I remember the tears in my parents’ eyes the day my older brother, Niraj, was diagnosed with Thalassemia major, a blood cancer where hemoglobin is deformed resulting in improper oxygen transport. I remember the countless times he had been rushed to the hospital in the middle of the night, leaving me to wake up in the morning to an empty house. Most regrettably, I remember slowly drifting away from my parents as our top priority became saving my brother. I tried to help as much I could, but how much could a nine year old girl contribute to curing cancer? The cancer affected not only my brother, but also my entire family. It was brutal, tragic, hapless and most notably a thief. It stole time, effort, money, and energy, but the most important …show more content…
thing it stole from me was the relationship I had with my family. The more the doctors fussed over Niraj, the less time I got to spend with him. With endless doctors appointments and procedures, the cancer preoccupied the people I had depended on the most, leaving me with the obstacle of fending for myself at such a young age. The news of the cancer shocked my family, as we had never dealt with a situation like this.
My mom, dad, and older brother were my chauffers, alarm clocks and tutors. I looked up to them but, realized that I couldn’t be dependent on my family as much as I used to be. My parents frantically took Niraj to hospital after hospital, determined to find a cure for the cancer. Often during these visits I had to stay after school waiting to be picked up since the bus route did not include our neighborhood. During longer, overnight, visits they dropped me off at my grandparents place. Soon I learned to adapt to the mandatory situation of helplessness and isolation. Instead of waiting for my parents to pick me up hours after school had gotten out, I would walk over to my friend’s house right across the street from the elementary school. My homework got done with the help of my grandpa. Barbies and cars were not as fun when my partner in crime was helplessly ill and nearly immobile, so when I needed someone to play with, I delved into books. Immersing myself into imaginary worlds made the stories come to life and the characters became my friends. When Harry Potter was dueling Voldemort, I was standing right alongside him except to me, Voldemort was my brother’s
cancer. What I learned from those few dark years has made a remarkable impact on my life. Fighting the cancer together as a family, made our relationship stronger and closer. I was forced to see things through a new perspective and learned that I didn’t always have to feel alone. It became more evident to me as to why my parents could not always come to my rescue as I learned to become independent and adapt to my surroundings. I realized earlier than most kids my age that my parents may not always be there when I needed them and learned to take care of myself. If you want something you have to make it happen, and that’s how I have and will continue to view every conflict in my path. A couple of years later, Niraj and I had both overcome our biggest obstacles. The doctors suggested to try a bone marrow transplant and after learning I was a perfect match, I unhesitatingly donated my bone marrow to him. By the age of twelve, Niraj beat his Voldemort and I, like Harry Potter, found myself surrounded by my friends’ and family's endless support and love. My brother and I were not the same people as we were at the beginning of our debilitating journeys. Now we are stronger, more confident, and ready to defy any obstacle thrown at us. Although it was a thief, the cancer gave me the wonderful gift of saving a life.
Isn’t it overwhelming to consider the fact that approximately one in eight deaths in the world are due to cancer? To make this more comprehensible, the number of deaths caused by cancer is greater than caused by AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria combined. Along with the idea that this disease does not have a definite cure is a mind-staggering concept to grasp. If not caught in time, cancer means guaranteed death. These types of thoughts were floating around my head when my mother had told me that my father had mouth cancer.
The leading cause of death in America is lung cancer. Lung cancer is ranked top 10 fatal cancers in the United States. There are many types of ways to get lung cancer. There is radon gas it occurs outdoors naturally. Then there is second hand smoke that comes from other people smoking. People are even getting lung cancer from cancer causing agents, this happens from carcinogens. You can also get it from air pollution indoors and outdoors. Also there are gene-mutations that form cancer causing cells. Then there is the one everyone blamed lung cancer is smoking.
Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) is the most common type of acute leukemia in adults. AML is a heterogeneous disease which results from genetic alterations in normal hematopoietic stem cells. These alterations induce differentiation arrest and/or excessive proliferation of abnormal leukemic cells or blasts [1]. Recent genomic studies have identified that recurrent somatic mutations in patients with AML blocks differentiation and/or enhance self-renewal by altered transcription factors [2,3]. The genetic or the epigenetic changes acquired by AML cells disrupt the key growth regulatory pathways and changes will make the normal cells to attain certain malignant characteristics which include inappropriate proliferation in the absence of normal growth signals, indefinite self-renewal in a manner analogous to a stem cell, escape from programmed cell death, inhibition of differentiation, aberrant cell cycle checkpoint control and genomic instability [4].
Breast cancer is a type of cancer originates from breast tissue, generally from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas whereas from ducts are called ductal carcinomas. (Ref: Breast Cancer, National Cancer Institute) Invasive breast cancer is breast cancer that has spread from the point of origin in the breast ducts/lobules to the surrounding normal tissue cells. In exceptional cases, breast cancer can start in at other sites in breast. Breast cancer occurs in both women and men, though male breast cancer is uncommon.
“The word 'leukemia' is a very frightening word. In many instances, it's a killer and it's something that you have to deal with in a very serious and determined way if you're going to beat it” - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Many people, including tons of children, fight leukemia every day trying to beat this vicious cancer. Without knowing how leukemia is exactly caused, it puts a damper on how to avoid it.
