Cancer in Teens

Many people don't usually relate cancer with teens. Cancer is more common in adults, so its likely that you know someone who has had it, such as an older relative or someone in a friends family. But teens can get particular types of cancer, too.

Cancer

The word cancer actually concerns many diseases, not one. In fact, there are more than 100 types of diseases known collectively as cancer. What they all have in common is the overgrowth of cells, tiny units that make up all living things. Cancer (also known as malignancy, pronounced: muh-lig-nun-see) takes place when cells begin to grow and multiply in an uncontrolled way.

Normal body cells cultivate and divide over a period of time until they eventually die. But cancer cells continue to grow and divide and grow and divide. Eventually, they gather to form tumors. Tumors (pronounced: too-murz) are lumps that can interfere with the body's normal processes. Sometimes cells from a tumor break away and travel to a different tissue or organ. This is called metastasis (pronounced: muh-tas-tuh-sus).

As terrifying as all these sounds, most cancers can be treated and controlled and many people with cancer get better and lead normal lives.

Reason to get affected by Cancer

No one really knows why cancer grows in specific people. Scientists and researchers are working to learn why some people get cancer and others do not. This will help them to learn whether cancer can be prevented.

Doctors do have some ideas about why people may get cancer, though. The main reasons are genetics and certain environmental or behavioral triggers.

The disposition to build up some types of cancer is believed to be inherited – that is, the genes you were born with might carry a predisposition for cancer. For example, if a close relative has had cancer of the breast or the colon, you may be more likely to inherit the tendency to develop those cancers, even though you may never actually get them.

Several behavioral and environmental triggers can cause changes in the body's cells that push them into a cancerous state. For example, cigarettes are known to increase the risk of lung cancer. Too much exposure to the sun can increase the risk of skin cancer. These types of triggers act on the body slowly over time, so the cancers that may result from them don't show up until a person is an adult. That's one reason why teens don't get the same types of cancers as adults do.

Doctors do know for sure that cancer itself is not contagious, so you don't have to worry about catching it from someone else or spreading it to another person (although people with certain infectious diseases such as AIDS or hepatitis are more vulnerable to certain cancers). Cancer is also never a person fault. It's simply not true that a person may have done something wrong to get the disease.

Sign of Cancer

The first sign of cancer is a symptom – a signal that something is wrong. There are many diverse signs that a person may have cancer, just as there are many different forms of the disease. A few of the more common symptoms of cancer include:

* extreme exhaustion
* swelling or lumps in certain parts of the body, such as the abdomen or neck
* headaches
* blurred vision
* nausea
* problems with walking or balance
* more infections
* unusual bleeding

Only you know how your body works and what you feel like when you're healthy. If you haven't been feeling well, it's better to tell an adult who can make sure you see a doctor who will evaluate your symptoms. Cancer, like most illnesses, is easier to treat when its found early, so when in doubt, check it out.

If a doctor suspects that a person has cancer, he or she will order various tests. These might include blood tests, in which doctors scrutinize blood cells under a microscope to look for problems, X-rays, or an MRI, a test that can be used to detect tumors. Doctors also often use a biopsy (pronounced: bye-op-see) to diagnose cancer. In this procedure, a doctor removes a small tissue sample to examine it for cancer cells.

Doctors way to Treat Cancer
Most cancers can be treated, especially the types of cancers teens are likely to get. The number of people who overcome cancer goes up every year because of new cancer treatments.

There are three widespread methods for treating cancer: surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. Because cancer is different for each patient, each person treatment plan will be individually designed for him or her. A person with cancer may undergo any one of these treatments or a combination of them. A doctor who specializes in treating people with cancer is called an oncologist (pronounced: ahn-kah-luh-jist).

Surgery takes away cancerous tissue. Depending on the location of a persons cancer, surgery can be simple or complex, so the operation may be an outpatient procedure (where a person is in and out of the hospital on the same day) or may require that the person stays in the hospital. Generally, the surgeon removes the cancerous tissue along with a small amount of the healthy tissue surrounding it to make sure that all the cancer is removed and has not spread.

The healing of cancer using medication is called chemotherapy. Specific cancers respond well to chemotherapy, which can often be given on an outpatient basis. A person who is having chemotherapy may experience nausea, fatigue, hair loss, or other side effects. Some of these side effects happen because chemotherapy medicines may destroy some healthy cells in the process of getting rid of the malignant cells. In time, these healthy cells will start to grow again and most of the side effects will disappear.

Radiation, or radiotherapy, is an additional method of treating cancer. A person getting radiation for cancer will probably be treated by a radiation oncologist, someone who specializes in using radiation to kill cancer cells. Radiotherapy machines deliver powerful X-rays or high-energy electrons to the part of a person body that's affected by cancer. After repeated doses of high levels of radiation, many cancerous tumors shrink or disappear.

Radiation therapy is generally painless, but there may be a number of side effects. Side effects of radiation therapy may include fatigue, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea. Some patients complain that the area of skin that's irradiated feels sunburned. But most of these side effects are temporary.

Dealing With and Improving From Cancer

Dealing with cancer and cancer treatments can disrupt a person's life for a while. People with cancer often need to get sustain from lots of different places to take care of the things they have to get done. For example, teens with cancer may need the help of a home tutor to get schoolwork done and adults with cancer may need help with housework or their jobs. And lots of people talk to therapists or professional counselors about the emotional side of dealing with a health problem.

