The Effect Of Cancer

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Cancer is nothing but cell multiplication or out of control growth of cells. There are around 100 different types of cancer .These are classified by the kind of cell growth and location.

When damaged cells divide uncontrollably cancer affects the body , therefore forming lumps or tumors which are nothing but masses of tissue . Tumors grow uncontrollably and interfere with circulatory system , digestive system or the nervous system and release hormones that can affect the body function. A tumors is benign if it stays in one particular spot and have limited growth.

Source: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/info/cancer-oncology/

Figure 1:Cancer statistics in United States.

Source: http://statecancerprofiles.cancer.gov/

Effect of cancer

Cancer is a big threat inspite of the various advances and development in diagnosis. After cardiovascular diseases, cancer is the 2nd most biggest disease in the world.

Figure 2: Comparison of Cancer Incidence between USA ,India & Japan

Source: http://indiacancerstatistics.869942.free-press-release.com/

About 23% deaths in the USA and 7% in India are cancer related. By 2020 the population of the world is expected to be 7.5 billion therefore an approximate prediction of about 16.1 million new cancer cases will be diagnosed and 12 million cancer deaths are predicted. In India caner is estimated to be affecting around 2.7 million, with almost 9 00,000 new cases and 6, 60,000 deaths per year. According to 1991 Indian census , 70000 cancer cases have been registered. By the end of the last century this number will increase to aboue 908,000.In the last decade, about 70% cancer cases have been registered and treated with few patients surviving. In the near future the number of cancer patients is said to rise by 70%.

In the Indian Sub-continent the magnitude of cancer is increasing due to poor and moderate standards of living and inadequate medical facilities. Amongst the Indian population cases lungs, breast, colon, rectum, stomach and liver are most frequently observed cancers.

In view of these facts, a study of the status of cancer in India is shown below

Figure 3 : Statistics of total number of cancer patients

Figure 4: No. of Cancer cases in Major cities in Iindia

Source :Cancer scenario in india with future perspective (paper)

STATISTICS FOR CANCER OVERVIEW:

WORLD:

An estimation of about 9.1 million new cancer cases are diagnosed every year.

In the world, each year over 4.5 million people die from cancer.

INDIA:

An estimation of 7lakh new cancer cases are registered each year in india.

Each year, over 3.5lakh people die due to cancer.

About 2.5 lakh(33%) cancer patients are affected dude to the use of tobacco in inda.

KARNATAKA:

In Karnataka , there is easily around 1.5 lakh cancer cases registered at any given time.

Every year around 35,000 new cancer cases are registered .

Source: http://kidwai.kar.nic.in/statistics.htm

Severity of cancer affecting our society

In our country around 5, 56,400 have died a dude to cancer in the year 2010. About 71 per cent (3, 95,400) of the deaths due to cancer fall under the age group of 30-69. In 2010, 8 per cent of the 2.5 million of male deaths were caused dude to cancer and 12 per cent of the 1.6 million female deaths were caused dude to cancer.

A study has found that 7,137 of the 1,22,430 deaths during 2001-2003 were caused due to cancer, while in 2010 5,56,400 cancer deaths were registered.

Most number of male deaths caused by cancer were oral dude to tobacco followed by stomach cancer (12.7 per cent) and lung cancer (11.8per cent).

Most number of female deaths were caused by cervical cancer which is around 17.5 %, then followed by breast cancer (10.6 %).

Source: the hindu newspaper

How can cancer be diagnosed?

The structure of a human body can be clearly shown by a CT scan: eg.Bones, vessels and organs can be perfectly visible and displayed.

A whole body CT consists of 2000 images depending on the slices. A good amount of information is given by the CT but doesn’t highlight any tumors or lesions . Thus it becomes very difficult for a radiologist to differentiate between just an inflammation? A tumor? Benign? Malign ?

 Here is where the PET plays its role, it can do what a CT cannot.Areas with high metabolism are all highlighted with the PET scan. At the same time the PET scan doesn’t not show bones , organs or vessels therefore hampering the diagnostic process.

The solution is achieved by combining both the CT and PET machines therefore giving the best and most desired results.Thus any region with high metabolism is shown by the PET scan. The size and suspicion of the region can be well evaluated by the CT scan which is done before the PET .Hence providing sufficient information.

Figure 5: On the left upper side, there is a PET overview. On the upper right there is a transaxial view. On the lower left side there is the CT exam. On the lower right you see the image fusion (overlay) of CT and PET.

Source : https://sites.google.com/site/germanpetcenterstuttgart/why-petct

Why PET scan?

For caner , PET can:

distinguish malignant from benign tumors .

Shows metastases anywhere in your body therefore can stage cancer.

Provides information on whether the treatment is effective or not.

PET scan can detect recurrent tumor or any active tumor.

How many PET scans are performed per year?

Close to 1.5 to 1.7 million PET scans are performed every year.

This number is increasing drastically every year.

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