A cancer is said to have metastasized once it expands its growth to other tissues and organs in the body as a whole. It is a scare to patients because of the difficulty in controlling it once it leaves the primary site. With the intense cancer metastasis research going on in different laboratories globally, cancer management and outcomes are likely to improve a great deal.
There are different ways in which cancer spreads. For instance, it can invade the immediate surrounding tissues directly as it grows out of its locality. The cells can also be transported through blood to distant areas including the lungs, bone, liver and brain among others. Metastasis can also happen through the lymphatic system via the lymph nodes. Tumors that grow beyond their initial locality are typically classified as stage four in most cancer types.
Signs and symptoms suggestive of tumor spread are dependent on what organ the it spreads to. For instance, if it invades the brain, then the patient will complain of chronic headaches that fail to respond to pain medication. With bone invasion, victims tend to sustain fractures with the slightest of physical trauma. Spread to the liver maybe indicated by jaundice, which is A symptom characterised by the eyes becoming yellow. The doctor will do a thorough evaluation to rule out other possible conditions that tend to present the same way.
Metastatic lesions are difficult to excise surgically especially when they are located in multiple systems in the body because not all them may be picked, not to mention the unfavourable cosmetic outcome. Chemotherapy is therefore the preferred method of managing metastasis. The drugs used here work by directly destroying the abnormal cells.
It is important for family and friends to walk the journey through chemotherapy together with the patient. This is because of the toll the drugs take on them. One of the most marked adverse effect of the drugs is the fact they are known to cause severe shedding of hair. For someone whose hair means the world to them, the thought of losing it literally sickens them.
In that regard, ongoing research aims at coming up with a drug that only focuses on the abnormal cells without destruction of normal, functional cells. In one study, mice with metastatic breast tumors were treated with modified stem cells specifically meant to kill the abnormal cells. The study takes advantage of the immediate environment surrounding the tumor.
In the experiment, the abnormal cells in mice were successfully destroyed. All that is now left is for this concept to be tried and tested in clinical trials. The formulation will go on to save a lot of patients if it shows proof of functionality.
Some tumors are known to be familial while those that are not inherited are still a mystery. Both undergo certain genetic mutations that make them behave the way they do. Scientific research has taken time to study the DNA of abnormal cells in comparison to the normal human DNA. The ultimate goal is to help in disease prevention and early management of such diseases in the next generation.
There are different ways in which cancer spreads. For instance, it can invade the immediate surrounding tissues directly as it grows out of its locality. The cells can also be transported through blood to distant areas including the lungs, bone, liver and brain among others. Metastasis can also happen through the lymphatic system via the lymph nodes. Tumors that grow beyond their initial locality are typically classified as stage four in most cancer types.
Signs and symptoms suggestive of tumor spread are dependent on what organ the it spreads to. For instance, if it invades the brain, then the patient will complain of chronic headaches that fail to respond to pain medication. With bone invasion, victims tend to sustain fractures with the slightest of physical trauma. Spread to the liver maybe indicated by jaundice, which is A symptom characterised by the eyes becoming yellow. The doctor will do a thorough evaluation to rule out other possible conditions that tend to present the same way.
Metastatic lesions are difficult to excise surgically especially when they are located in multiple systems in the body because not all them may be picked, not to mention the unfavourable cosmetic outcome. Chemotherapy is therefore the preferred method of managing metastasis. The drugs used here work by directly destroying the abnormal cells.
It is important for family and friends to walk the journey through chemotherapy together with the patient. This is because of the toll the drugs take on them. One of the most marked adverse effect of the drugs is the fact they are known to cause severe shedding of hair. For someone whose hair means the world to them, the thought of losing it literally sickens them.
In that regard, ongoing research aims at coming up with a drug that only focuses on the abnormal cells without destruction of normal, functional cells. In one study, mice with metastatic breast tumors were treated with modified stem cells specifically meant to kill the abnormal cells. The study takes advantage of the immediate environment surrounding the tumor.
In the experiment, the abnormal cells in mice were successfully destroyed. All that is now left is for this concept to be tried and tested in clinical trials. The formulation will go on to save a lot of patients if it shows proof of functionality.
Some tumors are known to be familial while those that are not inherited are still a mystery. Both undergo certain genetic mutations that make them behave the way they do. Scientific research has taken time to study the DNA of abnormal cells in comparison to the normal human DNA. The ultimate goal is to help in disease prevention and early management of such diseases in the next generation.
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