This case study examines childhood cancers in agricultural communities of Mc Farland and Earlimart from 1978 to 1995. According to the local residents of these communities the main reason for cancer is contamination through pesticide in the agricultural farms which is the major source of employment for the residents of the community.…
Long times ago, even during the 19th century, scientist all over the world had started to find the cure for cancer, one of the most feared disease you can ever imagine, simply because you don’t know what the cause and how to turn it off. Cancer started off with something very simple- when they cannot stop dividing. Normally, a healthy cell, when they are matured and ready to divide, will send some kind of information to the neighboring cells that it is going to undergo mitosis- a process of cell division and completed in different stage. In every stage, there will be a checkpoint where the cells are going to be self-examined and in order to pass the checkpoint; they have to be in the completely good condition. The responsible gene to destroy or recycle the damaged cells at the checkpoint is called the tumor suppressor genes. There are many known tumor suppressor genes; the first one discovered by human is Retinoblastoma but the most renowned one is p53. In the damaged cells, however, the tumor suppressor genes are turned off by mutation, which may change, add or delete some of the alleles in the genes, as a result, the gene cannot function in proper manner. In the absence of the tumor suppressor genes, damaged cells can proceed to the next step in mitosis and divide uncontrollably. When the damaged cells divided successfully, the process is repeated in the every daughter cell over and over again and these cells will form a lump of tissue called tumor. The overgrowing of tumor…
Normal cells are governed by the body systems and have limited life spans but eventually cease growing and dividing then die. Cancer cells are usually immortal, having an unlimited lifespan, constantly growing and dividing. Cancer cells experience anaplasia, the absence of differentiation, causing disorganization in size and shape, mutating them from the normal cells of the body. Cancer can grow rapidly or slowly, progressing from normal cell tissue to neoplasm. Cancer forms a sequence of cellular and tissue changes progressing from dysplasia to carcinoma in situ and then to invasive cancer. Presence of anaplastic cells and loss of normal tissue architecture signify the development of cancer. This progression is easily seen in the squamous epithelium. The high rate of cell division, local mutagens, and inflammatory mediators all contribute to the accumulation of genetic abnormalities that lead to cancer. The mutation of these cells can happen at a chromosomal or genetic level and once it happens it can continuously happen as that originally mutated cell divides (cancer stem cell), making other cells…
Summary Statement: Cancer is a condition of uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells that evolve into tumors.…
Cancer is caused by abnormal behaviour in cells, so it's helpful to understand the difference between a healthy cell and a cancerous cell. Cancer cells are set apart by a few characteristics, including unchecked growth and reproduction. Healthy cells will stop reproducing when they receive signals from nearby cells to do so; cancer cells no longer respond to these signals. Most cells will also cease dividing and reproducing if there's an error in their DNA (known as a mutation). Cancerous cells, by contrast, reproduce despite the damaged DNA and take on powers of immortality instead of dying off. And, finally, while healthy cells will stay put, cancerous cells will move randomly around the body, spreading cancer and making it more difficult to treat. If the reason behind why cancer cells do this would be known, a cure for cancer could be made: the chemical that causes the cancer cells to react could be avoided, and therefore cancer would…
In August 2011, my grandmother died of esophageal cancer. Cancer is the uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells in the body, and cells divide rapidly. Cancer starts as a tumor located in a specific part of the body. A tumor is an abnormal growth of body tissue. There are two types of tumors; benign and malignant. A benign tumor is a tumor that is not cancerous, so it has not yet spread to other parts of the body, but is localized in one area. They grow slowly and until they become a malignant tumor, they are not very harmful. A malignant tumor is one that is cancerous, where the cancer cells start traveling to other parts of the body. Cancer cells invade and damage tissues and organs, and can enter the bloodstream. Proto-oncogenes, a gene in normal cells, both promote and inhibit cell division at the same time. In cancer cells both of these functions are stopped, and cells stop entering G0, the period of the cell cycle where a cell rests and completes basic functions, instead of dividing. Because of this, cells start dividing rapidly. These rapidly dividing cells start off located in a specific location of the body, and as they divide, create a lump, or a tumor. This is known as the benign stage. As the tumor grows, overtime the tumor becomes attached to blood vessels, and travels throughout the rest of the body. Once this happens, the tumor becomes malignant, and is very hard to cure.…
