Understanding Cancer

[My Flight Surgeon]

This is another "educational" post to help you have a basis understanding of health issues. If you have specific topics you want addressed, you may PM me with the request.



Understanding Cancer
Cancer begins in cells, the building blocks that make up tissues. Tissues make up the organs of the body.
Normally, cells grow and divide to form new cells as the body needs them. When cells grow old, they die, and new cells take their place.
Sometimes, this orderly process goes wrong. New cells form when the body does not need them, and old cells do not die when they should. These extra cells can form a mass of tissue called a growth or tumor.
Tumors can be benign or malignant:

• Benign tumors are not cancer:
  • Benign tumors are rarely life-threatening.
  • Most benign tumors can be removed. They usually do not grow back.
  • Benign tumors do not invade the tissues around them.
  • Cells from benign tumors do not spread to other parts of the body.

• Malignant tumors are cancer:
  • Malignant tumors are generally more serious than benign tumors. They may be life- threatening.
  • Malignant tumors often can be removed. But sometimes they grow back.
  • Malignant tumors can invade and damage nearby tissues and organs.
  • Cancer cells can break away from a malignant tumor and spread to other parts of the body. Cancer cells spread by entering the bloodstream or the lymphatic system. The cancer cells form new tumors that damage other organs. The spread of cancer is called metastasis.

When cancer spreads from its original place to another part of the body, the new tumor has the same kind of abnormal cells and the same name as the original tumor. For example, if colorectal cancer spreads to the liver, the cancer cells in the liver are actually colorectal cancer cells. The disease is then metastatic colorectal cancer, not liver cancer. For that reason, it is treated as colorectal cancer, not liver cancer. Doctors call the new tumor "distant" or metastatic disease.

[Murdoughnut]

Interesting - thanks for the post doc - question, what percentage of malignant tumors return? I imagine this depends on the type of cancer, but I was just curious. For instance, should a woman who has had a malignant tumor removed from her breast assume that another tumor will return and have a masectomy? Just curious about it.

[88MPH]

This may be a question with a/many complicated answers, but are there huge differences in the treatment practices of different types of cancer (i.e. colorectal cancer vs. liver cancer)?

I assume kemo radiation uses the beta/gamma rays to break up the cell formations, but beyond this, what else is done?

[Toria]

Even different types of breast cancer have different types of treatment courses. Even withing a specific type of cancer there are many variations. That is why it has been so difficult to find the answers for a cure. Also, cancer can change over time in the same patient. The drugs and therapies used to kill most of it the first time might not work the second time. It may be very different after it has metastasized compared to when it first was diagnosed. All of these questions are trying to be answered by an army of researchers and clinicians. There are no easy answers right now. The good news is that long term survival rates for many cancers are increasing at a dramatic pace. Specific cancer therapies targeted at the exact tumor in a patient are closer to reality than ever before. A vaccination for Melanoma is due to be available any day now. Learning the basic terminology in the post by the Flight Surgeon is the start to understanding what is going on.

[My Flight Surgeon]

Toria, as usual , is absolutely right. Every cancer is different and within cancers some are more aggressive than others. The field of cancer treatment changes literally every day. The object of the post was to introduce you all to some of the concepts and language regarding cancer. Most of you will encounter cancer in yourself, a family member or friend sometime in your life. I want you to have a starting point to be able to initiate a meaningful dialogue with the physician.

I can tell you that when I was in medical school (yes we walked backward uphill in a blizzard) children with acute lymphocytic leukemia died in 18 months. Now 95% are cured. THe researchers are doing great work and it has improved our quality of life.

[texas_pilot]

Word for word, Dr!!
I've griped recently that my friend failed to get colorectal screening even though she had oodles of insurance to pay with and supporting her buddy, my Sis, as a colorectal survivor despite gyn. failure to order colonoscopy.
Update - this week she had her 4th localized chemo treatment to her infected liver in 9 months.
I'm convinced the main man, Dr. Barowsky of Waco, Tx carries an ultrasound of her with him on his seminars. He's continuing next week into Europe next week, I'm not jealous- really, I'm not.

[H46Bubba]

Thanks for posting this Doc. Cancer is no joke and not something to play around with. Here's my story.
My mother had a melonoma on her back. She was a Cali girl from Long Beach and spent a lot of time at the beach. They thought they caught it all, but a month later they realized that it had spread to her liver and some other organs (matastasis) This was about April of 2001. Her doctor told her she had about six months, but a slim possibiltity of surviving with chemo. I think it was more of a prolonging the enevitable thing than a survival thing. She had about three months of decent living, then the chemo really wasn't working and she stated going down hill fast. We had to get hospice, which was ironic since she herself was a hospice RN. Her friends came and took care of her. My Grandparent came to stay as well to help with her care. She survived to have Thanksgiving, but she was on so much pain medication she wouldn't remember who we were, and she was in and out. She passed away Nov 29th 2001.
I also being a beach/pool person and had a decent amount of sun exposure back in my teens. Since that day in November I go get regularly screened for skin cancer. I have spots and blotches, that I get checked to make sure the stay just that and not become a melanoma.

[murl]

Hey Toria are you a Dr?

[My Flight Surgeon]

Murl, she is a Dr more than once

[murl]

That's awesome, the medical field has always interested me but I never felt like it is the direction I should go. I was always the guy that loved Biology and Chemistry.

