The Term Cancer - Essay Example

Cancer Cancer is an abnormal production of the cells of an organism which are proliferated in an uncontrolled way and may spread from the site of their origin. The term cancer is commonly used to describe all types of malignant tumors. These may be the swellings of any tissue of the body caused by inflammation and this aspect of the human body is studied by Oncologists. Neoplasm is defined by a British oncologist Willis as “Abnormal mass of tissue, the growth of which exceeds and is uncoordinated with that of the normal tissue and persists in the same excessive manner after cessation of the stimuli which evoked the change.”(Willis 5). There are many different types of cancers originating in the human body owing to the different types of cells in the body. A few examples of cancers are skin cancer, lung cancer, prostate cancer and breast cancer. Cancer is an abnormal multiplication of the cells which may originate in any cell of the human body owing to the lack regulatory processes and this pathological state can be treated by different treatment modalities (Kumar et al 2005). Under the microscope, cancer cells reveal different structural characteristics because of which they can be differentiated from the normal cells of the body. They are pleomorphic in nature, which means that they have a tendency to have a variable size and shape which is not in accordance with the normal cells. The cancer cells have different size and different shapes. Most of the cancer cells have large nuclei in comparison to the surrounding normal tissue cells and the nuclei of the cancerous cells contain abnormal number of chromosomes, a condition known as aneuploidy. The aneuploidy may occur due to a mutation or deletion of a chromosome. The cell membrane of the cancer cells produces surface enzymes which have the ability to damage the basement membrane of tissues. This characteristic assists in the spread of the cancer from its site of origin to the surrounding non-cancerous cells and damages them as well. The cancer cells show increased rate of mitosis. Mitosis is the process of the reproduction of the new cells and hence the cancer increases in its size and crosses its boundaries to spread out of its confines. The cancer cells have differences in metabolism in comparison to normal cells. Their metabolism is more anaerobic and therefore they may even combat hypoxic conditions. The cancer cells have the propensity to spread from the primary cancer site from where the tumor begins to grow to the adjacent normal tissues. This phenomenon is referred to Invasion. The invasion is promoted by multiple factors which include the formation of surface enzymes by cancerous cells, the pressure exerted by the malignant cells as well as the rapid multiplication of these cells. The cancer cells produce destructive enzymes which break away the basement membrane of the vascular supply near these cells. This enables the entry of the cancer cells into the nearby blood vessels or lymph vessels. The cancer cells that enter the blood stream then circulate in the blood throughout the body until they become static at particular points of the human body. After the cancer cells adhere to new sites which they access through the vascular supply, the process of mitosis starts in these cells and a new tumor is formed at a distant site and this cancer is referred to as a secondary tumor (Kumar et al 2005; Trahan 2001 ). The factors that elevate the danger of causing a certain disease are marked as risk factors. The risk factors for cancer are numerous and cannot be all explained by the physician but there are some factors which increase the susceptibility of cancer in some individuals. The most common of these factors are tobacco smoking as well as a few viruses and bacteria. Genes are also implicated as increasing the risk of cancer. BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are examples of these genes. Smoking is associated with many cancers of the human body which include lung cancer, cancer of larynx, cancer of the mouth, cancer of esophagus, cancer of throat and the cancer of stomach. Those individuals who consume tobacco by forms other than smoking have a danger of the development of mouth cancer. Examples of viruses which can lead to cancer include Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C virus which can cause liver cancer after many years of infection. Numerous bacterial infections can also cause cancer. These include Helicobacter Pylori infection which can result in stomach cancer. BRCA1 and BRCA2 are human genes belonging to a group of tumor suppressors but mutation to these genes can cause hereditary breast cancer (Dollinger 2007; Kumar et al 2005). People can adapt measures for protecting themselves from exposure to the risk factors of cancer. These include avoiding tobacco usage in the form cigarette smoking, snuff as well as chewing tobacco. Exercise and a healthy living are also crucial and serve to protect people against cancers. Food from plant sources should be taken excessively because the plant oils contains poly unsaturated fatty acids which are good because they give protection against diseases. People should decrease their intake of fatty food and alcoholic beverages which also result cancer. The individuals should remain unexposed to radioactive radiations, radon and X-Rays. This is because exposure to these radiations promotes cancers of the human body. Women should also take precautionary measures by avoiding contraceptive pills as consuming these pills can also cause different cancers (Kumar et al 2005; Science Daily). Different researches have proved that exercise serves to have profound effects on patients suffering from cancer. An example to support this claim is the research that was conducted on women having breast cancer. The engagement of these women in exercise promoted their quality of life and made them physically active. Exercise helps in the maintenance of the heart and the lungs. It assists in improving the functional capacity of these organs. Obesity elevates the risk factors for breast cancer and thus exercise should be done by individuals to keep their body weight normal. Exercise helps to withstand cancer related fatigue. The patients undergoing chemotherapy treatment improve but the chemotherapy still has side effects like nausea, loss of appetite and fatigue. Fatigue is one of the most troublesome side-effect and researches have shown that exercise helps to diminish the fatigue. Thus, it can be said that exercise can greatly increase the chances of survival of the cancer patients with improvement in their quality life (Ohira 2006). Different therapeutic measures can be used for the treatment of cancer. These include chemotherapy, thermotherapy and tomotherapy. Thermotherapy is the treatment of tumors where microwaves are used to heat up the tumor cells. This heating results in decreasing the tumor cells and killing the existing tumor cells. Thermotherapy combined with chemotherapy can both significantly decrease and destroy much of the cancer cells. Tomotherapy is a new form of radiation therapy which is the delivery of radiations to the cancer cells and it is more effective as it leaves the nearby normal tissue unaffected. In radiation therapy, high energy photon particles are emitted which penetrate the body and tumor cells with more ease and create low energy secondary electrons which destroy tumor cells by destroying the DNA of the cancer cells (Dollinger 2007; Trahan 2001). Works Cited Dollinger, Malin, and Malin Dollinger. Everyones Guide to Cancer Therapy: How Cancer Is Diagnosed, Treated, and Managed Day to Day. Kansas City, MO: Andrews McMeel Pub, 2002. Print. Kumar, V., Abbas, A. K., Fausto, N., Robbins, S. L., & Cotran, R. S. (2005). Robbins and Cotran pathologic basis of disease. Philadelphia: Elsevier Saunders. Ohira, T, KH Schmitz, RL Ahmed, and D Yee. "Effects of Weight Training on Quality of Life in Recent Breast Cancer Survivors: the Weight Training for Breast Cancer Survivors (wtbs) Study." Cancer. 106.9 (2006): 2076-83. Print. Rieger, Paula T. Biotherapy: A Comprehensive Overview. Boston: Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 1995. Science Daily. “Another Weapon For Beating Cancer: Exercise.” Science Daily. 29 Apr. 2004. Web 6 Nov. 2011. Read More