Cancer is a disease caused when cells divide uncontrollably and spread into surrounding tissues. Cancer is caused by changes to DNA. Most cancer-causing DNA changes occur in sections of DNA called genes. These changes are also called genetic changes.
All cancers begin in cells. Our bodies are made up of more than a hundred million million (100,000,000,000,000) cells. Cancer starts with changes in one cell or a small group of cells. Usually, we have just the right number of each type of cell.
Cancer cells have gene mutations that turn the cell from a normal cell into a cancer cell. These gene mutations may be inherited, develop over time as we get older and genes wear out, or develop if we are around something that damages our genes, like cigarette smoke, alcohol or ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun.
Some of the earliest evidence of cancer is found among fossilized bone tumors, human mummies in ancient Egypt, and ancient manuscripts. Growths suggestive of the bone cancer called osteosarcoma have been seen in mummies. Bony skull destruction as seen in cancer of the head and neck has been found, too.
The earliest cancerous growths in humans were found in Egyptian and Peruvian mummies dating back to ∼1500 BC. The oldest scientifically documented case of disseminated cancer was that of a 40- to 50-year-old Scythian king who lived in the steppes of Southern Siberia ∼2,700 years ago.
What they all have in common is the overgrowth of cells, tiny units that make up all living things. Cancer (also known as malignancy, pronounced: muh-LIG-nun-see) occurs when cells begin to grow and multiply in an uncontrolled way. Normal body cells grow and divide over a period of time until they eventually die.
Staging varies with the type of cancer. The term stage 5 isn't used with most types of cancer. Most advanced cancers are grouped into stage 4.
In general, leukemia is thought to occur when some blood cells acquire changes (mutations) in their genetic material or DNA. A cell's DNA contains the instructions that tell a cell what to do. Normally, the DNA tells the cell to grow at a set rate and to die at a set time.
No two cancers are the same. Each individual cancer has different characteristics, even cancers of the same type. These differences, which can be great or small, are why each person's experience of cancer is different from the next. Cancers can begin in different types of cells and affect various parts of the body.
The information collected to determine the TNM stage is used to give a cancer stage specific to you. Most types of cancer have four stages: stage I (1) to IV (4). Some cancers also have a stage 0 (zero).
Who gets leukemia? Although it is often thought of as a children's disease, most cases of leukemia occur in older adults. More than half of all leukemia cases occur in people over the age of 65.
Clinical and epidemiological studies have shown that stress-related biobehavioral factors are associated with accelerated progression of several types of cancer, including solid epithelial tumors and hematopoietic tumors such as leukemia (Antoni et al., 2006; Chida et al., 2008).
Not all cancers are staged. For example, leukemias are cancers of the blood cells and therefore typically have spread throughout the body by the time they are found. Most types of leukemias aren't staged the way cancers that form tumors are.
Common food items that can be used to show tumor size in cm include: a pea (1 cm), a peanut (2 cm), a grape (3 cm), a walnut (4 cm), a lime (5 cm or 2 inches), an egg (6 cm), a peach (7 cm), and a grapefruit (10 cm or 4 inches).
Lung and bronchus cancer is responsible for the most deaths with 130,180 people expected to die from this disease. That is nearly three times the 52,580 deaths due to colorectal cancer, which is the second most common cause of cancer death. Pancreatic cancer is the third deadliest cancer, causing 49,830 deaths.
Cancers have a reputation for being hyper emotional, temperamental, and spiteful. Cancers, in additional to being devoted, are extremely fond of their loved ones, often to an unhealthy degree. They place a high value on family and close friends, and will go to great lengths to defend them, no matter the price.
Risk factors such as highly processed foods, sugary beverages, obesity, Type 2 diabetes, sedentary lifestyle, and alcohol consumption have all significantly increased since the 1950s.
The longer we live, the more time we have for errors to build up. And so, as time passes, our risk of developing cancer goes up, as we accumulate more of these faults in our genes.
ALL starts in the bone marrow (the soft inner part of certain bones, where new blood cells are made). Most often, the leukemia cells invade the blood fairly quickly.