Cancer
Image Gallery
[ (
||image_reduire{0,60}|inserer_attribut{alt,}) ]
Definition: A cancer is a malignant tumor (See Tumors). Cancer is caused by genetic alterations that disrupt the normal balance among cellular proliferation, cellular survival, and cellular differentiation.
In the year 2000, there were 10 million new cases of cancer and 6 million cancer deaths worldwide.
In the United States each year, almost 1.5 million individuals learn for the first time that they have some type of cancer. Not included in these figures are more than 1 million new cases of the most common types of nonpigmented skin cancers and incipient, noninvasive cancers.
Not only these noninvasive lesions but many invasive tumors as well can be cured. Nonetheless, according to American Cancer Society estimates, cancer caused approximately 556,000 deaths in 2003, corresponding to 1500 cancer deaths per day, accounting for about 23% of all deaths in the United States.
Some good news, however, has emerged: cancer mortality for both men and women in the United States declined during the last decade of the 20th century. Thus, there has been progress, but the problem is still overwhelming.
Etiology
Cancer is due to a collection of complex genetic diseases characterized by multiple defects in the homeostatic mechanisms that regulate cell growth, proliferation and differentiation.
dietary habits
Recent epidemiological data indicate that over 30% of cancers could be prevented by correct dietary habits.
While imbalances in caloric consumption and carcinogen-promoting foods such as high-fat diets increase cancer risk, other food components appear to be able to prevent tumor insurgence and progression.
See also
tumorigenesis
cancer classification
cancer genes
tumor predisposing syndromes
Tumors
- benign tumor
- malignant tumor
References
Merlo LM, Pepper JW, Reid BJ, Maley CC. Cancer as an evolutionary and ecological process. Nat Rev Cancer. 2006 Dec;6(12):924-35. PMID: #17109012#
Balducci L, Ershler WB. Cancer and ageing: a nexus at several levels. Nat Rev Cancer. 2005 Aug;5(8):655-62. PMID: #16056261#
Boehm JS, Hahn WC. Understanding transformation: progress and gaps. Curr Opin Genet Dev. 2005 Feb;15(1):13-7. PMID: #15661528#
Bardelli A, Velculescu VE. Mutational analysis of gene families in human cancer. Curr Opin Genet Dev. 2005 Feb;15(1):5-12. PMID: #15661527#
Kitano H. Cancer as a robust system: implications for anticancer therapy. Nat Rev Cancer. 2004 Mar;4(3):227-35. PMID: #14993904#
Bingham S, Riboli E. Diet and cancer—the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition. Nat Rev Cancer. 2004 Mar;4(3):206-15. PMID: #14993902#
Chodosh LA. The reciprocal dance between cancer and development. N Engl J Med. 2002 Jul 11;347(2):134-6. PMID: #12110743#
Hanahan D, Weinberg RA. The hallmarks of cancer. Cell. 2000 Jan 7;100(1):57-70. PMID: #10647931#