Benign Tumors and Malignant Tumors Information
January 20th, 2009 | 
Author: The body is made up of many types of cells. These cells grow and divide in a controlled way to produce more cells as they are needed to keep the body healthy. When cells become old or damaged, they die and are replaced with new cells.
However, sometimes this orderly process goes wrong. The genetic material (DNA) of a cell can become damaged or changed, producing mutations that affect normal cell growth and division. When this happens, cells do not die when they should and new cells form when the body does not need them. The extra cells may form a mass of tissue called a tumor.
Not all tumors are cancerous; tumors can be benign or malignant.
- Benign tumors aren’t cancerous. They can often be removed, and, in most cases, they do not come back. Cells in benign tumors do not spread to other parts of the body.
- Malignant tumors are cancerous. Cells in these tumors can invade nearby tissues and spread to other parts of the body. The spread of cancer from one part of the body to another is called metastasis.
# Benign tumors
Benign tumors are slow growing creatures that are much less likely to cause significant health problems requiring chemotherapy or radiation therapy. Just because they do not result in serious forms of cancer does not mean that a benign tumor can be ignored. Many tumors start out as benign and then become malignant.
Moles and uterine fibroids are common examples of benign tumors. A word of caution with moles though as they frequently are present on individuals that are more at risk for skin cancer.
Giving a tumor the label “benign” implies that the tumor is a mild and non-progressive disease. Many types of benign tumors are really harmless to health. Some neoplasms, however, that are called “benign tumors” because they lack the invasiveness of a truly cancerous tumor can still produce negative health effects. Just because a tumor is benign doesn’t mean that it will have zero health effects. One of the most common effects of a benign tumor is a “mass effect” in which vital organs like blood vessels can be compressed.
Benign tumors are usually confined to a specific area. This inhibits their ability to become malignant or even act in a malignant manner. While this is generally true, benign tumors should be taken seriously as many types have the potential to become malignant.
When the benign tumor undergoes additional genetic changes, it can become malignant. When a tumor changes, the cells themselves show specific abnormalities in their cell maturation process and in their appearance. This is generally called dysplasia.
If a benign tumor is of a type that is not likely to become malignant, it might not need treatment at all. When it is in a location where there is a history of benign tumors becoming malignant, most doctors will remove them. Surgery is the most common way of removing benign tumors. This type typically doesn’t respond to chemotherapy or radiation.
# Malignant tumors
Cancer can affect anyone. Cancer is one of the world’s deadliest diseases and cannot be prevented. It can be treated to an extent. There has yet to be a cure developed for cancer.
Cancer is caused by tobacco smoke, chemicals, infectious agents and radiation. Cancer can be detected through CT Scans, blood tests, MRIs, x-rays and biopsies. A biopsy entails the testing of a piece of skin or organ by a pathologist. The pathologist tests the piece of skin or organ for cancerous cells and their histological grade.
Cancer can be detected by the detection of lumps or swelling, random bleeding, pain, ulcers, jaundice, weight loss, poor appetite, night sweats, fatigue and anemia. Symptoms of cancer after the disease has been diagnosed are metastasis (spreading), constant cough, bone pain, an enlarged liver, fractures and enlarged lymph nodes.
Cancer is treatable through surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and immunotherapy. Surgery is used to remove a tumor, if it is on an organ that is operable, and will hopefully get the entire tumor before it spreads to other areas of the body. If the tumor is located in an inoperable area then the treatment will be chemotherapy; which will shrink and hopefully kill off the tumor completely before it begins to spread throughout the body.
There are a couple of ways to try and prevent developing cancer. Such methods are having a proper diet, cancer screenings and taking vitamins on a daily basis. One major player in the development of cancer is being obese. Eating a healthy diet and maintaining a healthy body weight will help in the prevention of cancer. Cancer screenings are used to detect cancer in its early stages; its infancy. If cancer is detected other procedures can be used to confirm the presence of cancer. Those other procedures are surgery and biopsies. Early detection can lead to a longer life.
There are hundreds of forms of cancer known to man today. Some of the most common are lung, colon, thyroid, lymphoma (various types), leukemia (various types), melanoma, oral, pancreatic, testicular, throat and vaginal cancer. Not all cancers are deadly because the majority of them, if detected early, can be controlled with chemotherapy, surgery and radiation.
Some cancers do not form tumors. For example, leukemia is a cancer of the bone marrow and blood.
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Tags: Cancer
Posted in Cancer