Download Cancer Answers

Cancer Answers
Non-Communicable Diseases
Lesson 7
What Is Cancer?
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The development of abnormal cells that
divide uncontrollably and have the
ability to invade and destroy normal
body tissue.
What Causes Cancer?
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Mutations in DNA
*Some mutations cannot repair
themselves, causing the cells to grow
and become cancerous.*
Can live beyond a normal cell life span
– causes cancer cells to accumulate
Cancer Cells
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Clusters of cancer cells can form a
tumor.
Tumor
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Abnormal growth of tissue
Benign and malignant
Benign Tumor
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Not cancerous
Does not spread to other parts of the
body.
Usually can be removed and do not
grow back.
Malignant Tumor
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Cancerous
May spread to other parts of the body
Cells can break away from tumor and
enter the bloodstream or lymphatic
system
Can form new tumors in other parts of
body
Increasing Your Risk
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Factors known to increase your risk of
cancer:
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Habits
Family history/heredity
Health conditions
Environment
Tan Much???
Cancer Stats
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Most common = skin cancer
Most common in males = prostate
Most common in females = breast
Leading cause of cancer deaths = lung
Common cancers in teens = lymphoma,
bone, germ cell, leukemia, and brain
tumors
2009 Estimated US Cancer Deaths*
Lung & bronchus
30%
Men
292,540
Women
269,800
26%
Lung & bronchus
15%
Breast
Prostate
9%
Colon & rectum
9%
9%
Colon & rectum
Pancreas
6%
6%
Pancreas
Leukemia
4%
5%
Ovary
Liver & intrahepatic
bile duct
4%
4%
Non-Hodgkin
lymphoma
Esophagus
4%
3%
Leukemia
Urinary bladder
3%
3%
Uterine corpus
Non-Hodgkin
lymphoma
3%
2%
Liver & intrahepatic
bile duct
Kidney & renal pelvis
3%
2%
Brain/ONS
25%
25%
All other sites
ONS=Other nervous system.
Source: American Cancer Society, 2009.
All other sites
US Mortality, 2006
Rank
Cause of Death
No. of % of all
deaths deaths
1.
Heart Diseases
631,636
26.0
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2.
Cancer
559,888
23.1
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3.
Cerebrovascular diseases
137,119
5.7
4.
Chronic lower respiratory diseases
124,583
5.1
5.
Accidents (unintentional injuries)
121,599
5.0
6.
Diabetes mellitus
72,449
3.0
7.
Alzheimer disease
72,432
3.0
8.
Influenza & pneumonia
56,326
2.3
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9.
Nephritis*
45,344
1.9
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10. Septicemia
34,234
1.4
*Includes nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis.
Source: US Mortality Data 2006, National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
2009.