A malignant tumor is one of the most dangerous to life, which is based on an oncological neoplasm consisting of cancer cells.
This neoplasm is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell division of certain body tissues, and these cells can spread to nearby he althy areas, as well as to distant organs in the form of metastases.
The branch of medicine that deals with the study and treatment of diseases associated with the formation of such tumors is called oncology.
Which tumors are malignant, interesting to many.
To date, science has established that malignant tumors are directly related to genetic pathologies of cell division and the implementation of their purpose. Normal, he althy cells undergo a certain transformation and mutation, and their programfunctioning is significantly impaired. If the human immunity detects this process in time, the disease will not continue its development, but if this does not happen, uncontrolled cell division turns into a variety of neoplasms.
What is the difference between a benign tumor and a malignant one?
It should be noted that disorders can also provoke benign tumors - lipomas, adenomas, hemangiomas, chondromas, teratomas, etc., which affect other tissues and do not pose a danger to life, nevertheless, they also can become malignant over time.
Additional factors that provoke the development of cancer are smoking and alcohol addiction, some viruses, poor-quality nutrition with a high content of carcinogens in food, and excessive ultraviolet radiation.
The treatment of tumors, like drugs, is still not fully understood, and methods of cancer therapy are being improved every day. Nevertheless, there are already some general recommendations that doctors follow, namely the diagnosis of cancer, after which surgical treatment, chemical and radiation therapy are prescribed. These methods depend on the degree and type of malignancy. A positive prognosis from such treatment also depends on these factors. So, is a malignant tumor a cancer or not? Let's figure it out.
How do tumors develop?
The common opinion about the development of cancer, which is followed by most scientists around the world, is the transformation of a he althycells that can occur under the influence of certain adverse factors.
It is known that the human body consists of a huge number of cells that form various types of tissues, such as nervous, epithelial, muscle, connective. All these cells are, as it were, programmed for certain functions, that is, they have genetic programs for life and activity. At the same time, cells of one type perform one task in the body and live for a specific period of time, while other cells have different functions and life time.
What is the difference between a benign tumor and a malignant one?
There are many differences between these neoplasms:
- Growth rate - malignant ones grow faster.
- Metastases - benign tumors lack the ability for this process.
- Localization of recurrence - benign ones recur locally, malignant ones recur in different places.
- Stickiness - due to the ability of adhesion, cells of benign neoplasms do not spread throughout the body.
- Appearance of the cell - the nucleus of cancer cells is larger and dark in color due to the abundance of DNA.
- Effective treatment - a benign tumor is easily treatable, but not a malignant one.
- Probability of recurrence - malignant growths often reappear after removal.
- Systemic effects - benign neoplasms rarely provoke a general deterioration in the body's condition.
- The death toll is 13,000 and more than 575,000 deaths per yearrespectively give benign and malignant neoplasms.
Stages of cell development
Cell development goes through the following stages:
- formation and division;
- maturing when feature definition occurs;
- maturity, when it begins to perform its functions in the body;
- activity - the period of full functioning under the influence of the genetic program;
- aging;
- death.
All these stages of cell life are completely controlled by the body, however, minor malfunctions in their work still occur. Such cells begin to be destroyed by immune bodies. Breast cancer is a very common occurrence these days.
Under the influence of unfavorable conditions, more serious malfunctions in the work of cells can begin, and in cases where the body is weakened, it is not able to normalize their work. Thus, the modified cells are not blocked, but continue to exist and multiply randomly.
This process is very fast, and the cells do not perform their original functions. If timely treatment or removal of a malignant tumor is not started, it can destroy a large number of he althy cells, and the consequences of this are very serious, up to the death of the patient.
So, a tumor is a collection of unregulated cells.
Development stages
The stages of oncological formations are:
- Hyperplasia - formation and accumulationa large number of atypical cells.
- A benign tumor. At a similar stage, such a formation may not exist, and hyperplasia passes into the stage of dysplasia, and the formation of a malignant neoplasm continues. What other stages of malignant tumors are there?
- Dysplasia - fixation of cells in tissues and the beginning of the formation of a pathological tumor. This stage is actually the period when the tumor turns from benign to malignant. This process is called “malignancy”.
- Precancerous condition. At this stage, the tumor is usually located in a limited area of tissue and is small in size. During this period, the body is still able to cope with it on its own.
