Thyroid cancer is largely seen in women

Not a very common type of cancer, thyroid is a cancer of the thyroid gland, which is located in the front of the neck. The thyroid gland produces hormones which regulate normal body, heart rate blood pressure, body temperature and weight.

There are various types of thyroid cancer

Papillary thyroid cancer– Found mostly between people aged between 30-50 years of age.
Follicular thyroid cancer– Found among people of 50 years of age or above.
Medullary thyroid cancer– Its due to genetic cause and has cancer in other glands as well.
Anaplastic thyroid cancer– Commonly found in people above 60 years of age. Its an aggressive cancer.

Thyroid cancer is mainly seen in women rather then men. Thyroid gland lies in the lower part of the neck. For proper functioning of thyroid gland we need iodine, which we get from food.

Symptoms of thyroid cancer
Thyroid cancer develops very slowly and usually shows no symptoms in its early stages. Some symptoms include;

A small lump in the neck shows up, which is painless in the initial period.
As the lump grows, pain in neck and throat can increase.
Hoarseness or problem speaking with a normal voice.
Breathing difficulties may come up.
The thyroid may be hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism.

Thyroid cancer is diagnosed through blood test, fine needle aspiration cytology( biopsy), Imaging scans( CT or MRI scans)

Treatment
If early stage of this cancer, it is curable through surgery, radioactive iodine and radiotherapy.

Surgery: surgery is a little risky treatment as it can affect the vocal cords of the patient. There may be breathing difficulties. The patient may also go through pain and difficulty in swallowing.
Thyroid hormone therapy: there is a possibility of removal of thyroid gland completely or partially and the patient will have to take replacement hormone tablets for the rest of his life and regular blood test will be needed
Radioactive iodine: for preventing thyroid cancer to reoccur, radioactive iodine therapy is needed which is a successor of surgery. This treatment includes strict diet of low- iodine.d

Bone cancer: types,symptoms and treatment

It is the most uncommon type of cancer that begins in the bone and in any bone in the body. It mostly affects the long bones in the body specially the arms and the legs. Bone cancer are of two types- primary bone cancer and secondary bone cancer. Primary bone cancer starts in the bone itself, while secondary bone cancer starts elsewhere in the body and then spreads to the bone.

Primary bone cancer- primary bone cancer is of two types;

Benign bone tumors: it usually occurs in children and teens. It includes osteoma, osteochondroma, giant cell tumor of bone.
Malignant primary bone tumor: It usually occurs in adults. It includes chondrosarcoma, Ewing’s sarcoma. Multiple myeloma is a blood cancer which may include one or more bone tumor.

Signs and Symptoms

The patient initially experience pain into the affected area. As time passes, pain increases. In some of the cases, pains and sign are not to be seen easily, and the person is unknown about the growing disease inside his body. In Egwing sarcoma, pain is faster and deep than other bone cancers.
There may be swelling in the affected area.
Bone will weaken with future risk of fracture.
Loss of weight increases
A lump is seen in affected area
Fever, chills, night sweats are other common signs seen in patient.

Causes
There is no exact cause, or no proper explanation for cause of bone cancer.

Bone cancer is mostly seen in children or young adults aged upto 20.
Patients who have received radiation therapy
People with a close relative who had bone cancer
Babies born with umbilical hernia

Bone cancer is diagnosed through bone scan, computerized tomography (CT), Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), X-rays, Bone biopsy.

Treatment

Surgery: It’s the best possible way and try to remove the tumor. The surgeon may take some bone from another part of the body to replace lost bone or an artificial bone may be put in.
Radiation therapy: it works by damaging the DNA inside the tumor cells, destroying their ability to reproduce.
Chemotherapy: it usually refers to the destruction of cancer cells.

How to treat Lung Cancer

The uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells which attacks both lungs, becomes the reason of lung cancer. It starts usually in the cells that line the air passages. Some cells do not die and grow into a new healthy lung tissue; rather they become abnormal and divide rapidly to give birth to tumors. As tumors become large and more in numbers, they decrease the lung’s ability to provide the bloodstream with oxygen.

Tumors that remain in one place without spreading in other parts of the body are known as Benign tumors. Tumors that are dangerous and spread to other parts of the body are known as Malignant tumors.

Primary lung cancer grows and belongs in the lungs while secondary lung cancer starts somewhere else in the body and then reaches its main destination that is lungs. According to the world health organization, 7.6 million deaths globally each year are caused by cancer. Cancer represents 13% of all global deaths. Most of the lung cancers are likely to be seen in patients above 60 years when they are diagnosed.

Symptoms of lung cancer
Cancer symptoms are quiet varied and depends on where the cancer is exactly located, where it has spread, and how big it is. Lung cancer symptoms are slow to occur in and outside body.

