Cancer

Cancer refers to any disease in which cell growth becomes deregulated locally and then at distant sites.

***These pages are very much under construction***

Causes of Cancer

Lifestyle choices

Environment

Microbes

Carcinomas

lymphomas and leukemias arise from the immune system

malignant melanomas

gliomas

sarcomas - maligant tumours showing mesenchymal differentiation. By far the least common type of tumour.

Mulit-step carcinogenesis

Genetic mutations, together with epigenetic changes, are largely responsible for cancer cell phenotype.

Describing Cancers

histology

staging

TNM staging

T-tumour

N- Lymph node involvment

M-metastasis

stage 1: early disease: high cure rate

stage 2: curable: early lymph node involvement but less favourable

stage 3: less curable, but with

stage 4: advanced disease with metastasis, cure becomes difficult