neoplasms

Cancer begins in your cells, which are the building blocks of your body. Normally, your body forms new cells as you need them, replacing old cells that die. Sometimes this process goes wrong. New cells grow even when you don't need them, and old cells don't die when they should. These extra cells can form a mass called a tumor. Tumors can be benign or malignant. Benign tumors aren't cancer while malignant ones are. Cells from malignant tumors can invade nearby tissues. They can also break away and spread to other parts of the body.

Cancer is not just one disease but many diseases. There are more than 100 different types of cancer. Most cancers are named for where they start. For example, lung cancer starts in the lung, and breast cancer starts in the breast. The spread of cancer from one part of the body to another is called metastasis. Symptoms and treatment depend on the cancer type and how advanced it is. Most treatment plans may include surgery, radiation and/or chemotherapy. Some may involve hormone therapy, immunotherapy or other types of biologic therapy, or stem cell transplantation.

NIH: National Cancer Institute

Throat cancer is a type of head and neck cancer. Throat cancer has different names, depending on which part of the throat is affected. The different parts of your throat are called the oropharynx, the hypopharynx, the nasopharynx, and the larynx, or voice box.

The main risk factors for throat cancer are using tobacco heavy drinking. Certain types of throat cancer also have other risk factors. For example, having HPV is a risk factor for oropharyngeal cancer.

Symptoms of throat cancer may include:

• A sore throat that does not go away
• A lump in the neck
• Pain or ringing in the ears
• Trouble swallowing
• Ear pain

To diagnose throat cancers, doctors may do a physical exam and history, imaging tests, and a biopsy. You may also need other tests, depending on the type of cancer. Treatments include surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. Treatment for some types of throat cancer may also include targeted therapy. Targeted therapy uses drugs or other substances that attack specific cancer cells with less harm to normal cells.

NIH: National Cancer Institute

Your small intestine is part of your digestive system. It is a long tube that connects your stomach to your large intestine. Intestinal cancer is rare, but eating a high-fat diet or having Crohn's disease, celiac disease, or a history of colonic polyps can increase your risk.

Possible signs of small intestine cancer include:

• Abdominal pain
• Weight loss for no reason
• Blood in the stool
• A lump in the abdomen

Imaging tests that create pictures of the small intestine and the area around it can help diagnose intestinal cancer and show whether it has spread.

Surgery is the most common treatment. Additional options include chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or a combination.

NIH: National Cancer Institute

Your paranasal sinuses are small hollow spaces around the nose. They are lined with cells that make mucus, which keeps your nose from drying out. The nasal cavity is the passageway just behind your nose. Air passes through it on the way to your throat as you breathe.

Cancer of the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses is rare. You are at greater risk if you are:

• Male and over 40 years old
• Exposed to certain workplace chemicals
• Infected with HPV
• A smoker

There may be no symptoms at first, and later symptoms can be like those of infections. Doctors diagnose nasal cancer with imaging tests, lighted tube-like instruments that look inside the nose, and biopsies. Treatment options include surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy.

NIH: National Cancer Institute

Cancer is a common disease. Almost 40 percent of Americans will be diagnosed with cancer during their lifetimes. Even though cancer may be life-threatening, many people have successful treatment. Others live with cancer for a very long time.

For most people with cancer, learning to live with the disease is one of the biggest challenges they've ever faced. That's because having cancer touches just about every part of your life and the lives of those around you.

Cancer and its treatment may change:

• Your daily routines and ability to work
• Your important relationships
• The way you look, feel, and think about yourself

You may feel more in control and prepared to cope with these changes if you learn about what to expect. Your health care provider can help you find information and support services that are right for you.

Having cancer may cause a range of strong emotions, such as sadness, anger, fear, worry, or guilt. These feelings are normal, and they're likely to change over time. It's helpful to sort out your feelings in a way that's comfortable for you. You might try:

• Talking openly with someone you trust
• Writing about your feelings
• Using relaxation methods, such as meditation and other complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)
• Doing things you enjoy to give yourself a break from focusing on cancer

If your emotions seem to take over your life, tell your provider. You may need extra support if you have symptoms of depression, stress, anxiety, or panic disorder.

