Cancer

Question 1

What is cancer?

Answer 1

Cancer is when cell division is unregulated causing cells to multiply and divide uncontrollably and abnormally which can lead to the formation of a tumour. These tumours can either be benign or malignant.

Question 2

What is a benign tumour?

Answer 2

Benign tumours are a result of abnormal cell division but aren’t cancerous, they grow slowly and remain at the location where the tumour first developed and wont spread to other parts of the body.

Question 3

What is a malignant tumour?

Answer 3

. Malignant tumours are cancerous and can spread rapidly to both local areas and to other areas of the body through the blood stream and lymphatic system. This process is called metastasis which can occur anywhere such as in the brain and lungs.

Question 4

What is melanoma?

Answer 4

a cancer which occurs in a person’s skin. The most common sign of melanoma is the appearance of a new mole or a change in size or appearance of an existing one. These moles take an irregular shape, vary in colour and usually occur on the backs of men and on the back of women’s legs. These moles may also bleed when they contact another surface.

Question 5

When is melanoma most likely to develop?

Answer 5

Melanoma is likely to develop due to intense amount of UV (ultraviolet) radiation.

Question 6

Whats an example of melanoma?

Answer 6

An example of melanoma is nodular melanoma, which is a faster developing form of the cancer and can be black to red. Nodular melanoma can appear as a lump and grown down into the skin if not treated and removed quickly.

Question 7

Whats are the treatments of cancer?

Answer 7

Chemotherapy
Radiotherapy
Cancer Surgery
Hormone Therapy
Combination therapy
Blood Transfusion

Question 8

What is chemotherapy?

Answer 8

Chemotherapy is the use of powerful drugs to destroy cancer cells. These drugs target all fast growing cells in the body (not just cancer ones) and damage the genes in their nucleus, preventing tumours forming.
It affects the entire body so there is a high chance of cancer cells being either destroyed or prevented from forming.

Question 9

What is radiotherapy?

Answer 9

Radiotherapy is a treatment which uses x-rays, gamma rays, electron beams and protons to destroy the cancer cells. The radiation destroys the DNA of these cells. The most common type of radiotherapy is external radiotherapy in which the patient lies on a table and a machine shoots radiation at the cancer

Question 10

How can cancer be diagnosed?

Answer 10

Using a biopsy