Squamous cell carcinoma, the second most common skin cancer in the United States, according to MayoClinic.com, develops in the outer, epidermal skin layer. Most squamous cells carcinomas arise in sun-exposed areas. Other risk factors include...
Staging is done by gathering information regarding the thickness of the skin cancer tumor, the depth of the penetration of that tumor and the degree to which the skin cancer has spread and categorizing your disease process as a stage--I through...
Cancer occurs when abnormal cells form and divide uncontrollably in areas of the body, often destroying the body's healthy tissue. According to the MayoClinic.com, cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States. Common forms of...
Stage four breast cancer is diagnosed when distant metastasis is found, normally in the bone, brain, liver or lungs. One to 2 percent of women are diagnosed at this stage, although a study at the University of North Carolina reported in the...
Cancer is a disease that can affect any body organs and produce serious health problems. According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), abnormal cancerous cells replicate, or multiply, uncontrollably, forming a tumor that can invade surrounding...
The word "tumor" is the Latin word for "swelling." Simply put, tumors are growths that occur where they are not supposed to.
Lung cancer is not only the most common cause of cancer death, but also one of the most preventable, according to the Merck Manual, with 85 percent of lung cancers occurring in smokers or ex-smokers. Lung cancer accounts for around 30 percent of...
Lung cancer is the second most common cancer and is the leading cause of death due to cancer, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Lung cancer is divided into two broad categories, small cell lung cancer (SCLC)...
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 bladder is the organ in your body that stores urine, and bladder cancer develops in the tissues of this muscular organ. The American Cancer Society estimates that men have a one in 26 lifetime risk of developing bladder cancer, while women...
Bone contains specialized cells that deposit new bone tissue or resorb old tissue. Bone cancer develops as a result of acquired genetic mutations to bone cells, leading to rapid and constant cell proliferation and the growth of tumors. Bone cancer...
Breast cancer caused more than 40,000 deaths and accounted for more than 193,000 new cancer diagnoses in the United States in 2009, according to the National Cancer Institute. Breast cancer develops from mutated breast tissue cells that form...
Breast cancer may originate within the lobules, ducts or the nipple of the breast. If not detected early, breast cancer becomes more aggressive and invasive, and eventually gains the ability to metastasize, or migrate to distant organs in the...
The National Cancer Institute estimated that breast cancer would lead to over 190,000 new cases diagnoses and over 40,000 deaths in the United States in 2009 alone. Breast cancer develops from mutated cells within any of the tissues of the breast,...
Cancer treatment poses a great challenge since it involves developing drugs which could, in most instances, be toxic to some other cells of the body, apart from the targeted cancer cells. Vincristine is one such drug. Vincristine is FDA approved...
Colon adenocarcinoma is a type of colon cancer. According to the National Cancer Institute, risk factors include a family history of colon or rectal cancer, an age of 50 or older, a personal history of cancer or finding polyps--non-cancerous...
Breast cancer is a progressive and life-threatening disease characterized by a series of stages of tumor development. Early stages of breast cancer involve the growth of a tumor within the breast, with cancer cells that begin to invade the lymph...
Metastatic breast cancer, also known as stage IV breast cancer, is the most advanced form of breast cancer. If breast cancer is not diagnosed and treated early, it can spread to nearby organs or enter the bloodstream and spread to distant organs...
Each lung contains a branched structure made up of airways called bronchi or bronchioles, as well as alvioli--small air sacs that facilitate oxygen transfer into the blood. Lung cancer may develop within the bronchi, bronchioles or air sacs, and...
Invasive ductal carcinoma, or IDC, is a type of breast cancer that develops from the ducts of the breast--the tubes that connect the milk-secreting lobules to the nipple. IDC is the most common form of breast cancer, accounting for around 80...
Mucinous carcinoma of the breast, also called colloid carcinoma, is a relatively rare form of breast cancer that occurs when the cancer cells produce and secrete mucous, according to the American Cancer Society. Although typically less aggressive...
Skin Cancer Basics The skin is the body's largest organ and has several important roles, including protecting us from injury, light and infection, and maintaining the body's temperature. Though skin cells are stacked in three layers--the...
In the U.S., an estimated 1.4 million new cases of cancer are expected for 2009, with well over 500,000 deaths. Cancer is the second leading cause of death. Although there is no cure for many cancer types, there have been steady advances in...
Once breast cancer is diagnosed, it is staged. Staging is a standardized system of classifying the spread and extent of the cancer. According to the American Cancer Society, the stage of the cancer is the most important factor in the choice of...
Small bowel obstruction occurs when the small intestine becomes blocked, either from within the bowel itself or from an external source, thus preventing food, liquid and gas from passing adequately through the intestinal tract. Patients present...
Tumors of the breast originate from normal cells within breast tissue that transform into cancerous cells. Once these changes occur, cancerous cells undergo rapid, uncontrollable growth and form a solid tumor, which can invade the breast and other...
Lung cancer is a complex medical condition, which is the result of cells within the lungs developing the ability to grow very quickly and spread to other tissues. How far the cancerous cells have spread is important for determining a patient's...
The National Cancer Institute says that each year in the United States, more than 58,000 people learn they have melanoma, the most dangerous type of skin cancer. Melanoma causes more than 8,000 deaths per year, according to the Merck Manual, and...
The American Cancer Society indicates that colon cancer is the third most diagnosed cancer in the United States. Death rates related to colon cancer have dropped steadily over the past 20 years, yet the annual number of such deaths in the United...
