Cancer: An Overview of the Disease

Cancer has been considered as one of the most dreadful health disorders because of the fact that it has caused millions and millions of mortalities globally. Cancer is the term given to a group of related diseases which involves the uncontrolled abnormal cell growth which could spread all throughout the body and invade the vital organs. These malignant cells form a group and become masses or tumors; however, there are also benign tumors but this type does not spread, unlike the cancerous ones.

Furthermore, there are over a hundred types of cancer and typically, they are named after which organ is being affected. Some of the examples are lung cancer which affects the lungs, colon cancer which starts in the colon or the intestines, and breast cancer, which of course originated in the breast tissues. Moreover, the spread of the cancer cells to other parts of the body is termed as metastasis.

Risk Factors for developing Cancer:

The exact cause of cancer has not yet been pinpointed, but it has been attributed to mutations and accumulated defects in the DNAs of the human cells. Here are some of the risk factors for developing cancer based on studies conducted by medical experts:

• Hereditary genetic defects (the most common are the BRCA1 and BRCA2 cell mutations)
• Environmental factors (air pollution and chemical exposures)
• Poor lifestyle (cigarette smoking, alcohol drinking)

The cells on their own are able to detect and repair damages in the DNA. However, when the cells could no longer repair the damages, it would undergo a process called apoptosis or cell death. On the other hand, when the damaged cells continuously grow, multiplies, and spreads instead of dying, then the abnormal cells causes the disease called cancer.

The Most Common Types of Cancer:

For a form of cancer to qualify for the list of the most common type it has to reach an annual estimated incidence in 2018 of 40,000 cases and above. Listed below are the most common types of cancer based on the number of incidences in the latest surveys:

• Breast cancer
• Lung cancer
• Prostate cancer
• Colorectal cancer
• Bladder cancer
• Endometrial cancer
• Kidney cancer
• Leukemia
• Liver and intra-hepatic bile duct cancer
• Melanoma
• Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma

Recommended Treatment Modalities for Cancer:

The most common question that will be brought up by patients and their relatives when cancer treatment options are recommended is, “Can Cancer Be Cured?” The truth is that most chronic cancers could not be cured, however, some types of cancers can be controlled for months or years. If the cancer treatment is successful and there is absolute absence of the signs then there is what we call as a complete remission. A matter of fact is that cancer has not been completely cured because sometimes there are still cancer cells inside the body that could not be detected by the doctors because they have become dormant. Partial remission is also not considered as being cured of cancer, because there will always be a possibility of the cancer cells being active because they are still living inside the body.

Here are the most common treatments recommended for people who have been diagnosed with cancer:

• Cancer surgery or the removal of the tumor is first and foremost recommended to prevent the spread of the cancer cells. Other purposes of surgery in cancer patients is to be able to accurately diagnose and determine the stage of cancer. And finally, through surgery and complete removal of the tumor can treat cancer.
• This is the utilization of drugs and medicines as treatment for cancer. Although most people have the wrong connotation about chemotherapy because of the side-effects of the treatment, people should be made aware about its benefits in treating the disease so that better sense of control over cancer cells can be achieved.
• Radiation Therapy. This is the use of therapeutic rays or radiation to be able to treat and shrink the cancerous tumors, to treat the symptoms, and to prevent cancer from being active again.

Since there are millions of people affected by cancer all over the globe based on statistics; some have been diagnosed with cancer, and some were still in their remission stage, experts believed that at some point in their lives, people with cancer could absolutely profit from skincare treatments which are intended for cancer patients who have undergone or still undergoing cancer treatments. This is what they call Oncology Esthetics.