Cancer is a group of abnormal cells that divide and grow rapidly. Rather than dying, as normal cells do, the abnormal cells group together and form tumors, according to FamilyDoctor.org. While there a number of different cancers, some are more...
Annual cancer deaths rank second among the leading causes of death in the United States every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Depending on the aggressive quality of the cancer and the time line in...
The human body is made up of millions of cells. Although the basic structure of each cell is similar, the overall structure varies depending on the function of that cell. There are several different types of cells in the body that are classified...
Our bodies grow and develop as cells divide and then eventually die. Our bodies are nothing more than a collection of these different types of cells. According to the American Cancer Society, cancer is the abnormal growth of cells and cancer cells...
There are several different types of lung cancer, all with different characteristics. Some are called small cell lung cancers, and the others are non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLCs). Within the non-small cell lung cancer classification, there are...
Merck Manuals, an online medical library, reports that kidney cancer accounts for more than 2 to 3 percent of all cancers in adults in the United States. Men are 50 percent more likely to have kidney cancer than women. Smoking is a major risk...
The American Society of Clinical Oncology reports that over 190,000 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer in the United States in 2009. Cancer of the prostate occurs when cells of the prostate transform into a new type of cell that grows in an...
The bladder is the organ that stores the urine delivered from the kidneys via a tube called the ureter. A layer of muscle surrounds the bladder, which squeezes during urination to empty the bladder. According to the Merck Manuals, an online...
The thyroid is a butterfly-shaped organ located in the neck in front of the trachea (wind pipe). According to the Mayo Clinic, the thyroid produces hormones that help regulate the body's temperature, blood pressure, and metabolism. The National...
Breast cancer occurs when normal cells in breast tissue undergo changes that cause them grow out of control and become solid tumors. The majority of breast cancers originate from cells that line the milk ducts of the breast, but a number of other...
Eye cancer is the formation of tumors from cells in any of the multiple parts of the eye and its surrounding structures. The American Cancer Society reports that the eye has three major structures: the eyeball, the orbit and the adnexal structures...
Cancer cells circulating in the blood are usually tumors of the blood cells themselves, known as leukemias. The World Health Organization recognizes more than 32 unique leukemias arising in children and adults. Acute leukemias usually have a more...
The National Cancer Institute reports that gastric cancer, also called stomach cancer, is diagnosed in 1,300 men and 8,000 women in the United States each year. The majority of people with gastric cancer are older than 70. The stomach is part of...
There are two main types of esophageal cancer, squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma. Less common forms of cancer of the esophagus include leiomyosarcoma, which is a cancer of the smooth muscle of the esophagus, metastatic cancer, which is...
Breast cancer is caused by the development of tumors in breast tissue. There are several different types of breast cancer, classified according to whether tumors begin in the lining, milk gland or connective tissue of the breast, and whether they...
According to the National Cancer Institute, more than 21,000 men and 9,000 women were diagnosed with oral cancer in the United States in 2009. The majority of men and women affected by this type of cancer are over 60 years of age. Oral cancer is a...
Ovarian cancer is a gynecologic cancer that arises from the ovaries. There are various types of ovarian cancer, depending on where in the ovaries the cancer started, and how the cells look under the microscope. The American Cancer Society lists...
The National Cancer Institute reports that pancreatic cancer is diagnosed in 29,000 people in the United States each year, and is the fifth leading cause of cancer death. Located in the abdomen behind the stomach, the pancreas secretes hormones...
The National Cancer Institute reports that more than 186,000 men in the United States are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year, and that it is the second most common cancer in American men. The prostate is a walnut-sized endocrine organ in...
Neurons typically do not themselves become cancerous because they lack the ability to replicate, which is essential for cancer cells. As a result, most kinds of brain cancer result from the surrounding cells that protect, nourish and support...
Breast cancer is classified according to where the cancer originates. The Mayo Clinic explains that breast cancer can start in the ducts of the breast, the milk-producing lobules of the breast or, sometimes, the connective tissue that is in...
Prostate cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer in men. It led to almost 220,000 new cancer diagnoses and over 32,000 deaths in the United States in 2009, reports the National Cancer Institute. Prostate cancer development involves...
The breasts undergo periods of tightly regulated growth and development throughout puberty and pregnancy. When cells within the breast become mutated, leading to dysregulation of cell growth, this causes uncontrolled cell proliferation, and breast...
The National Cancer Institute reports that 15,000 men and 6,000 women in the U.S. are diagnosed with primary liver cancer each year. The American Cancer Society notes that the liver has two veins: the hepatic artery provides it with oxygen, and...
Prostate cancer develops in the prostate gland, a part of the male reproductive system. According to the National Cancer Institute, the disease develops primarily in older men and is the second most common cancer after skin cancer. Treatment for...
Though breast cancer affects men as well as women, it occurs more frequently in women, and is the most common cancer among women, second only to skin cancer, according to the Mayo Clinic. A variety of treatments exists, and the type of treatment...
More than 100 types of cancers currently exist, according to differenttypesof cancer.com. These types vary greatly, but the one thing they have in common is how they begin. Cancer does not just appear one day--it is the result of abnormal cell...
Smoking can be extremely hazardous to your health. Along with impairing your ability to breathe correctly, smoking can cause several different types of cancer. "Health" Magazine reports that while the majority of people who quit do gain some...
Chemotherapy medications fight cancer by attacking cancer cells and preventing their replication, thus stopping tumor growth. There are many different chemotherapy drugs, but most fall into five main classes. These classifications are based on how...
Asbestosis is a chronic inflammatory medical condition affecting the parenchymal tissue of the lungs. It occurs after long-term, heavy exposure to asbestos. Sufferers have severe shortness of breath and are at an increased risk regarding several...
Childhood cancers are hard to indentify, but seventy five percent of childhood cancers can be cured. Learn about childhood cancers in this video.
Prostate cancer affects aging men. Since there are no visual symptoms, it is important to get regular screening. Learn about prostate cancer in this video.