During cancer treatment, you usually have a team of providers. Along with doctors and nurses, you may be able to talk with social workers, pharmacists, dietitians, and other health professionals.

These professionals are prepared to help you deal with the issues that cancer brings up, including concerns about finances. But it's up to you to let your team know what's on your mind.

Good communication with your providers may help you feel more in control and satisfied with your care. Your communications may be better if you:

• Tell your providers how much you want to know about your cancer and its treatment. Do you want all the details or just the big picture?
• Write down your questions and concerns before your visits.
• Bring a family member or a friend to your visits. This person can help by listening, taking notes, and asking questions.

Cancer changes the daily routines and roles of the people who love and support you. They may need to start doing the things you've always done for them. And you may need their help doing things you've always done for yourself. These changes can be difficult for everyone.

It may help to have an honest talk about changing roles and needs. If that sounds too difficult, ask a social worker or other member of your care team to help you talk with family and friends who are helping with your care. These caregivers may need some support, too.

Cancer and its treatment may cause some big changes in how you look, feel, and think about yourself. For example, you may have:

• Less energy
• Temporary or permanent changes in your body, such as scars, or hair loss from chemotherapy
• Problems being sexually close or doubts about dating

Coping with these changes can be hard. But most people find ways to feel more positive over time. If you feel well enough, you might try:

• Exercise. Walking, yoga, or other movement may help you feel stronger and more in control of your body. But check with your provider first.
• Staying involved in life and helping others. Think about volunteering, hobbies, or other activities that might make you feel good about yourself.
• Counseling for sexual problems. Talking with a professional, either with a partner or on your own, may help.

After treatment, you'll have regular cancer follow-up care. Your provider will explain the schedule of checkups and tests you'll need. This is a good time to discuss the challenges you may face ahead. Knowing what to expect may help you make plans as you find a "new normal" with cancer as part of your life.

NIH: National Cancer Institute

Colorectal cancer is cancer that develops in the tissues of the colon or rectum. Your colon and rectum are part of your digestive system:

• Your colon is the first and longest part of your large intestine. It absorbs water and some nutrients from foods. It also changes the leftover waste products into stool (poop).
• Your rectum is the lower part of your large intestine. It's where your body stores stool.

Cancer that begins in the colon is called colon cancer, and cancer that begins in the rectum is called rectal cancer. Cancer that affects either of these parts may also be called colorectal cancer.

Colorectal cancer happens when there are changes in your genetic material (DNA). These changes are also called mutations or variants. Often, the genetic changes that lead to colorectal cancer happen during your lifetime and the exact cause is unknown. But certain genetic changes that raise your risk for colorectal cancer are inherited, meaning that you are born with them.

Besides genetics, other factors, including your lifestyle and the environment, can affect your risk of colorectal cancer.

Anyone can get colorectal cancer, but certain factors make you more likely to develop it:

• Being older; your risk of getting colorectal cancer increases as you age.
• Having a personal or family history of colorectal cancer.
• Having a history of adenomas. Adenomas are colorectal polyps (growths) that look abnormal under a microscope or are 1 centimeter or larger. Adenomas are not cancer, but they can sometimes turn into cancer over time.
• Having a genetic syndrome such as familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) or Lynch syndrome (hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer).
• Having chronic ulcerative colitis or Crohn disease for 8 years or more.
• Having three or more alcoholic drinks per day.
• Smoking cigarettes.
• Being Black; Black people have an increased risk of colorectal cancer and death from colorectal cancer compared to other races.
• Having obesity.

