We got news a few days ago that a friend of mine with skin
cancer may have had a site that it had metastasized to.
With a swelling knee, he went to the doctor. Fearfully, he
reported that the clinic was afraid that his cancer had spread. He underwent a
full day of blood tests, ultrasounds, and had fluid withdrawn from the area as
well.
While the upshot is that his skin cancer HAD NOT SPREAD (hallelujah!),
it got me to wondering.
I did a series of articles on metastatic breast cancer a few
years ago – two of them are the most read on the blog. My own recent brush with
skin cancer has made me very aware of the possibility of my own cancer
spreading.
So I did some reading. The type of skin cancer that I had
has a microscopically small chance of metastasizing. My friends type does in
fact spread.
How EXACTLY does breast cancer, skin cancer, and other kinds
of cancer spread? “By metastasizing, dummy!"
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” I would reply. (I’d also make a smart
aleck remark about the Beatles.) “But HOW does it spread? How do cancer cells
get from the skin to the knee or from the breast to the bones? Do they just
pack up their little twisted chromosomes, wave to their family of twisted
cells, and head on our into the Wide World of the body they’ve coopted for
their evil intent?”
So, I did my research, starting (and I ONLY start here, I
use the primary sources shortly afterward!) with Wikipedia.
Wiki defines metastasis as “the spread of a cancer or
disease from one organ or part to another not directly connected with it.”
Hmmm…while that’s simple to understand, it doesn’t bring me
any closer to WHAT happens. I don’t understand! Turns out, neither does the
medical community, exactly: “Metastasis
is a complex series of steps in which cancer cells leave the original tumor
site and migrate to other parts of the body via the bloodstream, the lymphatic
system, or by direct extension.”
When DOCTORS say the steps to metastatic cancers spreading,
it often means that they don’t know exactly what’s happening. Great – that should
be the next Great Discovery, “How To Stop The Spread Of Cancer Cells”…
So, here goes.
“Cancer occurs after a one single cell in a tissue is
progressively genetically damaged to produce cells with uncontrolled
proliferation.” The question I have is WHAT is it that does the genetic damage?
With over a hundred different cancers, the list is probably just as long. There
ARE things we know of that can damage cells on a genetic level – the ultraviolet
rays of sunlight can damage cell genes, switching on the cell to grow
uncontrollably. This, naturally, leads to skin cancer.
The chemicals in cigarette smoke (which contains 7000 (!!!)
DIFFERENT substances) are mostly harmless. But of those several thousand, seventy
are known to damage the genetic components of cells – plus the RADIATION that
tobacco plants pick up and concentrate in their leaves. The obvious end result
here is lung cancer.
Other chemicals in the environment, as well as carrying a
family history of different kinds of cancer also damage cells and create the “runaway
effect” that characterizes ANY cancer.
So WHAT happens then?
Cells grow out of control resulting forming a tumor. In the case
of my own skin cancer, simple removal of the offending (or affected) area stops
the cancer. Monitoring over the rest of my life will be a part of every checkup
from now until the day I die. In my wife’s case, chemicals specifically
targeted to annihilate breast cancer cells were introduced to her body after
the source of the cancer cells – breast tissue – was surgically removed in a
double mastectomy. She is now cancer-free, as is the wife of a good friend of
mine and one of my colleague teachers. Again, monitoring over the rest of my
wife’s life will be a part of every checkup and physical.
The effort to first destroy the SOURCE of the cancer and
then destroy those cells wherever they may have “landed” using chemicals,
radiation, and physical excision of tissue is how doctors stop the spread of
cancer.
But there's LOTS more. I've gone on enough. Next time around, I’ll be delving deeper into this whole
concept of METASTASIS...
Resource: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metastasis
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