Different forms of cancer

Subtype of head and neck cancer

2011-11-23T23:20:00.000-08:00

Oral Cancer is a subtype of head and neck cancer, occurring in the oral cavity or mouth. It is also called mouth cancer. It arises as a primary lesion, originating in the mouth and spreading from there to other places like the nasal cavity. Symptoms include lesions or ulcers on the tongue, lip or other mouth areas. Early signs may be a white patch (leukoplakia) or a red patch (erythroplakia) on the soft tissues of the mouth. Tongue problems, swallowing difficulty, mouth sores and paraesthesia are late symptoms.

Oncogenes get activated as a result of DNA mutations, and this is one cause of Oral Cancer. In Asian countries, chewing of betel, paan, Areca and such are risk factors. Smoking and tobacco are associated with 75 percent of Oral Cancer cases. Alcohol is another high risk activity connected to this cancer. Human papillomavirus is yet another. Diagnosis is usually done by seeking out any signs or symptoms in the oral cavity. Treatment includes chemotherapy, radiation therapy, glossectomy, maxillectomy, and Moh’s procedure.

Lip Cancer-Oral cancers

2011-11-23T23:19:00.000-08:00

Cancer affects all the major parts of the body. Lips are no exception of this. Oral cancers are very dangerous, harmful, and can be easily spread to others. It affects the outer region of mouth, makes it sore, look like a infected skin. It’s natural to get lip cancer due to over smoking, but its been out of chances once to get cured for this cancer. Alcohol, tobacco, are the major cause for lip cancer.

Lip cancer may not have many symptoms, but it’ll leave a mark around your mouth by a sore white mark that will not cure as easily as one would think. The cells around the mouth are affected due to this, thus the sore marks are formed, and the dangerous part is sometimes this symptom might not be visible which can leads to an actual death if the person is not treated. It is a rareity not to have symptoms, but in the worse scenarios of cancer it is better to hope not having cancer, than looking for symptoms. Isn’t it?

Laryngeal Cancer -just an overview

2011-11-23T23:17:00.002-08:00

Laryngeal Cancer is also called laryngeal carcinoma. They are mostly squamous cell carcinomas. The cure rate for this type of cancer is related to the location of the tumor. For reasons of tumor staging the cancer is divided into stages: the glottis (involving the vocal chords), the supraglottis and the subglottis. Laryngeal Cancer may spread by metastasis to regional cervical lymph nodes.

Distant metastases to the lungs are most common in these cases. A major risk factor includes smoking, where death from Laryngeal Cancer is twenty times more likely in the case of heavy smokers. Heavy chronic consumption of alcohol is also quite significant. People with a history of neck and head cancer are also at higher risk. Symptoms include hoarseness and other voice changes, a sore throat, persistent cough, stridor, bad breath, ear ache and a lump in the neck area. Laryngeal Cancer is listed as a rare disease, affecting 1 in 100,000 people in the United States. Diagnosis includes laryngoscopy, biopsy, CT and MRI scans, and fiber-optic nasal endoscopy.

So called Kidney Cancer

2011-11-23T23:17:00.000-08:00

Kidney Cancer is a carcinoma that finds its origins in the kidney. The two most common types of this cancer are renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and urothelial cell carcinoma (UCC). The difference between these two types of cancer is that their prognosis, staging and treatment are different. Common types of Kidney Cancer include renal oncocytoma, mesoblastic nephroma, Wilms’ tumor, angiomyolipoma, and squamous cell carcinoma. Rarer types of this cancer include transitional cell carcinoma, teratoma and inverted papilloma. Kidney Cancer begins in two important locations: the renal tubule, and the renal pelvis.

Most cancers in the former are renal cell carcinomas, and clear cell adenocarcinomas. Most cacners in the latter are transitional cell carcinomas. Symptoms include palpable mass in the abdomen, hematuria, and hydronephrosis. The mass typically begins in the anterior lumbar region, then grows forward to the umbilicus, upwards into the hypochondrium, and downwards into the iliac and inguinal regions. Treatment includes chemotherapy, radiotherapy, nephrectomy, immunotherapy including interferon and interleukin-2.

Common type of liver cancer

2011-11-23T23:15:00.001-08:00

Hepatocellular Carcinoma, or malignant hepatoma, is the most common type of liver cancer. Compared to other cancers, this is quite rare in the United States. Symptoms include bloating from ascites, easy bruising from blood clotting or loss of appetite, unintentional weight loss, pain in the abdomen, nausea, emesis or fatigue. Risk factors can be due to the following reasons: alcoholism, down with hepatitis B or C, aflatoxin, cirrhosis of the liver, Wilsons disease, hemochromotosis, and type 2 diabetes

. Anabolic steroid abusers are at great risk as well, as are children affected by biliary atresia. Diagnosis of this type of cancer is done using ultrasound. On CT scan there are three patterns of growth: a single large tumor, multiple tumors, poorly defined tumor. Important features that guide the treatment of this carcinoma are: size, spread, presence of tumor capsule, vascularity of the tumor, and others. Hepatocellular Carcinoma can be prevented by vaccination against hepatitis B and C, and also by screening for hemochromatosis.