Colorectal cancer may not always cause symptoms, especially at first. If you do have symptoms, they could include:

• A change in bowel habits that lasts more than a few days, such as:
  • Diarrhea
  • Constipation
  • Feeling that the bowel does not empty completely
  • Your stool is narrower or has a different shape than usual
• Blood (either bright red or very dark) in the stool
• Frequent gas pains, bloating, fullness, or cramps
• Weight loss for no known reason
• Fatigue

Because colorectal cancer may not cause symptoms at first, it's important to have screening tests for colorectal cancer. Screening tests look for signs of a disease before you have any symptoms. They can help find cancer early, when it may be easier to treat.

Most experts recommend that start screenings at 45 and continue until at least age 75. People over 75 and those who are at high risk should talk to their providers about how often you need screening and what type of test they should get.

The types of tests include different stool tests and procedures such as colonoscopies and flexible sigmoidoscopy. Talk with your provider about how often you need screening and what type of test you should get.

If you have symptoms that could be caused by colorectal cancer or if your screening test results are abnormal, you may need to have more tests to find out if you have cancer. Possible tests include:

• A physical exam.
• A digital rectal exam. For this exam, your provider inserts a lubricated, gloved finger into your rectum to feel for lumps or anything unusual.
• The tests that are also used for screening (colonoscopy, stool tests, etc.) and biopsy, if you have not already had them.
• Other blood and tissue tests.

Your treatment options usually depend on your age, your general health, how serious the cancer is, and which type of cancer you have.

For colon cancer, your treatment may include one or more of these options:

• Surgery.
• Radiofrequency ablation, a procedure that uses radio waves to heat and destroy abnormal cells. The radio waves travel through electrodes (small devices that carry electricity).
• Cryosurgery, a procedure in which an extremely cold liquid or an instrument called a cryoprobe is used to freeze and destroy abnormal tissue.
• Chemotherapy.
• Radiation therapy.
• Targeted therapy, which uses drugs or other substances that mainly attack specific cancer cells and cause less harm to normal cells.
• Immunotherapy.

For rectal cancer, your treatment may include one or more of these options:

• Surgery.
• Radiation therapy.
• Chemotherapy.
• Active surveillance, which means having regular tests to see if your rectal cancer has changed. If the tests show the cancer is starting to grow, then you will have treatment to try to cure the cancer.
• Targeted therapy, which uses drugs or other substances that mainly attack specific cancer cells and cause less harm to normal cells.
• Immunotherapy.

Avoiding the risk factors that you have control over may help prevent some cancers. That includes:

• Not smoking
• Limiting alcohol to under three drinks per day
• Managing your weight

There are also other steps you can take to try to prevent colorectal cancer. They include:

• Getting regular colorectal cancer screenings
• Having polyps removed before they can become cancerous
• Getting regular exercise

Lung cancer is cancer that forms in tissues of the lung, usually in the cells that line the air passages. It is the leading cause of cancer death in both men and women.

There are two main types: small cell lung cancer and non-small cell lung cancer. These two types grow differently and are treated differently. Non-small cell lung cancer is the more common type.

Lung cancer can affect anyone, but there are certain factors that raise your risk of getting it:

• Smoking. This is the most important risk factor for lung cancer. Tobacco smoking causes about 9 out of 10 cases of lung cancer in men and about 8 out of 10 cases of lung cancer in women. The earlier in life you start smoking, the longer you smoke, and the more cigarettes you smoke per day, the greater your risk of lung cancer. The risk is also greater if you smoke a lot and drink alcohol every day or take beta carotene supplements. If you have quit smoking, your risk will be lower than if you had kept smoking. But you will still have a higher risk than people who never smoked.
• Secondhand smoke, which is the combination of smoke that comes from a cigarette and smoke breathed out by a smoker. When you inhale it, you are exposed to the same cancer-causing agents as smokers, although in smaller amounts.
• Family history of lung cancer
• Being exposed to asbestos, arsenic, chromium, beryllium, nickel, soot, or tar in the workplace
• Being exposed to radiation, such as from
  • Radiation therapy to the breast or chest
  • Radon in the home or workplace
  • Certain imaging tests such as CT scans
• HIV infection
• Air pollution

Sometimes lung cancer does not cause any signs or symptoms. It may be found during a chest x-ray done for another condition.

