We explain what cancer is and who can get this disease. In addition, the different treatments that exist.
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What is cancer?
Cancer is a disease caused by malignant cells , autonomous reproduction. It is based, mainly, on the uncontrolled multiplication of cells that end up invading the rest of the healthy tissues.
Cancer dates from the time of Hippocrates. He was the first to refer to the word “carcino” to refer to it. This disease became more frequent after World War II . When people reach older ages (above 75), new diseases begin to emerge, including cancer.
Cancer originates in a tissue, when the reproduction of cells is uncontrolled. This disease can be transferred to other tissues . In other words, this disease is characterized by a metastasis (the displacement of this disease to other parts of the body).
This disease is also very closely related to the term “tumor . ” This refers to a lump of a tissue, in which abnormal growth of the cells can be seen. Tumors can be benign or malignant.
The difference is that a benign tumor is surrounded by a layer of fibers, which prevents its spread. Differentiating it from the previous one, the malignant tumor is one that is arranged in such a way that it has the possibility of reproducing in the different tissues of the body.
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Who can get cancer?
There are people who enter the risk factor of this disease . Among them are smokers, with chances of getting lung cancer, excessive drinkers have an exposure to liver cancer.
In addition, among people who sunbathe excessively, there is a percentage that indicates they are prone to skin cancer. Another possible disposition towards this disease is found in genetics , since there are genetic predispositions towards the contraction of the pathogen.
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Is there treatment for cancer?
Cancer treatment is extremely expensive and exhausting . Generally, in cases of cancer, radiation therapy and chemotherapy are used:
Radiation therapy is the process by which the client is exposed to radiation (from the Co60 -cobalt sixty- atoms ). This type of therapy has its origin in the Curie couple, with their discoveries about radioactivity.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the first malignant cancer was cured with the Co60 pump (the Hodgkin case, with lymphatic cancer). Upon impact with this radiation, you feel absolutely nothing. The common thing is one radiation per day. However, there are cases that require more.
Chemotherapy is the generic name given to the group or group of drugs that are used to treat cancer cells. As we have already mentioned, it has its origin in World War II.
It began with the detection of a notable absence and, in some cases, total lymphocytes (white blood cells). This rare disease went to Yale University, in the United States, where they responded in response to a medicine derived from mustard gas: the drug commonly called “nitrogen mustard.”
With the passage of time , more medications were emerging, more effectively . However, nitrogen mustard has not stopped being used. The use of these medications is given both intravenously and by pills.
The most relevant difference between the two is that chemotherapy reaches the entire body . In contrast, radiation therapy is only applied at a specific point. In chemotherapy, two or more medications are usually given at the same time. The conjunction of these is called a scheme.
