See how cancer is changing and what we need to be aware of

1. An Emerging Face of Cancer: Today’s Understanding
Case Study
Sally sat motionless with her hands gripping the steering wheel after
she turned off the car in her driveway. Thirty minutes before she was
meeting with her doctor to review some tests, when she heard the
words that would change her life forever. The words, “You have ovarian
cancer” repeated through her mind ever since the doctor spoke them.
She didn’t remember much after that except looking an x-ray that
showed the cancer had spread from her ovaries to several locations
throughout her “abdominal area”.
Sally did not know what to do next. She had been divorced for 6 months
and did not feel comfortable calling her ex-husband. Sally’s friend had
offered to go to the doctor’s visit with her, but Sally never wanted to
inconvenience her friends. Most had their hands full with children and
elderly parents. She thought having cancer meant you received
chemotherapy and likely may not survive anyway. Sally did not know
what cancer was, how to live with it or what do next.
Introduction
Many years before the body is effected in anyway, a potentially
catastrophic change happens. It is likely an accumulation of one or many
environmental factors that trigger one gene, likely an oncogene, in one
cell projecting a new aberrant genomic pattern that has the potential to
destroy the human body. This is cancer.
Cells of each organ or tissue divide to grow in a controlled manner
specific to that organ. This way when old or poorly functioning cells die
new cells replace them. Thus providing a relatively constant mass of
specialized cells needed to maintain proper function in each organ or
tissue. When the genetic material of a cell (DNA) is damaged or is

2. triggered “on”, this is considered a mutation and affects the growth and
cell division rate of that cell and subsequent expanding cell line of its
progeny.
Most commonly when a cell is damaged or has genetic malfunction, the
affected cell will simply die. Cancer occurs when cells undergo a series
of genetic alterations that involve a gene responsible for regulating the
rate of cell growth and division to form new cells. As a result, these new
aberrant cancer cells survive longer and still new cells are made when
the body does not need them or have space for them. This accumulation
of extra non-functioning cells form a mass of tissue called a tumor.
The excessive growth
rate causes a mass of
cancer cells, called a
tumor
Cancer is a very broad term that encompasses diseases that manifest
clinically as a result abnormally dividing cells that lost the ability to

3. control their rate of growth. As a result, the cluster of cells grows to
cause dysfunction in the initial organ and then continue to grow to
invade other organs. The cancer cells “grow wild”, spread to adjacent
tissue and some types spread throughout the body as transported by
the blood stream and lymphatic system. For example, ovarian cancer
starts in the ovaries and usually spreads by into the surrounding
abdominal cavity and colon by the type clinical symptoms warrant a
doctors visit.
Cancer types
There are over 100 types of cancer and the organ that they started
names most by the name of the apparent type of cell involved. A
carcinoma is a cancer of the skin or outside ling of an internal organ.
Squamous cell carcinoma occurs most commonly along the breathing
tract, mouth to lung. Squamous cells cover the majority of the
respiratory tract and after years of carcinogenic irritants (smoke,
chewing tobacco) a gene in one or a group of squamous cells initiates a
cancer genomic process. Sarcoma is cancer of the bone, cartilage, fat,
muscle, blood vessels or connective tissues. Cancer that originates in
the bone marrow, that is responsible for forming blood products
(platelets, red and white blood cells), is called Leukemia. The rapid
production of abnormal blood cells in leukemia take precedence over
production of the critical production of healthy blood cells the body
desperately depends on. Lymphoma and myeloma are cancers of the
immune system. The cancers of the brain and spinal cord are unique
because the cell types primarily exist in the brain. For example, an
astrocytoma originates for the abnormal reproduction of astrocytes,
which are only present in the brain.
Behavior of the tumor
A tumor or cancer cells are usually not detected until they cause enough
interference to prevent one or more organs to function appropriately.
For example, the ovary has space to grow significantly before it

4. interferes with function of other abdominal organs. However, the local
invasion of cells into the abdominal cavity results in fluid secretion and
accumulation where the weight of fluid is not normally present, creating
discomfort. In addition, the “aggressive” cell type of some ovarian
cancers rapidity invades the colon and produce gastrointestinal
symptoms of bleeding, obstruction or diarrhea. T cell leukemia uses
most bone marrow supplies to produce abnormal T cell’s (one type of
white blood cell) that there is enough to produce red blood cells or
platelets.
Prevalence of Cancer
Cancer continues to be a major health problem throughout the world. In
In the U.S., cancer accounts for approximately 25% of all deaths that
occur each year. Between 2006-2010 over 1.5 million Americans were
diagnosed with cancer. With over one-third of those dying form a
cancer related cause.
(http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.ezproxy.med.nyu.edu/doi/10.3322/caa
c.21208/pdf)
Although grim, these statistics reflect small improvements. Over the
past 5 years cancer related death rates have decreased by about 1.5%.
The incidence or cancer has decreased 0.6% in men and has remained
unchanged in woman. The death rate from cancer peaked in 1991 and
has been slowing since that time. The largest decline (55%) occurred in
black men aged 40-49 years.

5. Most Common Cancer Types
Men
Prostate 27%
Lung 14%
Bladder 7%
Melanoma of skin 5%
Women
Breast 29%
Lung 13%
Uterine 6%
Thyroid 6%