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Blood cancer, bone cancer and brain cancer are all false claims?

How are several types of malignancies defined and how do they all differ?

By Phil HolzerPublished about a year ago 8 min read
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Is it wrong to say blood cancer, bone cancer, brain cancer, etc.?

When it comes to malignant tumors, people may like to use the term "cancer" to refer to them, thinking that they are equal to each other. However, what we may not know is that the two are not equal to each other.

It is not strict to generalize all malignant tumors by cancer. Cancer itself does not represent all malignant tumors, because there are two "siblings", sarcoma and carcinosarcoma when broken down.

This is not the case, 64-year-old Master Jiang said he was suffering from cancer. Although the doctor told him it was benign, he could not accept it and called this child and that child to come back quickly.

Few people treat tumors as cancer like Mr. Jiang. However, the actual two are different in terms of the severity of the disease and treatment effect. What are the specific differences, this article will answer you in detail? But before answering this question, let's talk about the origin of malignant tumors for you, which has some correlation with the naming of malignant diseases too!

Where do malignant tumors come from in the end?

Besides being curious about the classification of malignant tumors, I believe many people are also full of doubts about the origin of malignant tumors.

In 2016, archaeologists discovered a fossilized foot bone 1.7 million years old with tumor-like tissue on it. After studying it, the researchers identified the tissue as osteosarcoma.

Osteosarcoma is a malignant tumor that originates in the bone, and the discovery of this fossil proves that malignant tumors were already present as early as prehistoric times. Later, in ancient China and ancient India, there are also records related to malignant tumors. However, it is still 1912 when humans observed cancer cells for the first time.

On August 13, 1912, a doctor in Paris, France, claimed that he finally observed cancer cells after more than ten years of research, and successfully isolated and cultured them. During the process, he was also surprised to find that compared to ordinary cells, these oddly shaped cancer cells were like wild horses that would proliferate and divide uncontrollably.

Now, more than 100 years have passed, and the medical profession has made considerable progress in the study of malignant tumors, but the pathogenesis has never been fully understood. Of course, this does not mean that malignant tumors are completely unknown to us, and there are some hypotheses about the origin of cancer cells in the medical field.

Cancer cells do not arise out of thin air, they are converted from healthy cells, but they do not possess most of the characteristics of healthy cells and do not participate in normal physiological activities. It can be said that cancer cells are "traitors" in the human body, and while they "eat without working", they are also crowding the living space of healthy cells and destroying human tissues.

There is still a debate about the cause of cancer cells, but the activation of proto-oncogenes and the inactivation of oncogenes are the mainstream arguments. Everyone carries both proto-oncogenes and oncogenes, but in general, each of them has its role to play in maintaining the normal growth and differentiation of cells and their biological functions.

However, the human body is always exposed to various carcinogens, such as nitrosamines, aromatic amines, and other chemical substances, and infected by human papillomavirus, hepatitis B virus, and other pathogens.

When various high-risk factors keep accumulating, the original oncogene may change its structure and eventually mutate into cancer cells. At this time, the oncogenes that originally played the role of cancer cell suppressor may either lose their activity or lose their ability to suppress cancer due to various factors. At this time, a large number of cancer cells will be produced.

Sometimes these cancer cells will be destroyed by the body's immune system, but sometimes they will not. This is because most cancer cells have extremely strong immune escape abilities, they escape from the immune system by changing their antigens or releasing immunosuppressive factors and eventually spread in the human body to form malignant tumors.

Then the question arises since malignant tumors are developed from cancer cells, why is there a difference between cancer, sarcoma, and carcinosarcoma?

How are several types of malignant tumors defined and what are the differences between them?

The division of malignant tumors is mainly reflected in the tissue origin of malignant tumors.

First of all, the most widely known cancer usually originates from human epithelial tissues, while the skin and tissue cells on the surface of the body cavity can be called epithelial tissues, and several organs including the oral cavity, esophagus, stomach, intestines, and uterus contain epithelial tissues. In contrast, malignant tumors originating from these organs are called oral cancer, esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, rectal cancer, and so on.

After talking about cancer, let's focus on sarcoma. This is a malignant tumor originating from mesenchymal tissue, which is the embryonic form of connective tissue. Fat, muscle, blood vessels, lymphatic vessels, bone, cartilage, etc. belong to the category of mesenchymal tissue. Correspondingly, sarcomas are also classified as osteosarcoma, lymphosarcoma, liposarcoma, etc. depending on the location of occurrence.

