Summary The colon and the rectum make up the ‘large bowel’ which is a 6 to 8 cm wide tube that leads to the anus. It takes mostly already digested food residue after it has passed through the small bowel, and extracts water form it. The rectum stores faeces before …
The symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of colon and rectal cancer Read the full article…
Summary Most bone tumours encountered in clinical practice are secondary forms (i.e. spread – metastases – from a separate primary cancer that started elsewhere), and it is incorrect to refer to these as ‘bone cancer’. Doctors use the term bone tumours to refer to tumours which arise in the bone from …
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Summary Thyroid cancer is classified firstly into differentiated types or undifferentiated (also called anaplastic) carcinomas, secondly there is group of medullary carcinomas and lastly there are the lymphomas. Differentiated carcinoma is so-called because the cancer looks (down the microscope) like the thyroid gland tissue from which it has derived. There …
The symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of bladder cancer Read the full article…
Summary The vast majority of pancreatic cancers are adenocarcinomas (cancers arising from glandular linings). Given that the role of the pancreas is to secrete digestive juices/enzymes into the gut, it is not surprising that this is the type of cancer that arises here. There is no useful subtyping of the …
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Summary Multiple myeloma is a cancer of the plasma cells (derivative cells of the lymphoid system and normally a part of the bone marrow mix of cells – their normal function is to make antibodies against various specific foreign protein antigens). Specifically, each patient’s plasmacytoma/myeloma has arisen from one malignant …
The symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of myeloma and plasmacytoma Read the full article…
Summary Hepatocellular carcinoma is a cancer that arises from liver cells. It is different to ‘liver cancer’ that has spread to the liver from elsewhere. It is important that the lay reader does not confuse the term ‘liver cancer’, when referring to secondary cancer spreading to the liver, with primary cancer …
The symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma Read the full article…
Summary The majority of the cancers of the cervix arise from the lining covering (epithelium) of the neck of the womb and are squamous carcinomas (85-90% of all cases). A minority of cases of cancer of the cervix have adenocarcinomas that arise from the glands of the lining of the …
The symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of cervical cancer Read the full article…
Summary Bladder cancer forms in the cells that line the inner wall of the urinary bladder (the organ that stores urine). The incidence in the UK is approximately 11,000 new cases per year, most of these being early cases of the disease that is controlled by local therapies performed …
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Summary The majority of testicular tumours arise from a type of cell in the testicle called a germ cell. There are two main groups of testicular tumours: seminomas and nonseminomatous germ cell tumours (NGCST). Rare tumours of the testis include sex cord stromal tumours, lymphoma and metastases. Causes The only …
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Melanoma is a unique type of cancer normally arising in the skin arising from melanocytes. Melanocytes make a cell pigment melanin; this is present to protect the skin from ultraviolet damage. A melanoma may begin in a mole but can also begin in other pigmented tissues such as in the …
The symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of melanoma Read the full article…
