Types of Cancer

There are several types of cancer. Cancer is the term given to a large group of diseases that vary in type and location.

Instead of dividing in a controlled manner the cells start growing and dividing rapidly without any stop thus leading to the accumulation of abnormal cells at a point forming the tumor or lump.

In other words cancer is a disease caused by the loss of control over a cell’s reproduction capacity. It is the result of a continuous, abnormal and relatively autonomous cell proliferation, which occurs due to permanent alteration of some cells that are transmitted through the inheritance of genes.

Metastasis is defined as the stage in which malignant cells are transported through the bloodstream or lymphatic system. On observation it is found that the cancer cells are very similar to cells of the organism from which they originated and have similar DNA and RNA which is not identical. As they are similar they are less identified by the immune system which is weakened.

Normally the cell division is controlled by the telomeres on DNA, in other words it limits the divisions to 40-60 but these abnormal cells divide rapidly without any limit or without being controlled by these telomeres on DNA. There fore many of these malignant cells lead to forming a tumor or a lump.

Each one of types of cancer has its own causes, risk factors and symptoms which need to be treated differently depending on the stage, type and location of the cancer. The prognosis of each type of cancer is different.

This type of cancer can affect people in any age however the increasing age forms the risk factor for majority of the cancers. The mutations which are responsible for any of these types of cancer can be caused by chemicals or physical agents called carcinogens, by close exposure to radioactive materials, or by certain viruses that can insert their DNA into the human genome.

There are many types of cancer. Severity of symptoms depends on the site and character of the malignancy and whether there is metastasis. A definitive diagnosis usually requires the histologic examination of tissue by a pathologist. This tissue is obtained by biopsy or surgery.

Most diseases can be treated and some cured, depending on the specific type, location, and stage. Once diagnosed, cancer is usually treated with a combination of surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy which are the standard methods of treating this disease.