomiting & anxiety and encourage expression of emotions to feel less lonely, less anxious about the future, more optimistic about recovery. How does psychological stress affect people who have cancer?
People who have cancer may find the physical, emotional, and social effects of the disease to be stressful. Those who attempt to manage their stress with risky behaviors such as smoking or drinking alcohol or who become more sedentary may have a poorer quality of life after cancer treatment. In contrast, people who are able to use effective coping strategies to deal with stress, such as relaxation and stress management techniques, have been shown to have lower levels of depression, anxiety, and symptoms related to the cancer and its treatment.
People bearing human tumors may keep confined or isolated from other people—conditions that increase stress—their tumors would be more likely to grow and spread (metastasize). Studies in human cancer cells grown in the laboratory have found that the stress hormone norepinephrine, part of the body's fight-or-flight response system, may promote angiogenesis and metastasis
How can people who have cancer learn to cope with psychological stress?
Emotional and social support can help patients learn to cope with psychological stress. Such support can reduce levels of depression, anxiety, and disease- and treatment-related symptoms among patients. Approaches can include the following: Training in relaxation, meditation, or stress management
Counseling or talk therapy / Cancer education sessions / Social support in a group setting / Medications for depression or anxiety / Relaxation training / Biofeedback / Mental imagery exercises / Problem-solving / Plan for events that may happen in the future / Change beliefs that are not true / Distraction / Thought stopping / Positive though
Malnutrition can seriously affect the quality of life and anti-tumor effect of cancer patients, the course and outcome of the disease and the overall survival of patients. A study by the cancer nutrition and support committee of the Chinese cancer society found that the incidence of moderate and severe malnutrition among inpatients with cancer in China is as high as 57% . Foreign studies have reported that 20% of cancer patients die directly from malnutrition.
Malnutrition is the main cause of morbidity and mortality in cancer patients, so patients must prevent the occurrence of malnutrition or prevent the development of existing malnutrition. Progressive weight loss is a common feature of many tumors, and maintaining a healthy weight can be a necessary therapeutic goal for cancer patients.
Severe malnutrition can kill cancer patients! Even let the previous hard treatment in vain! Only good nutritional status can help cancer patients successfully complete the treatment process.
It is especially important for patients with tumors who have preoperative, postoperative, radiotherapy or chemotherapy, or potential healers who have completed anti-tumor therapy, tumor-bearing survivors, and cancer patients who are in disease remission and observation period!
For healthy adults, there is no difficulty in adjusting the diet to get nutrition and calories, but for cancer patients, eating itself is a problem, especially when there are side effects or feeling uncomfortable. A certain food may cause your anxiety. Or you may feel afraid to eat "wrong" food and eat very little. So for cancer patients to eat well, you have to eat right!
Therefore, it is necessary to change eating habits to enhance physical strength, thereby resisting the side effects caused by tumors and treatment.
According to the disease situation and the dietary characteristics of the patient, adjust the patient's daily diet structure and formulate a diet plan to achieve a balanced diet for three meals a day. Eat and eat well to meet the patient's daily body needs! Understand the side effects of treatment and help cancer patients successfully complete the treatment process!
Get plenty of rest, balanced with light exercise.
Fill your days with activities you enjoy. Reading a good book, listening to music, and talking with friends are surprisingly therapeutic.