What is cancer?
Cancer is a deadly disease that can kill you painfully or slow and a painful death. Cancer is basically the tumor or say a malignant tumor or malignant neoplasm, is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth. Then it spread slowly and slowly in other parts of your body. And the treatment for cancer is also difficult. If the cancer is found in the early stage it can be treated by medication or surgery but if it reaches last stage then it can’t be treated.
What causes cancer?
Cancer is caused by tobacco, alcohol, obesity, poor diet and lack of physical activity. Radiations and infections or by genetic defects too can be cause of cancer.
Symptoms of cancer:
When cancer begins, it invariably produces no symptoms. Signs and symptoms only appear as the mass continues to grow or ulcerates. Cancer is also called the "great imitator". Thus, it is not uncommon for people to get diagnosed with cancer.
Types of cancer:
Cancer is of various types or to say which part of your body has cancer. In males basically are lung cancer, prostate cancer, colorectal cancer, and stomach cancer, and in females, the most common types are breast cancer, colorectal cancer, lung cancer, and cervical cancer. If skin cancer other than melanoma were included in total new cancers each year. In children, acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and brain tumors are most common except in Africa where non-Hodgkin lymphoma occurs more often.
PROSTATE CANCER: This type of cancer develops in the prostate gland of the male. Prostate gland is a reproductive male gland. Most prostate cancers are slow growing; however, some grow relatively quickly. The cancer cells may spread from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly the bones and lymph nodes. Initially it causes no symptoms. But in later stages it can lead to difficulty urinating, blood in the urine, or pain in the pelvis, back or when urinating. Other late symptoms may include feeling tired due to low levels of red blood cells.
CERVICAL CANCER: This type of cancer develops from the cervix. Later symptoms may include abnormal vaginal bleeding, pelvic pain, or pain during sexual intercourse. While bleeding after sex may not be serious, it may also indicate the presence of cervical cancer.
BREAST CANCER: It is a cancer which develops in the breast tissue of the female. The sign of this cancer is the lump formed in the breast, dimpling of the skin, scaly patches on skin, bone pain, swollen lymph nodes, shortness of breath, or yellow skin.
Recently a newly found cancer is diagnosed i.e. HER2-positive. It means that the tumors have extra copies of the HER2 gene and/or high levels of the HER2 protein, which controls breast cancer cell growth and spread. HER2-positive tumors usually grow faster compared to HER2-negative tumors.
The gene encoding HER2 is located on chromosome 17 which is a member of the EGF/erbB growth factor receptor gene family. It also includes epidermal growth factor receptor
To find a Lab near you, visit www.lalpathlabs.com
