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Advanced Cancer Facts
By peace | December 13, 2006
Sometimes cancer cells break away from a tumor and spread to other parts of the body through the blood or lymph system. They can settle in new places and form new tumors. When this happens, it is called metastasis (meh-tas-tuh-sis). Cancer that has spread in this way is called metastatic cancer.
More than half a million people die of advanced cancer each year in the United States. More than 7 out of 10 of these people will be older than 65 years of age. Although more than half of all people who get cancer live 5 or more years after their cancer is found, people with advanced cancer usually live less than a year.
Advanced cancer is cancer that has grown beyond the organ where it first started. Often it has spread widely throughout the body. This is called metastatic cancer. But advanced cancer is not exactly the same as metastatic cancer. A cancer might be called advanced if it involves a vital organ and can’t be removed.
Often “advanced cancer” means that it can’t be cured. But even if there is no cure, treatment can sometimes shrink the cancer, help relieve symptoms, and allow the person to live longer. Some people can live many years with advanced cancer.
In many cases, advanced cancer happens after the person has had cancer for some time and treatment is no longer working. But every person is unique and for some the cancer may already be advanced when they find out they have the disease. In any case, treatment of symptoms such as pain and depression almost always helps.
Metastatic cancer is not always the same as advanced cancer. Cancer can be metastatic even if only a small amount of the cancer has spread. In many cases metastatic cancer can be treated successfully or even cured if it has not done a lot of damage. But metastatic cancer may be advanced if it has spread to many places or has greatly harmed tissues and important organs.
Most people who die from cancer have metastatic tumors. Many of the problems from cancer come about because the cancer has spread to an important place in the body or because it has spread to many places.
When cancer comes back in a person who seemed to be free of cancer after treatment, it is called recurrent cancer. Cancer can come back in:
* the same place where it started or very close by (local recurrence)
* lymph nodes near the place where it started (regional recurrence)
* distant organs (metastatic recurrence)
Can Advanced or Metastatic Cancer Be Prevented?
For now, the only sure way to prevent the spread of a cancer is to find it early and remove or destroy it. For some people, the American Cancer Society recommends certain tests to find cancers of the breast, prostate, colon, and cervix. But many people don’t know about, or don’t get these tests. And because these tests aren’t perfect, some cancers can spread before they are found. There are also many cancers that can’t be found early by any of the tests we now have.
Scientists are looking for ways to keep cancer from spreading. For example, certain drugs can be given after surgery to kill cancer cells that might have broken away from the first tumor.
Topics: All Posts, Diseases, Man's health, Woman's Health | No Comments »
