Radiotherapeutic Malignancies

Cancer

is a disease caused by normal cells changing so that they grow in an uncontrolled way.

Tumor

Cancer is a disease caused by normal cells changing so that they grow in an uncontrolled way. The uncontrolled growth causes a lump called a __ to form.

benign or malignant

Tumors (lumps) can be _ or _

Benign Tumors

means it is not cancer.

- Usually grow quite slowly

- Do not spread to other parts of the body

- Usually have a covering made up of normal cells

Characteristic of a Benign Tumor:

Malignant Tumors

are made up of cancer cells

1. Usually grow faster than benign tumors

2. Spread into and destroy surrounding tissues

Characteristics of Malignant Tumors

Benign Tumors

are made up of cells that are quite similar to normal cells.

Grow very large

Become uncomfortable or unsightly

Press on other body organs

Take up space inside the skull (such as a brain tumor)

Release hormones that affect how the body works

Benign Tumors will only cause a problem if they:

Primary Cancer

The cancer that grows where it first started in the body

Secondary Cancer or Metastasis

The place a cancer spreads to and then starts growing

Primary Cancer

In order to spread, some cells from the__ must break away, travel to another part of the body and start growing there.

Cancer cells

do not stick together as well as normal cells do.

Cancer cells

They also may produce substances that stimulate them to move

1. Local spread

2. Through the blood circulation

3. Through the lymphatic system

THREE MAIN WAYS A CANCER SPREADS

Local spread

The cancer grows directly into nearby body tissues.

Through the blood circulation

In order to spread, the cancer cell must first become detached from the primary cancer.

It must then move through the wall of a blood vessel to get into the bloodstream.

Through the lymphatic system

The cancer cell must become detached from the primary tumor.

Then it travels in the circulating lymph fluid until it gets stuck in the small channels inside a lymph node.

There it begins to grow into a secondary cancer.

bloodstream

The way a cancer spreads through the lymphatic system is very similar to the way it spreads through the __

low grade

A __ cancer cell looks more like a normal cell

high grade

A __ cancer cell looks more abnormal and is less well developed than a normal cell

Differentiation

A low grade cancer cell looks more like a normal cell.

A high grade cancer cell looks more abnormal and is less well developed than a normal cell. This refers to __

well differentiated, moderately differentiated, or poorly differentiated

Cells can be __ differentiated, __ differentiated, or __ differentiated.

low, medium or high grade

well differentiated, moderately differentiated, or poorly differentiated is the same as _, _, or _ grade.

low grade

It is also called grades 1, 2, or 3, where grade 1 is __.

Staging

is a way of describing the size of a cancer and how far it has grown.

Grade

This is different to the __ of cancer, which describes how similar a cancer cell is to a normal cell.

Staging

is important because it usually tells the specialist which treatments the patient need.

local treatment - surgery, radiotherapy

If a cancer is just in one place, then a __ such as __ or __could be enough to get rid of it completely.

local treatment

A __ treats only one area of the body.

Systemic Treatment

If a cancer has spread, then local treatment alone will be enough. A __ will be needed as well.

Systemic

means treating the whole body.

Systemic Treatment

Chemotherapy, hormone therapy and other drug treatments.

1. The 'TNM' staging system

2. Number systems

TWO MAIN TYPES OF STAGING SYSTEM

Tumor, Node, Metastasis

TNM stands for __

The 'TNM' staging system

This system can describe the size of a primary tumor, whether the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes and whether the cancer has spread to a different part of the body (metastasized).

The 'TNM' staging system

The system uses numbers to describe the cancer.

T - Tumor

refers to the size of the cancer

T - Tumor

it can be 1, 2, 3 or 4, with 1 being small and 4 large

N - Node

refers to whether the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes

N - Node

it can be between 0 (no positive nodes) and 3 (lots of positive nodes)

M - Metastasis

refers to whether the cancer has spread to another part of the body

M - Metastasis

it can either be 0 (the cancer hasn't spread) or 1 (the cancer has spread)

Number systems

These usually have a scale of 1 to 4 (or sometimes A to D).

1

typically means a small tumor that has not spread and no positive lymph nodes.

4

would mean that the cancer had spread to other major organs in the body.