- Invasive cancer, when a malignant neoplasm begins to develop rapidly, and a number of inflammatory reactions appear around it, metastases develop.
Cancer statistics
The formation of malignant tumors is most often observed in the elderly, although young people are often exposed to this insidious disease. The most common cancers are lung, breast, colon, stomach and liver.
Mortality in the presence of malignant formations ranges from 30 to 80%, depending on the type, degree, and localization of the oncological process.
Causes of occurrence
The essence of oncological diseases is not fully disclosed, thereforethe causes of the formation of malignant tumors in the body are not known for certain.
Conventionally, all the factors that provoke the development of such tumors can be divided into three main categories:
- Physical - ultraviolet rays, x-rays, radiation, bad habits.
- Chemical - carcinogens, some medical therapies.
- Biological - heredity, weakened immunity, decreased DNA repair function, as well as viruses that destroy its structure.
Part of internal pathogenic causes is from 15 to 30%, 60-90% is allocated to negative environmental conditions that affect a person. Is a malignant tumor a cancer or not? This is a frequently asked question.
Main causes of cancer
List of the most common factors leading to cell transformation:
- food - 40%;
- smoking – 35%;
- infections – 15%;
- various adverse radiation – 8%;
- carcinogens – 6%;
- reduced physical activity – 4%;
- alcohol – 3%;
- air pollution - 1%.
Eating high-calorie foods, as well as foods containing carcinogens, food additives and nitrates, is one of the most common causes of cancer. In addition, malnutrition leads to obesity, which weakens the body, significantly reducing all its protective functions that are necessary for a normal life.
Food additives that can provoke the development of cancerneoplasms are:
- dyes - E-125, E-121, E123;
- preservatives such as sodium benzoate;
- acidity regulators: E-510, E-527, E-513;
- flavor enhancers - monosodium glutamate;
- benzopyrene.
Relationship between smoking and malignant neoplasms
Smoking and oncology are directly related definitions. The thing is that in addition to the toxic effect, tobacco smoke affects the cells of the body with a certain dose of radiation, since scientific studies have confirmed the fact that a smoked pack of cigarettes can irradiate the body with radiation at a dose of 700 microroentgens. This is the level of radiation pollution in the Chernobyl exclusion zone. This is why women who smoke are so often diagnosed with breast cancer.
Symptoms
Symptoms of cancer largely depend on its stage, as well as on where the malignant neoplasm is localized.
The first signs of cancer are painless lumps that are often subtle. Pain during the development of the oncological process at the beginning of the disease is absent, and it begins to appear only in the later stages.
Among the symptoms of tumors, there are local, general and those caused by metastases.
Local symptoms:
- tightness or swelling;
- inflammatory process;
- bleeding;
- Gospel disease.
Common Cancer Symptoms:
- weakness, pain inspecific area of the body;
- anemia;
- excessive sweating;
- decreased immunity;
- temperature increase;
- weight loss, loss of appetite;
- mental imbalance, irritability.
A malignant tumor of the lung is very often accompanied by metastases.
Symptomatics of their development:
- pain in joints and bones;
- cough, in some cases bloody;
- enlarged lymph nodes;
- enlarged liver;
- atypical headache, dizziness, etc.
Classification of malignant tumors
Oncological tumors are divided into varieties depending on the type of atypical cells of which they are composed. Among such cancer processes are known:
- glioma;
- carcinoma;
- leukemia;
- lymphoma;
- myeloma;
- melanoma;
- sarcoma;
- teratoma;
- choriocarcinoma.
Depending on the localization of the oncological process:
- brain cancer;
- lung cancer;
- bone cancer;
- laryngeal cancer;
- breast cancer;
- pancreatic cancer;
- prostate cancer;
- cancer of the uterus and its individual parts (cervix, fundus, body);
- skin cancer;
- colon cancer;
- blood cancer;
- gastric cancer;
- testicular cancer.
- thyroid cancer;
- liver cancer.
Stages of the oncological process of tumor formation
Among them stand out:
- 1st stage, when the DNA chain is damaged, and cells begin to change their functioning program and divide uncontrollably. Symptoms at this stage are virtually absent. Cancer treatment in this case most often has a positive prognosis.
- 2nd stage, when the formation of foci of modified cells occurs, which begin to form a tumor. At this stage, visible swelling and edema may appear, as well as an increase in body temperature.
- 3rd stage of cancer, when atypical cells, along with the blood stream, begin to migrate to distant organs and tissues, forming metastases.
