What Is Cancer? Symptoms, Types & Causes

How is cancer stage determined?

Healthcare providers use cancer staging systems to plan treatment and develop a prognosis or expected outcome. TNM is the most widely used cancer staging system. T stands for primary tumor. N stands for lymph nodes and indicates whether a tumor has spread to your lymph nodes. M stands for metastasis, when cancer spreads.

What are the four stages of cancer?

Most cancers have four stages. The specific stage is determined by a few different factors, including the tumor’s size and location:

• Stage I: The cancer is localized to a small area and hasn’t spread to lymph nodes or other tissues.
• Stage II: The cancer has grown, but it hasn’t spread.
• Stage III: The cancer has grown larger and has possibly spread to lymph nodes or other tissues.
• Stage IV: The cancer has spread to other organs or areas of your body. This stage is also referred to as metastatic or advanced cancer.

Though stages one through four are the most common, there’s also a Stage 0. This earliest phase describes cancer that’s still localized to the area in which it started. Cancers that are still in Stage 0 are usually easily treatable and are considered pre-cancerous by most healthcare providers.

How do healthcare providers treat cancer?

Healthcare providers may use several different treatments, sometimes combining treatments based on your situation. Common cancer treatments include:

• Chemotherapy: Chemotherapy is one of the most common cancer treatments. It uses powerful drugs to destroy cancer cells. You may receive chemotherapy in pill form or intravenously (through a needle into a vein). In some cases, providers may be able to direct chemotherapy to the specific area affected.
• Radiation therapy: This treatment kills cancer cells with high dosages of radiation. Your healthcare provider may combine radiation therapy and chemotherapy.
• Surgery: Cancerous tumors that haven’t spread may be removed with surgery. Your healthcare provider may recommend therapy. This treatment combines surgery with chemotherapy or radiation to shrink a tumor before surgery or to kill cancer cells that may remain after surgery.
• Hormone therapy: Sometimes, providers prescribe hormones that block other cancer-causing hormones. For example, men and people AMAB who have prostate cancer might receive hormones to keep testosterone (which contributes to prostate cancer) lower than usual.
• Biological response modifier therapy: This treatment stimulates your immune system and helps it perform more effectively. It does this by changing your body’s natural processes.
• Immunotherapy for cancer: Immunotherapy is a cancer treatment that engages your immune system to fight the disease. The treatment may be called biological therapy.
• Targeted therapy for cancer: Targeted therapy is a cancer treatment that targets the genetic changes or mutations that turn healthy cells into cancer cells.
• Bone marrow transplant: Also called stem cell transplantation, this treatment replaces damaged stem cells with healthy ones. Autologous transplantation uses your supply of healthy stem cells. Allogeneic transplantation uses stem cells donated by another person.

What are cancer treatment side effects?

Healthcare providers work to balance the treatment so it destroys cancer without harmful or lasting side effects. Even so, all cancer treatments have side effects. Some treatments cause side effects that last for years after treatment is completed. Many people benefit from palliative care that eases cancer symptoms and treatment side effects. The most common cancer treatment side effects are:

What is cancer survivorship?

If you have cancer, you are a cancer survivor. Cancer survivorship starts the day you receive a cancer diagnosis and continues for the rest of your life. As a cancer survivor, you’re likely to experience many challenges or complications.

Cancer that comes back

Sometimes, cancer treatment doesn’t eliminate all cancerous cells. Those cells can become new cancerous tumors. Cancer that comes back, or recurrent cancer, may appear at the same place as the original cancer, in nearby lymph nodes or spread to organs and tissues far away from the original site.

Second cancer

A second cancer is a new cancer. People who have second cancers may have cancer in the same organ or area of their body as the first cancer, but it’s a different type of cancer from what it was before. They may also have cancer in different areas of their bodies. Second cancers are more common, as more people live longer with cancer.

Cancer fatigue

Cancer fatigue is an overwhelming sense of tiredness that isn’t helped by getting more rest. Some people have chronic cancer fatigue that continues after they’ve finished treatment.

Cancer pain

Some cancer treatments have lasting side effects that may cause pain. One study found that 39% of people who completed cancer treatment had chronic pain. Peripheral neuropathy is an example of pain that may persist after treatment.

Chemotherapy brain fog

Chemotherapy brain fog (chemo brain) happens when cancer or cancer treatment affects your ability to remember or act on information. About 75% of people receiving cancer treatment tell their healthcare providers that they have issues with memory, concentration and their ability to complete tasks.