Cancer Care and Treatment
Diagnosis and staging of cancer
Diagnosis
In almost all cases, the disease, cancer, is diagnosed by a specialist following a microscopic examination of tissue or cell samples of a particular individual. In a few instances, physicians may know of the presence of a cancer with the aid of tests performed on DNA (deoxyribo-nucleic acid), RNA (ribo-nucleic acid) and cell proteins. Such tests' outcomes prove highly critical when it comes to selecting the optimal therapeutic alternative. Tissue and cell examinations may also aid in the diagnoses of a number of other forms of ailments. For example, if a physician is unsure of whether a particular lump or growth in a patient's body is cancer, he/she might extract a little bit of it for testing to diagnose any one of many problems, including cancer, infections and other issues which may lead to the development of cancer-like lumps. This process of obtaining a bit of an unnatural bodily growth (sample) for the purpose of carrying out tests is termed biopsy, while the tissue/cell sample is labeled as a biopsy specimen. The process has been termed as pathology by some. Potentially cancerous growths may be detected by means of imaging tests or even sensed as lumps in physical patient examinations. However, the confirmation of their true nature (carcinogenic or not) necessitates sampling and microscopic scrutiny. Every abnormal growth isn't cancerous; as a matter of fact, a majority of tumors are non-carcinogenic in nature (The American Cancer Society medical and editorial content team, 2015).
Low or high levels of particular substances within the body may indicate the development of cancer. Hence, physicians may make appropriate diagnoses with the assistance of laboratory examinations of body fluids (urine, blood, etc.). But a key point to note is that unusual laboratory test results do not assuredly mean the individual has developed a cancer. While laboratory examinations do mark a significant tool, physicians mustn't depend solely on them for making cancer diagnoses. In a majority of instances, there is a need to perform biopsies before categorically making a cancer diagnosis. Biopsies, in simple words, denote processes wherein physicians extract a tissue sample and send it to a pathologist who undertakes a microscopic examination of it to ascertain whether or not the growth is a cancer. The following techniques may be utilized to obtain tissue/cell samples:
• Using needles: A needle is employed for withdrawing body fluids or tissues.
• Using endoscopes: Endoscopes are slender lighted tubes utilized by physicians to view areas within a patient's body. The mouth and other natural body openings are the entryways of these scopes. Subsequently, the physician withdraws body cells/tissue with the help of a special instrument.
• Via surgery: Incisional or excisional can help obtain the required sample.
• Incisional biopsies entail the removal of only some part of an abnormal growth.
Staging of Cancer
Cancer staging may be defined as a process whereby healthcare providers ascertain the quantity of cancer in a patient's body and its precise location. This procedure helps ascertain how grave the patient's disease is, depending on both the primary/initial growth size and how far it has extended within the patient's body. Determining disease stage facilitates the development of patient prognoses and treatment plans (AJCC, 2017).
The most extensively utilized system for cancer staging is the TNM staging system, with a majority of healthcare organizations and facilities employing it as their chief cancer diagnosis technique. Most cancers can be defined using this system, with the exception of a few such as blood cancers, spinal cord and brain tumors, which require different systems for staging.
Within the TNM staging system:
• T. implies the main/primary tumor's magnitude and range.
• N. denotes the amount of surrounding cancer-afflicted lymph nodes and • M. implies a determination of whether or not the given cancer has metastasized (i.e., spread into the patient's body from the main tumor site).
Cancers described using this system are accompanied by numbers following individual letters for providing further details regarding the patient's cancer (e.g., T3N1M0 or T1N0MX). The meaning of the numbers and alphabets has been described in the following section:
Primary Tumor (T)
T0: Primary tumor can't be detected.
TX: Primary tumor can't be measured.
T1, T2, T3, and T4: Denotes the primary tumor's magnitude and range; the bigger the number, the greater its size, or extent of growth into surrounding tissues. This can be subdivided further in order to offer additional details (e.g., T3a, T3b, etc.)
Regional Lymph Nodes (N)
N0: Surrounding lymph nodes are free of cancer.
NX: It is not possible to measure the cancer within the surrounding lymph nodes.
N1, N2, and N3: Denotes the location and number of cancer-afflicted lymph nodes; the bigger the number, the larger number of cancer-afflicted lymph nodes.
Distant Metastasis (M)
M0: Other body areas haven't been affected by the cancer.
M1: Other body areas have been affected by the…
Thus, continued chronic stress can lead to a variety of health issues, and one of those is cancer, because the weakened immune system cannot fight off the cancerous cells, allowing them to grow more rapidly and unchecked. This build up of the immune system to chronic stress can also lead to many other conditions, such as tolerance and dependency on many types of drugs. For example, a person under chronic
HIV Epidemiology Description of HIV; the causes, symptoms, complications, mode of transmission and treatment HIV is a condition that manifests in the virus attacking the immune system of the victim. When the immune system is weakened, the body does not effectively fight off diseases. The combination of the infection plus the virus that triggers it is referred to as HIV. The immune system heavily relies on the presence of white blood cells
Immune System and Stress How quickly a deceased human (or animal) body breaks down is testament to how well the immune system works. While a body is alive, the immune system protects the body at every living moment from bacteria and other foreign invaders. The immune system is a complex system of cells -- which have varying functions -- and generated at discreet regions of the body, a circulatory system --
Anatomy and Physiology of the Immune System and Respiratory System and Their Associated DisordersThe human body is comprised of multiple important systems that keep people alive, including the immune and respiratory systems. These two systems in particular have received a great deal of attention in recent years due to their vulnerability to infections by the Covid-19 virus (Iwasaki & Wong, 2021), but there are a host of other disorders that
4 months in the placebo group. (P=0.01) [Kyogo et.al] an earlier study by Nestle et.al (1998) had showed promising results. In that study, a small group of renal cancer patients were vaccinated with RNA-transfected dendritic cells. T cell response was noted in most of the treated patients and a follow up study conducted after 19 months showed that 7 out of 10 patients still survived. [Jian et.al, 2008] Other vaccines
Cancer Under normal circumstances, cells deemed to be normal multiply when the human body needs them. When they are no longer needed, these cells die. However, for an individual with cancer, the growth as well as division of cells tends to be rather abnormal. The death of cancerous cells also differs from that of normal body cells. In this text, I concern myself with cancer. In so doing, I highlight the
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now