What is cancer and what do you need to know about its treatment?

Princess of Wales Kate Middleton and King Charles are sick with cancer – there are no untouchables in the world whom cancer can bypass.

Kate Middleton in his video message on March 22 announced that she was diagnosed with cancer after major surgery in London in January of this year.

Kate Middleton revealed that she is undergoing “preventive chemotherapy”, but stressed that the operation was a success and that she is “feeling good” and “getting stronger every day”.

It was the second report of a cancer diagnosis in the royal family in recent weeks. On February 5, Buckingham Palace also released a statement saying that King Charles III had been diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Cancer is the leading cause of death worldwide. Researchers say a child born today has a 1 in 2 chance of developing cancer at some point in their life – so the condition can affect almost every family. However, many cancers can be cured if, as in King’s case, the disease is caught early and treated effectively.

Cancer usually develops in people aged 50-60 years or older. However, in recent decades, an increased number of cancer cases have been recorded in people younger than 50 years old and, which is extremely tragic – in people 20-30 years old, and even in the younger generation.

An analytical article in the journal BMJ for 2023 proves that early forms of 29 different types of cancer increased by almost 80% worldwide between 1990 and 2019.

What is cancer?

Our bodies are made up of more than 100 billion cells, and cancer usually starts with changes in a small group of cells – or even just one.

We have different types of cells, depending on their location in the body and their functions. The size, number and function of each of these cells is usually regulated by genes – groups of codes contained in our DNA. They tell the cells how to grow and divide.

However, changes (mutations) in DNA can change the way cells grow and multiply and, as a result, can become malignant.

There are more than 200 types of cancer in total, but they all start with mutations in the DNA found in every cell.

What are mutations?

Think of your DNA as a large recipe book, and your genes as individual ingredients for cooking different dishes. Mutations are spots or missing words in this recipe that can cause key ingredients not to add to the dish.

Regardless of the type of cancer or the cells from which it develops, mutations in our genes can cause the cell to no longer understand its functions.

These mutations can occur randomly during division, but can also be the result of lifestyle factors such as smoking, drinking alcohol, and being inactive.

Studies have shown that it usually takes between one and ten different mutations for a normal cell to turn malignant.

Is cancer curable?

Cancer treatment options depend on a variety of factors, including the location of the cancer, its size, and whether it has spread to other organs and tissues in the body. The main treatments for cancer include surgery, chemotherapy/immunotherapy, and radiation therapy.

Chemotherapy uses drugs to target and destroy rapidly dividing cells in our body. This approach is effective in affecting fast-growing cells in various types of cancer, but also has negative side effects.

It also affects healthy cells that divide rapidly, such as hair and the lining cells of our digestive system. This can lead to common side effects such as hair loss, nausea and diarrhea.

Chemotherapy can be used as a preventive measure – as in the case of the princess.

Prophylactic chemotherapy, also known as adjuvant chemotherapy, is given after surgery or other major treatments to kill any remaining cancer cells in the body. It is aimed at reducing the risk of cancer returning, that is, recurrence.

Therapeutic chemotherapy is used as the main method of treatment for cancer that has spread, for example, for tumors in the later stages.

Surgical intervention involves physically removing the malignant tumors as well as nearby lymph nodes – small glands that act as filters in your body through which cancer can spread – to remove the tumor. Surgery is more often used to remove local malignant tumors that have not spread throughout the body.

Radiation therapy uses high-energy rays that are aimed at specific areas where malignant tumors are located to destroy or reduce the size of the tumor. Radiation therapy can be applied both externally – remotely, and internally – contact.

Often, the most effective cancer treatment uses a combination of chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation therapy to improve treatment outcomes.

Thanks to advances in cancer research over the past 50 years, patient survival has improved significantly. The positive outcome of cancer treatment depends on various factors, such as age – the biology of the tumor, age, general health and physical fitness, as well as continuous treatment.

What you should know!

Certain changes in your body or warning symptoms may indicate the presence of cancer. Main among them, but not all:

• unmotivated weight loss;
  
• fatigue that does not disappear after rest;
• changes in bowel or bladder function;
• impurities of blood in feces and urine;
• persistent cough or bloody sputum;
• constant pain, even not of great intensity;
• detection of formations (tumors), for example, in the breast, testicles or skin.

These symptoms are not necessarily related to cancer. But it’s important to see your doctor if you notice anything unusual or if you have persistent symptoms that don’t go away.

What should you do!

Early detection and treatment can significantly improve outcomes for many types of cancer.

What should you pay attention to first of all:

1. Check the presence of such “hidden” infections as viral hepatitis B, viral hepatitis C and HIV infection (blood test for HBsAg, total antibodies to the hepatitis C virus, test for HIV infection).
2. After the beginning of sexual life, women should visit a gynecologist once a year (examination, ultrasound of the pelvic organs, cytological examination of the cervical smear). Remind the gynecologist about the examination of the mammary glands.
3. If you are over 50, you should consider gastroscopy and colonoscopy. Ukrainian specialists make these examinations as comfortable as possible, the procedure can be performed under anesthesia, which will generally eliminate unpleasant sensations. If you are younger, take care of your parents. These examinations make it possible to detect tumors of the large intestine and stomach in the early stages, which are subject to radical treatment with a high probability of a successful outcome. These studies are completely free for Ukrainians at the direction of the NSZU.

Men over 50 should also have a PSA blood test. Today, this is the most specific onco-marker, which allows you to quickly and easily suspect the presence of a malignant tumor of the prostate gland, and, accordingly, to treat this pathology in time.

Please note that the results of the tests are not a diagnosis, they should only be interpreted and given recommendations by a specialized doctor, not by Google or Facebook.

And finally, psychosomatics, psychics, and penguin urine have absolutely no effect on the possibility of getting cancer and actually on the results of cancer treatment.

Remember that kings and princesses get sick too. Cancer can affect anyone. The news about the Royal Family became another incentive to increase public interest in the topic of cancer. But, let’s be honest, the only correct incentive for everyone is only their own desire to be healthy. On a regular basis.

Andriy Beznosenkohead of the scientific and clinical department of thoraco-abdominal oncology of the National Cancer Institute, head of oncoHUB

Publications in the “View” section are not editorial articles and reflect exclusively the author’s point of view.