Stages Of Cancer: Cancer Diagnostic Techniques

APPROACH TO CANCER: STAGES OF CANCER
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UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE
17th September 2018
Introduction
Cancer is caused by the genetic transformation which alters the structure of cells thereby affecting cell division. The causes of cancer are diverse and range from environmental factors, lifestyle choices to inherited traits. The cancerous cell division causes damage to the DNA structure and the body tissue. Environmental risk factors include overexposure to toxic levels of tobacco smoke, radiation as well as UV radiation. The genetic mutation that is associated with cancer impacts three types of genes, namely proto-oncogenes, tumor suppressor genes and DNA genes commonly referred to as cancer drivers. Proto-oncogenes perform normal cell division and growth, whereas tumor suppressor genes take control of cell division, while DNA repair genes are responsible for the repair of damaged DNA cells. The paper explores different cancer diagnostic methods, staging, complications, treatment side effects and concludes by discussing different methods of lessening physical and psychological side effects.
Cancer Diagnostic Techniques
Cancer diagnostic procedures include imaging, laboratory tests (including tests for tumor markers), tumor biopsy, endoscopic examination, surgery and genetic testing (Bruix, Reig, & Sherman, 2016). Diverse types of imaging techniques can be used to detect cancer using radiology. Diagnostic imaging involves the production of detailed pictures of body structures. This technique is largely used to detect tumors, check the disease stage and also in the evaluation of treatment effectiveness (Ludwig & Weinstein, 2015). Besides, imaging is used in conducting a biopsy and numerous other surgical procedures. It can be done in three different ways, namely transmission, reflection, and emission. Transmission of imaging techniques includes X-rays, Computed tomography (CT scans), and fluoroscopy (Bruix, Reig, & Sherman, 2016). Transmission of imaging techniques usually makes use of high energy photons that are beamed on an organ or body structure under diagnosis.
Reflection imaging techniques make use of high-frequency sound waves which are directed to the cancerous organ or tissue under examination. The most common reflection imaging method is ultrasound, which uses bounced sound waves to produce visual organ images, whereas emission imaging is cancer diagnosis techniques that produce organ images produced by a computerized scanner that uses tiny nuclear particles (Collins et al., 2007). Examples of reflection techniques are nuclear medicine and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). While nuclear technique uses nuclear emission to analyze body structures, MRI utilizes radio waves and uses a special machine that adds a strong magnetic field to a tissue or organ, thus causing tissue cells to emit own frequencies (Hoeks et al., 2011).
Cancer can also be diagnosed through endoscopic screening. The most common endoscopic diagnostic methods are cystoscopy, colonoscopy, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), Esophagogastroduodenoscopy and Sigmoidoscopy (Collins et al., 2007; Bruix, Reig, & Sherman, 2016). Genetic testing is also a common technique for diagnosing cancer. A biopsy is also being used in cancer diagnosis. It involves the removal of tissue or cells and having them screened under a microscope. Different tumor biopsy methods are used to determine the malignancy of a tumor. However, the most common biopsy technique endoscopy, bone marrow biopsy, and excisional biopsy. Other types of biopsy include skin biopsy, shave biopsy and punch biopsy (Bruix, Reig, & Sherman, 2016).
Staging of Cancer
Cancer staging is a lexicon used to describe the size or stage of cancer. The initial cancer diagnostic tests are usually aimed at determining the size of cancer and the degree of its spread to other body tissues. It also involves grading the cancerous cells and comparing the cancerous cells to normal body cells.
The significance of cancer staging
Cancer staging plays an important role in the treatment of cancer since it informs cancer specialists on the stage of cancer to be able to provide appropriate treatment. For instance, surgery, radiotherapy or local treatment may be appropriate when the cancer is localized. However, for cancer that is non-localized, systemic treatments that encompass chemotherapy, hormone therapy and targeted cancer drugs can be used (Bruix, Reig, & Sherman, 2016). For patients whose cancer has spread to lymph nodes, adjuvant treatment is recommended as it kills cancer cells that have spread outside of the local tissue. Cancer staging is determined using two distinct systems, namely TNM and the number systems. These systems help doctors describe the size and spread of cancer, treatment results, and guidelines (Ludwig& Weinstein, 2015). The TNM system denotes Tumor, Node, and Metastasis and is mostly used to define the primary tumor. The number staging systems usually rely on the TNM systems of cancer that classify cancer into four different stages, usually numbered from stage 1 to 4.
Stage 1 usually implies that the cancer is still small and localized in a specific body organ. On the other hand, stage 2 usually indicates that the cancer tumor has exceeded stage 1 even though it may still be localized (Ludwig & Weinstein, 2015). Stage 2 could also suggest that cancer has spread to the lymph nodes close to the tumor. On the other hand, stage 3 means that the cancer is not only large but has begun to spread to the surrounding tissues. It may also suggest the existence of cancer cells in the lymph nodes. Lastly, stage 4 indicates that cancer has spread to other body organs other than the organ of origin and is sometimes referred to as metastatic cancer. Cancer can also be classified as carcinoma in situ or simply as stage 0 cancer, which d...