• Cancer is an unwanted growth.
• Our body is made up of billions of cells. Normally, cells grow and divide to form new cells, as the body needs them. When cells grow old, they die, and new cells take their place. Sometimes, this orderly process goes wrong. New cells form when the body does not need them, and cells do not die when they should. These extra cells can form a mass of tissue called a growth or tumor. This tumor can be benign or malignant. Malignant tumors are cancer.
• Most cancers are named for where they origin. For example, lung cancer starts in the lung; Lymphoma is a cancer that starts in the lymphatic system and Leukemia is a cancer that starts in white blood cells.

• A lot of research has been made in cancer, but we still do not understand exactly what causes most cancers. There are certain known risk factors which are known to be involved in the causation of cancers.
• Different kinds of cancer have different risk factors
• The important risk factors, which are more likely to affect personal cancer risk are

1.Tobacco use
2.Unhealthy diet
3.Lack of physical activity.  

Tobacco use: Cancers of the lung, mouth, voice box, bladder, kidney, cervix, food pipe, and pancreas are related to tobacco use. Smoking alone causes one-third of all cancer deaths. The risk of having lung cancer and other smoking-related cancers is related to total lifetime exposure to cigarette smoke. There is no way to accurately calculate a person’s risk of getting cancer, but the more a person smokes and the longer he or she does it, the greater the risk.

Diet and physical activity: Unhealthy diet and lack of physical activities predispose to obesity. Being overweight or obese is linked with an increased risk of cancers of the breast (among postmenopausal women), bowel, uterus, food pipe, kidney, and possibly other sites as well.

Other risk factors: Other risk factors include environmental factors, infectious diseases, chemicals, radiation and alcohol consumption. Certain cancers like breast are familial, meaning women with a mother or sister who have had breast cancer are more likely to develop the disease themselves.

EATING RIGHT

• Eat a healthy diet, with an emphasis on plant sources.
• Eat variety of vegetables and fruits every day.
• Limit consumption of processed and red meats

BEING ACTIVE

• Adopt a physically active lifestyle.
• Engage in at least 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity, above usual activities, on 5 or more days of the week.

MAINTAINING A HEALTHY WEIGHT

• Balance caloric intake with physical activity.
• Avoid excessive weight gain throughout life.
• Achieve and maintain a healthy weight if currently overweight or obese.

AVOID TOBACCO AND ALCOHOL

ALSO NOW THE VACCINES ARE AVAILABLE TO PREVENT CERTAIN TYPES OF CANCERS, e.g. HPV VACCINES FOR PREVENTION OF CERVICAL CANCER .

1. Recognize symptoms
2. Get regular check-ups
3. Perform self-exams

CANCER CAN BE CURED IF DETECTED EARLY

Recognize symptoms : The symptoms vary depending upon the site of involvement. The following are the warning symptoms for the common cancers

BREAST CANCER

IF YOU ARE 40 YEARS AND ABOVE AND IF YOU NOTICE

• Painless lump in the breast
• Swelling of all or part of the breast
• Nipple turning inward
• Nipple discharge other than breast milk

CERVICAL CANCER

IF YOU ARE MARRIED AND YOU OBSERVE

• Abnormal vaginal bleeding, such as bleeding after sex, bleeding after menopause, bleeding and spotting between periods, and having longer or heavier periods than usual.
• An unusual discharge from the vagina, the discharge may contain some blood and may occur between your periods or after menopause.

HEAD & NECK AND LUNG CANCER

IF YOU ARE USER OF TOBACCO IN ANY FORM SUCH AS SMOKING, CHEWING AND IF YOU HAVE

• White patch or ulcer in the mouth
• Difficulty in swallowing
• Change in voice
• Swelling of the neck
• Cough not relieved with medication
• Loose teeth
• IF YOU HAVE ANY OF THESE , YOU NEED TO CANTACT DOCTOR IMMEDIATELY FOR FURTHER EVALUATION

THE SYMPTOMS FOR OTHER CANCERS WHICH SHOULD NOT BE NEGLECTED ARE

• Change in regular bowel habit
• Blood in stool or urine
• Unexplained loss of appetite or weight
• Frequent fevers, noticeable swelling in neck or elsewhere, bleeding tendencies especially in children

Get regular check-ups: Regular health checkups to detect cancer early are called screening tests. There are standard guidelines defined for conducting screening for those people at average risk for cancer People who are at increased risk for certain cancers may need to follow a different screening schedule. The screening guidelines for some of the common cancers

BREAST CANCER

• Yearly mammograms starting at age 40 and continuing for as long as a woman is in good health.
• Clinical breast exam (CBE) should be part of a periodic health exam, about every 3 years for women in their 20s and 30s and every year for women 40 and over.
• Breast self-examination(BSE)

CERVICAL CANCER

• All women should begin cervical cancer screening about 3 years after they begin having intercourse, but no later than when they are 21 years old. Screening should be done every year with the regular Pap test.
• Beginning at age 30, women who have had 3 normal Pap test results in a row may get screened every 2 to 3 years. Another reasonable option for women over 30 is to get screened every 3 years with either the Pap test, plus the HPV DNA test.

COLON AND RECTUM CANCER

• Beginning at age 50, both men and women should follow
• Yearly fecal occult blood test (FOBT) or fecal immunochemical test (FIT)
• Flexible sigmoidoscopy every 5 years
• All positive tests should be followed up with colonoscopy.

PROSTATE CANCER

• Both the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test and digital rectal examination (DRE) should be offered annually, beginning at age 50, to men who have at least a 10-year life expectancy.
• Men at high risk (A strong family of one or more first-degree relatives [father, brothers] diagnosed before age 65) should begin testing at age 45.

Self examination
Oral self examination
Breast self examination