Pathological Diseases: Cancer and its 3 Major Gene Accelerators - Research Paper

Introduction

Pathological diseases are abnormal physiological conditions that alter the normal functioning of the body. Cancer, which falls in this category of disease, is a cellular disease that develops the normal cell function that is introduced to the system by gene modification. There are three major gene accelerators of cancer which are in the genetics category. The first gene responsible for cancer is known as Proto-oncogenes, which on a typical day, takes part in cell division and growth. In a situation where this gene is changed, cells may become abnormally active and harbor cancer cells (Oncogenes), which allows cell survival and growth where they should not grow. Tumor suppressor genes, also when altered from the standard way of functioning, will abnormally multiply and risk the chance of a conducive environment for cancerous cells. The DNA repair genes which are actively responsible for repairing damaged DNA when in contact with mutative cells may lead to cancer in the body.

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Types of Cancer

Cancer has different names depending on the body part it grows on and the cells affected (What Is Cancer, 2015). These cancerous genes can be hereditary or acquired from our daily interactions with machines and chemicals. Moreover, cancerous cells usually multiply abnormally, thus spreading very fast within the body. Some common cancer cell categories known for attacking the body cells are as follows.

Carcinoma. According to What Is Cancer, (2015), this is the most common cancer cell type. It is a product of the epithelial cells found just beneath or on the skin organ. An adenocarcinoma is a form of skin cancer that causes fluid production from skin tissues. This cancer cell is individually responsible for breast, colon and prostate cancer. Basal cell carcinoma begins to form just beneath the skin layer and is responsible for skin cancer. Squamous cell carcinoma, on the other hand, is formed in the squamous cells and is mostly attaches itself to the stomach, bladder, intestine, lungs, and kidney. The last carcinoma is called transitional cell, also formed in the epithelial tissue.

Sarcoma. These are cancers that find a suitable environment within the bone and soft muscle tissues. Osteosarcoma is known to attack the bone. The soft tissues have a variety of sarcoma, depending on the delicate tissue location.

Leukemia. This is also common cancer in our generation that hides in the bone marrow where blood tissues are found. Discovering this cancer is difficult because there is no visible abnormality on the body but within the blood cells. They imitate the nature of white blood cells only that they intend to hinder oxygen supply in the blood tissues and lower the formation of blood platelets.

Lymphoma is a lymphocyte attacking cancer and exists in two types - Hodgkin lymphoma, which enables abnormal growth of the Reed-Sternberg cells. On-Hodgkin lymphoma stimulates cancer growth rapidly with the ability to generate both the T and B cells.

Multiple Myeloma is known as plasma cell myeloma, is cancer that attacks the plasmic immune cells found in the bone marrow responsible for bone tumors.

Melanoma cancer affects the melanin generating cells, which are located in the skin and eyes.

Spinal and brain tumors are named in regards to where in the central nervous system, it occurs.

Causes of Cancer

Danaei et al. (2005) state that there are five primary causative agents of disease. Firstly, there is a biological factor. Under the anatomical consideration, cancer can be a result of age, especially the old age where cancer manifests fully. Gender is also a natural contributing factor to cancer. According to research, women are the ones most prone to cancer. Additionally, cancer can be inherited from genes and depending on skin nature, an individual can get cancer. Secondly, there are environmental factors that cause cancer, like exposure to Ultraviolet radiation from the sun and radioactive matter from the ground. Economic factors causing disease include exposure to radioactive material at work places, especially in industries and chemical products.

The last causative agent of cancer is the human lifestyle. Lifestyle has been proven to be the most significant factor bringing about the disease. Most foods are not organically acquired. They consist of harmful chemicals that accelerate cancerous cell existence within the body. Processed foods, for example, are not at all recommended for consumption since they contain genetically modified components. Alcohol consumption and smoking of tobacco also cause cancerous harm, as the chemicals in them are cancer agents. During summer holidays, people ignorantly wish to bask in the sun without the application of sunscreen. The sunlight rays, when exposed to the body for a long time, distorts the skin and stimulates cancer growth in the body.

Cancer Treatment Recommendations

Slavin and Nersesyan (2007) state that there are four effective forms of treating cancer, which include chemotherapy, hormone therapy, radiotherapy, and surgery. Chemotherapy treatment involves the administration of active drugs that kill cancer cells. Most doctor's advice is to combine chemotherapy and another treatment method for effective treating. Chemotherapy, when combined with another suitable treatment, can help reduce the size of a tumor before surgery, destroy any remaining cancer cells after surgery, kill newly introduced cancer cells, and aid other therapies to be successful. Radiotherapy involves the use of radiative doses in large amounts to help in shrinking tumors and destroying cancer cells within the body. Surgery is an operational session where a qualified surgeon identifies where the cancer is located in the body and removes it manually. Hormone therapy helps reduce cancer symptoms in patients not able to undergo surgery or radiotherapy treatment.

Pharmacological Aspects of Recommended Treatment

According to Slavin and Nersesyan (2007), cancer patients are highly likely to undergo pain during the treatment process. Health caregivers have to ensure pain management for patients during treatment sessions. The therapist should actively engage the patient and get to know which procedure is most painful. After assessing the patient, the doctor should come up with an appropriate treatment to aid in controlling the pain. Acute pain in patients during therapy, if not adequately managed, can lead to mental isolation, fear of continuing with the treatment, and despair of getting healed. Conducted surveys have proven that most cancer therapists are not adequately educated on ways of reducing pain during therapy sessions to their patients. It is also important to make patients aware of the possible side effects that might come along with cancer treatment, especially in chemotherapy. Proper guidance on medicine administration should also be indicated and explained to patients to reduce cases of overdosing or forgetting to take medication as required.

Conclusion

Given the findings in this paper, cancer is a harmful disease that is very expensive to treat. We have to observe our living standards to minimize the risks of cancer. It is essential to keep away from causative cancer agents present in processed foods and harmful chemicals that we get exposed to in our daily activities. Cancer awareness should be spread by all means so that the masses can also get an education on how to prevent cancer. Cancer is a very deadly disease that must be avoided at all costs, and full treatment is possible if the cancer is detected at an earlier stage. It is therefore recommended to have regular cancer screenings to prevent cancer discovery at a very late stage.

References

Danaei, G., Vander Hoorn, S., Lopez, A. D., Murray, C. J., Ezzati, M., & Comparative Risk Assessment collaborating group (Cancers. (, 2005). Causes of cancer in the world: comparative risk assessment of nine behavioral and environmental risk factors. The Lancet, 366(9499), 1784-1793.

Slavin, K., & Nersesyan, H. (2007). The current approach to cancer pain management: Availability and implications of different treatment options. Retrieved 27 November 2019, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2386360/

What Is Cancer?. (2015). Retrieved 27 November 2019, from https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/understanding/what-is-cancer