If you do have symptoms, they may include:

• Chest pain or discomfort
• A cough that doesn't go away or gets worse over time
• Trouble breathing
• Wheezing
• Blood in sputum (mucus coughed up from the lungs)
• Hoarseness
• Loss of appetite
• Weight loss for no known reason
• Fatigue
• Trouble swallowing
• Swelling in the face and/or veins in the neck

Your health care provider may use many tools to make a diagnosis:

• A medical history, which includes asking about your symptoms
• A family history
• A physical exam
• Certain imaging tests, such as a chest x-ray or chest CT scans
• Lab tests, including tests of your blood and sputum
• A biopsy of the lung

If you do have lung cancer, your provider will do other tests to find out how far it has spread through the lungs, lymph nodes, and the rest of the body. This is called staging. Knowing the type and stage of lung cancer you have helps your provider decide what kind of treatment you need.

For most patients with lung cancer, current treatments do not cure the cancer.

Your treatment will depend on which type of lung cancer you have, how far it has spread, your overall health, and other factors. You may get more than one type of treatment.

The treatments for small cell lung cancer include:

• Surgery
• Chemotherapy
• Radiation therapy
• Immunotherapy
• Laser therapy, which uses a laser beam to kill cancer cells
• Endoscopic stent placement. An endoscope is a thin, tube-like instrument used to look at tissues inside the body. It may be used to put in a device called a stent. The stent helps to open an airway that has been blocked by abnormal tissue.

The treatments for non-small cell lung cancer include:

• Surgery
• Radiation therapy
• Chemotherapy
• Targeted therapy, which uses drugs or other substances that attack specific cancer cells with less harm to normal cells
• Immunotherapy
• Laser therapy
• Photodynamic therapy (PDT), which uses a medicine and a certain type of laser light to kill cancer cells
• Cryosurgery, which uses an instrument to freeze and destroy abnormal tissue
• Electrocautery, a treatment that uses a probe or needle heated by an electric current to destroy abnormal tissue

Avoiding the risk factors may help to prevent lung cancer:

• Quitting smoking. If you don't smoke, don't start.
• Lower your exposure to hazardous substances at work
• Lower your exposure to radon. Radon tests can show whether your home has high levels of radon. You can buy a test kit yourself or hire a professional to do the test.

NIH: National Cancer Institute

Oral cancer is cancer of the mouth. It is a type of head and neck cancer. Most oral cancers are squamous cell cancers. They begin in the flat cells that cover the surfaces of your mouth, tongue, and lips. The cancer cells may spread into deeper tissue as the cancer grows.

Most oral cancers are related to tobacco use, heavy alcohol use, or an HPV infection.

Anyone can get oral cancer, but you are more likely to develop it if you:

• Use tobacco or drink lots of alcohol. Your risk of developing oral cancer is even higher if you do both.
• Are male.
• Are over ago 40.
• Have HPV.
• Have a history of head or neck cancer.
• Get frequent sun exposure (for lip cancer).

The symptoms of oral cancer may include:

• A white or red patch in your mouth
• A lip or mouth sore that won't heal
• Bleeding, pain, or numbness in the lip or mouth
• Loose teeth or dentures that no longer fit well
• Problems or pain with swallowing
• A lump in your neck
• Ear pain
• Trouble moving your mouth or jaw
• Swelling of the jaw
• A sore throat or feeling that something is caught in the throat

If you have any of these symptoms for more than two weeks, see your health care provider or dentist. Oral cancer can spread quickly, so it's important to find it early.

To find out if you have oral cancer, your provider may use:

• A physical exam of the lips and mouth.
• An endoscopy.
• A biopsy or other procedure to collect cells from the lip or oral cavity. The cells are viewed under a microscope to find out if they are abnormal.
• Imaging tests.

The treatments for oral cancer include surgery, radiation therapy, or both. After surgery, some people also need chemotherapy to kill any cancer cells that are left.

