Index IntroductionCommon Causes of CancerRole of MutationsTraditional Cancer Treatments/EffectsSuccess Rates for Different TreatmentsBreast CancerBrain CancerLung CancerImmune SystemConclusionReferencesIntroductionCancer is identified as the uncontrolled division of abnormal cells in the body , there are over 100 types of cancer that the human body can contract and this can occur in all parts of the body. It works like this: cells in the body start dividing without stopping and end up spreading to surrounding body tissues, unlike what normally happens where the body only produces cells when it needs them. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay There are many common types of cancer that are being noticed around the world, one of the most common forms is breast cancer, increased by 3.5% Unlike in 1999, this means that approximately one in eight women will have a breast cancer. This increase is strange because surely scientists have improved their knowledge and technologies to help this. The reason why this cancer is still so widespread and common is due to the standard of living we live in today and modern technologies that cannot cope with it. It turns out that drinking just one extra unit of wine (one glass has two units) can increase your chances of getting breast cancer by 10%, which isn't all that great, but with it already being such a common cancer, there will take your odds from 23.45% to 33.45%. It has also been estimated that the extra unit of wine increases the number of breast cancer patients by an additional 11 patients per thousand. Cancer is all about health, a woman (in this case) would immensely reduce the chance of breast cancer by keeping fit and keeping warm healthily as your body stays fit and will most likely be able to protect itself from a disease like cancer but in some cases it can happen to even the healthiest and fittest person, it all depends on your body and the way it works. Our bodies are made up of millions of cells, inside each cell is a type of instruction manual called DNA, which has sections called genes. Genes are there to tell the cell how to behave, such as when to make new cells and when to die to make room for new, healthier cells. When cells divide, they make a copy of their genes, so that each new cell has the same instructions. Sometimes what happens is that the instructions say that the cell could be affected or damaged causing a mutation. The cause of this mutation could be due to a chemical imbalance or an environmental factor, it is even possible that there is a hereditary risk of cancer. Healthy cells are always told when to grow and divide when the time is right, with cancer cells they sometimes ignore the instructions given and continue to divide without control from the body - this is how cancer starts. In some cases, the cancer may remain dormant and not affect the body, but in other cases the cancer spreads to other parts of the body where it consumes the resources of the body's tissues and surrounding organs. There are several steps you could take to try to remove the cancer, we call this genomic testing. Genomic tests analyze the cancer cell's instructions to help identify mutations that may be the reason cancer grows and spreads. It is therefore necessary to examine the different treatment methods to be adopted and find the one best suited to your type of cancer. Depending on the stage and severity of the cancer, you will look at a few different options to take. For example; surgery,radiotherapy, chemotherapy, targeted therapy or immune therapy. The surgery is simple and is usually done so that the cancer is detected early and is small enough to be removed. Radiation is used in small doses to slowly kill all cancer cells in a particular part of the body. Chemotherapy is intended to kill if the cancer is rapid and divides too quickly to be irradiated, this is if the cancer is spreading. Targeted therapy consists of drugs used to specifically target the mutated gene that causes the cancer to grow or spread, blocking it and stopping the replication of that gene. Immune therapy is the least toxic and perhaps the most effective of all, using the power of your own immune system to attack cancer cells and stop the growth and production of the cancer gene. The following essay will provide information about cancer, its types, causes, and common treatments. Common Causes of Cancer Tobacco and cigarettes are made from dried tobacco leaves, to which flavorings are added to improve the flavor and make them more addictive. Tobacco smoke has been tested and shown to contain 70 chemicals that have a direct link to cancer. Scientists call these chemicals carcinogenic. Some examples of what chemicals are present in tobacco cigarettes are things like this; hydrogen cyanide, lead, benzene and arsenic to name a few. Smoking tobacco can also be radioactive because tobacco leaves contain radioactive chemicals that they pick up from the ground. Taking tobacco during overtime can shorten the life of a man by up to 12 years and of a woman by up to 11 years. A person's physical activity and diet are two of the main factors that can