What is cancer?
Cancer is a disease that is characterized by uninhibited cell growth. There are several kinds of cancer, and each one of them is classified by the type of cell that infected them. Cancer damages the body by dividing the out-of-control cells that form lumps or masses of tissues called tumors. Tumors can grow and hinder the normal function of the digestive, nervous and circulatory systems. Tumors can stay where the cancer cells originate and demonstrate limited growth, known as benign tumor. Malignant tumors are tumors that are aggressive and have the ability to travel throughout your body. When a tumor has successfully spread and grows to other parts of the body, this process is called metastasis.
What are the different types of cancer?
These are some of the most common cancer types in the United States.
The most common type of cancer is the skin cancer or also known as nonmelanoma skin cancer. Over 1,000,000 men and women are diagnosed with this kind of cancer. Skin cancer generally develops in the epidermis. Most skin cancer is detectable in an early stage and can be easily treated.
Colon and rectal cancer are often referred as colorectal cancer. For 2009, the estimated new cases of colorectal are 146,970. This type of cancer starts at the colon.
Kidney cancer includes renal, transitional cell carcinoma, and Wilms tumor. Some symptoms are blood in the urine, abdominal lump, pain and tiredness. These can be treated by chemotherapy, radiology, biological therapy or surgery, it depends o what stage the cancer is.
Prostate cancer is a cancer that develops in the reproductive system of men. This cancer tends to develop at the age of 50. Prostate cancer may cause pain while urinating, problems with sexual intercourse and erectile dysfunction.
Thyroid cancer has the lowest number of incidence. The estimated number of new cases for 2009 is 37,200.
Most cancers are preventable in early stages. All we need to do is to know the cause and the risk factors to avoid it. It is the first step in cancer prevention.
