About Cancer

Learning more about cancer is an effective method for prevention on its own. The more you know the more likely you are to get frequent screenings and notice the symptoms early, if you fall ill. It is worth finding out more about the different kinds of cancer cells first.

Before you read any further it is worth looking at the definition of cancer. This disease is defined as the rapid and uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells in an organ, gland or another type of body tissue. As these cells grow, they go on to form a larger formation called a tumor. It should be pointed out that cancer usually refers to malignant tumors and not to benign ones.

There are over 100 kinds of cancer cells that can affect each different part of the body, including organs, tissues and glands. It is worth pointing out that not all tumor cells that grow in a certain organ or gland are the same. For instance, there are a number of lung, liver and pancreatic cancers because the tumor cells can affect different parts of these organs. In these different parts the cells differ. Additionally, the change that goes on in the cell so that it becomes malignant can be different as well. If you take into account these changes to differentiate between the different kinds of cancer, their number can grow to over 200.

Each type of cancer bears the name of the organ or tissue it affects. For this reason, it is worth looking at the different types by looking at the different body systems and organs of the body that this dangerous disease can affect.

Starting from the head, the first kind of cancer in the list is brain cancer. Adults can get a condition called adult brain tumor that refers to a malignant growth in the brain. There are six other types of malignant tumors that affect primarily children. These include brain stem glioma and cerebellar astrocytoma.

Many people do not know this, but eye cancer also exists. Just like the skin tissue, the upper layer of eye tissue can be harmfully affected by the UV rays of the sun. In turn, intraocular melanoma can be developed. The other type of cancer that can affect the eyes is called retinoblastoma.

The cancers that can affect the mouth, throat and sinuses are commonly referred to as oral cancer. This type includes malignant tumors in the tongue and the lips. Other kinds of the disease that can affect the head and neck area include metastatic squamous neck cancer and salivary gland cancer.

Thyroid cancer is defined as a malignant tumor growing in this gland, which is situated in the lower part of the front neck. This condition is the most common kind of endocrine system cancer. Other less common conditions include adrenocortical carcinoma and pituitary tumor.

Breast cancer is one of the most common kinds of cancer. It affects over 200,000 women each year in the US alone. There are two main types ductal carcinoma in situ and lobular carcinoma in situ.

Lung cancer is the most common disease of this type. Its main cause is smoking. There are two major types - small cell and non-small cell.

Different types of cancer cells can affect all parts of the gastrointestinal system. The most common types include cancer of the esophagus, gallbladder, pancreas, liver, stomach, colon, rectum and anus.

There are also different kinds of malignant tumors that can affect different parts of the urinary tract. The most common diseases are kidney cancer and bladder cancer.

Diseases that can affect the male reproductive system include prostate cancer, an extremely common type, penile cancer and testicular cancer.

Almost all parts of the female reproductive system can be affected by this disease. The most common kinds of gynecological cancers include ovarian cancer, endometrial cancer and cervical cancer.

There are two main types of cancer that affect the blood. These are leukemia and lymphoma. The former can affect both adults and children while the latter typically occurs in adults.

Even though bone cancer is very rare, skin cancer is an extremely common condition. Melanoma is the most serious and dangerous kind of skin cancer.

There are many kinds of cancer. Some of them are less common while others affect hundreds of thousands of people a year. The optimistic news is that research is massive and continues to produce more and more promising results.