Cancer:The deadly disease

 Cancer, the uncontrolled growth of cells, is a major cause of death throughout the world. In 2007, it killed ~7,900,000 people worldwide, a value that represents ~13% of total deaths. In the U.S., the number of deaths caused by cancer is second only to that from cardiovascular disease. While great strides have been made in the treatment of cancer over the past 50 years, it continues to be a major health concern and, therefore, extensive efforts have been devoted to searching for new therapeutic approaches.

The mechanism that underline the development of cancer and oncogenic transformation of cells. It's treatment  and control have been one of the more intense area of research in biology and medicine. Cancer is not a single for disease but it is group  of many disease caused when the property of contact inhibition is lost in cell. As a result there is uncontrolled growth of cells  resulting in the formation of mass of cell called tumors . Tumours are of two types: benign tumors and maligant tumours

Malignant tumour is more dangerous than benign tumours as malignant tumours spread through various body parts, creating new cancer there. This  property is most feared  property of malignant tumour called  metastasis .

Causes of cancer:

Transformation  of normal cell into  oncogenic cells may be induced by physical, chemical and biological  agents. This agent is call carcinogens. 

Ionizing radiations like X-rays qnd gamma rays and non ionizing radiations like UV rays cause DNA damage leading to neoplastic transformation of cells. Tobbaco has been recognized as major agent responsible for causing lung cancer. The single stick of cigarette  contain more than 2000 chemical and more than 500 chemicals are carcinogens and cause lung cancer. Cancer causing viruses called oncogenic viruses have genes called viral oncogenic. Furthermore,  some genes called cellular oncogens or proto oncogens have been identified in normal cells which when activated in normal cell cause oncogenic transformation of cells. 

Detection and diagnosis ofcancer:

If you have a symptom or a screening test result that suggests cancer, your doctor must find out whether it is due to cancer or some other cause. The doctor may start by asking about your personal and family medical history and do a physical exam. The doctor also may order lab tests, imaging tests (scans), or other tests or procedures. You may also need a biopsy, which is often the only way to tell for sure if you have cancer.

This page covers tests that are often used to help diagnose cancer. Depending on the symptoms you have, you may have other tests, too. 

Treatment of cancer: The comman approaches for treatment of cancer are surgery, radiation therapy and immunotherapy. In radiotherapy tumour cells are irradiated lethally, taking proper care of the normal tissues surrounding the tumour mass. Sereval chemotherapic drugs are used to kill cancerous cells. Some of these is specific for particular tumors. Majority of drugs have side effect like hair loss, anaemia,  etc.  Most cancers are treated by combination of surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Tumor cell have been shown to avoid detection and destruction by immune system. Therefore alpha interferon are given to cancer which are biological response modifiers. 

Conclusion :

The latest advances in cancer treatment have created a whole new outlook on how to treat cancer. These advances have developed from a deeper understanding of the molecular basis of cancer. Some of the earlier treatments are still valuable however they have some drawbacks. For example, surgery and radiation are effective but they only treat one local area of the cancer. Chemotherapy can treat cancer cells that are spread all over the body but they have extremely toxic side effects. All of these treatments are still in use today and will probably be in use for a while although they will not be the only kind of treatments. 

SAY NO TO CARCINOGENS, SAY NO TO CANCER,  SAY YES TO HAPPY LIFE TOGETHER ☺

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STAY SAFE,  STAY HEALTHY ☺☺☺