CANCER GENERAL SUPPORT
Definition
Cancer is a group of diseases characterised by uncontrolled growth and spread of abnormal cells, which can result in death. Cancer is caused by both external factors (e.g., chemicals, radiation, viruses) and internal factors (e.g., hormones, immune conditions, inherited mutations). Causal factors may act together or in sequence to initiate or promote carcinogenesis. Ten or more years may pass between carcinogenic exposure or inheritance of a mutation and detectable cancer. Today, cancer is treated with surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, hormones, and/or immunotherapy.
Neoplastic disease can develop in virtually any organ system. This unregulated growth injures and compromises organ systems that are functioning normally. Cancer-related diseases are often treated with therapeutic modalities that, in themselves, compromise normally functioning organ systems.
Aetiology / Risk Factors
Different kinds of cancer have different risk factors. Some of the major risk factors include the following:
- Cancers of the lung, mouth, larynx, bladder, kidney, cervix, oesophagus, and pancreas are related to tobacco use, including cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco, and snuff. Smoking alone causes one-third of all cancer deaths.
Skin cancer is related to unprotected exposure to strong sunlight.
Breast cancer risk factors include several factors: age; changes in hormone levels throughout life, such as age at first menstruation, number of pregnancies, and age at menopause; obesity; and physical activity. Some studies have also shown a connection between alcohol consumption and an increased risk of breast cancer. Also, women with a mother or sister who have had breast cancer are more likely to develop the disease themselves.
While all men are at risk for prostate cancer, several factors can increase the chances of developing the disease, such as age, race, and diet. The chance of getting prostate cancer goes up with age. Prostate cancer is more common among African-American men than among white men. (We do not yet know why this is so.) A high-fat diet may play a part in causing prostate cancer. Also, men with a father or brother who have had prostate cancer are more likely to get prostate cancer themselves.
Overall, environmental factors, defined broadly to include tobacco use, diet, and infectious diseases, as well as chemicals and radiation, cause an estimated 75% of all cancer cases in the United States. Among these factors, tobacco use, unhealthy diet, and physical activity are more likely to affect personal cancer risk. Research shows that about one-third of all cancer deaths are related to dietary factors and lack of physical activity in adulthood.
Symptoms & Signs
- A tumour mass grows to such size that it partially or completely occludes an essential conduit – coughing, dysphagia etc.
- A mass discovered by palpation or x-ray may be a presenting finding, as in breast carcinoma.
- Ulceration on the skin or on an epithelial surface can lead to blood loss and occasionally can serve as a portal of infection.
- Pain is commonly thought of as a surrogate for cancer, although this is mistaken. Most cancers are initially painless. Pain occurs when a tumour invades, presses on, or stretches a nerve, or when proximal smooth muscle contracts in an attempt to bypass an obstructed or dysfunctional distal segment of a conduit.
- Unexplained weight loss may first indicate an unsuspected cancer, and when combined with grumbling low grade discomforts, malaise, and fatigue, is a cause for particular scrutiny.
- Pleural or pericardial effusion caused by cancer can lead to dyspnoea and discomfort.
- Fever of unknown origin that persists for more than 1 week must include cancer among its possible causes.
- Occasionally, patients present with symptoms of specific endocrine hyperactivity that turn out to be caused by cancer.