Broad Categorization Of Cancers
We constantly hear the word “cancer” and know that it is a disease. But many of us are detached not sure what this disease really is. To begin with, cancer is a disease of the body’s cells – those microscopic units that form and repair tissues and organs, the same ones that supply the proteins and energy-producing compounds the body needs in order to stay alive and healthy.
Putting it another way, a cancer is a kind of tumor that threatens the life of an individual. What, on the other hand, is a tumor? A tumor is defined as an abnormal enlargement of some parts of the body. Specifically, it is a mass of tissue serene of unusual cells that have increased in number greater than what is normal. These cells serve no useful purpose as they are not part of the normal obtain of the body.
As a cancer becomes gradually manifest in any body tissue, its cells partake, in some degree, of the inherent character of the normal cells. The cancer cells are essentially much contorted and have lost many of the normal qualities of the parent tissue. This is the reason why there are so many kinds of cancers, for there are so many kinds of normal tissue in which a malignant tumor may develop.
Likewise, every kind of normal tissue has several possible patterns of abnormal development. Therefore, to try to list all the kinds of cancers would be too taxing. Hence, medical science categorized cancers into four major kinds – carcinomas, leukemias, lymphomas, and sarcomas.
The carcinomas design up the largest group of cancers. They are the cancers that capture origin from the epithelial cells that cover the surface of the body, line the body’s cavities and tubes, and compose the functioning cells of the body’s glands. The common forms of lung, colon and breast cancer are examples of carcinomas.
The leukemias are the cancers that develop in the tissues which produce blood cells (examples, the lymph nodes and the bone marrow). Of all diseases, leukemias are among the most feared. This is perhaps attributed to the fact that almost everyone remembers a child who died within a few weeks after becoming ill with this kind of cancer.
The lymphomas are the cancers that develop from lymphoid tissue, a part of the body’s immune system which stands as the main line of defense against invading organisms and other foreign substances. The lymphomas are further divided into two basic classes – Hodgkin’s disease and all the other lymphatic cancers.
Lastly, the sarcomas are the cancers that develop in the supporting tissues of the body. These include the cancers that arise from blood vessels, fibrous tissue, muscle tissue, and bone.
Sources:
1. Wikipedia, “Cancer: Classification” – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cancer#Classification
2. Disease Information, “Solid Tumor: Carcinomas,” on the St. Jude Web space – http://www.stjude.org/stjude/v/index.jsp? vgnextoid
3. “Leukemias” – http://www.tirgan.com/leukemia.htm
4. “Lymphoma,” on eMedicineHealth – http://www.emedicinehealth.com/lymphoma/article_em.htm
5. National Cancer Institute, “Soft Tissue Sarcomas” – http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Sites-Types/soft-tissue-sarcoma
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