Figure 1. Patient who had laryngectomy surgery to remove laryngeal cancer.
Table of Contents
Overview
Cancer is the growth of abnormal cells that divide uncontrollably and can infiltrate and destroy normal body tissue and organs. Cancer can often spread throughout the body by a process called metastasis.
There are over 200 different types of cancers, which lead to the second highest cause of death in the world. However, the survival rates are improving for many types of cancer due to the improvements in cancer screening, treatment, and prevention.
These are too many cancers to discuss here in detail and so we will only try to summarise and give a top line overview.
One in two people will develop some form of cancer during their lifetime. In UK, the four most common types of cancers are:
- breast cancer
- lung cancer
- prostate cancer
- bowel cancer
Signs & Symptoms
Specific signs and symptoms due to all these many different types of cancers vary depending on the part of the body affected. What the cancer looks like differs from person to person and can also change over time in the same individual.
Some cancers can go undetected/unnoticed and so these cancers are silent killers, eg colon cancer, non-melanoma skin cancer, cervical cancer. It is best to be disease aware and alert!
Remember, if you have any changes in the body that are persistent and concern you, see your Doctor. The earlier you have a check-up, the better the chance of diagnosis of the cancer in the early stages, the more efficient the treatment and the better the outcome.
If too much time passes without treatment, cancers can cause serious complications and even death.
Patients with cancer may be vulnerable to COVID-19 infection. For further details see section on COVID-19 and vaccination.
Causes
Cancer is caused by changes (mutations) to the DNA in the body cells. The DNA make up the genes, each containing a set of instructions telling the cell what functions to perform, how to grow and divide.
Errors in the instructions can cause the cell to stop its normal function and may allow a cell to become cancerous. This can be due to inherited genes, or more often due to your behaviour, lifestyle, or environmental conditions. Since we are living longer, there is a greater chance for mistakes to happen in the DNA and/or its replication.
Risk Factors
While Doctors have an idea of what may increase your risk of cancer, many cancers occur in people who do not have any known risk factors. Factors known to increase your risk of cancer include the age, your habits, family history, health conditions, and the environment.
Prevention
There are several ways to reduce your risk of cancer. These include stopping smoking, preventing exposure to the hot sun, eating a healthy diet (ie Mediterranean), exercising regularly (30min daily), maintaining a healthy body weight, minimising alcohol consumption. Have a cancer screening test when advised by your General Practioner (GP).
Treatment
Surgery is the first treatment that is tried for most types of cancers. Solid tumours can usually be removed surgically. The two other commonly used treatments methods are chemotherapy (powerful cancer killing medicines that are getting more and more specific at killing cancer cells, with fewer side effects) and radiotherapy (the controlled use of high-energy X-rays).
Figure 2. Cancer patient who had chemotherapy treatment and experienced hair fall-out.
Cancer
Written by BK Date created/updated 23.07.22
Reviewed by PJ Date Reviewed 30.07.22
