Giffin 1

The Study of Cancer

Emily Giffin

Shore/Klassen Western High School 12th 17 January 2 1!

Giffin 2

The Study of Cancer Cancer" This #ord lingers in our minds$ letting thoughts of sic%ness and death surface" This #ord can &e life changing" 'any indi(iduals ha(e heard the term )cancer*$ &ut do they really %no# #hat it is+ Cancer is the general name for a grou, of more than 1 diseases" -ll

ty,es of cancer start &ecause a&normal cells$ titled )cancer cells*$ gro# out of control" .ormal cells go through a ,rocess #here they die$ so ne# cells can form" /ut$ cancer cells continue to gro# and form ne#$ a&normal cells" These cells can also in(ade other tissues$ something that normal cells don0t do" These characteristics ma%e a cell a cancer cell" The understanding of the com,le1ities of cancer ha(e de(elo,ed immensely o(er time" The study of cancer has had many ad(ancements throughout history in the areas of genetics$ cancer ty,es$ and treatments 2-merican Cancer Society 2a3" Some indi(iduals may &elie(e that cancer hadn0t &een disco(ered until the eighteenth or nineteenth century$ &ut this is not true" Some of the earliest e(idence of cancer is found among fossili4ed &one tumors$ human mummies in ancient Egy,t$ and ancient manuscri,ts" Gro#ths indicati(e of &one cancer ha(e &een seen in mummies" S%ull destruction as seen in cancer of the head and nec% has &een found$ too" The early descri,tions of cancer date all the #ay &ac% to 5 /"C" in Egy,t" -lthough the term )cancer* #as not directly used$ our oldest descri,tion of

cancer descri&es eight cases of tumors and ulcers of the &reast and #ere attem,ted to &e treated &y destroying damaged tissue #ith a heated instrument called the fire drill" The #riting a&out the disease concludes that there is no treatment" 6ast for#arding to the 17 s$ a man &y the name of

Gio(anni 'orgagni #as the first to ,erform auto,sies" This ga(e a &asis for scientific oncology$ the study of cancer" The famous Scottish surgeon John Hunter suggested that some cancers might &e cured &y surgery and ga(e insight on #hich ty,es of cancers to o,erate on" He e1,lained that

Giffin 5

if the tumor had not in(aded near&y tissue and could &e trans,orted$ there is no ,ro&lem #ith remo(ing it" The nineteenth century &rought the &irth of scientific oncology$ using tools such as the modern microsco,e to study diseased tissues" 7udolf 8ircho#$ often called the founder of cellular ,athology$ lin%ed microsco,ic ,athology to illness" This method hel,ed researchers understand the damage cancer had done to the &ody and also assisted #ith the de(elo,ment of cancer surgery" /ody tissues remo(ed &y the surgeon could no# &e e1amined and a diagnosis could &e made" The findings can tell the surgeon #hether the o,eration had com,letely remo(ed the cancer" Tools and ad(ancements our ancestors disco(ered &ring us that much closer to sol(ing cancer" The e(olution and studies of cancer ha(e undergone much research and de(elo,ment throughout history 2-merican Cancer Society 2&3" -fter researchers had gotten a gras, on #hat cancer #as$ they disco(ered that cancer is the ty,e of disease that ,lays a &ig role in the field of genetics" Genetics is the study of the ma%eu, of an organism0s 9.-" The reason for the ,resence of a&normal cells is that there is damage or mutations to the cell0s 9.-$ or genetic code" There are four %ey ty,es of gene that are used in cell di(ision ,rocess: oncogenes tell cells #hen to di(ide$ tumor su,,ressor genes tell cells #hen not to di(ide$ suicide genes control cell death and tell the cell to %ill itself if something goes #rong$ and 9.-;re,air genes instruct a cell to re,air damaged 9.-" Cancer occurs #hen the mutations of the genes ma%e the cell una&le to correct 9.- damage and una&le to commit suicide" The mutations also ,re(ent oncogene and tumor su,,ressor gene function$ leading to uncontrolla&le cell gro#th" Cancer can also &e the result of a genetic susce,ti&ility that is inherited from family mem&ers" <t is ,ossi&le for an indi(idual to &e &orn #ith a mutation that ma%es it more li%e for them to de(elo, cancer later in their life" These inherited mutations ,lay a ma=or role in the de(elo,ment of a&out > to 1 ,ercent of all cancers" /ut$ ho# do these genes

Giffin !

