What is cancer?

The term "cancer" is used to define a class of diseases characterized by uncontrolled growth of cells, destruction of adjacent tissue, and a spread to other parts of the body through the blood and lymph systems. Cancers are invariably accompanied by tumor growth; however, there are certain cancers such as leukemia that do not exhibit such growth. Our susceptibility to the disease increases with age.

Cancers are categorized into carcinomas which originate in the skin or the lining of the internal organs; sarcomas that begin in bone, fat, cartilage, and muscle; leukemia which first occurs in the bone marrow; lymphoma that starts to form in the cells of the immune system; and cancers of the central nervous system.

Cancer and obesity

A sedentary lifestyle and excessive consumption of calorie-rich food can lead to obesity. Obesity is a known risk factor for a number of conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and also certain types of cancers. There is evidence to prove that obese individuals are more at risk for cancers of the colon, breast in postmenopausal women, and esophagus. In fact, medical experts are of the opinion that obesity may be responsible for around one-fourth of the major cancers diagnosed in America.

Obese menopausal women over the age of fifty are at serious risk of succumbing to cancer of the breast. The risk can be controlled by maintaining a healthy body weight. Also use of menopausal hormones brings down the risk of contracting this deadly disease. Obese women are at greater risk of uterine cancer. A high body mass index has been consistently found in patients suffering from colon cancer. A high waist to hip ratio and the circumference of the waist are good indicators of the extent of risk a person faces with respect to cancer of the colon. It is conjectured that a high level of insulin is responsible for stimulating tumor growth on the colon in obese people. Obesity and diabetes are linked. It is known that insulin promotes cell growth, researchers suspect that an excessive amount of insulin in the body of Type 2 diabetics can lead to cancers of the rectum, pancreas, and breast.

Cases of renal cell carcinoma are four times more common in obese women as compared to those with a healthy weight. A low level of physical activity along with an obese body increases the risk of breast cancer. Diet too is a factor. Poor consumption of fiber, fruit, vegetables, and high consumption of animal fat are risk factors for the disease. It is important to understand that these aspects increase the risk; they are not causes for the condition.

In order to minimize the risk of cancer, individuals should avoid for a healthy BMI, incorporate physical activity into their daily routine, try and avoid junk food, regulate the amount of red meat in daily diet, limit alcohol intake, eat more vegetables and fruit, and limit the amount of food with preservatives.

Intentional weight loss is considered to be useful in bringing down obesity-related cancer risks. Studies have shown that bariatric surgery is particularly useful in mitigating cancer risks in obese women. Gastric bypass produces the maximum weight loss over a sustained period of time. Surgery for obesity also results in lower mortality from cancer.

A Proven Treatment Option
Several clinical studies of bariatric surgery show that surgery improved life expectancy in patients by at least 29 to 89 percent.

A Note on Relative Risk
The charts below refer to "relative risk," which compares how likely an event is to occur to a person versus another person. The charts show how much more likely a person with morbid obesity is to develop cancer or die from cancer versus a person with a healthy weight.

National Cancer Institute Found People Living with Morbid Obesity Are More Likely to Develop Certain Cancers Than Healthy Weight People.

Study in the New England Journal of Medicine Found People Living with Morbid Obesity Had Significantly Higher Death Rates from Cancer Than Healthy Weight People.

Cancer and obesity seem tol be linked, but there is hope. One recent study that examined the effect of intentional weight loss found that women who experienced intentional weight loss of 20 or more pounds and were not currently overweight had cancer rates at the level of healthy women who never lost weight. Several clinical studies found that bariatric surgery reduced mortality in patients by 29% to 89% when compared to a group of people living with morbid obesity who had not had the surgery.

Other Signficiant Cancer causes and risk factors

There are certain risk factors associated with the condition, often multiple risk factors may work together. You should consult your doctor and find out if you are at risk. If you are then appropriate preventive measures should be taken so that the risk is either eliminated or mitigated to the extent possible. At the same time, we should know that having risk factors for the disease does not mean that acquiring the condition is inevitable. Often people with known risk factors for cancer never get the disease.

Cancer signs and symptoms

The signs and symptoms associated with cancer depend on the location of the disease, the size of the tumor, and its effect on the neighboring tissues and organs. This means that the condition can produce a number of symptoms. It is important to know that the disease does not produce any specific symptoms that can be considered exclusive to cancer. Also, for cancers such as pancreatic cancer the symptoms do not manifest till the disease has reached an advanced stage.

It is important to take heed of any unnatural symptoms that the body exhibits. It can lead to early detection of the disease. Cancer treatment is most effective when the disease is caught early.

If symptoms such as fatigue and weight loss occur over a period of time, then these should not be ignored. A lump anywhere in the body should not be ignored, it could be benign or malignant – the safest thing to do is to get it examined by a medical practitioner. The best practice to follow is to go for regular cancer-related screenings particularly if you exhibit risks associated with particular types of cancer. This can be of immense help in finding if the disease is taking root well before external symptoms start to appear.

Unexplained weight loss is often the first sign of cancers of the pancreas, stomach, and esophagus. Fever too is an early sign of the disease but is often experienced after the cancer has moved to other parts of the body. Fatigue that does not go away with rest could mean cancer of the stomach or colon. Back pain is another symptom of colon cancer.

Constipation or diarrhea that persists, change in bladder function should not be ignored. A sore in the mouth that does not heal could mean oral cancer. Blood in the sputum can be an indicator of lung cancer.

Cancer treatment

There are multiple lines of treatment for cancer. Prominent ones are surgery and chemotherapy.

Chemotherapy is used to destroy cancerous cells and hinder the growth of cancer cells. Chemotherapy treatment can be carried out before or after surgery. Chemotherapy can be administered intravenously, as an injection, in the form of a pill, and also a cream that is rubbed on to the skin.

Cancer surgery is carried out to surgically remove tumors and body parts afflicted by the disease. Cancer surgery is often the best chance an individual has, particularly if the disease has not traveled to other parts of the body. Surgery is also carried out in a procedure termed debulking in which a substantial portion of the tumor is removed and the remaining part is targeted through radiation and chemotherapy.

Radiation therapy is the use of ionizing radiation to destroy cancer cells and shrink tumors in the targeted area. One drawback of this mode of treatment is that it destroys healthy tissue surrounding the cancer-afflicted area. The healthy tissue; however, grows back over time.