General Information about Cancer

Cancer can apear in all of the organs and tissues in the body, and it‘s development begins with the chaotic division of normal cells. The mass of cells that results is called a tumor, which can be classified as benign or malignant.

• Benign tumors are not cancerous, can be removed and do not relapse. They do not spread to other parts of the body and are very rarely life threatening.
   
• Malignant tumors are cancerous. They consist of abnormal cells which divide uncontrollably. Malignant tumors can spread from the tissue in which they began, and enter other tissues, organs, the blood stream or the lymphatic system, which is called metastasis.

Forms of Cancer

The prevalence of malignant tumors differ by region, as well as by age and gender.

• For people under the age of 34, the most common cancers are leukemia and cancers of the central nervous system.
   
• For men between the ages of 34 and 65, the most common cancers, listed in decreasing order, are cancers of the lungs, stomach, larynx, pancreas, and oral cavity.
   
• For women in this age group, the most prevalent form is breast cancer, followed by cervical cancer, stomach cancer and lung cancer.
   
• For men over the age of 65, the most frequent forms of cancer are stomach, lung, prostate, urinary tract, and rectal.
   
• However, for women in this age group, their is an elevated risk of stomach, breast, lung and cervical cancer.

Risk Factors

In the last years a healthy lifestyle is considered more and more important in the setting and evolution of diseases. The Worldwide Health Organization, with data from the Disease Control Centre in Atlanta, estimates that approximatively 50% of total deaths are caused by an unhealthy lifestyle.

Approximatively 85% of cancer types are considered to be avoidable or preventable. For example:

• 30% of cancers are caused by smoking (90% of lung cancers, 70% of lips and larynx cancers);
   
• 35% of different types of cancer (eg stomach, colon) are caused by a bad diet;
   
• 7% of cancers are caused by a sexual and reproductive risky behaviour;
   
• 3% of cancers is caused by an excessive alcohol consumption.

The relation between cancer and lifestyle is demonstrated by the changes that appeared in cancer along the years, together with urbanization, migration and industrialization. In the table below you can clearly see the relation between cancer risk and allimentary behaviour according to the World Cancer Research Fund data.

 

Which is the role of heredity?

Many cancers, including breast cancer, occur in members of the same family. This doesn’t automatically mean that there is a birth predisposition to cancer. Although studies done in the recent years in genetics proved a hereditary component of cancers, a certain number of breast cancers occuring in the same family have no genetic involvment, but they are clearly linked to other factors, such as lifestyle.

Among the group of women that have a high risk of developing breast cancer there are:

• women with breast cancer cases in their family (grandmother, mother, sister), even though they were diagnosed only after menopause
   
• women who had their first period at an early age, before 12 years of age, respectively women who had menopause late, after 55 years of age;
   
• women who had their first child after 30 years of age, or women who never had children;
   
• women who already had breast cancer.