Cancer Essay Research Paper Cancer

Cancer Essay, Research Paper

Cancer

Introduction

According to Mollet, cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States. Estimates for 1982

indicate that 430,000 Americans will have died of some form of cancer. If national trends continue, some

fifty-three million Americans now alive will contract cancer sometime during their lifetime. Of this inverse

number, approximately one-half will die of cancer despite a medical effort to cure and prevent cancer

(300).

Although 45 percent of the detected cases of serious cancer are curable, an increase of 5 percent in the last

ten years, it is obvious that measures can be taken to increase the cure rate and also prevent onset of various

cancers.

Clark suggested that several types of cancer have cure rates that could improve by detection and treatment

at an early stage before “regional involvement” occurs; that is before the disease spreads to lympnodes

systems in the area of the original tumor. After cancerous cell have dispersed into other regions of the

body, the control or termination of cancer is made more difficult, if not impossible (56).

The Most Prevalent Cancers and Their Causes. Effects, and Cures.

According to Miller, lung cancer was first clearly described about 150 years ago and at the turn of the

century this disease was still considered a rarity. The incidence of this disease has changed dramatically

since then; lung cancer is now the leading cause of death for both men and women. The failure to detect

lung cancer early, however, remains just as dramatically unchanged and the majority of patients with lung

cancer have extensive diseases at the time of diagnosis (77).

Symptoms

Roth states that lung cancer has no specific symptoms and after foreign respiratory elements. In fact, in the

earliest stages of the disease there are usually no symptoms. Only ten per cent of lung cancer patients have

been diagnosed from routine chest x-rays as a part of a physical examination or during the investigation of

another compliant (301).

Dodge asserts that the problem of lung cancer is largely one of prevention and early diagnosis. The

treatment available are most effective when the cancer is small and the individual is still healthy. The

quality and length of life for patients with lung cancer is small and the individual is still healthy. The

quality and length of life for patients with lung cancer have been improved by increased understanding of

the biology of the disease and the valuable information, even the form of negative results, obtained from

experimental programs (15).

According to Brown, approximately 138,000 Americans develop cancer of the large bowel- the lowermost

portion of the gastrointestinal tract, which is made up of the colon and rectum.

Large bowel cancer is a leading cause of death among both sexes, exceeded only by cancer of the lung in

men and of the lung and breast in women. At present half of these patients can expect to be cured, a figure

that could be greatly improved by more diligent attention to established methods of screening for bowel

cancer (341).

Anyone with persistent symptoms that could be caused by a problem in the large bowel should see a doctor

promptly. The most common symptom of a large bowel cancer is a change in bowel habits, usually either

diarrhea, which is typical of a rectal cancer, or constipation, which is typical of a cancer in the left colon. If

the tumor has extended beyond the wall of the colon and spread elsewhere in the body, symptoms might

include enlargement of the liver, abdominal bloating, pain in lower neck, as noted earlier, is another

common early symptom, but this is not always apparent without a test for occult, as hidden blood. Any

recent change in bowel habits, as rectal bleeding as lower abdominal pain that does not subside promptly is

a clear indication that medical attention should be sought.

As noted earlier, the present cure rate for colon cancer could be greatly improved by earlier detection and

treatment of the disease . A wide ranging study by the American Cancer concluded that all persons do a

digital rectal examination annually. This examination is easily performed and, while it may be

embarrassing for the patients, it involves no discomfort. The doctor gently inserts a rubber-gloved finger

into the rectum. The doctor can then ascertain the smoothness of the rectal wall surface and, in men, the

size and characteristics of the prostate. At the time of a digital rectal examination, a sample is taken for

chemical testing for occult or hidden blood.

According to Roth the breast is the most common site of cancer in American women today, accounting for

more than one quarter of all cancer cases in women. With about 115,000 new cases each year (150).

A prognosis of breast cancer can be established only from a biopsy and microscopic examination, although

less invasive technique like mammography and palpation may provide valuab

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