&ecome damaged or mutated in the first ,lace+ The factors that cause these mutations can &e internal or en(ironmental" 'ost often$ the materials res,onsi&le for causing this damage are carcinogens" Carcinogens are a grou, of su&stances that are directly res,onsi&le for damaging 9.-$ ,romoting or aiding cancer" Some e1am,les of carcinogens #ould include to&acco$ as&estos$ arsenic$ radiation such as gamma and 1;rays$ the sun$ and com,ounds in car e1haust fumes" When our &odies are e1,osed to carcinogens$ free radicals are formed that try to steal electrons from other molecules in the &ody" These free radicals damage cells and affect their a&ility to function normally" -s cancer cells start ra,idly gro#ing$ they form a mass called a tumor" Tumors can gro# and interfere #ith the many systems of the &ody and can release hormones that alter &ody functions" .ot all tumors are cancer" Tumors that stay in one s,ot and demonstrate limited gro#th are generally considered to &e &enign$ or nonthreatening" /ut$ &enign tumors can cause ,ro&lems if they gro# to a large si4e and ha(e the a&ility to ,ress on healthy organs and tissue$ e(en though they cannot in(ade" 'ore dangerous tumors are called malignant tumors" These tumors form during t#o scenarios" The first is #hen a cancer cell finds its #ay through the &ody &y means of the &lood or the lym,h system and in(ading tissue" The second scenario that gi(es rise to a malignant tumor is #hen the cancer cell manages to di(ide and gro#$ ma%ing ne# &lood (essels to feed itself" When a tumor successfully s,reads to other ,arts of the &ody and gro#s #hile in(ading and destroying other healthy tissues$ it is has metastasi4ed" This #hole ,rocess of the tumor s,reading is called metastasis$ and it is (ery challenging to treat" 'etastasis is difficult to treat &ecause it has the a&ility to s,read any#here on an indi(idual0s &ody" This gi(es many different ty,es of cancers the o,,ortunity to arise" The understanding of all of these ,rocesses and genetics of cancer has gro#n significantly throughout time 2'edical .e#s Today ?a3 2-merican Cancer Society 2c3"

Giffin >

Cancer can ta%e ,lace any#here on the &ody #here cells are ,resent" <t can easily s,read on an indi(idual0s &ody &ecause the &ody is full of &illions and &illions of cells" 'ost cancers are named for the organ or ty,e of cell in #hich they start" 6or e1am,le$ cancer that &egins in the lungs is called lung cancer@ cancer that &egins in the melanocytes of the s%in is called melanoma" There are more than 1 ty,es of cancer" Some common forms include &ladder$ &reast$ lung$

,rostate$ colon$ and thyroid cancer$ and also melanoma and leu%emia" The most common out of these cancers #ould &e ,rostate cancer$ #hich had an estimated 25A$ ne# cases in 2 15" The

