American Medical Association Family Medical Guide - American Medical Association [20]
Most Common Cancers Leading Cancer Killers
1 Prostate 1 Lung
2 Breast 2 Colon and rectum
3 Lung 3 Breast
4 Colon and rectum 4 Prostate
5 Bladder 5 Pancreas
6 Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma 6 Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
7 Melanoma 7 Leukemias
8 Uterus 8 Ovary
9 Leukemias 9 Stomach
10 Kidney 10 Brain and nervous system
Cancer Treatments
When it comes to curing cancer, early detection and treatment are key. Treatment is more likely to be successful if it is done before cancer cells spread from the original tumor to other parts of the body. Cancer is most often treated with surgery, radiation therapy, or chemotherapy, or a combination of all three. Immunotherapy and stem cell transplants are being used increasingly to treat cancer.
Surgery
Conventional surgery is usually the first treatment recommended by doctors to remove a cancerous tumor and any surrounding tissue that may contain cancer cells. Less invasive surgical procedures are continually being developed that try to preserve as much healthy tissue and normal functioning as possible.
Laser surgery
A laser is a highly focused, powerful beam of light that can cut through tissue or vaporize cancers inside the body or on the skin without the need for a large incision. Laser surgery is also sometimes used to relieve symptoms such as breathing or eating problems that can result when large tumors press on the trachea (windpipe) or esophagus.
Cryosurgery
Cryosurgery uses extreme cold (liquid nitrogen spray or a very cold probe) to freeze and destroy abnormal cells. Cryosurgery is most often used to treat external cancers, such as those on the skin, or precancerous conditions, such as those affecting the cervix. However, doctors are using it increasingly to treat tumors inside the body, including tumors in the prostate gland.
Electrosurgery
High-frequency electric current is often used to destroy cancers of the skin and mouth. A procedure called LEEP/LLETZ (loop electrosurgical excision procedure or large-loop excision of the transformation zone) is used to remove abnormal tissue from the cervix.
Mohs surgery
Mohs surgery is a technique to remove cancerous tissue by shaving it off one layer at a time. After each layer is removed, it is examined under a microscope to look for cancer cells. When all the cells in a layer look normal under the microscope, surgery is stopped. This technique is used primarily for skin cancers that have recurred or that have developed around sensitive areas such as the eyelids, nose, or lips. Mohs surgery preserves as much healthy tissue as possible and has a high cure rate.
Experimental forms of cancer surgery
Researchers are investigating other procedures for removing or destroying cancerous tissue using high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), microwaves or radio waves, and magnets.
Immunotherapy
Immunotherapy uses the immune system to fight cancer, either by stimulating a person’s immune system (active immunotherapy) or by administering disease-fighting immune system components (such as antibodies) manufactured outside of the body (passive immunotherapy). These techniques, which include cancer vaccines, are currently being studied for treatment of different types of cancer, including melanoma, kidney cancer, blood cancers (such as leukemias, lymphomas, and myelomas), breast cancer, prostate cancer, colon cancer, cervical cancer, and ovarian cancer.
Stem cell transplants and bone marrow transplants
Bone marrow is spongy tissue in the center of bones that makes all the blood cells in the body. Blood cells develop from immature cells called stem cells, which are found in the bone marrow and, in smaller amounts, circulating in the blood. If a cancer destroys bone marrow or if bone marrow is damaged from cancer treatment, doctors may recommend a stem cell transplant or bone marrow transplant (see page 624) to provide healthy new cells. Stem cell transplants are also used to treat cancers that don’t