Despite advances in treatment and care the public continues to have a great deal of anxiety and fear when diagnosed with cancer. Partially because people do not understand what having cancer means. Every living organism is made up of cells. These cells divide at a controlled rate with a specific function and multiply to replace damaged cells. While cancer cells grow and multiply with no control, destroying healthy cells in its’ path, and ultimately invading parts of the body inhibiting its’ function. Biologists have labeled cancer cells as any invading cell that can control proliferation and differentiation. Proliferation is the lifecycle of normal cells, to include regeneration of new cells as cells die. One of the phenomenon’s of normal proliferation is that the cells remain in their territory and do not inhibit cellular growth to surrounding cell membranes (Lewis, 2007). Differentiation is when a stem cell is coded to perform a specific function and under normal conditions these cells are unable to change their function. However, cancer is able to alter these naturally occurring processes. Cancer begins are a mutation in replicating DNA, either by genetics or a chemical, radiation, or viral exposure. The mutated DNA then starts proliferation and develop mutated…
Cancer is a term used for diseases in which irregular cells divide without any control and have the capability to penetrate and infect normal body tissue through the blood and lymph system. Cancer is the second leading cause of mortality in the United States, exceeded barely by heart disease. According to the CDC Cancer Statistics and Data, there were more than 1.45 million people diagnosed with various kind of cancer between 1999 and 2007 and out of those more than 562,000 people died due to cancer (cdc.gov, 2012). Currently there are more than 200 different types of cancer that have been discovered. Cancer could be developed in any organ of the body. There are more than 60 different organs in the body where cancer cells can form and invade body tissues. While the origin of several cancers remains unknown, there are several cancers that are caused due to various reasons like exposure to chemicals, great alcohols intake, smoking, atmosphere poisons, sunlight disclosure, inherited, radiations, and illness. This paper will talk about the approach to, diagnosing of and staging of cancer, as well as the symptoms, side effects of treatment, and methods used to diminish physical and psychological effects of cancer and treatment.…
Cancer is a genetic disease, caused by changes to genes that control the way our cells function, especially how they grow and divide.…
Cancer is considered the second leading cause of death in the United States resulting in about 25% of deaths (Copstead, & Banasik, 2010). The term cancer encompasses a cluster of more than one hundred diseases. Though there are various kinds of cancer, all cancers start due to abnormal cells growth. The typical characteristic of a cancerous cell is that they grow out of control and invade other tissue through the bloodstream or lymph vessels. If untreated, cancers can result in serious complications and death (American cancer Society (ACS), 2012). Although the cause of various cancers remains unknown, still there are several known causes such as: genetic factors; lifestyle factors such as smoking, alcohol use, diet, and physical activity; certain types of infections for example, HPV and HIV; and environmental exposures to different types of chemicals and radiation (ACS, 2014). It is predicted by ACS (2012) that 1/2 of all men and 1/3 of all women in the United States will develop cancer in their lifetime. The risk of many cancers could be minimized by lifestyle modification and screening. This paper will discuss the diagnosis and staging of cancer, three complications of the disease, side effects of treatment, and methods to minimize physical and psychological effects of cancer treatments. Diagnosis…
An oncologist is a doctor who practices exclusively in the treatment of cancer. “Because cancer can affect any organ in the body, and individuals of any age, there are many different kinds of oncologists” (Ferguson 118). For example, a pediatric oncologist works to treat and diagnose cancers that affect children (Brown). “Cancer found in children is not common, and is different in children than in adults. Pediatric oncologists receive special training in these differences and in how to relate to children with cancer and their families” (Hinkle). To become a pediatric oncologist one must go through many years of school and training, but the career comes with many benefits including job security and income.…
Health is a forever revolutionizing and innovated subject. Constantly, we see ourselves advancing within medicine due to the demand for it. We run into many medical problems, as well as discovery of new diseases. “The Terrifying Normalcy of AIDS” by Stephen Jay Gould, “Between a Woman and Her Doctor” by Martha Mendoza and “Topic of Cancer” by Christopher Hitchens, help us see this. Gould, Mendoza, and Hitchens bring up hard to talk about topics. Topics like Abortion, Cancer, and AIDs are all very touchy feely and serious things to talk about, but we should not let this keep us from talking about it.…
The following graph illustrates the distribution of the more common childhood cancers for children ages birth to 14 years.…
49 kids in the United States will be diagnosed with a form of childhood cancer today. Just like Martin Luther King Jr had a dream for Americans to approach racial equality, I have a dream of a world free of childhood cancer. Pediatric cancer has become a tremendous issue, claiming the lives of more, and more, innocent children daily. Through awareness, funding, and research my dream can become a reality.…
To begin, I’ve never had cancer, but cancer has impacted my life in a huge way. Cancer Free Kids is a non profit organization, that raises money through many different large projects for Pediatric Cancer Research. Cancer Free Kids has held 97 projects raising over 3 million dollars for Pediatric Cancer Research. I got involved with Cancer Free Kids during a project held every year for the past 4 years called Night 4 The Fight. We raised 200,000 dollars that night alone.…