Cancer (cont.)
Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD
Dr. Charles "Pat" Davis, MD, PhD, is a board certified Emergency Medicine doctor who currently practices as a consultant and staff member for hospitals. He has a PhD in Microbiology (UT at Austin), and the MD (Univ. Texas Medical Branch, Galveston). He is a Clinical Professor (retired) in the Division of Emergency Medicine, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, and has been the Chief of Emergency Medicine at UT Medical Branch and at UTHSCSA with over 250 publications.
Jerry R. Balentine, DO, FACEP
Dr. Balentine received his undergraduate degree from McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland. He attended medical school at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine graduating in1983. He completed his internship at St. Joseph's Hospital in Philadelphia and his Emergency Medicine residency at Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center in the Bronx, where he served as chief resident.
In this Article
- What is cancer?
- What causes cancer?
- What are cancer symptoms and signs?
- What are the different types of cancer?
- How is cancer diagnosed?
- How is cancer staging determined?
- What is the treatment for cancer?
- What is the prognosis for cancer?
- Can cancer be prevented?
- Where can people find more information about cancer?
- Cancer At A Glance
- Find a local Oncologist in your town
What are the different types of cancer?
There are over 200 types of cancer; far too numerous to include in this introductory article. However, the NCI lists several general categories (see list in first section of this article). This list is expanded below to list more specific types of cancers found in each general category; it is not all inclusive and the cancers listed in quotes are the general names of some cancers:
- Carcinoma: Cancer that begins in the skin
or in tissues that line or cover internal
organs -- "skin, lung, colon, pancreatic, ovarian cancers," epithelial, squamous and basal cell carcinomas, melanomas, papillomas, and adenomas - Sarcoma: Cancer that begins in bone,
cartilage, fat, muscle, blood vessels, or other connective or supportive
tissue -- "bone, soft tissue cancers," osteosarcoma, synovialsarcoma, liposarcoma, angiosarcoma, rhabdosarcoma, and fibrosarcoma - Leukemia: Cancer that starts in
blood-forming tissue such as the bone marrow and causes large numbers of
abnormal blood cells to be produced and enter the
blood -- "leukemia," lymphoblastic leukemias (ALL and CLL), myelogenous leukemias (AML and CML), T-cell leukemia, and hairy-cell leukemia - Lymphoma and myeloma: Cancers that begin
in the cells of the immune
system -- "lymphoma," T-cell lymphomas, B-cell lymphomas, Hodgkin lymphomas, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and lymphoproliferative lymphomas - Central nervous system cancers: Cancers that begin in the tissues
of the brain and spinal
cord -- "brain and spinal cord tumors," gliomas, meningiomas, pituitary adenomas, vestibular schwannomas, primary CNS lymphomas, and primitive neuroectodermal tumors
Not included in the above types listed are metastatic cancers; this is because metastatic cancer cells usually arise from a cell type listed above and the major difference from the above types is that these cells are now present in a tissue from which the cancer cells did not originally develop. Consequently, if the terms "metastatic cancer" is used, for accuracy, the tissue from which the cancer cells arose should be included. For example, a patient may say they have or are diagnosed with "metastatic cancer" but the more accurate statement is "metastatic (breast, lung, colon, or other type) cancer."
Next: How is cancer diagnosed?
Patient Comments
Viewers share their comments
- •
- Submit »
- •
- Submit »
http://www.medicinenet.com/cancer/article.htm
Cancer
Get the latest treatment options.
Updated & New