Persistent or intense coughing
Pain in the chest, shoulders or back due to intense coughing
Changes in colour of the mucus that is coughed up from the lower airways.
Difficulty in breathing and swallowing
Hoarseness in the voice
Harsh sounds while breathing
Coughed up blood or blood in the sputum.

If cancer spreads to the brain patients may experience vertigo, headaches or seizures. Liver may become enlarged and causes jaundice and affects bones which becomes brittle and broken.

Lung cancer spreads all over the body which may cause further,

Fever
Fatigue
Pains in joints or bones
Swelling in the neck or face
Bleeding or blood clots

What causes lung cancer?

The common cause is long term exposure to tobacco and heavy smoking. Passive smoking which includes a person living or working with a chain smoker too can be prone to lung cancer.
Air pollution is another cause which has small effect in increasing the risk of lung cancer. Indoor air pollution too can be the cause which includes habit of coal smoke, burning of wood, charcoal, dung which is likely increasing danger in women.
Genetics is one of the cause too where relatives of someone have or had this cancer and the risk increases 2.4 times.

Treatment
Treatment of lung cancer depends on its type, stage, age, health and other personal characteristics. There is no single treatment of cancer, patient often receive many joint therapies. The main lung cancer treatment includes

Surgery
Chemotherapy
Radiation

A brief guide on cancer

The name itself gives a shiver in the whole body. A disease which is the most dangerous and which every human being is feared of. Cancer is a disease caused by out of control cell growth. There are 100 types of cancers in this world. It badly damages body. When damaged cells divide uncontrollably and forms lumps or masses of tissues which causes tumors. Tumors can grow and interfere with the digestive, nervous and circulatory systems and this can attack the body parts and its systems. When tumors successfully spreads to other parts of body and grows destroying all body parts, it becomes serious condition that is difficult to treat. This guide on cancer shall help you understand the basics of cancer which are as follows:

What causes cancer?
It is the result of cells that uncontrollably grow and do not die. Normal cells in the body orderly grows, divide and then die on their own, but some cells when do not go in regular basis, they grow and divide and do not die, but starts growing own their own, which causes cancer. This growth of cells causes damages to body parts. It is thus necessary to guide on cancer to the people who are unaware about the causes of cancer.

Symptoms
They are different and depend on where cancer is located and how big it is. Some cancer can be felt or seen through the skin- a lump on the breast, mole on the skin for skin cancers, even white spots on tongue. Some are less apparent. Some symptoms are slow first leads to constipation, diarrhoea etc.

How it is diagnosed?
If you have a proper doctor to guide on cancer early detection can give way to successful treatment. Extracting cancer cells and looking them under a microscope is the only absolute way to diagnose cancer. It is called Biopsy. After diagnose, doctors find out how far the cancer is spread and the stage of cancer is. The stage determines which choices are available for treatment.

How it is treated?
It depends on its types and how far it is spread. There are different treatments.

Surgery
radiation
chemotherapy
Immunotherapy
Hormone therapy
Gene therapy

Prevention
Our behaviour and our actions is the easiest prevention for cancer.

Not to smoke, tobacco or drink alcohol which lower risk of cancer most probably throat, lungs and mouth cancers.
Skin cancers can be prevented by staying in shade, protecting with a hat and using proper sunscreen. It also sometimes depend on what regularly cosmetics products you use and of which company. Bad quality products only to buy for cheap rates can be a reason for skin cancers.
Diet is also an important part and a step towards prevention of cancer. It includes food which is low in fat and rich in fresh fruits and vegetables and even whole grains. It is said that even coffee is a good diet for prevention of cancer.
Certain vaccinations have been too associated with its preventions which should be consulted with your trusted family doctor.
The best prevention remedy is continuous and regular whole body check up in a reputed and a trusted hospital under a qualified and an experienced doctor. Regular check-ups have become a must today as it can help fight even the smallest infectious disease.

BRCA Beat: 2014 Spring/Summer Issue

As Spring sets in, Basser’s quarterly e-newsletter reports on the annual Basser Center Scientific Symposium, Research Updates, Upcoming Events and highlights Partner in Hope Shari Basser Potter, whose generous gift funds the Basser Global Prize:

When the Basser Research Center for BRCA was established in 2012, in honor of [her sister] Faith, Penn alumna Shari, and her husband Len made an extraordinary gift to launch a global effort. The Potters’ gift funds an international scientist through the Basser Global Prize, which honors a visionary researcher who has made a significant impact on advancing BRCA1/2-related research.

The inaugural Basser Global Prize was awarded to Professor Alan Ashworth, FRS from the Institute for Cancer Research in the United Kingdom, at this year’s Basser Center Scientific Symposium. The second annual symposium was held at Penn on May 6 & 7 and educated over 250 scientists, physicians, genetic counselors, nurses and health care providers on the latest advances in BRCA1 and BRCA2 research and patient care.

Read the whole 2014 Spring/Summer edition here:
BRCA beat eNewsletter