Cancer is an accelerated division of cells and their uncontrolled division. This can result in the formation and spread of tumors, damage to the immune system, and other health problems, and the outcome can be fatal.
15.5 million people live in the United States with a history of cancer in the health record.
This article will explore the types of cancer, how the disease develops, and the foot treatments that are currently available.
What is cancer?
Cancer is a broad term. This term describes a disease that occurs due to cells’ changes, uncontrolled growth, and division.
Some types of cancer cause uncontrolled cell growth, while others cause slower growth.
Visible cancer types are called skin-like tumors, while others, such as leukemia, are not tumors.
Most cells have specific functions that determine their lifespan. Although this sounds like a bad thing, cell death is part of a natural process called apoptosis.
The cell is instructed to die to replace it with a new small cell that will function better. Cancer cells do not have a signal that will trigger apoptosis, which will stop them from dividing.
As a result, these cells remain in the body, using oxygen and nutrients. Cancer cells can form tumors, reduce the immune system’s functionality, and lead to other changes that will affect the functioning of the organism.
Cancer cells can be in only one place, and they can also spread through the lymphatic system and lymph nodes.
Causes
There are many causes of cancer.
For example, over 480,000 people die each year in the U.S. from smoking cigarettes.
In addition to smoking, the high risks of getting cancer are:
Alcohol consumption
High body weight
Physical inactivity
Poor nutrition
Other risks of developing cancer, such as age, are not preventative. Over 87% of people who get cancer are over 50 years old.
Is carcinoma a genetic disease?
Genetics can influence the development and development of cancer.
The genetic code tells cells how to divide and when to die. Changes in genes can lead to wrong instructions, and we can get cancer.
Genes also affect the production of proteins, and proteins carry a lot of information to cells to develop, grow and divide.
Some genes alter proteins that repair damaged cells. This can lead to cancer. If parents have these genes, so can their offspring.
Some genetic changes occur after birth. Smoking and sun exposure can increase the risk of getting cancer.
Chemical signals can affect certain genes. These changes can also affect the development of cancer.
You can recognize a predisposition to developing a particular form of cancer in individuals. Your doctor can warn you about this by first investigating the family syndrome. Genetic mutations significantly affect cancer development, which has been reported in between 5 and 10% of cancer cases.
Treatments
Innovative research has improved the development of new drugs and treatment technologies.
Doctors usually prescribe treatment related to a specific type of cancer, its stage of development, diagnosis, and patient’s complete condition.
Below are special treatments for cancer treatment:
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy destroys cancer cells with drugs that target rapidly dividing cells. These drugs can also reduce tumors, but they also have very pronounced side effects.
Hormone therapy involves using drugs that alter certain hormones and the way the calf produces them. When hormones play a significant role in prostate and breast cancer, this cancer treatment is most often used.
Immunotherapy
Immunotherapy uses drugs and other methods to strengthen the immune system and teach it to attack cancer cells.
Radiotherapy
Radiotherapy is the use of high radiation to kill cancer cells. Also, the doctor may recommend radiation to reduce the tumor before the operation and reduce the symptoms increased with the presence of the tumor.
Stem cell transplantation
Stem cell transplantation is beneficial in people who suffer from blood types of cancer such as leukemia and lymphoma. This therapy includes removing intestinal and white blood cells, which are carcinogenic through radiotherapy. Then these cells strengthened, return to the body.
Operation
Surgery is often part of the treatment for people who have a cancerous tumor. Surgery can also remove lymph nodes to prevent the spread of the disease.
Targeted therapies affect the function of cancer to prevent its spread. These therapies can also boost the immune system.
Doctors generally use more than one therapy type to enhance their effect on cancer.
Types
The most common type of cancer in our area is breast cancer, also lung and prostate cancer.
Every year, a large number of people around the world are diagnosed with one of the following types of cancer:
- pancreas
- intestine or anal
- kidneys
- leukemia
- liver
- melanoma
- non – Hodgkin lymphoma
- the thyroid gland
- bladder
Other forms are less represented. According to the National Cancer Institute, there are over 100 different cancer types.
Cancer development and cell division
Doctors classify cancer by:
- location in the body
- by the tissue, it forms
For example, sarcoma develops in the bone or soft tissue, while cancers form in the inner or outer shell of the body. Basal cell carcinoma develops in the skin, while adenocarcinoma develops in the breast or colon.
When cancer cells spread to other organs or parts of the body, we call it metastasis.
Each patient can have more than one type of cancer simultaneously.
Summary
Improvements in the detection of cancer, increased awareness of the risk of smoking, quitting cigarettes, from year to year reduce the number of cancer patients’ diagnoses.
According to the results American Cancer Society, cancer mortality decreased by 26% between 1991 and 2015.
While someone has cancer, the treatment’s success will depend on the stage the cancer is in and the patient’s complete health.
