what is cancer

Cancer Foundation ProgrammeWhat is Cancer?

What does the word

cancer mean to you?

A terrifying illness.

Fear.

A brief history of Time!

There are two types of tumours:

Malignant tumours spread to other areas in the body.

Benign tumours stay in one place.

Malignant; Having the property of invading surrounding tissues

Neoplasm; A new growth of tissue

A malignant neoplasm

Cancers develop because of a complicated interaction between our genes, the environment and chance.

Normal body cells grow, divide and die in an orderly fashion.

Cancer cells are different

because they do not

die, they just continue to grow and divide in a disorderly fashion.

Cancer can occur at any age, but 67% of cancer deaths occur in people older than 65 years

Cancer can affect people of all nationalities and age groups

The image of the normal colon tissue, at left, shows well-formed oval-shaped glands, evenly lined with a single, organized layer of cells indicated by arrows. The image of the cancerous

colon tissue, in contrast, shows highly disorganized cancer cells stacked upon each other in an apparently random fashion.

What does cancer look like?

A brief history of Time!

Group Work

Cancer is contagious!?!

Cancer can be caused by a blow to the body!?!

The media are guilty of spreading hysteria by misinterpreting or misunderstanding. statistics.

Certain cancers are more media friendly than others.

The media need to distil detailed and complex research into headlines:-

In January 2005

published a meta-analysis of Breast Screening

The Media

Research Stated: -

“ Concluded there is no evidence that screening for breast cancer Saves live”

reported:-

“Mammography Screening is a waste of time.”

The Media

In January 2006

published a meta-analysis of survival of patients with proven,

late stage, lung cancer

The Media

Research Stated: -

“ found that surprisingly 1% of these patients were still alive at 5 years”

"This is a very small proportion, but lung cancer is a very common malignancy. It is important that the frequency of this phenomenon should

be appreciated, so that claims of apparent cure by novel treatment strategies, or even by unconventional medicine or faith healing, can be

seen in an appropriate context."

In the

this research paper became:

"MIRACLE CURES SHOWN TO WORK: Doctors have found statistical evidence that alternative treatments such as special diets, herbal potions

and faith healing can cure apparently terminal illness, but they remain unsure about the reasons."

The Media

Group Work

1 Breast

2 Lung

3 Large Bowel

4 Prostate

5 Bladder

6 Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma

7 Stomach

8 Melanoma

9 Oesophagus

10 Pancreas

Source CRUK Website 2006

2003

Top ten cancers incidence

Others

1 Lung

2 Bowel

3 Breast

4 Prostate

5 Oesophagus

6 Pancreas

7 Stomach

8 Bladder

9 Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma

10 Ovary

Deaths (2005)

Source CRUK Website 2006

Top ten cancers deaths

1 Lung

2 Bowel

3 Breast

4 Prostate

5 Oesophagus

6 Pancreas

7 Stomach

8 Bladder

9 Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma

10 Ovary

1 Breast

2 Lung

3 Large Bowel

4 Prostate

5 Bladder

6 Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma

7 Stomach

8 Melanoma

9 Oesophagus

10 Pancreas

Deaths (2005) Incidence (2003)

Source CRUK Website 2006

Cancer Top Ten

Survival statistics for cancer are usually written as “five year survival” or “10 year survival”.

What this means is that X% of patients were still alive at 5/10 years after they were diagnosed.

Often disease free survival figures are used. This means everyone with that type of cancer who is alive and well 5 years after diagnosis.

England and Wales Europe United States

Lung 6 (6) 11 15

Colon 50 (39) 62 64

Breast 77 (68) 83 88

Prostate 65 (42) 88 100

() = Pre-NHS Cancer Plan

Chances of survival - percentage of people alive at 5 years

Is this True

We don’t Know?Some countries registries are better than others.

Some countries collect there data differently.

Countries that have screening programmes have a higher incidence of cancer.

Cancer diagnosis registry is not compulsory in Europe as it is in the UK

If a patient subsequently dies of cancer there death is not registered in system as survival data cannot be calculated

The registries can miss cases and survival estimates will be affected if the unregistered cases have different prognoses to those registered.

The UK registries contribute more than half of the total data to EUROCARE and the data is highly representative of the UK population as a whole. Critics have argued that it is more appropriate to compare our data to the Scandinavian countries because registration systems are similar. But while Scandinavian countries do less well than many parts of Europe, UK survival is still worse.

NHS medicines expenditure on cancer expressed as a percentage of all expenditure was only 4%, compared with 20% on illnesses of the alimentary tract and metabolism, 17% on the CNS and 16% on the cardiovascular system.

Compared to France, Germany and the USA, the UK has the highest death rate per 100,000 of the population (236, 206, 194 and 275 respectively)

lowest spend on cytotoxic medicines per 1,000 of the population (£95 in the UK, £279 in France, £205 in Germany and £1,705 in the USA).

•  Number of people worldwide living with cancer today: 24.6 million

• Percentage of global mortality caused by cancer: 12.5%

• Number of people worldwide killed by cancer in 2002: 6.7 million

• Most common cancers in developed nations: lung cancer; also prostate, breast and bowel

• Number of new UK cases of cancer diagnosed in 2001: 270,000

• Proportion of cancers worldwide triggered by infections: 20%

• Cancers most often cured: breast, prostate, colon and skin – if diagnosed early

• Proportion of cancer deaths worldwide caused by tobacco, diet and infection: 43%

• Proportion of cancer deaths worldwide caused by smoking: 30%

• Relative increase in the number of annual cancer cases expected by 2025, as a result of the world’s ageing population: 50%

Sources: World Health Organisation / Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, US / Cancer Research UK

Fact & Figures

Perspective

Major causes of Death in the UK