send information about cancer
send information about cancer and women
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I'm not sure how much information you want or what type of information you want that can be reasonably responded to in a short answer.
Basically cancer is a wide group of diseases affecting practically every tissue in the body. The basic defect is that the component cells escape from normal growth regulation as a result of acquiring damage to the cell's genetic material. This is an inevitable process in the body and occurs as an almost natural process in every person's body every day. The body's natural defences, both within and outwith the body's cells, are generally able to deal with these cells without adverse consequences to health. When the body is unable to deal with these cells and they establish themselves and grow in an uncontrolled fashion, a tumor results.
Certain tumors behave in a particularly aggressive fashion and can invade the surrounding tissues or can dislodge from their site of origin and be transported to distant abnormal sites in the body (metastases) where they can continue to grow and cause damage. In these latter situations, the patient is considered to have the condition called cancer.
Cancer represents a major public health problem in the developed world. Although the common site of damage is the cell's genetic material, the genetic (inherited) causes represent a minority of isolated cases, with the majority being multifactorial encompassing both genetic and environmental causes often in concert. This fact coupled with the relative difficulty in obtaining the treatment results that we would like make prevention THE real issue that we should primarily address. If smoking, bad occupational health practice, consumption of western diets low in roughage and fresh produce, were controlled effectively they would reduce the incidence of these diseases to the levels seen in the developing world until recently.
The world wide web and the internet have much general information which you can easily access and if you have specific problems get back to me.
Women, like men, and other animal and plant species, get cancer. There is nothing special biologically about women's cancer despite what the increasingly distorted political language describes. Women get lung and bowel cancer very commonly, just as men do. Women get breast cancer very commonly (as do men, rarely), and they get ovarian and gynaecological cancers less commonly (which men do not get). Men, however, commonly get prostate cancer which is difficult to treat and frequently lethal, and like women's cancers is also hormonally sensitive. The poor results generally in the treatment of solid tumors reflects a general lack of understanding of the disease, and a general underfunding of research rather than a lack of research specifically in the area of women's cancer. I know because I spend 100% of my time at work doing basic and clinical research into breast and ovarian cancer.
While I welcome the increased funding that the current political bandwagon has attracted, I think that a balanced view is required that is inclusive for all cancer sufferers. Having said that, much information on breast, ovarian and gynaecological cancers (presumably what you mean by "cancer and women" despite the fact that lung and bowel cancer affect women just as commonly as the previous three categories) can be obtained from PDQ on the NCI computer, and from the breast cancer clearing-house on the web. If you wish specific information on "women's cancers" I would be happy to answer your specific queries.
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Dr. Hani Gabra
Imperial Cancer Research Fund
Medical Oncology Unit
Western General Hospital
Edinburgh, UK
gabra@europa.lif.icnet.uk
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