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Cancer is a disease that weakens a person once they hear it. It is a disease wherein there is only a fifty-fifty chance of getting well. It is sad to know that more and more people across the globe are dying every single day because of cancer. If we are not precautious with regards to proper care of our bodies, then we might be candidates of this disease.

Who gets cancer? Anyone can get the disease. It is not only a hereditary disease but it may also be acquired or develop by itself if we have poor immune system. Lifestyle attributes to the development of this type of illness. For instance, if an individual is a chain smoker, he is at high risk of getting lung cancer. If he loves to eat carcinogenic food preparations or perhaps have irregular bowel movement, then he is at high risk of colon cancer. There are still so many types of cancer that we really need to know about. Unfortunately, due to having busy lives, some people have taken learning important facts for granted not knowing that it will be very helpful to them.

Treatment of cancer depends upon the severity. There are several options for a cancer patient to consider. We all have heard of the treatment chemotherapy. Chemotherapy works through the use of chemotherapeutic drugs that will destroy cancer cells. This treatment does not really cure the disease but it helps in alleviating the symptoms. One advantage of chemotherapy is that it has the ability to reach cancer cells that have already metastasized in other parts of the body.

Another popular treatment is through undergoing surgery. Through surgery, the cancerous part or the tumor is surgically removed. Like for example in breast cancer, the patient undergoes mastectomy which is the removal of the affected breast. Through the surgery, it will prevent the cancer cells from affecting other parts of the body. Cancer surgery will help in removing localized tumors so that follow-up treatment like radiation and chemotherapy will be more effective.

And lastly, there is radiation therapy. Radiation therapy can be a curative treatment for cancer or it could also be a palliative one. In radiation therapy, the DNA of cancer cells is damaged through the help of protons, electrons and neutrons that will ionize the DNA cells and thus will break its chain. In other words, it helps destroy cells and shrink the tumor. To prevent damage of normal tissues, radiation oncologist will make sure that the external beam radiation are focused on several angles of exposure that will intersect at the tumor and will then receive a much larger and absorbed dose. This type of treatment is proven effective in some childhood types of cancer.

Before a cancer patient is treated, he needs to briefly talk with his physician in order for him to know the different options that he can take to survive. It is hard to accept that our loved ones or perhaps a dear friend has this disease. Our support and our presence will always be the best treatment that they will ever receive.

Cancer is a dreaded disease, which is a major cause of death of human in the modern world. It is characterized by the uncontrolled multiplication  and growth of cells. It may develop in any part of the body in all types of living organisms.

Cancer is not a contagious disease. Cancer results from the breakdown of regulatory mechanism, which controls the normal cell behaviour. Cancerous cells are called malignant neoplasm. They directly affects the normal activities of other cells. They compete with normal cells for nutritional factors and finally destroy them. The cancerous cells may group together in masses to form tumors.

It is very difficult to say the exact cause of cancer in human beings. It is assumed that it is caused by the interaction of many factors and it may be the result of a chain of events. We have not been able to find the complete chain of events. We know some agents causes cancer. The agents which can cause cancers are called as carcinogens. Important carcinogens are:

• Chemicals and radioactive rays

They cause alteration in the genetic materia l(DNA) resulting in the oncogenic transformations that lead to cancer. A number of chemicals that are known to make cancer. They include certain polycyclic hydrocarbons, aromatic amines, byproduct of combustion of fossil fuels, alkaloids like nicotine, caffeine, some steroid etc. Expoure to UV rays , X rays and various radioactive elements may produce cancer.

• Tumour promoters

Some cells which had undergone genetic alternations are responsible for oncogenic transformations. These substances that promote the proliferation of this type of cells are called tumour promoters. Some growth factors and hormones are tumour promoters.

• Smoking and tobacco chewing

Heavy smoking is the major cause of lung cancer.

• Virus

It is supposed  some viruses such as DNA and RNA viruses induces cancers in human beings. These viruses are called oncogenic viruses.

Normally cells grow under the control of some regulatory genes. Changes in these genes causes oncogenic transformations.

• Spreading of cancers

Cancerous growth starts at one location where cells proliferate to give rise to a mass of cells forming the tumour. Sometimes they may be detached and carried by the blood to the other parts of the body and spread in the new locations.

• Diagnosis

Cancer occurs at all ages in human. Early diagnosis and adequate treatment is essential for controlling this diseases. A painless lump or thickening in any part of the body , a sudden change in the size and colour of the wart,  persistent cough,  persistent digestive problems, excessive bleeding in women, sudden weight of body weight etc are some suspected features of cancers.

Various methods employed for diagnosis of cancer are..

1. It can be done by studying the characteristic histological features of malignant cells.
2. Blood test for abnormal WBC and bone marrow biopsy can be used.
3. X rays, CT scan and MRI scan can be used to detect cancers of internal organs like kidney, pancreas etc..

Treatment of cancer

Since cancer is not a single diseases and can caused by different ways an absolute single cure is not possible. Nowadays cancer treatment can be done in four different ways.

Surgery

When the cancer is concentrated  at a particular location, the part is removed by surgery. It is an easiest method. After surgery it cannot be ensure that all the cancer cells have been removed. Some tumours cannot be accessible for surgerical removal.

Radiation therapy.

In this method by focusing radioactive rays in the cancerous region, the cancerous cells can be destroyed. However this approach cause tremendous damage to the nearby tissues.

Chemotherapy

In this method several chemotherapeutic drugs are used to kill tumour cells. But it has many side effects

These are some treatments against cancer. Hope that we will remove this disease from our world shortly.

Cancer is a serious disease, more and more careful, but too often fatal.

But what precisely is this disease from a scientific perspective ?

What is cancer?

Cancer is an abnormality, a disorder that affects the cells of our body.

Our body is composed of a multitude of cells, each specializing in a specific function, such as filter impurities from the blood (renal cell) or transport oxygen throughout the body (blood cells).

These cells have their life cycle: Every day, thousands of them die (known as apoptosis, that is to say, the programmed death of cells) and are replaced by new cells. The cells renew themselves by dividing.

We talk about cancer when a cell type multiply abnormally and anarchic.

There are over one hundred forms of cancer, including the severity varies. All parts of the body can be affected.

Understanding what is happening

The cell is the basic element of life (animal or plant). Our organization consists of about 60 000 billion cells. Every day, 200 billion cells die and are replaced by 200 billion new cells. Each new cell performs exactly the same function as the dead cell it replaces.

It is the genome of each cell that control its operation.

The genome is the genetic heritage of the cell covered in its core: it contains about 100 000 genes, which “give orders” to the cell (dividing, to specialize or die …). It allows the cell to live harmoniously with its environment (trade with neighboring cells) and play its role in the body.

The genome of the cancer cell is damaged: the orders he gives are incorrect and the cell can no longer function normally.

Cancer cells compared to normal cells, are characterized by:

1. Immortality: Unlike normal cells, where the number of divisions is limited, cancer cells reproduce indefinitely.
2. Independence: they do not respect the “laws” of the body and no longer to messages from their neighbors.
3. The inability to produce specialized cells.
4. Infiltration capacity and migration: whereas normal cells are linked together to communicate and stay in the tissue to which they belong, cancer cells are not related to their neighbors healthy and can therefore penetrate other tissues and leave their home area. Thus are formed metastases.
5. The ability to create a network of new blood vessels allowing them to receive nutrients and oxygen necessary for their growth.