There are steps you can take to help prevent oral cancer:

• Not smoking
• Limiting alcohol use or not drinking at all
• Getting regular dental exams

NIH: National Cancer Institute

Cancer is a disease in which abnormal cells in the body grow out of control and form a tumor. Ovarian cancer is a cancerous tumor that forms in the tissues of an ovary. The ovaries are a pair of female reproductive glands that make eggs and female hormones.

There are a few different types of ovarian cancer. The most common type is epithelial cancer. It begins in the cells that cover the ovary.

There are also two related types of epithelial cancer that can spread to the ovaries:

• Fallopian tube cancer forms in the tissue lining a fallopian tube. The fallopian tubes are a pair of long, slender tubes on each side of the uterus. The uterus is the female reproductive organ where a baby grows during pregnancy.
• Primary peritoneal cancer forms in the tissue lining the peritoneum. Your peritoneum is a tissue lining that covers the organs in the abdomen (belly).

These two cancers are similar to ovarian cancer, and they have the same treatments. So some medical experts also consider those two types as ovarian cancer.

Some other rarer types of ovarian cancer are malignant germ cell tumors and stromal tumors.

Ovarian cancer happens when there are changes (mutations) in the genetic material (DNA). Often, the exact cause of these genetic changes is unknown.

Most ovarian cancers are caused by genetic changes that happen during your lifetime. But sometimes these genetic changes are inherited, meaning that you are born with them. Ovarian cancer that is caused by inherited genetic changes is called hereditary ovarian cancer.

There are also certain genetic changes that can raise your risk of ovarian cancer, including changes called BRCA1 and BRCA2. These two changes also raise your risk of breast and other cancers.

Besides genetics, your lifestyle and the environment can affect your risk of ovarian cancer.

Certain people are more likely to develop ovarian cancer. They include those who:

• Have a family history of ovarian cancer in a mother, daughter, or sister
• Have inherited changes in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes.
• Have certain other genetic conditions, such as Lynch syndrome
• Have endometriosis
• Took hormone replacement therapy
• Are overweight or have obesity
• Are tall
• Are older, especially those who have gone through menopause

Ovarian cancer may not cause early signs or symptoms. By the time you do have signs or symptoms, the cancer is often advanced.

The signs and symptoms may include:

• Pain, swelling, or a feeling of pressure in the abdomen or pelvis
• Sudden or frequent urge to urinate (pee)
• Trouble eating or feeling full
• A lump in the pelvic area
• Gastrointestinal problems, such as gas, bloating, or constipation

To find out if you have ovarian cancer, your health care provider:

• Will ask about your medical history, including your symptoms
• Will ask about your family health history, including relatives who have had ovarian cancer
• Will do a physical exam, including a pelvic exam
• Will likely do imaging tests
• May do blood tests such as a CA-125 blood test

Often the only way to know for sure that you have ovarian cancer is by having a biopsy of the tissue. A biopsy is done during surgery to remove the tumor.

Treatments for ovarian cancer may include:

• Surgery to remove as much of the cancer as possible
• Chemotherapy
• Targeted therapy, which uses drugs or other substances that attack specific cancer cells with less harm to normal cells

Your provider may suggest that you have genetic testing to look for the gene changes that raise the risk for ovarian cancer. Knowing whether or not you have the gene change may help your provider decide on your treatment plan.

NIH: National Cancer Institute

The bladder is a hollow organ in your lower abdomen that stores urine. Bladder cancer occurs in the lining of the bladder. It is the sixth most common type of cancer in the United States.

Symptoms include:

• Blood in your urine
• A frequent urge to urinate
• Pain when you urinate
• Low back pain

Risk factors for developing bladder cancer include smoking and exposure to certain chemicals in the workplace. People with a family history of bladder cancer or who are older, white, or male have a higher risk.

Treatments for bladder cancer include surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and biologic therapy. Biologic therapy boosts your body's own ability to fight cancer.

NIH: National Cancer Institute