How Does Cancer Spread?

Cancer Cell Invasion

Cancer cells spread by invading healthy cells and destroying them in order to create more abnormal cells, thereby allowing the cancer to grow larger and more menacing. These cells spread throughout the section of the body where it began, healthy cells becoming damaged and then changed into malignant cancer cells. This is known as metastasis, and it is how cancer spreads from one organ to another. If left unchecked, it eventually spreads throughout the body. Even though a certain type of cancer may spread from one organ to another, it is still referred to by the type it was originally. For example, if it begins as lung cancer and then spreads to the liver, it is still referred to as lung cancer and is treated as such. Doctors who diagnose the cancer prefer to do so early in the disease because it is easier for them to diagnose where in the body the disease began.

How Cancer Spread

Cancer can spread in several ways. One is in the bloodstream, traveling through the veins. The most common way is through the lymph nodes, because the cells can flow through the liquid that runs through the lymph channels, which is why surgeons usually remove the nearby lymph nodes when they remove cancerous tumors. If even one cancerous cell gets into the lymph channels, the cancer will return but likely in a different place. Cancer can also spread by moving through the abdominal cavity or other open spaces in the body.

All forms of cancer require access to the bloodstream in order to survive in the body. They are, however, much more likely to spread through veins rather than through the much larger arteries, so it is unlikely that cancerous tumors will grow near arteries. Malignant cells can break off from the original tumor and travel through the veins to a new location, where they implant and begin to grow. Some cancers also grow by spreading gradually in the area of origination, never venturing far beyond the original location.

Accidental Cancer Cell Implantation

In rare cases, metastasis* can be initiated by accidentally dripping a sample of the cancerous cells into a healthy portion of the body. This is usually done during exploratory or biopsy surgery, where extractions of tissue are taken and some of it drips back into the incision again. This is called implantation or inoculation metastasis. To prevent this from happening it is best to remove as much of the cancer as possible during the initial surgery. Removing all of it is preferable if the tumor is small enough. Internal cancers rarely spread to the skin, but skin cancers will often move inward to invade the internal organs of the body. The liver is particularly susceptible to metastasis*.

*Metastatis: the transference of disease-producing organisms or of malignant or cancerous cells to other parts of the body by way of the blood or lymphatic vessels or membranous surfaces.

Latest News about Breast Cancer

MONDAY, March 28 -- Some women who've been treated for early-stage breast cancer are more likely than others to worry excessively that the cancer will return, a new study has found. This type of anxiety, the researchers say, can compromise a woman's medical care and quality of life.
"How much women worry about recurrence is often not aligned with their actual risk for cancer recurrence," study author Nancy Janz.
For most women diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer, the risk for recurrence is low. Nonetheless, many worry a lot, and "we need to better understand the factors that increase the likelihood that women will worry and develop strategies and appropriate referrals to help women with excessive worry," Janz said.
The study included 2,290 women diagnosed with non-metastatic breast cancer between June 2005 and February 2007.
Those found to be least likely to worry about cancer recurrence included women who were more easily able to understand clinical information presented to them, who had fewer symptoms and who received more coordinated care. Factors associated with higher levels of worry included being younger, having a job, experiencing more pain and fatigue and undergoing radiation treatment.
To help ease their worries, Janz said, programs developed to help women who've been through breast cancer treatment should be culturally sensitive and reflect differences in women's communication style, social support and coping strategies.

Summary:
 Women who've been treated for early-stage breast cancer are more likely than others to worry excessively that the cancer will return. Factors associated with higher levels of worry included being younger, having a job, experiencing more pain and fatigue and undergoing radiation treatment.Women who've been through breast cancer treatment should be culturally sensitive and reflect differences in women's communication style, social support and coping strategies.

Words related to breast cancer

1. BRCA1
A gene on chromosome 17 that normally helps to suppress cell growth. A person who inherits certain changes in a BRCA1 gene has a higher risk of getting breast, ovarian, prostate, and other types of cancer.

2.BRCA2
A gene on chromosome 13 that normally helps to suppress cell growth. A person who inherits certain mutations changes in a BRCA2 gene has a higher risk of getting breast, ovarian, prostate, and other types of cancer.

3.BRCAPro
A computer program that uses statistics to predict whether a person has an inherited mutation (change) in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. People who have certain mutations in these genes have a higher than normal risk of breast, ovarian, prostate, and other types of cancer. The program is based on personal and family medical histories of breast and ovarian cancer.

4.Breast Duct
A thin tube in the breast that carries milk from the breast lobules to the nipple. Also called milk duct.

5.Breast Density
Describes the relative amount of different tissues present in the breast. A dense breast has less fat than glandular and connective tissue. Mammogram films of breasts with higher density are harder to read and interpret than those of less dense breasts.

6.Breast-Sparing Surgery
An operation to remove the breast cancer but not the breast itself. Types of breast-sparing surgery include lumpectomy (removal of the lump), quadrantectomy (removal of one quarter, or quadrant, of the breast), and segmental mastectomy (removal of the cancer as well as some of the breast tissue around the tumor and the lining over the chest muscles below the tumor). Also called breast-conserving surgery.

7. Breast Carcinoma In Situ
There are 2 types of breast carcinoma in situ: ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) and lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS). DCIS is a noninvasive condition in which abnormal cells are found in the lining of a breast duct (a tube that carries milk to the nipple). The abnormal cells have not spread outside the duct to other tissues in the breast. In some cases, DCIS may become invasive cancer and spread to other tissues, although it is not known how to predict which lesions will become invasive cancer. LCIS is a condition in which abnormal cells are found in the lobules (small sections of tissue involved with making milk) of the breast. This condition seldom becomes invasive cancer; however, having LCIS in one breast increases the risk of developing breast cancer in either breast. Also called stage 0 breast carcinoma in situ.

What is cancer? How does cancer occur?

Hello, today we are going to tell you what breast cancer is and how cancer occurs. :)

What is breast cancer?   

• Breast cancer is an uncontrolled growth of breast cells.

How does breast cancer occur?

• Cancer occurs as a result of mutations, or abnormal changes in the genes responsible for regulating the growth of cells and keeping them healthy. 

• The genes are in each cell's nucleus, which acts at the "control room" of each cell. Normallly, the cells in our bodies replace themselves through an orderly process, which we are sure you all know about, cell growth in which healthy cells replace old cells in our bodies. 

• However, over time, mutations can "turn on" certain genes in our bodies and "turn off" others in a cell. That changed cell will then gain the ability to keep dividing without control or order. Thus, it produces more cells just like it and forms a tumour.   

Tumours 

    A tumour can either be :

• not dangerous to health ( benign )  
•  have the potential to be dangerous ( malignant )

Stages of breast cancer