Leukemia like any other cancer is devastating especially when it affects children and especially when they are too young to understand most of what is happening to their bodies. Facts like these are what should be used to motivate researchers and caregivers to help to make the process of treatment and care for patient dealing with disease one that is pleasant and supportive. The research should be taken seriously and it is hoped that in the future a cure can be found and the cause of the disease can be explained. It is also hoped that achievements like those can give families who are coping with disease or who have lost loved ones to the disease can find closure and solace in knowing that other may not have to go through what they have.
Leukemia is a cancer of the white blood cells. It begins in the bone marrow, the soft tissue inside the bones. Within the bone marrow is where white blood cells are created, that help fight off bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms within the body that cause infections. The disease develops to when the white blood cells are being produced out of control. The cells that are being produced do not work properly as they should, they grow faster than a normal cell would and don’t know when to stop growing. Overtime, if not treated properly, the white blood cells will over crowd blood cells, creating a serious problem such as anemia, bleeding and infection. Leukemia cells can spread to the lymph nodes and other organs in the body causing swelling and pain.
Diagnosed with lung cancer, now what!? Time to do some research. Lung cancer is the number one cause of deaths in males and females. The causes, diagnosis, and treatment of lung cancer have advanced recently with new technology available to scientists and the medical profession. Lung cancer develops when the cells grow abnormally and tumors form instead of healthy lung tissue. It can take place in one or both lungs, normally the cells that line the air passages. Not all tumors are cancerous, the ones that do not spread are benign tumors. The more tumors that develop in the lungs will cause the lungs to work less efficiently. The metastatic tumors spread to other parts of the body passing through the blood stream or lymphatic system.
Cancer is a deadly disease that millions of people die from a year. Many loved ones are killed with little to no warning affecting families across our world. My family happened to be one that was affected by this atrocious disease. This event changed the way my family members and I viewed cancer.
Ostrow, N. (2011). Screening for lung cancer with chest x-ray doesn’t cut deaths, study finds. Retrieved from http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-26/screening-for-lung-cancer-with-chest-x-rays-doesn-t-cut-deaths.html.
Epidemiologists had identified many important causes of cancer by the early of 1980s. Many types of cancer vary in incidence by more than an order of magnitude between different populations and every type is rare in some part of the world. Many specific causes cancer are now known, the most common are by smoking, obesity and a few oncogenic viruses, but a large proportion of global variation for common cancers such as breast, prostate, colon and rectum remains unexplained (Peto J. , 2001). According to Richard Doll and Richard Peto, pollution accounts for 2% of all cancer cases and geophysical factors account for another 3% while 80% to 90% of cancers are caused by “environmental factors”. Environmental factors are the non-genetic factors which are smoking, diet, occupational exposure to chemicals and geophysical factors (naturally occurring radiation, man-made radiation, medical drugs and radiation and pollution.
Imagine having to wake up each day wondering if that day will be the last time you see or speak to your father. Individuals should really find a way to recognize that nothing in life is guaranteed and that they should live every day like it could be there last. This is the story of my father’s battle with cancer and the toll it took on himself and everyone close to him. My father was very young when he was first diagnosed with cancer. Lately, his current health situation is much different than what it was just a few months ago. Nobody was ready for what was about to happen to my dad, and I was not ready to take on so many new responsibilities at such an adolescent age. I quickly learned to look at life much differently than I had. Your roles change when you have a parent who is sick. You suddenly become the caregiver to them, not the other way around.
Almost 263,020 oral cavity cancers, and 127,654 oral cancer deaths occur worldwide each year1. On January 1, 2010, in the US there were approximately 275,193 women and men alive who had a history of cancer of the oral cavity and pharynx (181,084 men and 94,109 women)2. The 5-year survival rate of patients with oral cancer remains almost unchanged despite various treatment improvements in the last three decades3. Individuals at high risk of developing oral cancer (OC) are mainly older, males, heavy users of alcohol and tobacco, and have a poor diet and low socioeconomic status4, 5. Recent studies have implicated HPV infection as an independent risk factor for oro-pharyngeal cancers6, 7. For oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), the role of HPV remains controversial8.
When one hears the word “cancer”, thoughts about how their previous life is about to change cloud the mind, but when one hears the word cancer for their child, it is a whole different outlook; the affects of childhood cancer are not only taken on by the patients, but also by their families; the affects can range from emotionally to physically, socially to financially, and even educationally. “Childhood cancer is considered rare, especially compared with adults. Still it’s the leading cause of death in children pre-adolescent, school-aged children” (Report: Childhood Cancer Rates Continue to Rise, but Treatment Helps Drive Down Deaths). Around 12,000 children in the United States are diagnosed with cancer every year and around one in five children that are diagnosed with cancer will die.
Breast Cancer is a type of cancer originating from breast tissue, most common from the inner lining of milk ducts. The most common type of breast cancer is called Ductal Carcinoma. Another type of breast cancer is Lobular Carcinoma, which begins in the lobules of the breast. Breast Cancer can occur in all men and women, sometimes male breast cancer is rare to happen. Breast Cancer can be two types it can be invasive or non-invasive. Invasive means that it has spread from the milk duct to the other parts of the breast and non-invasive means that it has infected other parts of the breast.