Breast cancer develops when normal cells within the lobules, ducts or nipple of the breast begin to proliferate uncontrollably. In the beginning stages of cancer, the breast cells develop genetic mutations that promote tumor development. As cancer...
Inflammatory breast cancer is a rare form of breast cancer, accounting for 1 to 3 percent of all cases, according to the American Cancer Society. In contrast with most other types of breast cancer, inflammatory breast cancer causes the breast to...
The American Cancer Society reports that 1 in 5 women diagnosed with breast cancer will have a recurrence within 10 years of receiving therapy. Breast cancer recurrence rates vary depending on several factors.
Cervical cancer is cancer of the lower part of the uterus, called the cervix. Cancer staging provides a standardized system of describing the spread and extent of cancer. The staging of cervical cancer includes stages that range from 0 to IV, with...
Symptoms of prostate cancer can be difficult to detect when the disease is in its very early stages. Routine screenings should pick up the onset of prostate cancer, allowing for immediate and appropriate treatment. Once the cancer spreads beyond...
The American Cancer Society estimates the diagnosis of more than 24,000 new cases of liver cancer in the United States in 2010 and approximately 18,900 deaths from the disease. Most people with liver cancer have late-stage disease at the time of...
The stage of cancer describes the amount of cancer in the body and its location, and is used to determine treatment. The more complex or higher the stage, the more advanced the cancer. One of the most common staging systems is the TNM Staging...
Uterine cancer, also called endometrial cancer, led to almost 8,000 deaths and more than 40,000 new cancer diagnoses in the United States in 2009, reports the National Cancer Institute. The cancer develops due to abnormal cell proliferation of...
The National Cancer Institute reports that breast cancer will kill an estimated 39,840 women and 390 men, and lead to more than 200,000 new cancer diagnoses in the United States in 2010. Women with breast cancer develop a lump in their breast, but...
A mastectomy is performed to treat breast cancer or to prevent breast cancer in high-risk women. The National Cancer Institute defines a mastectomy as a surgery that removes the breast---or as much of the breast tissue as possible. A mastectomy...
Breast cancer is the result of a malignant tumor arising in the cells of the breast tissue. Breast cancer can metastasize, or spread, to other parts of the body via the invasion of healthy surrounding tissues or by invading the lymphatic system...
Radiation therapy, or radiotherapy, is a treatment for breast cancer that uses powerful beams of radiation to destroy cancerous cells in the breast. Radiation can be very effective in preventing the spread of cancer and removing the dangerous...
Swollen throat glands represent enlargement of the lymph nodes in the neck. Lymph nodes are bean-like collections of lymphocytes--white blood cells with a prominent role in the immune system. Infections and inflammation commonly causes swollen...
Cancers of the throat and mouth are included in the general grouping of head and neck cancers. These cancers can arise in the tongue, lining of the mouth, gums, roof of the mouth, tonsils, salivary glands, throat and voice box. The National Cancer...
The National Cancer Institute estimates that in 2010, over 23,000 new diagnoses of oral cavity cancers will be made in the United States. Gum cancer is included in the larger category of oral cavity cancers, and treatment for these cancers also...
According to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, the condition in which a person's blood platelet count is below normal is called thrombocytopenia. Platelets are blood cells produced in the bone marrow, which aggregate together to form a...
Cancers are named after the tissues from where they originate. Adenocarcinomas arise from cells lining glands of organs such as the breast, lung, colon, stomach, cervix and esophagus. Cancers arise from cells with uncontrolled cell growth and...
The National Cancer Institute reports that prior to the year 2000, 5-fluorouracil was the only drug available for use in adjuvant chemotherapy for patients with colon cancer that had spread to the lymph nodes, called stage III colon cancer. (See...
Ductal carcinoma is a variety of breast cancer that begins in the ducts that transmit milk from the breast to the nipple. Ductal carcinomas can be difficult to detect but, if caught early, can frequently be treated with radiation and surgery. The...
Chemotherapy involves using medication to kill cancer cells, and is a standard treatment for breast cancer. Chemotherapy is a systemic therapy, meaning that it travels through the bloodstream and kills cancer cells everywhere in the body, and not...
Adriamycin (doxorubicin) and Cytoxan (cyclophosphamide) make up the chemotherapy regimen known as AC. These medications are commonly used together for the treatment of breast cancer. According to the National Cancer Institute, Adriamycin is...
Colorectal carcinoma, or colon cancer, is a deadly disease that affects upwards of 135,000 and kills more than 55,000 patients per year, according to an article in the March 2005 "Clinics in Laboratory Medicine." Protocols such as rectal exams and...
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica website, the sigmoid colon is situated at the terminal end of the large intestine. The sigmoid colon links the descending colon with the rectum, and it is responsible for storing fecal material until this...
Lip cancer occurs when there is abnormal growth of cancer cells in the lips. Lip cancer is commonly classified with other cancers of the oral cavity. According to the University of Maryland Greenebaum Cancer Center, the oral cavity includes the...
More than 125,000 new cases of colon cancer occur annually in the U.S., making it one of the most frequent cancer diagnoses, according to the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons. Most colon cancers develop from a polyp in the lining of...
Urethral cancer is caused by the formation of cancer cells in the tissues of the urethra, the tube that carries urine from the bladder to outside the body. Urethral cancer is rare and occurs more often in women than in men. Urethral cancer can...
Gastric cancer can occur in the stomach lining, upper part of the stomach, lower part of the stomach or middle part of the stomach. Because this cancer can spread to lymph nodes and nearby organs, it is important that an early diagnosis is made....
The severity of any cancer is determined by clinical staging. This maxim holds true for colon, or colorectal, cancer. There are numerous tests listed by the American Cancer Society that aid in the staging of colon cancer. These tests include PET,...
Cancer is a devastating and potentially fatal disease that develops when healthy cells undergo a genetic change and begin to proliferate rapidly and uncontrollably. The genetic mutations accumulated by cancer cells allow the cells to proliferate...
Renal Cell cancer (kidney cancer) is found in the kidney and can occur in both adults and children, but most commonly in adults. In this video learn more about this cancer and its various forms, its symptoms, treatments, and preventative techniques.
