Who here knows someone with cancer or a cancer survivor?
The word “cancer” has been a large part of my life in the past few years, especially when it comes to my aunt.
My aunts survived breast cancer over two decades ago.
Then in 2015, she was diagnosed with lung cancer. A portion of one of her lungs was removed that summer.
Cancer struck again in 2016.
Her breast cancer had returned.
12 months after her lung cancer surgery she was back on the operating table having her final breast removed.
My aunt was lucky to be diagnosed early enough to have surgery that saved her life, but many patients are not that fortunate and die even if they undergo treatment.
So many lives each day are touched by …show more content…
Nearly 40% of people will get cancer in their lifetime according to the National Cancer Institute. That means six of the people in this room will have cancer at some point in their life.
Transition: Even if you yourself do not get this dreadful disease, it can still touch the important people in your life.
The American Cancer Society states that, “Whether you have cancer or are close to someone who does, understanding what to expect can help you cope.” It is important to have a basic understanding of cancer because of the high risk of someone you know getting cancer in their lifetime.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention notes that there are over 100 kinds of cancer.
What is cancer? It is a disease where abnormal cells in the body divide without any control and can attack other tissue.
How is it spread? Cancer cells spread through the lymph system and blood system.
Some familiar types of cancer include liver, breast, lung, ovarian, bladder, prostate, and …show more content…
The smaller the number the smaller the tumour is.
N means Node.
This refers to if the cancer has extended to the lymph nodes.
The scale for N is between 0 and 3. If N is 0 then the cancer cells have not reached the lymph nodes but if it is N3 than many of the lymph nodes contain cancer cells.
M stands for Metastasis.
Metastasised means that the cancer has spread to a different part of the body.
M can either be a 0 or a 1. If M1 the cancer has spread.
Staging is the second scale system. Most varieties of cancer have four stages.
Stage 1: Cancer is small and contained in organ of orientation.
Stage 2: Tumour is larger than stage one, but has not started to spread into nearby tissue.
Stage 3: The cancerous tumour is larger and has started to spread into neighboring tissue. At this stage the lymph nodes have cancer cells.
Stage 4: The cancer has spread to another organ in the body.
Transition: The TNM scale and staging are used by doctors all over the world.
Collaboration from one country to another has made it easier to tackle the astounding number of cases globally, many of which are in our very own