Cancer is a disease that develops as a result of the fact that some of the he althy cells turn into non-viable, not performing their functions and roles. In another case, cells with altered DNA can become a cancerous tumor.
Many people are interested in the question of determining cancer at the earliest stages and how to be examined for oncology in order to get the most accurate result in order to start treatment on time or remove fears of a dangerous diagnosis.
Cancer diagnostics will be discussed in this article.
How does cancer occur?
In the normal state, the body itself is able to eliminate altered cells, but quite often there are cases when there are so many such cells that the body itself can no longer cope with this task. Such cells only increase over time, and tumors or other manifestations occur. Experts have identified 200 different types of cancer, taking into account many possible factors: places of occurrence, form, etc.
Early detection of cancer is essential.
How can you fight cancer?
You can find a huge amount of advice from traditional medicine, which shows and tells how to effectively fight cancer. They all talk about miraculous healings, but unfortunately, they were all contrived and never had real results. Truly effective methods can be called those methods that are currently used in medicine, especially abroad. These methods include radiosurgery and radiation therapy.
Methods for diagnosing cancer
In the treatment of cancer, the most important thing is early diagnosis. If the disease is detected in time, you can choose the most appropriate way to fight oncology and ensure the correct treatment of a particular type of cancer. A wide variety of cancer diagnostic methods are used to determine the disease.
Doctor checkup
And of course, an examination by a doctor is the very first method. A competent doctor, already at the first examination, will be able to identify suspicions of cancer in the patient and send him to do tests and studies. Perhaps this is an important step, because it is not so easy to distinguish a cancerous disease from a normal one. A person can walk for a long time and do completely inappropriate tests. And at this time, the cancerous tumor will become more and more and only progress.
What else is a cancer diagnosis?
Biochemical and complete blood count
Usually CBCpractically does not change with cancer, but there are indicators that you need to pay attention to:
- acceleration of ESR, increased hemoglobin and a large number of red blood cells;
- unreasonable acceleration of ESR with a normal white blood cell count;
- development of anemia, unexplained decrease in hemoglobin levels.
Complete blood count for leukemia can be the first signal of the disease:
- decrease in hemoglobin levels;
- low or high number of individual items;
- accelerated ESR;
- change in the percentage of leukocyte cells.
Cancer can also be detected by a biochemical blood test. You need to be alert and worry about the next study in such cases:
- there is an increase in transaminase activity - this can tell about cancer of the kidneys, liver and pancreas;
- there is a significant increase in calcium levels - this will indicate thyroid cancer and kidney cancer;
- there are constant disturbances in hormone levels - most endocrine-dependent tumors in the initial stages make themselves felt only by changes in hormone levels.
Tumor markers
Only tumor markers in the blood that were detected during a biochemical analysis will detect cancer. Tumor markers are the waste products of malignant tumors, proteins with antibodies that produce he althy tissues that respond to the invasion of cancer cells.
But tests for tumor markers, toUnfortunately, they do not have mass popularity. The reasons are, on the one hand, the high cost, on the other hand, mistakes are not uncommon, sometimes they show a positive result if there are ordinary inflammatory processes. The most popular types of tumor markers that can detect cancer are CA 125 (ovarian cancer), PSA (prostate cancer), CA 15-3 (breast tumors), CA 19-9 (gastrointestinal cancer), CEA (lung cancer, large intestine, bladder, cervix, breast and pancreas, liver).
Genetic tests
In clinics, cancer diagnosis is increasingly common.
Genetic tests are carried out not only for he althy people, but also for already sick people. They have the ability to identify the body's predisposition to cell transformation, mutation.
Some women who find out they have the gene have prophylactic mastectomy. But this radical procedure does not give a 100% guarantee not to get sick with breast cancer in the future.
Also in the diagnosis of lung cancer, for example, radiography is used.
X-ray
So far, there is a standard routine X-ray examination procedure. But more complex radiography methods can also be performed.
Bronchography
This type of examination is intended to diagnose lung cancer or monitor postoperative changes. To do this, under local or general anesthesia, a contrast agent is injected into the lungs, then a series of pictures are taken.
