Cancer is as old as mankind yet even now, people are unaware about its nature, cause, prevention. Most importantly, misconceptions make the problem more complicated.
What is cancer?
| Dr Arnab Gupta |
The body has the inherent capacity to repair a dead or damaged tissue by multiplication of cells and there is a control system for this. When there is lack of control, the cells multiply excessively and form a lump called tumour. This can be benign, grow slowly, does not damage the neighbouring structure, do not spread to other organs and are usually not fatal. The other type of tumour is malignant (cancer), where the lump grows very rapidly, involves neighbouring and distant organs and can be fatal if not treated early.
What are the common types of cancer?
In male, where tobacco addiction is a common problem, common cancers are of oral cavity, lung and prostate. Cancer in uterine cervix is most common in rural women, whereas it is breast cancer in urban women.
What are the causes of cancer?
Unfortunately, causes in two-third of all cancers are still not clear, and several researches are going on worldwide to determine this. In one-third cases, the causes are proved beyond doubt— of which the most important is tobacco in any form- smoking (bidi, cigarette, etc.) and smokeless (paan, paan masala, ghutka, khaini, jarda etc.). The other less common causative agents are diet (adulterated food, high fat and less of fruits, vegetables and vitamins, stored and charred food), sunlight (causes skin cancer especially in the white race), western lifestyle (lack of or delayed pregnancy and less breast feeding can cause breast cancer). For uterine cervical cancer the common causes are early and multiple children, multiple partners, low personal hygiene, infection by a virus (human papilloma virus). In some cases (less than five per cent), a genetic abnormality is found which can predispose to cancers in many members of the same family (breast, ovaries and bowel).
What are the symptoms of cancer?
Loss of appetite and body weight, an ulcer which is not healing, lump which is rapidly increasing, persistent change of voice, bleeding with cough, vomitus, stool or urine, intermenstrual bleeding, difficulty in swallowing etc.
How to diagnose cancer?
Any symptom which is persisting and not responding to standard treatment, should be seen by a specialist doctor and appropriate tests should be done. Depending upon the symptoms, the tests are ordered accordingly. Common tests that are done are- blood, stool & urine tests, chest X-ray, USG and sometimes CT scan of the abdomen, endoscopy, mammography (X-ray of the breasts) etc. Good clinical examination and appropriate tests lead to a quick diagnosis. Biopsies are often ordered to confirm a suspicion before advising any treatment.
What are the treatments of cancer?
Surgery (by removing the tumour along with a chunk of normal tissue and local glands) is the gold standard in early stage of most of the cancers. Additional treatment in the form of radiotherapy (blasting the cancers cells with special rays) and chemotherapy (some specific medicines to kill the cancer cells scattered around in the body) may be needed in more advanced cases. Treatment with hormones is also important for cancers of breast and prostate.