Types of Cancer
Cancer is the name for many different diseases that all make common changes to the body. All cancer causes cells to overproduce and live longer than the normal lifespan of a cell. The difference between cancers are the symptoms and the origin points, in addition to the cause. There are many types of cancer, some are very rare, and some are quite common, such as skin cancer (“Common Cancer Types”). Because there are so many different types of cancer, classifications have been made for cancers with many similarities. These classifications also have names. For example, a classification called blood cancer includes cancers such as leukemia or lymphoma cancer. The most common type of cancer in the U.S is skin cancer, which is also a classification for cancer that start off with skin cells. A website by Cancer Research UK includes a large list of cancers that are very rare, such as gastrinoma. So, as you can see, there are cancers that are very common or very rare.
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What Makes Some Types of Cancers Unique.Many different cancers have their special properties that make them unique. Statistics for some cancers are also very interesting. For example Breast cancer is the second most common cancer in the United States in women after skin cancer. The most frequent type of breast cancer is ductal carcinoma, which starts in the cells of the ducts in the breasts. These ducts are tubes that are used to carry milk around the breasts (“Breast Cancer--Patient Version”). Another interesting fact about this type of cancer is that it can be found very rarely in men. Only about 2600 cases of breast cancer in men is found every year, and it causes about four hundred deaths annually. Unfortunately, for women, these statistics are a lot greater. Lung cancer is another very hazardous cancer. It infects about 224,000 people yearly and is the leading cause of death by cancer in the U.S.A. This cancer is most commonly caused by smoking tobacco and is usually incurable, unlike the lymphoma. Probably the most lethal cancer based on statistics in the U.S is pancreatic cancer. Many famous people died because of this disease such as Steve Jobs (Park). Pancreatic cancer is very fast spreading and only about four percent of patients can expect to survive five years after their diagnosis. This cancer targets the pancreas which is an organ between the spine and the stomach that produces enzymes that help digest food. Apart from these, there are more unique cancers that exist, but the one that probably requires a lot of awareness is skin cancer.
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As mentioned earlier, there are many different types of cancer, with different symptoms and origin points. Some are more dangerous than others and some are more frequent. But all of them share a same name because they are all caused for similar reasons. Cancer infects cells when their DNA suffers a mutation, making them very unstable and uncontrollable. The cancerous cells duplicate very quickly and require more resources than the body can offer. This leads to the body becoming weaker, and eventually dying. So no matter what kind of cancer it is, they all can lead to death.
Works Cited
Works Cited
"Common Cancer Types." National Cancer Institute: N.p.1 Feb 2016
Web. 11 April 2016. <http://www.cancer.gov/types/common-cancers>.
Park, Alice, and Alice Park. "The Pancreatic Cancer That Killed Steve Jobs | TIME.com." Time. Time. n.d. Web. 06 May 2016. <http://healthland.time.com/2011/10/05/the-pancreatic-cancer-that-killed-steve-jobs/>.
"Rare Cancers by Name." Cancer Research UK. Web. 08 May 2016. <http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/type/rare-cancers/rare-cancers-name/>.
"Skin Cancer (Non-Melanoma): Overview | Cancer.Net." Cancer.Net. 2012. Web. 08 May 2016. <http://www.cancer.net/cancer-types/skin-cancer-non-melanoma/overview>.
"Common Cancer Types." National Cancer Institute: N.p.1 Feb 2016
Web. 11 April 2016. <http://www.cancer.gov/types/common-cancers>.
Park, Alice, and Alice Park. "The Pancreatic Cancer That Killed Steve Jobs | TIME.com." Time. Time. n.d. Web. 06 May 2016. <http://healthland.time.com/2011/10/05/the-pancreatic-cancer-that-killed-steve-jobs/>.
"Rare Cancers by Name." Cancer Research UK. Web. 08 May 2016. <http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/type/rare-cancers/rare-cancers-name/>.
"Skin Cancer (Non-Melanoma): Overview | Cancer.Net." Cancer.Net. 2012. Web. 08 May 2016. <http://www.cancer.net/cancer-types/skin-cancer-non-melanoma/overview>.