Cancers are defined as a collection of diseases in which abnormal cells can divide and spread to nearby tissues. Cancers can arise in many parts of the body – leading to a range of cancer types, and in some cases spread to other parts of the body through the blood and lymph systems.
In 2019, 11.8 million people are estimated to have died from the various forms of cancer. Every sixth death in the world is due to cancer, making it the second leading cause of death – second only to cardiovascular diseases.
Cancers are caused by damage to the DNA in human body. These changes are called gene mutations. Gene mutations can build up in cells in the body over time and too many cell mutations may stop working normally, grow out of control and become cancerous.
Here is one excellent example.
We all know human DNA comprises 23 pair of chromosomes. Cancer originates, in a case for example, when the 22nd chromosome starts fiddling with the 9th chromosome. The 22nd chromosome is one of the smallest and arguably one of the most widely discussed of all human chromosomes. In case of blood cancer (leukaemia) the 22nd chromosome breaks away and curls towards the 9th chromosome and sits with the 9th! The DNA structure gets disturbed and the sitting point gets weak. This creates enough ground for the enzymes to attack the point which leads to profuse multiplication of white blood cells in the bone marrow.
This new chromosome is called Philadelphia chromosome and it contains the fused gene BCR-ABL. This gene is the ABL gene of chromosome 9 juxtaposed onto the breakpoint cluster region of BCR gene of chromosome 22. This fusion creates the hybrid protein tyrosine kinase – often termed as the brutal protein – the cause of cancer (illustration below).
Cancer is a particularly common cause of death in richer countries where people are less likely to die of infectious diseases and causes of deaths that lead to very early deaths for people in poverty.
Rare cancers. Among various rare cancers chronic myeloid leukaemia and Ewing sarcoma affect fewer than 15 people per 100,000 each year. These cancers can affect any part of the body and have different symptoms and risk factors. Lung mesothelioma affects 3,000 people per year in the United States !
Do rare cancers vary with gender (?). Primarily not, as evident from the pictorial diagram below. There are 13 rare cancers listed by World Health Organisation (WHO) and we see most of the variants are common to male as well as to female.
Rare cancers account for about 22% of all cancers diagnosed worldwide, disproportionately affecting some demographic groups with an occurrence of less than 6 per 100,000 individuals annually. Many rare cancers in adults, adolescents and children are not curable, and patients and care providers have little option to take therapeutic decisions. The epidemiology of rare cancers is a challenging area of study but is inadequately addressed.
Despite efforts mainly in some European nations, a few improvements have been observed in the management of rare cancers. Reasons for this obvious stagnation are multifactorial and are mainly inherent to logistical difficulties in carrying out clinical trials in very small patient populations, hesitation of the pharmaceutical industry to spend in small markets and complexity in creating adequate information for the development of cost-effective drugs.
Rare cancers also face specific challenges that include late and incorrect diagnosis, lack of clinical expertise and lack of research interest and development of new therapies. The utilization of nationally representative study findings for the patients’ evaluation may possibly offer chances to find out pathogenesis and prevalence, and this will eventually lead to control and prevention. Currently, advancing targeted therapies offer a great opportunity for the better management of rare cancers. Conducting clinical trials with small patient population, innovative clinical trial approach, prevailing controlling obstacles for international cooperation and financial support for research are the present challenges for rare cancers.
Rare cancers are higher than any single frequent cancers such as breast cancer (16%), colorectal cancer (13%), lung cancer (13%) and prostate cancer (12%). Rare cancers in adulthood, adolescence and childhood including haematological tumours are usually improperly interpreted and treated due to lack of understanding and medical expertise. Therapeutic options for rare cancers are still poorly documented and remain essentially empiric. Europe has initiated efforts and it is hoped that other countries, particularly developing countries such as India and other countries will see the importance and potential benefit of studies on rare cancers.
Jacob Bryant and his law firm have been doing great work addressing people suffering from rare cancers and other forms of cancer. Please click on the link https://www.lanierlawfirm.com/mesothelioma/ and know more about the good work Jacob and his team are doing!
The United States of America is pioneer in documenting cancer cases in USA that provide a very useful data base as reference.
Each year, the American Cancer Society estimates the numbers of new cancer cases and deaths in the United States and compiles the most recent data on population-based cancer occurrence and outcomes using incidence data collected by central cancer registries and mortality data collected by the National Centre for Health Statistics. In 2023, 1,958,310 new cancer cases and 609,820 cancer deaths are projected to occur in the United States. Cancer incidence increased for prostate cancer by 3% annually from 2014 through 2019 after two decades of decline, translating to an additional 99,000 new cases; otherwise, however, incidence trends were more favourable in men compared to women.
For example, lung cancer in women decreased at one half the pace of men (1.1% vs. 2.6% annually) from 2015 through 2019, and breast and uterine corpus cancers continued to increase, as did liver cancer and melanoma, both of which stabilized in men aged 50 years and older and declined in younger men. However, a 65% drop in cervical cancer incidence during 2012 through 2019 among women in their early 20s, the first cohort to receive the human papillomavirus vaccine, foreshadows steep reductions in the burden of human papillomavirus-associated cancers, the majority of which occur in women. Despite the pandemic, and in contrast with other leading causes of death, the cancer death rate continued to decline from 2019 to 2020 (by 1.5%), contributing to a 33% overall reduction since 1991 and an estimated 3.8 million deaths averted.
This progress increasingly reflects advances in treatment, which are particularly evident in the rapid declines in mortality (approximately 2% annually during 2016 through 2020) for leukaemia, melanoma, and kidney cancer, despite stable/increasing incidence, and accelerated declines for lung cancer. In summary, although cancer mortality rates continue to decline, future progress may be attenuated by rising incidence for breast, prostate, and uterine corpus cancers, which also happen to have the largest racial disparities in mortality.
Ten leading cancer types are listed above for the estimated new cancer cases and deaths by sex in the United States, 2023. Estimates are rounded to the nearest 10, and cases exclude basal cell and squamous cell skin cancers and in situ carcinoma except urinary bladder. Ranking is based on modelled projections and may differ from the most recent observed data.
Is cancer dreadful(?). Is cancer treatment worse than cancer itself? No, neither cancer nor treatment of cancer is so bad as understood in general. Normally, cancer diagnosis gives a feeling of sadness, fear, panic, and distress. In some cases, as case studies have shown, it disturbs normal life paramountly. Today, cancer is not a dreadful disease at all ! It is just like another chronic disease like diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, et al.
A question is frequently asked whether cancer is curable or not.
The answer to everyone is yes, cancer is curable in the early stages. Technical advances enable access to various diagnostic tools like Sonography, Mammography, MRI, Endoscopy, Nuclear Medicine, Tumour Markers and other technologically advanced equipments have facilitated early diagnosis. With the help of intervention radiology, one can aspirate tumour cell from deep-seated tumours for diagnosis.
Cancer can be detected before it attacks, it can be monitored and estimated through Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Please visit www.cheekychatur,com and read the article THE RISE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, HOW IT LOOKS 100 YEARS FROM NOW for an engrossing take on cancer.
The global map above shows the mortalities of common cancer forms in males and females as estimated by World Health Organisation (WHO).
Comments