Malignant Neoplasm; Cancer

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death not only in the United States but also around the world. Cancer is defined as class of diseases that is caused by a group of cells to have uncontrolled growth, the potential to spread throughout the body and to invade surrounding tissues and organs. The difference between malignant tumors and benign tumors are that benign tumors do not spread and do not invade surrounding tissue and organs. Benign tumors are self-limited.

Cancer can affect anyone. That is anyone of any age, any race and any background. The majority of cancers are more likely to develop in people as the people increase in age. 13 percent of all deaths worldwide are caused by cancer and according to the American Cancer Society, 7.6 million people died from cancer in the year 2007. Cancer is one of the world’s deadliest diseases and cannot be prevented. It can be treated to an extent. There has yet to be a cure developed for cancer.

Cancer is caused by tobacco smoke, chemicals, infectious agents and radiation. Cancer can be detected through CT Scans, blood tests, MRIs, x-rays and biopsies. A biopsy entails the testing of a piece of skin or organ by a pathologist. The pathologist tests the piece of skin or organ for cancerous cells and their histological grade. Cancer can be detected by the detection of lumps or swelling, random bleeding, pain, ulcers, jaundice, weight loss, poor appetite, night sweats, fatigue and anemia. Symptoms of cancer after the disease has been diagnosed are metastasis (spreading), constant cough, bone pain, an enlarged liver, fractures and enlarged lymph nodes.

Cancer is treatable through surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and immunotherapy. Surgery is used to remove a tumor, if it is on an organ that is operable, and will hopefully get the entire tumor before it spreads to other areas of the body. If the tumor is located in an inoperable area then the treatment will be chemotherapy; which will shrink and hopefully kill off the tumor completely before it begins to spread throughout the body.

There are a couple of ways to try and prevent developing cancer. Such methods are having a proper diet, cancer screenings and taking vitamins on a daily basis. One major player in the development of cancer is being obese. Eating a healthy diet and maintaining a healthy body weight will help in the prevention of cancer. Cancer screenings are used to detect cancer in its early stages; its infancy. If cancer is detected other procedures can be used to confirm the presence of cancer. Those other procedures are surgery and biopsies. Early detection can lead to a longer life.

There are hundreds of forms of cancer known to man today. Some of the most common are lung, colon, thyroid, lymphoma (various types), leukemia (various types), melanoma, oral, pancreatic, testicular, throat and vaginal cancer. Not all cancers are deadly because the majority of them, if detected early, can be controlled with chemotherapy, surgery and radiation.