Cancer:
What is Cancer?
- Cancer is a group of diseases that all deal with cells
- The human body is made up of cells, there are billions of cells in your body
- Normal cells grow and divide in the body but eventually stop growing
- Cancer cells grow, invade and spread rapidly but do not stop growing
What are Tumors?
- Cancer cells usually clump and group together to form tumors.
- Tumors can destroy the healthy cells around the cancer cells
- This can make a person very sick
- Sometimes cancer cells break away from the original tumor, spread to new areas of the body and form new tumors there
- The spread of a tumor to a new place in the body is called metastasis
Who Gets Cancer?
- Over 1 million people get cancer each year
- Anyone can get cancer at any age but most people get cancer when they are 55 and older
- Cancer can be found in all racial and ethnic groups
What Causes Cancer?
- Some cancers are caused by the things people do such as smoking and drinking alcohol (mouth, throat and lunch cancer)
- Radiation can cause cancer but not from x-ray machines that the doctors use
- Too much exposure to the sun without sunscreen can cause skin cancer overtime
- Family history also plays a role in cancer, for example, if your mother and sister have breast cancer, you may have an increased risk
What Are the Risk Factors For Cancer?
- The following increase your risk for cancer:
– Smoking
– Drinking too much alcohol
– Not using sunscreen
– Being overweight or obese
– Poor diet
– Not enough exercise
What Are the Signs and Symptoms of Cancer?
- Cancer can cause a wide variety of signs and symptoms
- Some types of cancer do not show any symptoms until the cancer has become very serious
- Signs and symptoms depend on where the cancer is located in your body
- Some general warning signs of cancer may be:
– Unexplained weight loss, you did not try to lose weight, it just happened
– Fever, over a period of time
– Fatigue, over a period of time
– Pain, such as a headache that does not go away
– Skin changes, such as yellowish skin or eye
- Some more specific warning signs of cancer may be:
– Change in bowel habits (long-term diarrhea or constipation)
– Change in bladder function (needing the bathroom more often than usual)
– Sores that do not heal
– White patches in the mouth or on tongue
– Unusual bleeding or discharge (blood in stool or when you cough)
– Thickening or a lump in the breast or other body parts
– Indigestion or hard to shallow
– Change in moles or skin color
– A cough that does not go away
Can Cancer Be Prevented?
- There is no single way to prevent most cancers
- The best thing to do is to avoid the controllable risk factors listed above
- There are certain cancer screenings available that may be able to catch the early warning signs of cancer and save your life
What Are Cancer Screenings?
- Cancer screenings are tests that help to find cancer at an early, treatable stage
- Screenings can help doctors find pre-cancerous tissue, tissue that will become cancer if left in the body
- Screenings can find or prevent cancers such as:
– Breast cancer- by having a mammogram or performing a self breast exam
– Colon or rectal cancer- by having a colonoscopy test
– Cervical cancer- through a pap smear
– Prostate cancer- through a prostate exam
– Mouth, tongue and throat cancer- by visiting the dentist regularly
– Skin cancer- by having your moles and spots checked by a doctor
How Is Cancer Treated?
- How cancer is treated depends on:
– Where the cancer is
– What kind of cancer is it?
– How serious is it?
– The age of the person
– The overall health of the person
- The 3 main types of cancer treatment are
– Surgery
– Radiation
– Chemotherapy
- Remember that you have the right to ask your doctor question
- You also have the right to get a second opinion, it is okay to go see another doctor
How Can I Lower My Risk of getting Cancer?
- Stop smoking- all cancers caused by cigarette smoke are completely preventable
– Cigarettes, cigars, pipes and smokeless tobacco all cause cancer and should never be used
– If you smoke you should quit, this will lower your cancer risk
– You can lower the risk of cancer for your children and family by not smoking around them
- Stop drinking too much alcohol
- Protect your skin
– Use sunscreen
– Wear a hat when in the sun
– Wear a shirt when in the sun
– Stay in the shade
– Do not tan indoors
- Lose weight
- Exercise
– You should get at least 30-45minutes of physical activity at least 5 days a week
- Eat healthy food
– Eat a lot of fruit and vegetables
– Eat whole grains (such as whole wheat bread and brown rice)
– Limit foods that are high in saturated fat
– Limit high fat dairy products (such as whole milk and ice cream)
– Limit processed meats (such as hot dogs, bacon and luncheon meats)
- Talk to your doctor about cancer screenings and what you can do to prevent cancer!
Cancer
American Cancer Society: http://www.cancer.org
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Cancer Information: http://www.dfci.harvard.edu/can/default.html
National Cancer Institute: http://www.cancer.gov
