Advanced Directives | Brochures | Cancer Screening Download | Education |
Emotions and Cancer | Glossary of Terms | Patient Rights | PowerPoint Presentations |
Understanding Cancer | Videos

After a Diagnosis of Cancer
Now that you have been given a diagnosis of cancer, the question of how to treat your cancer lies in the hands of both you and your healthcare team. For many types of cancer, there is no one “right” treatment. You may have several options, each with benefits and risks attached.

You want to make sure your healthcare team uses the appropriate treatment(s) for you. Finding out about your particular cancer is a great way to participate knowledgeably in discussions about treatment. Your doctor, nurse and hospital social workers are excellent sources of information. There are numerous local and national organizations dedicated to helping patients and their families cope with diagnosis, treatment and survivorship. Your local library may also be a good source for information.

What is Cancer?
Cancer is a disease that occurs when the cells of the body begin to divide and multiply in an uncontrolled way. Normally, cells have a defined lifecycle. At the end of that cycle, they naturally pass away. This planned cell death is called apoptosis. In cancer, this death is delayed or does not happen for some cells. Without the “off switch,” these cancerous cells continue to divide and multiply, which may cause tumors. Given time, cancerous cells often develop the ability to distribute themselves to other parts of the body. We call this spread of cells from the original cancer site metastasis.

Cancer can metastasize in three ways: through the lymphatic system, through your blood vessels (the venous system), and by directly passing from one organ to another. When cancer spreads through the lymphatic system, it is carried by lymph fluid, a fluid that flows through lymph vessels to most parts of your body. The role of the lymphatic system is to help fight impurities and infections. The lymph vessels pass through lymph nodes, which work like filters in the system. Cancer cells may be caught and stay and grow in these nodes, or sometimes they will spread, or metastasize, to other parts of your body. For example, breast cancer may spread via the lymphatic system to the lymph nodes in the axilla (armpit). If the cancer is not treated, it may spread onward to other lymph nodes in other parts of the body.

The second way cancer may spread is through the venous system. For example, if left untreated, a cancerous tumor in the breast may be shed cancerous cells into the veins of the breast. The cells then may be carried by the blood vessels through the heart and then lodge in the left lung, causing a secondary cancer to grow there. Cancer may also spread by direct extension from one organ to another. In this breast cancer example a primary cancer of the breast may spread directly to the chest wall behind it.

Why Does Cancer Make People Sick?
Cancer makes people sick because the cancerous cells take the place of healthy cells. Cancerous cells use up the energy and oxygen your normal cells need to keep going. This stealing process is one reason people with cancer may be very tired or fatigued and lose weight. If a tumor becomes large enough, it may press on important nerves, causing pain. A tumor may take over the cells of a healthy organ, slowing or preventing the organ’s normal function. This is why someone with lung cancer may find it hard to breathe.

What Causes Cancer to Happen?
Cells stop their normal life cycle process because of changes in their genetic makeup. Sometimes we inherit genes from our parents that are not perfect and make us more likely to get cancer. Environmental factors can damage cells; for example, getting too many sunburns and suntans may damage skin cells. Not everyone with inherited flaws or exposure to damaging environments gets cancer. It requires a sequence of changes in multiple genes to start a cancer. This is why we see some heavy smokers live until they are very old and never get cancer, and others develop lung cancer very young.

Genes that cause cancer when they have changed or mutated are called oncogenes. Another way cancer develops is when tumor suppressor genes, the natural “brakes” we have to prevent cancer, develop mutations. Every type of cancer has a unique set of genetic mutations associated with it, but some changes are seen in a number of cancers, such as the p53 gene mutation. No one mutation has yet been identified that is associated with every cancer.