Cancer Type

About Cancer

Cancer is a disease caused by an uncontrolled division of abnormal cells in a part of the body.

a malignant growth or tumor resulting from an uncontrolled division of cells.

Stages of Cancer.

Stage 0 means there's no cancer, only abnormal cells with the potential to become cancer. 

Stage I means the cancer is small and only in one area. 

Stage II and III mean the cancer is larger and has grown into nearby tissues or lymph nodes.

Stage IV means cancer has spread to other parts of your body.

Types of Cancer.

The major types of cancer are carcinoma, sarcoma, melanoma, lymphoma, and leukemia. Carcinomas -- the most commonly diagnosed cancers -- originate in the skin, lungs, breasts, pancreas, and other organs and glands. Lymphomas are cancers of lymphocytes. Leukemia is cancer of the blood.

Risk Factor.

• Biological or internal factors, such as age, gender, inherited genetic defects, and skin type.
• Environmental exposure, for instance to radon and UV radiation, and fine particulate matter.
• Occupational risk factors include carcinogens such as many chemicals, radioactive materials, and asbestos.
• Lifestyle-related factors.

Symptoms.

• Persistent cough or blood-tinged saliva.
• A change in bowel habits. 
• Blood in the stool. 
• Unexplained anemia (low blood count) .
• Breast lump or breast discharge. 
• Lumps in the testicles. 
• A change in urination.

Diagnosis.

• Physical exam. Your doctor may feel areas of your body for lumps that may indicate a tumor. 
• Laboratory tests. Laboratory tests, such as urine and blood tests, may help your doctor identify abnormalities that can be caused by cancer. 
• Imaging tests. 
• Biopsy.

Benefits of early diagnosis of Cancer

Early detection, screening, and diagnosis have been proven to significantly improve patient survival rates and quality of life, as well as to significantly reduce the cost and complexity of cancer treatment.

Treatment.

Surgery. The goal of surgery is to remove cancer or as much cancer as possible.

Chemotherapy. Chemotherapy uses drugs to kill cancer cells.

Radiation therapy. Radiation therapy uses high-powered energy beams, such as X-rays or protons, to kill cancer cells. Radiation treatment can come from a machine outside your body (external beam radiation), or it can be placed inside your body (brachytherapy).

Bone marrow transplant. Your bone marrow is the material inside your bones that makes blood cells from blood stem cells. A bone marrow transplant, also knowns as a stem cell transplant can use your own bone marrow stem cells or those from a donor.

A bone marrow transplant allows your doctor to use higher doses of chemotherapy to treat your cancer. It may also be used to replace diseased bone marrow.

Immunotherapy. Immunotherapy, also known as biological therapy, uses your body's immune system to fight cancer. Cancer can survive unchecked in your body because your immune system doesn't recognize it as an intruder. Immunotherapy can help your immune system "see" cancer and attack it.

Hormone therapy. Some types of cancer are fueled by your body's hormones. Examples include breast cancer and prostate cancer. Removing those hormones from the body or blocking their effects may cause the cancer cells to stop growing.

Targeted drug therapy. Targeted drug treatment focuses on specific abnormalities within cancer cells that allow them to survive.

Cryoablation. This treatment kills cancer cells with cold. During cryoablation, a thin, wandlike needle (cryoprobe) is inserted through your skin and directly into the cancerous tumor. Gas is pumped into the cryoprobe in order to freeze the tissue. Then the tissue is allowed to thaw. The freezing and thawing process is repeated several times during the same treatment session in order to kill the cancer cells.

Radiofrequency ablation. This treatment uses electrical energy to heat cancer cells, causing them to die. During radiofrequency ablation, a doctor guides a thin needle through the skin or through an incision and into the cancer tissue. High-frequency energy passes through the needle and causes the surrounding tissue to heat up, killing the nearby cells.

Clinical trials. Clinical trials are studies to investigate new ways of treating cancer. Thousands of cancer clinical trials are underway.

Status of cancer worldwide.

There were 17 million new cases of cancer worldwide in 2018. The four most common cancers occurring worldwide are lung, female breast, bowel, and prostate cancer. This four account for more than four in ten of all cancers diagnosed worldwide. Worldwide there will be 27.5 million new cases of cancer each year by 2040.

 Cancer Status in Nepal.

• In 702 cases from Nepal, cancer incidence is higher among females compared to males (379 Vs 323). The higher incidence is found among the age group of 70-74 years followed by the age group of 65-69 years and then 60-64 years with an age-specific rate of 230.5, 203, and 185.3 per 100,000 respectively.
• 3,4 Based on hospitals' data approximately 8,000‒10,000 new cases of cancer are identified every year in Nepal.