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Cancer
hideCancer (medical term: malignant neoplasm) is a class of diseases in which a group of cells display uncontrolled growth (division beyond the normal limits), invasion (intrusion on and destruction of adjacent tissues), and sometimes metastasis (spread to other locations in the body via lymph or blood). These three malignant properties of cancers differentiate them from benign tumors, which are self-limited, and do not invade or metastasize. Most cancers form a tumor but some, like leukemia, do not. The branch of medicine concerned with the study, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of cancer is oncology.
Cancer may affect people at all ages, even fetuses, but the risk for most varieties increases with age. Cancer causes about 13% of all human deaths. According to the American Cancer Society, 7.6 million people died from cancer in the world during 2007. Cancers can affect all animals.
Nearly all cancers are caused by abnormalities in the genetic material of the transformed cells. These abnormalities may be due to the effects of carcinogens, such as tobacco smoke, radiation, chemicals, or infectious agents. Other cancer-promoting genetic abnormalities may be randomly acquired through errors in DNA replication, or are inherited, and thus present in all cells from birth. The heritability of cancers are usually affected by complex interactions between carcinogens and the host's genome. New aspects of the genetics of cancer pathogenesis, such as DNA methylation, and microRNAs are increasingly recognized as important.
Genetic abnormalities found in cancer typically affect two general classes of genes. Cancer-promoting oncogenes are typically activated in cancer cells, giving those cells new properties, such as hyperactive growth and division, protection against programmed cell death, loss of respect for normal tissue boundaries, and the ability to become established in diverse tissue environments. Tumor suppressor genes are then inactivated in cancer cells, resulting in the loss of normal functions in those cells, such as accurate DNA replication, control over the cell cycle, orientation and adhesion within tissues, and interaction with protective cells of the immune system.
Diagnosis usually requires the histologic examination of a tissue biopsy specimen by a pathologist, although the initial indication of malignancy can be symptoms or radiographic imaging abnormalities. Most cancers 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. As research develops, treatments are becoming more specific for different varieties of cancer. There has been significant progress in the development of targeted therapy drugs that act specifically on detectable molecular abnormalities in certain tumors, and which minimize damage to normal cells. The prognosis of cancer patients is most influenced by the type of cancer, as well as the stage, or extent of the disease. In addition, histologic grading and the presence of specific molecular markers can also be useful in establishing prognosis, as well as in determining individual treatments.
For more information about Cancer, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with cancer
Helicobacter pylori and EBV in gastric carcinomas
39 minutes ago |
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Mechanisms of gastric carcinogenesis are still not yet understood. Studies have linked genetic and epigenetic factors or microbiological agents to gastric cancer, but they didn't look for these events together. Dr. Ferrasi ...
New finding of the expression of Helicobacter pylori in Chilean patients
2 hours ago |
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Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) colonize the human stomach and present genetic mechanisms to evade the host immune response allowing their persistence in this habitat for years. A study involving 130 H. pylori strains isolated ...
Which intestinal metapasia is closer with gastric cancer? Simple or atypical?
5 hours ago |
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The classification of intestinal metapasia (IM) is confusing. A research group in China observed IM in gastric biopsies and divided IM into simple IM (SIM) and atypical IM (AIM). By detecting three tumor-associated proteins, ...
Researchers discover new way to kill pediatric brain tumors
6 hours ago |
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Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown once again that "ready, fire, aim," nonsensical though it may sound, can be an essential approach to research.
Molecular pathways linked to sex, age affect outcomes in lung cancer
9 hours ago |
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The biology of lung cancer differs from one patient to the next, depending on age and sex, according to scientists at Duke University Medical Center. The findings may help explain why certain groups of patients do better ...
Researchers publish promising findings for advanced cervical cancer
9 hours ago |
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Researchers at the Ireland Cancer Center of University Hospitals (UH) Case Medical Center, have published new findings that may lead to a new standard of care for patients with locally advanced cervical cancer.
Pay-for-performance in healthcare
10 hours ago |
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BOSTON--Although the idea of pay-for-performance (P4P) is popular among healthcare policy makers and private insurers, the results do not necessarily translate to the patient.
Low forms of cyclin E reduce breast cancer drug's effectiveness
11 hours ago |
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Overexpression of low-molecular-weight (LMW-E) forms of the protein cyclin E renders the aromatase inhibitor letrozole ineffective among women with estrogen-receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancers, researchers from The University ...
Racial disparities persist in the diagnosis of advanced breast cancer and colon cancer in the U.S.
12 hours ago |
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The incidence of advanced breast cancer diagnosis among black women remained 30 percent to 90 percent higher compared to white women between 1992 and 2004, according to new findings by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer ...
Using nitroglycerin to treat prostate cancer shows potential to halt disease
13 hours ago |
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Treatment of prostate cancer using a very low dose of nitroglycerin may slow and even halt the progression of the disease without the severe side effects of current treatments, Queen's University researchers have discovered
New approach to treating breast and prostate cancers
14 hours ago |
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In a new approach to developing treatments for breast cancer, prostate cancer and enlarged hearts, Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine researchers are zeroing in on a workhorse protein called RSK.
Researchers reveal 3-D structure of bullet-shaped virus with potential to fight cancer, HIV
17 hours ago |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Using cryo-electron microscopy and advanced image-processing methods, UCLA researchers have developed a model of how the potentially therapeutic vesicular stomatitis virus assembles.
Mood drug inhibits breast cancer medication: study
Feb 08, 2010 |
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A common antidepressant weakens or cancels the beneficial effects of a standard treatment for breast cancer, according to a study released Tuesday.
Enhancing arrest of cell growth to treat cancer in mice
Feb 08, 2010 |
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A team of researchers, led by Pier Paolo Pandolfi, at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, has identified a new type of cellular senescence (i.e., irreversible arrest of cell growth) and determined a way to enhance ...
Yale Scientists Shed Colorful Light On Novel Proteins
Feb 08, 2010 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A Yale School of Medicine neuroscientist investigating how viruses can be used to attack brain cancers has developed a new method to generate novel, color-coded proteins that can be used by ...
