Cancer Flashcards
What are Carcinomas?
Cancer of skin surfaces of organs (epithelial tissues, skin, nerves, breasts)
What are Sarcomas?
Cancers of connective tissues (bone, muscles, fat, and blood vessels)
Leukemia+ Lymphoma
Blood cancers
Metastasis
A process where the cells detach from the original tumor, enter lymphatic system and bloodstream, and are carried to other organs
50% percent of all human cancers originate in one of four organs, which are:
- Lungs
- Breast
- Prostate
- Colon
Stage I of cancer
Cancer cells can be distinguished from normal cells.
Stage II of cancer
Cancer cells begin to metastasize and may migrate to nearby lymph nodes.
Stage III of cancer
Cancer cells have spread throughout the body and tumors may have started to grow in other organs.
Stage IV of cancer
Often a terminal stage; tumors are found throughout the body and usually are resistant to treatment.
Stage IV of cancer
Often a terminal stage; tumors are found throughout the body and usually are resistant to treatment.
What does Cancer susceptibility genes do?
Makes a person more vulnerable to environmental factors that contribute to the risk of developing cancer
Is cancer a genetic or an inherited disease?
Cancer is a genetic disease but not an inherited disease. Genes can be altered by environmental agents, which transform cells into cancer cells.
What are the environmental agents that change genes in cells so that they become cancer cells?
- Ionizing Radiation
- Infectious Microorganisms
- Cancer-Causing Chemicals (Carcinogens)
What’s Ionizing Radiation?
X-rays, UV light, radioactivity whose energy can damage cells and chromosomes
• UV Light—UVA and UVB wavelengths are both dangerous
What are the Infectious Microorganisms viruses?
- Hepatitis B and C (Liver Cancer)
- Papillomavirus (Genital and Cervical Cancer)
- Human T-cell leukemia-lymphoma virus (Leukemia and Lymphoma)
- Epsten-Barr virus (Cancer of the nose or pharynx)
What are some Chemical Carcinogens?
- Tabacco
- Pesticides
- Asbestos
- Heavy metals
- Benzene
- Nitrosamines
What is Mesothelioma?
A rare form of lung cancer that only occurs among persons exposed to asbestos fibers.
What are Xenoestrogens?
Chemicals found in the environment that mimic estrogen and aid in the development of cancer, specifically breast cancer.
What are some substances that contain xenoestrogens?
- DDT
- Pesticides
- Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)
- Biphenol-A (BPA)
- Gasoline vapor
Facts About Lung Cancer
-Lung cancer causes more deaths among men and women than any other form
of cancer does.
-Lung cancer could be completely prevented if people would stop (or never start) smoking.
Factors that can lead to Breast cancer
- Increased weight
- Less exercise
- Increased dietary fat
- Having a mother who had breast cancer before age 60.
- Experiencing menarche before age 14.
- Having your first child after age 30 or having no biological children.
- Experiencing menopause after age 55.
- Having benign breast disease.
- Having estrogen replacement therapy after age 55.
- Consuming more than 3 ounces of alcohol a day.
- Having inherited BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene.
Ways to prevent and detect breast cancer:
Monthly breast self-exams beginning at age 20.
Mammograms every 1 to 2 years for women in their 40s.
The drug tamoxifen can be used for breast cancer treatment as well as protection
Facts about Prostate Cancer
-This cancer develops very slowly.
-Prostate cancer occurs primarily in men over age 65.
-Early diagnosis relies on two tests:
•Finger rectal exam
•Prostate-specific antigen test (PSA),
Facts about Skin Cancer
- Melanoma is a malignant form of skin cancer
- It is the fifth most frequently diagnosed cancer among Americans
- Exposure to sunlight is the primary cause of all forms of skin cancer
