Cancer
Normal body cells divide and multiply a certain amount of time before the hormones and other body chemicals stop the division. Cancer is the name given to disease caused by abnormal cells multiplying out of control in the body as a result of mutation of the genes.
Cancer cells typically form a small lump of tissue, a tumour, which grow larger and larger uncontrollably. The cancer cell does not integrate well to the normal cells, as a result it can travel to other part of the body and continue to multiply, forming new tumours.
A growing tumour may press against various part of the body such as nerves and blood vessels or it may eat into them causing serious damage and consequently death. The most common type of caner in adults are lung cancer, prostate cancer, bowel cancer and breast cancer.
People in the middle or old age are most vulnerable to cancer. Two thirds of cancer cases occur in people who are over 65 years of age but children and young people sometimes also develop certain rare types of cancer.
Some cancers such as bowel cancer grow relatively slowly and do spread quickly. So there is a good chance that bowel cancer will not have spread if it is spotted early. By removing the tumour, the patient will be completely cure. Lung cancers grow rapidly and they are seldom caught at an early stage.
If you have a lump, gently move it to see if it stick together with the skin. If the characteristic of the lump is the same as our normal fresh, it should be a cancer cell. If you feel something hard or sharp inside, it is definitely not cancer.
Doctor usually test for cancer cell by telling a patient to drink a cup of water containing radioactive substance. The radioactive substance will travel to the cancerous cell, X-ray can detect it.
Brest cancer is most often detected as a small lump in the breast. Frequently it is found by woman herself but it may be picked up on an X-ray during mammography. Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women other than skin cancer. It is a devasting diagnosis for a woman but better treatment and earlier detection has lead to an improvement in the survival rate of women with breast cancer over the last 20 years.
Leukaemia is the most common cancer in childen but it also occurs in adults. It is a cancer of the white blood cells, which are made in the bone marrow in the centre of the bones. White blood cells are important for defending the body against infections but people with leukaemia have abnormally large numbers of white blood cells in their blood. They may be so many of them that they do not leave sufficient space for the red blood cells.
Treatment of leukaemia in children is generally very successful. About 75% of children now survive five or more years after the illness began. Treatment varies according to the type of leukaemia. Drugs are given to kill as many cancer cells as possible and induce a remission. After a short rest to give the patient time to recover, more drugs are given to rid the body of the last few cells. This may be followed by radiotherapy to kill Cancer cells that remain in the bone marrow. This treatment is sufficient to cure many patients. If the disease returns again, a bone marrow transplant may be possible if a suitable donor can be found.
After a transplant of the bone marrow, it takes at least 2 weeks for white blood cells to begin to be active again and much longer for the patients resistance to infection to return to normal. There is also a risk that the transplanted cells will fail to grow because they are rejected by the body. Therefore, it is important to select a person with best matching bone marrow before transplanting.
Cancer cells typically form a small lump of tissue, a tumour, which grow larger and larger uncontrollably. The cancer cell does not integrate well to the normal cells, as a result it can travel to other part of the body and continue to multiply, forming new tumours.
A growing tumour may press against various part of the body such as nerves and blood vessels or it may eat into them causing serious damage and consequently death. The most common type of caner in adults are lung cancer, prostate cancer, bowel cancer and breast cancer.
People in the middle or old age are most vulnerable to cancer. Two thirds of cancer cases occur in people who are over 65 years of age but children and young people sometimes also develop certain rare types of cancer.
Some cancers such as bowel cancer grow relatively slowly and do spread quickly. So there is a good chance that bowel cancer will not have spread if it is spotted early. By removing the tumour, the patient will be completely cure. Lung cancers grow rapidly and they are seldom caught at an early stage.
If you have a lump, gently move it to see if it stick together with the skin. If the characteristic of the lump is the same as our normal fresh, it should be a cancer cell. If you feel something hard or sharp inside, it is definitely not cancer.
Doctor usually test for cancer cell by telling a patient to drink a cup of water containing radioactive substance. The radioactive substance will travel to the cancerous cell, X-ray can detect it.
Brest cancer is most often detected as a small lump in the breast. Frequently it is found by woman herself but it may be picked up on an X-ray during mammography. Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women other than skin cancer. It is a devasting diagnosis for a woman but better treatment and earlier detection has lead to an improvement in the survival rate of women with breast cancer over the last 20 years.
Leukaemia is the most common cancer in childen but it also occurs in adults. It is a cancer of the white blood cells, which are made in the bone marrow in the centre of the bones. White blood cells are important for defending the body against infections but people with leukaemia have abnormally large numbers of white blood cells in their blood. They may be so many of them that they do not leave sufficient space for the red blood cells.
Treatment of leukaemia in children is generally very successful. About 75% of children now survive five or more years after the illness began. Treatment varies according to the type of leukaemia. Drugs are given to kill as many cancer cells as possible and induce a remission. After a short rest to give the patient time to recover, more drugs are given to rid the body of the last few cells. This may be followed by radiotherapy to kill Cancer cells that remain in the bone marrow. This treatment is sufficient to cure many patients. If the disease returns again, a bone marrow transplant may be possible if a suitable donor can be found.
After a transplant of the bone marrow, it takes at least 2 weeks for white blood cells to begin to be active again and much longer for the patients resistance to infection to return to normal. There is also a risk that the transplanted cells will fail to grow because they are rejected by the body. Therefore, it is important to select a person with best matching bone marrow before transplanting.
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