Overview of Cancer

1. OVERVIEW OF CANCER
Swarna Saha
B.Sc (microbiology)
Presented at-
Department of Pathology and Cancer Screening(CNCI)

2. Cancer:
Cancer is a generic term for a large group of diseases characterized by the growth of
abnormal cells beyond their usual boundaries that can then invade adjoining parts of the
body and/or spread to other organs. Other common terms used are malignant tumours
and neoplasms. Cancer can affect almost any part of the body and has many anatomic and
molecular subtypes that each require specific management strategies.

3. HALLMARKS OF CANCER
• Evading growth suppressors.
• Avoiding immune destruction.
• Evading replicative immortality.
• Tumour promoting inflammation.
• Activating invasion and metastasis.
• Inducing angiogenesis.
• Genome instability and mutation.
• Resisting cell death.
• Deregulating cellular energetics.
• Sustaining proliferative signalling.

4. TYPES OF CANCER:
1. Carcinoma:This type of cancer originates from the epithelial layer of cells that
form the lining of external parts of the body or the internal linings of organs within
the body.
2. Sarcoma:These cancers originate in connective and supportive tissues including
muscles, bones, cartilage and fat.
3. Leukemia:This is a group of cancers that are grouped within blood cancers.
These cancers affect the bone marrow which is the site for blood production.
4. Lymphomas :This cancer originates in the lymphatic tissue.

5. Incidence:
■ Cancer is the second leading cause of death globally, and is responsible for an
estimated 9.6million deaths in 2018.
■ Globally , about 1 in 6 deaths is due to cancer.
■ According to the NationalCancer Registry Programme of the Indian Council of Medical
Research (ICMR), more than 1300 Indians die every day due to cancer. Between 2012
and 2014, the mortality rate due to cancer increased by approximately 6%.
■ Breast cancer is the most common, and stomach cancer is the leading cause of death
by cancer for the population as a whole. Breast cancer and lung cancer kill the most
women and men respectively.

6. Risk Factors:
•tobacco smoking, which is strongly associated with lung cancer, mouth, and
throat cancer.
•drinking alcohol, which is associated with a small increase in oral, esophageal,
breast, liver and other cancers.
•a diet low in fruit and vegetables.
•physical inactivity, which is associated with increased risk of colon, breast, and
possibly other cancers.

7. •Obesity, which is associated with colon, breast, endometrial, and
possible other cancers.
•Sexual transmission of human papilloma virus, which causes cervical
cancer and some forms of anal cancer, vaginal cancer, vulvar cancer,
penile cancer, rectal cancer, and oropharyngeal cancer.
• Genes like BRCA1/2 carries risk of familial breast cancers.

8. DIAGNOSIS:
■ Physical exam.Your doctor may feel areas of your body for lumps that may indicate a
tumor. During a physical exam, he or she may look for abnormalities, such as changes
in skin color or enlargement of an organ, that may indicate the presence of cancer.
■ Laboratory tests. Laboratory tests, such as urine and blood tests, may help your
doctor identify abnormalities that can be caused by cancer. For instance, in people
with leukemia, a common blood test called complete blood count may reveal an
unusual number or type of white blood cells.

9. ■ Imaging tests. Imaging tests allow your doctor to examine your bones and internal organs
in a noninvasive way. Imaging tests used in diagnosing cancer may include a computerized
tomography (CT) scan, bone scan, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission
tomography (PET) scan, ultrasound and X-ray, among others.
■ Biopsy. During a biopsy, your doctor collects a sample of cells for testing in the laboratory.
There are several ways of collecting a sample.Which biopsy procedure is right for you
depends on your type of cancer and its location. In most cases, a biopsy is the only way to
definitively diagnose cancer.
■ In the laboratory, doctors look at cell samples under the microscope. Normal cells look
uniform, with similar sizes and orderly organization.Cancer cells look less orderly, with
varying sizes and without apparent organization.

10. Treatment:
■ Surgery:When used to treat cancer , surgery is a procedure in which a
surgeon removes malignant tumour from the body.
■ RadiationTherapy :It is a type of cancer treatment that uses high doses of
radiation to kill cancer cells and shrink tumours.
■ Chemotherapy: It is a type of cancer treatment that uses drugs to kill cancer
cells.
■ Immunotherapy toTreat Cancer: Immunotherapy is a type of cancer
treatment that targets the changes in cancer cells that help them grow,
divide and spread.
■ HormoneTherapy: it is a treatment that slows or stops the growth of breast
and prostate cancers that use hormone to grow.

11. ■ Stem CellTransplant: It is a procedure that restore blood-forming stem cells in
cancer patients who have had theirs destroyed by very high doses of
chemotherapy or radiation therapy.
■ Angiogenesis Inhibitors: Angiogenesis inhibitors prevent the extensive growth
of blood vessels (angiogenesis) that tumours require to survive. Some, such as
bevacizumab, have been approved and are in clinical use.

12. FUTURE PROSPECTS OF CANCERTREATMENT
By understanding the normal control mechanisms and exactly how they are
subverted in specific cancers, it becomes possible to devise drugs to target
cancers more precisely.
As we become better able to determine which genes are amplified, which are
deleted, and which are mutated in the cells of any given tumour, we can begin
to tailor treatment more accurately to each individual patient in future.

13. ThankYou.