Cancer

Cancer groups more than a hundred different diseases and can develop in all parts of the body. Tumors occur when a cell in our body modifies its DNA and begins to multiply without a limit: this is the common feature in all types of cancer. This can develop either in tissues, such as lungs or bones, or in liquids, as in blood.

In tumors that develop in tissues, and therefore solid, the process mainly follows three phases. In a first phase, the tumor is located in a single site or part of the body. In a second phase the tumor tends to reappear even when it is removed from the site. In metastasis, or the third phase, the cancerous cells widen from the starting site and proceed to invade all the other parts of the body.

Metastasis is what distinguishes benign from malignant tumors: in benign tumors, in fact, metastasis does not appear. The term cancer refers exclusively to a malignant tumor.

Types of cancer

Oncologists divide the types of cancer into four major categories, depending on where the first process began. We will therefore have:

• Carcinoma. A carcinoma is a cancer that originates on the skin or in any case on epithelial tissue. Carcinomas are solid tumors. They are the most common type of cancer. Examples of this type of cancer are prostate cancer, breast cancer and lung cancer.
• Sarcoma. A sarcoma begins, instead, in the connective or mesenchymal tissue. A sarcoma can develop in the muscles, tendons, joints, blood vessels, cartilage, bones, etc.
• Leukemia. Leukemia is the type of cancer that affects the blood. It starts when healthy blood cells begin to change and grow uncontrollably. There are four main types of leukemia: acute lymphocytic leukemia, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia and chronic myelogenous leukemia.
• Lymphoma. Lymphoma is the cancer that develops from the lymphatic system. The lymphatic system is a network of vessels and glands that help fight infections. There are two main types of lymphoma, Hodgkin’s lymphoma and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

How cancer spreads?

As the cancer grows, the circulatory and lymphatic systems can carry cancer cells to other parts of the body. During this process, metastasis, cancer cells grow in other parts of the body other than where it originated and can lead to the formation of new tumors.

The cure

Depending on the type of cancer and its progress, it is possible to use different types of treatments. The main ones are:

• Surgery. Through surgery it is possible to remove the tumor physically. Sometimes the size of the tumor is first reduced through chemotherapy or radiotherapy, in order to facilitate the work in the operating room. It is the type of primary cure for solid tumors.
• Radiotherapy. Radiotherapy consists of the irradiation of very high power X-rays in order to destroy cancer cells, carried out by concentrating in the area affected by the tumor in order not to damage healthy cells. It can be used before surgery to remove the tumor in order to reduce its size. It can be used as the only therapy in the case in which a tumor is very sensitive to radiation.
• Brachytherapy. Brachytherapy is a particular type of radiotherapy which consists of placing a permanent source of radiation inside or near the treated area. It can be used alone or in combination with other treatments.
• Chemotherapy. Chemotherapy uses cytotoxic drugs, which are drugs that can damage cells. The effect of this therapy is to block the multiplication of cells in multiplication, without however distinguishing between tumor and healthy cells. Precisely for this reason, chemotherapy has the side effect of damaging high-turnover tissues, such as hair.
• Hormone therapy. Hormone therapy is used in some specific cases where cancer cells are sensitive to certain types of hormones, which are then injected into the body. This therapy is used for example in the treatment of breast and prostate cancer.
• Biological drugs. Biological drugs are antibodies that recognize the cancer cell and involve the patient’s immune system in its destruction.