[texas_pilot]

Thanks,Toria for informing us a vaccine for Melanoma is near. My Mom used to make me stay inside from the Texas sun in the afternoons claiming it might prevent me from catching Polio ( I was quite gullible then, too ).
Indeed, as a redhead who didn't have sense enough to come in from the sun, she cut way back on the early sunburns I received. Nowadays I cut my forearms on things as sharp as tennis balls because of the severe skin damage. Sure would like to try that vaccine!

[Pietrantonio]

I had attempted to have an inguinal hernia repair once, but once I was under Anesthesia, I went into hypertension and the surgical team had no idea why. Well, after many work-ups the reason became clear. In May of 2003, I was 19 y.o. and diagnosed with a benign extra-adrenal pheochromocytoma tumor. It was found in the regions around my Aorta and Vena Cava, I had it laproscopically removed, and since then, my follow-ups have been normal. I am 23 now. This was probably the scariest moment of my life. Having cancer really makes you think of all the things you could have done differently.

[Cessnaflyer]

Cancer is something I would never wish on any one. It is hard on the patient and the families if the cancer can not be slowed or reversed. My late grandfather was an oncologist and he took me everywhere with him. It was such a learning experience and it was amazing to see how many people loved him for the work he did. I only wish I was talented and strong enough to take on the medical board like he did and stand up for his (at the time) alternative ways of treating cancer. In the end though he lost the battle with the board and lost his license. And I am aimlessly rambling again...

Thanks Doctor for all your informative posts!

[aloft]

Thanks to both docs for the enlightening posts.

My dad fell victim to pancreatic cancer in February and it still makes little sense to me. He went into the hospital with leg pains (which turned out to be blood clots) and four weeks later, he was gone. It'd make more sense to me if he'd been in a car accident and ended up succumbing to his injuries. But this...I just can't get my brain around.

[Cruise]

Thanks Doc, your posts are always helpful and informative.

I too have had a recent experience w/ cancer. My mother passed away in Jan. 2007 from lung cancer. The odd thing is she wasn't a smoker. The doctors could never figure out why (or where) she'd gotten the cancer. She was only 58.....much too young

[Kristie]

I assume kemo radiation uses the beta/gamma rays to break up the cell formations, but beyond this, what else is done?

I think that's what radiation does, not chemo... radiation and chemo are two different treatments.

Having cancer really makes you think of all the things you could have done differently.

believe it or not, knowing someone who has cancer and is going thru treatment or knowing someone who has died from it does the exact same effect to the survivors. Both grandmothers (in their 70's) and my mother (age 51) and brother (age 25) died from cancer...so i keep things in very good perspective...work TO live, if i don't like what's going on around me, i need to change it, stay in my happy zone and do the things i want to do, plus i make it a point to never have any(!) regrets. I also keep in tune with the latest/greatest breast cancer news out there so if it happens to me (which is pretty darn likely unfortunately), I'll already be mostly up to date as far as treatments go. I'm amazed to see how tamoxifen has been doing (now there are drugs that do better than those two)... it was one of those "new" drugs at the time when my mom was taking it for her chemo.

one of the things my mother never did was explain to us how the cells go about spreading...so when she told us she had lung cancer, we figured she'd have to be treated for lung cancer, not metasisized breast cancer... and she was not a smoker, so it didn't make any sense when her BC spread to lung, then to brain etc....so if it spreads, it's essentially treated with the same type of drugs only harsher like high dose chemo or is it treated like lung cancer?

also, a cyst is just more of a benign tumor right? i always get that confused too...

I still haven't decided whether or not i'd take chemo....my mom used to call herself "gasoline girl" and my bro didn't even have a chance on the stuff.

[SkyCougar]

Originally Posted by Cruise

Thanks Doc, your posts are always helpful and informative.

I too have had a recent experience w/ cancer. My mother passed away in Jan. 2007 from lung cancer. The odd thing is she wasn't a smoker. The doctors could never figure out why (or where) she'd gotten the cancer. She was only 58.....much too young

Cruise, I'm sorry to hear about your mother. A friend of mine, and the mother of one of my son's friends, passed away on Thursday from lung cancer. She was only 52 and a non-smoker. It seems that lately I'm hearing of so many non-smokers dying of lung cancer

[Qgar]

Originally Posted by aloft

Thanks to both docs for the enlightening posts.

My dad fell victim to pancreatic cancer in February and it still makes little sense to me. He went into the hospital with leg pains (which turned out to be blood clots) and four weeks later, he was gone. It'd make more sense to me if he'd been in a car accident and ended up succumbing to his injuries. But this...I just can't get my brain around.

Aloft, my condolences on your dad's passing. My mom died of pancreatic cancer over a year ago. I know that it usually takes its victims quickly since it's so hard to detect before it's too late, but my mom survived for 2 years. Quite amazing, even to the doctors.

[Toria]

Originally Posted by texas_pilot

Thanks,Toria for informing us a vaccine for Melanoma is near. My Mom used to make me stay inside from the Texas sun in the afternoons claiming it might prevent me from catching Polio ( I was quite gullible then, too ).
Indeed, as a redhead who didn't have sense enough to come in from the sun, she cut way back on the early sunburns I received. Nowadays I cut my forearms on things as sharp as tennis balls because of the severe skin damage. Sure would like to try that vaccine!

The vaccine is tailored for melanoma patients and is made specifically for the melanome tumor that a patient has. This is a huge step forward for teating a cancer that is more devastating than most.

See http://www.melanomavaccine.com/

[Toria]

Originally Posted by My Flight Surgeon

Murl, she is a Dr more than once

Originally Posted by murl

Hey Toria are you a Dr?

Yes.

[amorris311]

she is the pain free doctor. you gotta love her!