- 4th stage is the most difficult and dangerous when the prognosis of recovery is extremely unfavorable. At this stage of the development of the tumor process, metastases appear in many parts of the body and organs uncontrollably. The patient experiences very severe pain, neurological disorders. In most cases, this disease ends in death.
Consider malignant tumors in children.
In children
Types of cancer in children:
- lymphoma;
- tumors of the central nervous system;
- neuroblastoma;
- osteosarcoma;
- nephroblastoma;
- Ewing's sarcoma;
- retinoblastoma;
- rhabdomyosarcoma.
How is cancer diagnosed?
Diagnostic Methods
An important point in the treatment of cancerdiseases is their diagnosis. Determination of the presence of cancer cells at the initial level of their appearance and division determines a positive prognosis in the treatment of the tumor. It is the diagnosis of this disease that determines the further development of events in the oncology of a particular organ.
Among the diagnostic methods in this case differs:
- Physical examination of the patient.
- Magnetic resonance imaging.
- Computed tomography.
- Positron emission tomography.
- Ultrasound.
- Oncoscreening.
- X-ray.
- Mammography.
- Fibroscopy.
- Laboratory tests.
Laboratory methods include:
- biopsy;
- histological examination of blood and tissue fragments;
- blood test for tumor markers;
- fecal analysis.
Treatment of a malignant tumor
Treatment of oncological diseases largely depends on their types, stages and localization. After diagnosis, the oncologist must prescribe one or another type of therapy, and a positive outcome depends specifically on the stage of development of the neoplasm and the presence of metastases.
In the initial stages, recovery is observed in most cases. High mortality in many cases of malignant tumors is due to the neglect of the oncological process. This happens, as a rule, for two main reasons - the lack of timely examination or the use of alternative methods of treating the tumor. advantage inIn this case, it remains with official medicine, which has sufficient modern means of combating such diseases.
Basic Therapies
- Surgical removal of a malignant tumor. These techniques involve the physical removal of areas of accumulation of atypical cells, along with nearby adjacent tissues. For example, with tumors of the mammary gland, as a rule, the entire breast is removed. The instruments used here are conventional scalpels, ultrasonic scalpels, radiofrequency knives, laser scalpels, etc. In foreign clinics, located, for example, in Israel and Germany, modern instruments are used. The rehabilitation period after removal of a malignant tumor is much easier.
- Chemotherapy. The essence of this method is the use of special medications that affect cancer cells. This method also performs other functions - arresting DNA duplication, preventing cell division, etc. But this method also has some disadvantages, which are severe side effects, when, in addition to malignant cells, absolutely he althy cells are destroyed.
- Radiotherapy. The essence of this method lies in the fact that the body is irradiated with gamma radiation. In this case, various particles act as such a “medicine” - neutrons, photons, protons, electrons, etc. The choice of such particles is determined by the oncologist based on the diagnosis. He althy cells suffer much less when using this method.
- Cryotherapy -use of extremely cold temperatures against cancer cells. A malignant tumor is frozen with liquid nitrogen, as a result of which the structure of atypical cells is disrupted.
- Photodynamic therapy, when special drugs are injected directly into the body of the tumor, which, when exposed to a light flux, begin to destroy the cells of a malignant neoplasm.
- Immunotherapy. As a rule, human immunity is a kind of "shield" from the effects of various adverse factors - infections, etc., which is able to cope with its main function without outside help. Another thing is when the immune defense is weakened. The essence of this method of oncology treatment is to strengthen the immune system and stimulate its work as much as possible. Thanks to special medications, the immune system begins to independently attack malignant cells and optimize the functioning of surrounding tissues. Some of the drugs are William Coley Vaccine and Interferon.
- Hormonal therapies that act as a maintenance treatment for oncological tumors, so it is used only as an additional tool in the implementation of the main therapy. The essence of this method is the use of various hormones against oncological cells, for example: estrogen - for the treatment of prostate cancer; glucocorticoids - to treat lymphoma, etc.
Very often, doctors use whole complexes of the above methods in order to achieve the bestresult.
Additional methods
As an addition to the basic treatment of malignant tumors and the consequences of oncological diseases, as a rule, drugs are used that effectively relieve pain. It is also possible to use various types of antidepressants and sedatives to combat depression and pathological states of panic and fear that accompany cancer patients.