You may hear doctors talk about a prognosis for a person with cancer. A prognosis is an estimate of how well that person's treatment is working and how likely it is that cancer will come back.

Subsequent to surgery or treatment with radiation or chemotherapy, a doctor will do tests to see if the cancer is still there. If there are no signs of cancer, then that person is in whats called remission (pronounced: rih-mih-shun). Remission is the goal when anyone with cancer goes to the hospital for treatment. Sometimes, additional treatment, such as chemotherapy, might be needed for a while to keep a person in remission and to keep cancer cells from coming back.
For more info and Article Related Health visit:: http://www.healthwikinews.com

Diagnosed With Cancer? What Treatment Options Do You Have?

Unfortunately, many people across the world receive a cancer diagnosis every day and none of them are ready to cope with such a news. The word "cancer" induces fear in people and this is more than understandable. After being diagnosed with cancer, every patient experiences negative feelings and emotions like unwished loneliness, loss of control and hope. These patients think the worst and for this reason, they have a hard time digesting the information received. For some of them, coming to terms with the situation is impossible. Sadness, confusion, anger, denial, guilt, depression and stress flood their minds. However, the reality is that unless you accept that terrifying situation, you will never succeed to overcome it. Even in such difficult times, there is hope. To be precise, patients should inquire more about the type of treatments available by discussing with a specialized doctor and choose the most efficient method for complete cure.

Understand your diagnosis before choosing the type of treatment

Of course, each patient has the right to seek a second or a third medical opinion about his particular case. Nevertheless, if two cancer specialists tell you the same thing, then you should save time, money and other resources. Instead, you should direct your attention towards the treatment options. These include surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, medication, hormone therapy, immunotherapy and stem cell transplantation. After becoming familiar with all these options, the patient and his family must make the important decision together. Before deciding upon the most suitable type of cancer treatment, the patient must fully understand the diagnosis. Most people cannot help but navigate the internet in search of answers, but this is not a wise move because the information found on different websites can be misleading. Asking questions to your doctor about the respective condition, as well as the benefits and risks of each treatment will clarify any doubt and help you gain a new perspective on the situation.

Surgery

The oldest and the most common cancer treatment is surgery and it accounts for the removal of the mass and surrounding tissues by a surgical oncologist. This type of intervention has multiple purposes, from diagnosing cancer and finding out the exact location of the tumor to assessing the stage of cancer, relieving the side effects and restoring the body's natural function. The type of surgery chosen for a specific form of cancer depends on the area of the body affected, the amount of tissue the surgical oncologist needs to remove and the patient's wish.

There are two main types of surgery; open and minimally invasive. The first requires making a large cut in order to remove the mass and probably lymph nodes in close proximity. Minimally invasive surgery consists of making small cuts so that the surgical oncologist can insert a laparoscope that allows him to see inside the body when performing the surgery. With special tools, he removes the mass and some healthy tissues around. This option is viable for solid tumors located in a certain area. It does not work for leukemia or other cancer types that have already spread to different parts of the body.

Chemotherapy

Cancer cells grow and multiply at a faster pace and chemotherapy holds the purpose to slow down or stop that process. Therefore, this treatment option can either cure cancer or ease the symptoms caused by this alarming disease by shrinking the tumors responsible for the pain and other issues. Sometimes, a doctor recommends combining chemotherapy with another treatment or other options for better results. For instance, doctors can use it before surgery to diminish the size of the tumor or after the surgery to destroy the remaining cancerous cells.

Unfortunately, this type of cancer treatment comes with unpleasant side effects because chemotherapy does not focus entirely on fast-growing cancer cells meaning that it also affects healthy cells like those responsible for hair growth. Because of this, during the treatment patients experience immense hair loss. The most common side effects caused by chemotherapy, besides hair loss, refers to fatigue, nausea and mouth sores. Those patients who choose this form of treatment need the help and support of their families more than ever because they can barely take care of themselves. Even more, they usually spend most of the time in bed because their body needs rest.

Radiotherapy 

Radiotherapy, also known as radiation therapy or x-ray therapy, kills cancer cells or diminishes the tumors using high doses of particles or waves. Specialists also use radiation in lower doses in order to see the inside of the patient's body. This type of treatment damages the cancerous cells DNA impeding them to recover and causing them to stop dividing. As soon as the cancer cells die, the body performs the role of eliminating them. Patients who choose this treatment method must be fully aware that satisfactory results will only appear after days or weeks. There are two types of radiotherapy, namely external beam radiation therapy and internal beam radiation therapy.

With the first type of radiation, doctors use a large and noisy machine to aim particles in the affected area of the body, which makes it a local treatment. The machine does not even touch the patient. On the other hand, with the second type of radiotherapy, doctors place a source of radiation, in liquid or solid form, inside the patient's body. The type of radiation chosen for a specific type of cancer varies according to several factors, which involve tumor size and location, the patient's medical history and general health, his age, and other existing medical conditions.

Even though surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy represent the main types of cancer treatments used by doctors, there are other treatment options as well. For instance, immunotherapy helps the patient's immune system to cope with cancer. The procedure practically consists in using living organisms to make substances, that serves the purpose to treat cancer.

Furthermore, with targeted therapy, doctors direct their full attention towards changes in cancerous cells allowing them to grow and spread thus ensuring the best form of cancer treatment.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Rizvana_Manzoor/1397216