Cancer Diagnosis-A New Hope

More than one million people are diagnosed with cancer each year, but thanks to advancing medical technologies, such a diagnosis doesn’t mean certain death.

Millions of people are living with cancer today, and many have even been cured completely. The sooner cancer is found and the sooner treatment begins, the better the patient’s chances of a cure. That means early detection is key.

What is cancer?

Today, millions of people are either living with cancer or have had cancer. It is the second leading cause of death in the United States. Half of all men and onethird of all women in the U.S. will develop cancer during their lifetimes.

Although there are many kinds of cancers, they all start out as an out-of-control growth of normal cells.

The body’s normal cells grow, divide and even die in an orderly fashion. When a person is young, his or her cells divide at a very rapid rate. This usually slows during adulthood, when cells divide mostly to replace worn-out or dying cells and to repair bodily injuries.

Cancer cells, on the other hand, don’t die as readily. Instead, they outlive normal cells and manage to reproduce even more abnormal cells. They originally develop because of damage to the cell’s DNA (the substance in every cell that directs its activities). Though the body is often able to repair damaged DNA, it is unable to do so in cancer cells. This broken DNA is often inherited (which accounts for inherited cancers), but DNA is usually damaged by exposure to a harmful environment, like cigarette smoke.

Cancer typically forms as a tumor, although some cancers like leukemia do not. Instead, these cancer cells involve the blood and blood-forming organs and circulate through other tissues. And not all tumors are cancerous. Benign tumors do not spread throughout the body and, with very rare exceptions, are not life threatening.

Cancer cells are often mobile, meaning they travel throughout the body and find places to grow, replacing normal cells in the process. This is known as metastasis. Regardless of where a cancer spreads, it is always named for the place it began. For instance, breast cancer that spreads to the liver is still called breast cancer, not liver cancer.

Different types of cancers behave differently. For example, lung cancer and breast cancer are very different diseases that grow at different rates and respond to different treatments. That’s why it is so important to fully understand a patient’s cancer – otherwise treatment may not be as effective.

The risk of developing most types of cancer can be reduced by changes in a person’s lifestyle, including quitting smoking and eating a better diet.

And the sooner a cancer is found, and the sooner treatment begins, the better are the chances for living for many, many years.

What causes cancer?

Environmental factors play the biggest role when it comes to cancer creation, accounting for nearly 75 percent of all cancer cases in the United States. Defined broadly, these factors include tobacco use, diet, infectious disease, chemicals and radiation.

Among these, tobacco use, unhealthy diet and a lack of physical activity are the most likely to affect a person’s cancer risk. Research shows that about one-third of all cancer deaths are directly related to dietary factors and lack of physical activity in adulthood.

Certain cancers are related to viral infections and can be prevented by behavior changes or vaccines. For instance, millions of skin cancers diagnosed each year could have been prevented by protection from the sun’s rays.

Signs and symptoms

Some of the general (non-specific) signs and symptoms of cancer include unexplained weight loss, fever, fatigue, pain and changes in the skin. It’s important to keep in mind, however, that these symptoms don’t necessarily mean someone has cancer – there are many other conditions that can cause these signs and symptoms as well. Only a specialized medical professional can help narrow these down.

How are signs and symptoms helpful?

Treatment is most successful when cancer is found as early as possible. Finding cancer early usually means it can be treated while it is still small and is less likely to have spread to other parts of the body. This also means a better chance for a cure, especially if initial treatment includes surgery.

Unfortunately, people sometimes ignore these symptoms. Sometimes it’s because they do not recognize them, but often because they are frightened by what they might mean.

These symptoms are mostly likely not cancer related, but it’s important to have them checked out by a doctor just in case. If cancer is not the cause, the doctor can determine what it is and even help treat it, if necessary.

Treatment options

The amount of treatment choices varies depending on the type of cancer, the stage it’s in and other factors such as age, health status and personal preferences. Not all types of treatment will be effective in every situation. A doctor can help determine the best available options, and will discuss these in great detail with their patients.

How is cancer treated?

There are four major types of cancer treatment: surgery, radiation, chemotherapy and biologic therapies. Though there are others, such as hormone therapies and even transplant options (such as those done with bone marrow).

Chemotherapy involves powerful medicines that most often taken orally or via injection. Unlike radiation therapy or surgery, chemotherapy drugs can treat cancers that have spread throughout the body because the drugs travel through the bloodstream. Often, a combination of drugs is used during chemotherapy treatments.

Chemotherapy is administered in cycles, each followed by a recovery period. All in all, chemotherapy lasts between three and nine months, but most frequently lasts about six.

After a cancer is surgically removed, chemotherapy can significantly reduce the risk of cancer returning. The potential benefits of chemotherapy depend on the type of cancer and other individual factors.

One of the reasons why people fear cancer so much is the pain. Ironically, there are some cancers that cause no physical pain at all. Still, cancer-related pain happens for a variety of reasons, including the growth of a tumor as a result of advanced cancer cells and even as a result of treatment side effects.

It’s important to note that doctors can treat and manage cancer pain with modern techniques and medicines. A great deal of progress has been made in pain control, and in many cases it can be completely eliminated. Even patients with advanced forms of the disease can be kept comfortable.