Cancer refers to a chronic disease resulting from the uncontrollable growth of malignant cells in a patient’s body. This disorder develops when the body’s natural control mechanism ceases to function properly. This is due to the sudden genetic changes in the DNA of the cell. It causes old cells to suddenly grow and divide into abnormal ones rather than die out. They quickly spread to the vital internal organs and regions of the body.
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Many of them even accumulate to form a huge tissue mass. This is known as a tumor, and it destroys all the other normal cells within its vicinity. This is when the patient’s immune system becomes weak, and he starts to fall sick.
Paolo Boffetta – What are the various stages of cancer?
Paolo Boffetta is a world-renowned epidemiologist who specializes in the research of cancer and other similar chronic disorders. He is from Italy and a medical graduate from the University of Turin. However, he has held several important posts in medical institutions throughout the world, including America. Currently, he is a Professor at the Department of Family, Population & Preventive Medicine at Stony Brook University. He also holds the position of Associate Director for Population Sciences in the same university.
He says doctors who treat patients suffering from cancer notice that this disease progresses into the following four distinct stages:
- Stage 1 which implies that the malignant cancer cells have not spread beyond the vital organ they infect,
- Stage 2 means the cancer cells are penetrating the surrounding muscles and tissues of the organ but not the lymph nodes,
- Stage 3 indicates the cancer cells are now spreading beyond the lymph nodes but have not developed into secondary malignant outgrowths, and
- Stage 4 means the cancer cells have spread throughout all the lymph nodes and other organs of the patients’ body and cannot be cured.
What are the various types of cancer oncologists diagnose?
He further explains oncologists or doctors diagnosing cancer patients classify the disease into the following types, and each of them has a unique symptom-
- Carcinoma means cancer cells which originate from the epithelial tissues and skin covering the internal organs,
- Sarcoma refers to cancer cells infecting various supporting tissues such as bones, muscles, cartilages and blood vessels,
- Leukemia is a type of cancer which starts and goes on to infect the bone marrow,
- Lymphoma is cancer cells which infect the immune system of the human body, and
- Cancers in the brain that affect the cells in the central nervous systems
Paolo Boffetta MD sums up by saying cancer is a chronic disease that causes the uncontrollable growth of malignant cells in a patient’s body. This happens when there is a sudden genetic change in the DNA of the cells. The abnormal cells end up accumulating to form a tumor in the organ they infect.
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They spread to other areas of humans over time rapidly and settle into four distinct stages. Doctors diagnosing and treating patients suffering from cancer classify the disease into five types that are carcinoma, sarcoma, leukemia, lymphoma, and those are affecting the brain. He says if detected early, patients do have a chance to enter into a good customized treatment plan and cure cancer with their doctors.
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