All of them are tumors originating from mesenchymal tissues, and malignant mesenchymal cell tumors are usually called "sarcomas" compared to benign tumors that are not invasive and metastatic, such as lipomas and neurofibromas. However, some specific malignant tumors do not follow this nomenclature rule, such as nephroblastoma and leukemia.

Among them, nephroblastoma, which originates from the embryonic cells of the kidney and is most common in children, should be distinguished from kidney cancer, although both originate in the kidney.

Then there is leukemia, a disease that seems to be unrelated to malignant tumors just by its name, but it is essentially a malignant tumor that originates from hematopoietic stem cells and belongs to the category of sarcoma. Of course, leukemia is also often called "blood cancer," which is related to the fact that malignant tumors are widely known as cancer. But it is also a common name and not specialized from the medical point of view.

So what are the differences between cancer and sarcoma other than the difference in origin?

In terms of appearance, the texture of cancer is harder and drier, and the color is mostly grayish white, while the texture of sarcoma is softer and moist, and the color is mostly grayish red.

In terms of tissue composition, the parenchyma and interstitium of carcinoma are delineated and have fibrous tissue, while the parenchyma and interstitium of sarcoma are indistinctly delineated, in which there are abundant blood vessels and less fibrous tissue.

In short, both in terms of tissue structure and appearance, sarcoma fits the name of "sarcoma" and is simply a "meatball." However, from these two aspects alone, the degree of malignancy cannot be seen, but also depends on the location and spread of corresponding cancer.

In addition to appearance and tissue structure, cancer and sarcoma also differ in terms of incidence, metastatic pathways, and treatment options. The incidence rate of cancer is much higher than that of sarcoma, about 9 times more than the latter, which is an important reason why cancer is more widely known. Secondly, cancer is mostly metastasized through the lymphatic tract, while sarcoma is mostly metastasized through blood circulation.

Finally, in terms of treatment, compared to cancer, the main treatment for sarcoma is still surgery as some sarcomas are less sensitive to chemotherapy, which is not as diverse as the treatment for cancer.

After talking about these two types of malignant tumors, let's talk about the rare carcinosarcoma. In fact, from the naming alone, some clues can be found. This is a malignant tumor that has both cancer and sarcoma, and the characteristics of both cancer and sarcoma are reflected in it, such as uterine cancer sarcoma and lung cancer sarcoma, etc.

Regardless of the type of malignant tumor, it is aggressive and poses a serious threat to human health. In 2020 alone, nearly 10 million people will die from all kinds of malignant tumors worldwide, among which more than 3 million people will die from all kinds of malignant tumors in China. So, are there any effective preventive measures for malignant tumors that are feared like a tiger?

How should cancer be prevented?

Malignant tumors are highly malignant and very difficult to treat, but they are not completely unpreventable. The International Union Against Cancer has stated that 1/3 of malignant tumors can be prevented.

To prevent malignant tumors, avoiding high-risk factors, early diagnosis and early intervention are the key points. First of all, we should try to avoid contact with all kinds of carcinogens and should not eat any food with cancer risk, and some behaviors that increase the risk of cancer should be stopped in time.

For example, those who are at risk of occupational exposure must take protective measures or change their environment as soon as possible, such as staying away from ionizing radiation, radioactive substances, and some chemicals, and oil smoke should not be neglected either.

In terms of incidence and mortality, the number one cancer in China should be lung cancer, and in addition to men who have the habit of smoking, women are also the main force of lung cancer. In addition to passive smoking, women often inhale fumes due to cooking, which also increases the risk of malignant tumor development.

However, to prevent cancer, it is not enough just to do a good job of precautionary prevention, because some people are at high risk of cancer themselves.

How to determine whether you are at high risk of cancer? First of all, it depends on whether there is a family history of malignant tumors, because malignant tumors are generally genetic, and those who have had malignant tumors will have a higher chance of having malignant tumors in their offspring.

For these people, it is important to have regular health screenings.

Although malignant tumors are often regarded as the same disease as cancer, the fact is that cancer and malignant tumors are subordinate, with the former being part of the latter. Among them, malignant tumors originating from epithelial tissues are carcinomas, those originating from mesenchymal tissues are sarcomas, and those with both structures are carcinosarcomas.

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Phil Holzer

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