Angiography
Another kind of x-ray. Angiography is used to examine blood vessels with a contrast agent. With this procedure, you can see the vascular network of education. This method will work well with different types of therapy.
How is breast cancer diagnosed?
Mammography
In our world, mammograms are a common procedure during routine check-ups. It can also be used to more accurately establish a diagnosis such as breast cancer. This procedure is performed with a slight contraction of the chest to avoid misinterpretation.
Magnetic resonance imaging
The method of research using magnetic resonance imaging allows you to examine the internal organs and tissues of a person. It is based on the application of nuclear magnetic resonance.
MRI is a high-tech examination method that allows you to look inside the human body and detect many pathologies and diseases, for example, you can identify neurological disorders, damage to the musculoskeletal system and cancerous tumors. This is how stomach cancer is diagnosed.
MRI can accurately assess the structures of internal organs, detect traumatic changes, various tumors and other pathologies, examine the functions of organs (measure the flow of cerebrospinal fluid, blood flow velocity, etc.). And you can also get real-time images of the work of an internal organ, such as the heart.
Magnetic-Resonance tomography is of great importance in oncology, especially in the early detection of tumors. At the moment, no other diagnostic method can see a tumor with a size of 1-3.5 mm. It can also be said without exaggeration that cancer screening with MRI is the main tool to detect malignant and benign tumors throughout the human body. It will allow not only to detect cancerous tumors, but also to identify their nature, size and exact location with the utmost accuracy.
MRI is indicated for those patients who have suspicions of cancer or have already been diagnosed. In the case of an already diagnosed MRI is prescribed to clarify the prevalence of pathological processes and choose a more optimal treatment regimen.
Also, magnetic resonance imaging can not only detect a local tumor, but also detect metastases.
Scintigraphy
Isotope bone examination, or scintigraphy, is used to detect bone metastases. This study can be carried out to determine the success of therapeutic interventions in metastases and bone tumors.
Endoscopic examinations
Endoscopy is used to examine the genitals. With the help of special devices, the doctor can see what is happening in the organs. It is also possible to document what the doctor saw with the help of photos, videos and digital technologies. You can take the biological material of the tumor for analysis.
To discovertumors in gastrooncology use:
- gastroscopy;
- esophagoscopy;
- rectorromanosconia;
- duodenoscopy;
- colonoscopy.
Used in Pulmonary Oncology:
- thoracoscopy;
- bronchoscopy.
Used in oncourology:
- nephroscopy;
- cystoscopy;
- ureteroscopy.
Gynecological oncology conducts research using:
- hysteroscopy;
- colposcopy.
What else can help diagnose early cancer?
PET-CT
With the help of PET-CT, it is possible to visualize the processes occurring in the body at the molecular level. It is often used to detect metastases in a cancerous tumor or for a more accurate study, for example, in order to determine the stage of the disease, the prevalence in the organ and beyond. This method will allow you to accurately determine what work needs to be done during surgery.
Biopsy
Biopsy is a method of taking tissue from a possible tumor in order to conduct a cytological and histological examination of the material. This procedure is considered one of the most unsafe, but is the most accurate way to examine malignant tumors.
We have reviewed the main diagnostic methods. Cancer treatment is given below.
Cancer treatments
Once a cancer has been identified and its type has already been determined, it is necessary to choose a specific method of dealing withoncology. These methods include:
- Chemotherapy. This method of treating a cancerous tumor is called the use of cytotoxic drugs that prevent the division of cancer cells. Overseas, new and improved cytotoxic substances are constantly being developed for the treatment of cancer.
- Radiotherapy. Its use lies in the interaction of radiation rays with the DNA of cancer cells. This method is very dangerous for the immune system, but it is improved over time, gradually reducing its effect on the immune system.
- Immunotherapy. This method can be used at any stage of cancer therapy, as it can reduce the impact of the disadvantages of other methods, especially radiological.
- Bone marrow transplantation. Such a method may be necessary in the treatment of oncohematology.
- Surgical method. This method involves the surgical removal of the tumor. This method is the most dangerous and crude and cannot remove the tumor in hard-to-reach places.
Oncology is constantly expanding this list, but the methods actively used at the moment are all of the above.
These methods of diagnosing cancer and its treatment exist today.
