Treating cancer can be very complicated, and it is difficult for even the most educated patients to be sure they have the best care.
Alternative Names
Carcinoma, Malignant tumor
Causes
Cells are the building blocks of living things. Cancer grows out of normal cells in the body. Normal cells multiply when the body needs them, and die when the body doesn't. Cancer appears to occur when the growth of cells in the body is out of control and cells divide too rapidly. It can also occur when cells “forget” how to die.
There are many different kinds of cancers. Cancer can develop in almost any organ or tissue, such as the lung, colon, breast, skin, bones, or nerve tissue.
There are multiple causes of cancers, including: Radiation, Sunlight, Tobacco, Certain viruses, Benzene, Certain poisonous mushrooms and aflatoxins (a poison produced by organisms that can grow on peanut plants)
However, the cause of many cancers remains unknown. The most common cause of cancer-related death is lung cancer.
The three most common cancers in men in the United States are prostate cancer, lung cancer, and colon cancer. In women in the U.S., the three most frequently occurring cancers are breast cancer, lung cancer, and colon cancer.
Certain cancers are more common in particular geographic areas. For example, in Japan, there are many cases of gastric cancer, while in the U.S. this type of cancer is relatively rare. Differences in diet may play a role. Some other types of cancers:
- Bladder Cancer
- Melanoma
- Breast Cancer
- Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
- Colon and Rectal Cancer
- Pancreatic Cancer
- Endometrial Cancer
- Prostate Cancer
- Kidney (Renal Cell) Cancer
- Skin Cancer (Nonmelanoma)
- Leukemia
- Thyroid Cancer
- Lung Cancer
The list of common cancer types includes cancers that are diagnosed with the greatest frequency in the United States. Cancer incidence statistics from the American Cancer Society and other resources were used to create the list. To qualify as a common cancer, the estimated annual incidence for 2008 had to be 35,000 cases or more.
The most common type of cancer on the list is nonmelanoma skin cancer, with more than 1,000,000 new cases expected in the United States in 2008. Nonmelanoma skin cancers represent about half of all cancers diagnosed in this country.
The cancer on the list with the lowest incidence is thyroid cancer. The estimated number of new cases of thyroid cancer for 2008 is 37,340.
Because colon and rectal cancers are often referred to as "colorectal cancers," these two cancer types were combined for the list. For 2008, the estimated number of new cases of colon cancer is 108,070, and the estimated number of new cases of rectal cancer is 40,740.
Kidney cancers can be divided into two major groups, renal parenchyma cancers and renal pelvis cancers. Approximately 85 percent of kidney cancers develop in the renal parenchyma, and nearly all of these cancers are renal cell cancers. The estimated number of new cases of renal cell cancer for 2008 is 46,232.
Leukemia as a cancer type includes acute lymphoblastic (or lymphoid) leukemia, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia, chronic myelogenous (or myeloid) leukemia, and other forms of leukemia. It is estimated that more than 44,270 new cases of leukemia will be diagnosed in the United States in 2008, with chronic lymphocytic leukemia being the most common type (approximately 15,110 new cases).
|
