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What is cancer?

Cancer is a group of more than 100 different diseases. Cancer occurs when cells become abnormal and keep dividing and forming more cells without order or control. All organs of the body are made up of cells. Normally, cells divide to produce more cells only when the body needs them. If cells divide when new ones are not needed, they form a mass of excess tissue called a tumour. Tumours can be benign (not cancer) or malignant (cancer). The cells in malignant tumours can invade and damage nearby tissues and organs. Cancer cells can also break away from a malignant tumour and travel through the bloodstream or the lymphatic system to form new tumours in other parts of the body. The spread of cancer is called metastasis.

Click on the topics below to find out more about the individual cancers

:: Endometrial Cancer :: Ovarian Cancer :: Uterine Cancer :: Cervical Cancer

What are the signs and symptoms of cancer?

Cancer often causes symptoms that you can watch for. The word "caution" can remind you of the most common warning signs of cancer:

Change in bowel or bladder habits
A sore that does not heal
Unusual bleeding or discharge
Thickening or lump in the breast or any other part of the body
Indigestion or difficulty swallowing
Obvious change in a wart or mole, or
Nagging cough or hoarseness

These symptoms are not always warning signs of cancer. They can also be caused by less serious conditions. It is important to see a doctor if you have any of these symptoms. Only a doctor can make a diagnosis. Don't wait to feel pain: Early cancer usually does not cause pain. A biopsy is the only sure way to know whether a medical problem is cancer. In a biopsy, the doctor removes a sample of tissue. The tissue is examined under a microscope to check for cancer cells.

How is cancer treated?

Cancer is treated with surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, or biological therapy. The doctor may use one method or a combination of methods. The choice of treatment depends on the type and location of the cancer, whether the disease has spread, the patient's age and general health, and other factors. Many cancer patients take part in clinical trials (research studies) testing new treatment methods. Such studies are designed to improve cancer treatment.


Can cancer be prevented?


Many cases of cancer can be prevented by not using tobacco products, avoiding the harmful rays of the sun, and choosing foods with less fat and more fibre. In addition, regular checkups and self-exams can reveal cancer at an early stage when treatment is likely to be effective

Cervical Cancer

Cancer of the cervix, a very common kind of cancer in women, is a disease in which cancer (malignant) cells are found in the tissues of the cervix. The cervix is the opening of the uterus (womb). It connects the uterus to the vagina (the birth canal). Cancer of the cervix usually grows slowly over a period of time. Before cancer cells are found on the cervix, the tissues of the cervix go through changes in which abnormal cells begin to appear (a condition called dysplasia). Later, cancer starts to grow and spread more deeply into the cervix and to surrounding areas.

Risk Factors for Cervical Cancer

It appears that the main causal factor in cervical cancer is the genital human papilloma virus (HPV) or the genital wart virus. The presence of genital HPV has been found in almost all cases of cervical cancer. However, because the vast majority of women with genital HPV do not develop cervical cancer it is thought that other co-factors, such as smoking, also need to be present. Genital HPV is primarily transmitted through sexual contact and, therefore, the risk factors for cervical cancer are related to sexual behaviour. Risk factors include:

• Sexual activity: women who have never had sexual intercourse do not tend to develop cervical cancer
  
• Early sexual intercourse: evidence from many studies suggests that adolescent sexual intercourse increases the risk of developing cervical cancer.
  
• Sexual activity with a number of different partners: multiple partners increase a woman's chance of contracting a sexually transmitted infection, as does sexual intercourse with a person who has had multiple partners.
  
• Smoking: although it is not known how the mechanism works, the association between smoking and cervical cancer is well-recognised.

Symptoms of cervical cancer
There are no real symptoms of the early stages of cervical cancer. That is why is it is so important that your doctor does a series of tests regularly to look for it. The first of these is a Pap smear, which is done by using a piece of cotton, a brush, or a small wooden stick to gently scrape the outside of the cervix to pick up some cells that can be examined under a microscope. You may feel some pressure, but you usually do not feel pain. Most cervical cancers can be caught early with regular screening.

What are the treatments for cervical cancer?
Treatments for cancer of the cervix depend on the stage of disease, the size of the tumour, and a woman's age, overall physical condition, and desire to have children. Treatment for cervical cancer during pregnancy may be delayed, depending on the stage of the cancer and how many months of pregnancy remain. There are three kinds of treatment for
women with cancer of the cervix:

• surgery---removing the cancer in an operation;
• radiation therapy---using high-dose x-rays or other high-energy rays to kill cancer cells;
• chemotherapy---using drugs to kill cancer cells.

The National Cancer Institute recommends that doctors should strongly consider giving chemotherapy at the same time as radiation therapy for women with invasive cervical cancer.

Up to now, surgery or radiation alone has been considered standard treatment for this form of cancer.

Uterine Cancer or Cancer of the Uterus.

Uterine cancer -- also called sarcoma of the uterus -- is a very rare kind of cancer in women. It is a disease in which cancer (malignant) cells start growing in the muscles or other supporting tissues of the uterus.

Cancer of the uterus is different from cancer of the endometrium, a disease in which cancer cells start growing in the lining of the uterus. You should see your doctor if you have bleeding after menopause (the time when you no longer have menstrual periods) or bleeding that is not part of your menstrual cycle. Cancer of the uterus usually occurs after menopause.

What factors put me at risk for uterine cancer?

Currently, there has been little insight into the exact causes for uterine cancer. However, 10-25 percent of malignancies occur in women who received pelvic radiation five to 25 years earlier for benign bleeding. As in other cancers of its type, risk factors for uterine cancer include diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and improper oestrogen levels..

What is the most common treatment for uterine cancer?

Surgery is the most common treatment for cancer of the uterus. Your doctor may take out the cancer in an operation to remove the uterus, fallopian tubes and the ovaries, along with some lymph nodes in the pelvis and around the aorta (the main vessel in which blood passes away from the heart). The operation is called a total abdominal hysterectomy, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, and lymphadenectomy. The lymph nodes are small bean-shaped structures that are found throughout the body that produce and store infection-fighting cells, but may contain cancer cells.