ne1t common #ould &e &reast cancer and lung cancer" Brostate cancer starts in the ,rostate$ #hich is a gland in the male re,roducti(e system that is located under the &ladder" Brostate cancer usually occurs in older men$ and is the second leading cause of death of men in the C"S" /reast cancer$ on the other hand$ is the most common cancer in -merican #omen" /reast cancer had an estimated 252$5! ne# cases among -merican #omen in 2 15" The ,resence of so many different ty,es of cancers calls for many different %inds of treatments 2.ational Cancer <nstitute >a3 2'edicine .et 5a3" The cure for cancer has not &een found yet$ &ut there are many treatment ,ossi&ilities a(aila&le to an indi(idual #ith cancer" The three main treatment o,tions are: surgery$ chemothera,y$ and radiation thera,y" Surgery is the oldest form of cancer treatment" <f the cancer has not s,read$ it is ,ossi&le to surgically remo(e the cancer from the &ody" 6or e1am,le$ the remo(al of the ,rostate or a &reast" The ne1t %ind of treatment o,tion is chemothera,y" Chemothera,y de(elo,s chemicals that interfere #ith the cell di(ision ,rocess$ damaging ,roteins or 9.-$ so that cancer cells #ill commit suicide" <t is generally used to treat cancer that has s,read &ecause the medicines tra(el throughout the entire &ody" This treatment occurs in cycles$ gi(ing the &ody time to heal &et#een doses" The common side effects for this ty,e of

Giffin ?

treatment #ould &e hair loss$ nausea$ fatigue$ and (omiting" The ne1t common treatment #ould &e radiation" 7adiation terminates cancer &y focusing high;energy rays on the cancer cells" This causes damage to the cancer cells and leads them to commit suicide" Early radiation treatments caused se(ere side;effects &ecause the energy &eams #ould damage normal$ healthy tissue$ &ut technologies ha(e im,ro(ed so that &eams can &e more focused more accurately" There is also a ne# %ind of technology that hel,s #ith treatment that is &eing studied$ #hich is called the )genomic tumor assessment*" -t the Cancer Treatment Centers of -merica$ they are offering this assessment that may ,ro(ide cancer treatment that hasn0t &een loo%ed at &efore" Genomic tumor assessment re(eals the 9.- alterations that are dri(ing the gro#th of a cancer" Genomic medicine can gi(e a more ,articular a,,roach &y tailoring the treatment to the ,atient0s genetic information" There are many other treatment o,tions that are a(aila&le to cancer ,atients to meet their needs" Cancer has gone from the &elief that it didn0t ha(e the a&ility to &e treated at all$ to ha(ing all different #ays to &e treated 2Cancer Center !a3 2'edical .e#s Today ?&3" Cancer is li%e getting rid of #eeds@ it can &e remo(ed surgically or destroyed #ith to1ic chemicals or radiation$ &ut it is hard to destroy e(ery single cancer cell" E(en though the cure for cancer has not &een disco(ered yet$ researchers ha(e learned more a&out cancer in the last t#o decades than had &een learned in all of the centuries ,receding" .e# medications$ treatments$ and o(erall understanding of cancer are &ecoming more and more ad(anced" Throughout history$ cancer understanding has de(elo,ed &y #ay of genetics$ ty,es of cancer$ and treatments" Cancer is a com,le1 disease that reDuires much time and energy to research and figure out" The determination of cancer researchers and scientists ha(e gi(en ho,e that$ in the u,coming future$ the cancer ,u44le #ill &e sol(ed 2-merican Cancer Society 2d3 2-l&erts 1a3"

Giffin 7

Wor%s Cited
1. -l&erts$ /" ECancer Treatment: Bresent and 6uture ; 'olecular /iology of the """E 2

2"

We&" 7 Jan" 2 1!"

2.

E-merican Cancer Society F <nformation and 7esources for Cancer """E We&" 22 .o(" 2 15"

3. ECancer <nformation 2Cancers$ Sym,toms$ Treatment """ ; 'edicine.et"E 2

5" We&" !

9ec" 2 15"
4. ECTC- Cancer Treatment Centers G Hos,itals F <ntegrati(e Cancer """E We&" 2> .o("

2 15"
5. E.ational Cancer <nstitute: Com,rehensi(e Cancer <nformation"E 2

5" We&" 2> .o("

2 15"
6. EWhat <s Cancer+ What Causes Cancer+ ; 'edical .e#s Today"E 2 1 " We&" 22 .o("

2 15"