influence cancer risk. To reduce your risk of getting cancer, you can make sure that at least two-thirds of your meals consist of fruits or vegetables and eat less than eighteen ounces of red meat (beef, pork, or lamb) per week. You should also stay away from processed foods like bacon, sausages, hot dogs, and deli meats; Also try not to take more than a tablespoon of salt per day. All of these things could lead to weight gain and pose a higher risk of cancer. To keep your body healthy and fit you should do at least two and a half hours of exercise every week. The sun can also make your body age faster and cause your skin to sag and is a big cause of skin cancer. The sun releases waves of energy and the waves that hit the planet are 53% infrared, 43% visible and 4% higher energy ultraviolet; this ultraviolet light can affect the skin and cause DNA damage. Your body has something called melanin that helps protect your skin from various UV radiation. When UVB light hits the skin, it directly hits the skin causing DNA damage, the body tries to protect itself by producing more melanin, although it takes a few days for the melanin to actually take effect. UVA rays are different and pass through the skin. the skin is deeper than UVB but your body reacts quickly and produces melanin; It is UVB that causes long term damage to DNA, this could lead to cancer if you don't take care of yourself. Some ways to protect yourself from UV rays would be to stay indoors or wear more clothes when out in the sun and always - sunscreen. Role of Mutations A genetic mutation occurs when an alteration occurs in someone's DNA, thus making it different from the norm. Not all mutations are bad, sometimes something like blue eye is a mutation but has no effect on the personand it is not at a disadvantage in any case. Some mutations are of different sizes, for example they may affect just one gene or they may affect a large number of genes, this usually has an effect on the person's life expectancy resulting in premature death. Random errors made by stem cells are responsible for two-thirds of mutations in cancer cells. Up to 5% of tumor mutations are hereditary, and 29% of tumor mutations are caused by an unhealthy lifestyle, such as smoking, lack of exercise, and an unhealthy diet. The third cause of cancer is one of the main causes because it is a random mutation that occurs and can lie dormant for years, this is the case when older people are randomly diagnosed with cancer. It is often recommended to look back three generations to see if it is possible to hide a cancer gene and then from there the doctor will look at starting a screening process to scan the body to try to detect any signs of early development of cancer cells . Currently mutation testing in cancer is just trial and error, when you use single genes and test them individually looking for only one mutation at a time. The approach used also increases the time needed to achieve accumulative results and allows for guidance when it comes to the therapeutic process. NGS (next generation sequencing) has the ability to sequence several to thousands of genes from a single sample and then analyze these genes and determine the best therapeutic method. Traditional Cancer Treatments/Effects Surgery is mostly used when cancer is diagnosed early and only found in one place. It is usually a safe method and is almost always successful unless it comes back and forms again. Depending on the patient's age and health status, this is usually the best treatment method. Pain is a huge side effect of cancer surgery, luckily it subsides after weeks and you can also be given pain medication. Another side effect after surgery would be fatigue, which could be due to loss of appetite and anesthesia. This happens when doctors prescribe drugs to treat cancer, this is usually thought to be a scary method for most people, but the drugs treat cancer as well as helping you deal with the pain and discomfort you may feel. Chemotherapy can be used to kill cancer in all different parts of the body, not just affecting one part of the body. Chemotherapy is also a very painful procedure and can cause pain such as; headache, muscle pain, stomach pain and nerve damage due to medications taken. Chemotherapy can also cause constipation, nausea, and vomiting. Radiotherapy is the most common means of cancer treatment, it uses high-energy particles to focus on the cancerous part of the body and then kill it using gamma rays. The way radiation works is that it causes small breaks in the cell's DNA and the reason this happens is because the cancer cells can no longer grow and eventually die off. Radiation therapy can cause skin problems such as dryness, itching, blistering and peeling of the skin. Targeted therapy is a new type of cancer treatment in which drugs or other types of substances that directly target and attack tumor cells are also used. This type of treatment is considered chemotherapy but the side effects are different from those of chemo. Not many people experience side effects using this drug, but side effects vary from person to person, but problems such as skin problems and