Cancer
Cancer in the context of medicine is a general term for any of a number of different diseases where some of the body's own cells have been damaged in such a way that their division, forming new cells, is no longer controlled (see apoptosis). The resulting cells can form a tumor (a neoplasm) or propagate throughout the body. Some cancers are caused by exposure to radiation or chemicals called carcinogens; others have genetic or infectious causes; the causes of most are unknown. Cancer has become an important problem with the rise in life expectancy. Though great progress in treatment has been made, many cancers remain incurable and ultimately fatal.
Forms
The term cancer is very broad and covers many different illnesses including:
- Lung cancer
- Leukemia
- Breast cancer
- Skin cancer
- Cervical cancer
- Prostate cancer
- Colon cancer
- Ovarian cancer
- Testicular cancer
- Bladder cancer
- Brain tumor
- Breast cancer
- Cancer of the cervix
- Cancer of the colon and rectum
- Cancer of the esophagus
- Hodgkin's disease
- Kidney cancer
- Cancer of the larynx
- Leukemia
- Liver cancer
- Lung cancer
- Melanoma
- Moles and dysplastic nevi
- Multiple myeloma
- Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma
- Oral cancer
- Ovarian cancer
- Cancer of the pancreas
- Prostate cancer
- Skin cancer
- Stomach cancer
- Thyroid cancer
- Cancer of the uterus
Treatments
- See also: Oncology -- Oncogene -- Tumor suppressor gene
A cancer is a blot on the landscape, usually referring to a person.
The constellation Cancer, the crab, is known in astronomy and astrology as one of the twelve constellations of the zodiac. Cancer is small and dim, and does not resemble a crab; it is best noted among stargazers as the home of the beehive cluster. It lies between Gemini to the west and Leo to the east, Lynx to the north and Canis Minor and Hydra to the south.
In Greek mythology, the eponymous Cancer was a brave little crab who tried to stop Hercules from defeating the Hydra and was squashed for his efforts.
Because of the negative connotations of the disease of the same name, for a while in the 1980s, people born under this sign were called Moon Children.
In some cosmologies, Cancer is associated with the Classical Element Water, and thus called an Earth Sign (with Scorpio and Pisces). In astrology, its polar opposite is Capricorn.
The supposed crabbiness of Cancerians is due to their moodiness and/or their love of nesting. The moodiness makes sense for a zodiac sign tied to the moon and a creature of the sea (tides of the moon, changing tidal heights, etc.) Crabs can get crabby when they are pulled too roughly from their nest, either physically or emotionally. Cancerians love to make a comfy home.