What is cancer and who gets it?
We talk about cancer as if it were one disease but it can be any
one of 200 different conditions. What they all share is that they
involve the uncontrolled division of cells which harms the
body.
Throughout our lives the cells of our body divide to form new
cells to allow us to replace ones which die. Usually this is done
in a controlled manner but sometimes the process of cell division
goes out of control, creating many more cells which may form a
tumour - a solid lump. When the cells in this tumour are capable of
spreading to other parts of the body, this is called a cancer which
if unchecked can lead to destruction of the body's normal
tissues. Some cancers affect the blood, lymphatic system and
bone marrow - such as myeloma and leukaemia.
Each year around 250,000 people in the UK are diagnosed with
cancer* - two thirds of them over the age of 65. The risk of
developing most types of cancer increases with age and overall one
in third of us will develop it at some point in our lives. Our
personal risk is also affected by other factors such as whether we
smoke, if we are overweight, the environment around us, and our
genes.
New treatments have ensured that many people can live for many
years with cancer and some can be cured completely. Screening
programmes and better diagnostic techniques are ensuring that many
cancers are spotted at an early stage when treatment may be more
successful.
Ramsay hospitals offer a range of screening and diagnostic
procedures at a time convenient to you, and also offers treatment
for some of the most common types of cancer. We offer the support
of multi-disciplinary teams who will be working together to ensure
you get the care which is right for you.
*References
http://www.macmillan.org.uk/Cancerinformation/Aboutcancer/Whogetscancer.aspx
http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/cancerstats/incidence/all-cancers-combined/