Statistics (from the National Institutes of Health) on average, in the US, people have a 2 in 5 lifetime risk of developing cancer second leading cause of death in the US –heart disease is the leading cause of death approximately 14.5 million Americans alive today have survived a cancer diagnosis

Risk Factors many Americans have a higher than average chance of developing cancer risk factors can be broken into two categories: –factors that you have control over –factors that you have no control over

Controllable Risk Factors tobacco use alcohol consumption diet obesity sunlight radiation preventable/treatable infectious agents (HPV)

Uncontrollable Risk Factors age genetics (family history) infectious agents (cannot completely avoid) obesity (partially genetic) radiation (cannot completely avoid) sunlight (cannot completely avoid)

5 Major Stages of Cancer Stage 0 –small clump of pre-cancerous cells Stage 1 –localized tumor that is small and has not metastasized (spread) into nearby lymph nodes Stage 2 –larger tumor that has metastasized to nearby lymph nodes

5 Major Stages of Cancer Stage 3 –even larger tumor that has metastasized to more lymph nodes Stage 4 –cancer that has metastasized into other areas of the body using lymph or blood vessels forming new tumors

Cancer Treatments treatment is often dependent on the stage and type of cancer and the location of the tumor the descriptions that follow are generalized statements and may vary from patient to patient often these treatments are used in combination with one another and not in isolation (especially in later stages)

4 Major Treatment Options 1.Surgery 2.Radiation 3.Chemotherapy 4.Immunotherapy

Surgery removal of the affected tissue –used often in early stages –sometimes used to control symptoms (i.e. pain) –when used in later stages, surgery is often referred to as de-bulking removing some of the tumor, but not all will then be followed by other types of treatments

Radiation using ionizing radiation on a localized tumor –ionizing radiation harms quickly-dividing cells more than “normal” cells –can target hard-to-reach tumors

Chemotherapy treatment using chemicals that harm rapidly dividing cells –often applied intravenously (through the blood) –can reach cancer cells anywhere in the body –can also be used to treat cancers that don’t have a localized tumor like leukemia leukemia is cancer of the blood

Immunotherapy enhancing the body’s immune system to help fight cancer –our immune systems have trouble recognizing cancer cells because they start out as “our cells” –may help your own immune system to work harder and/or smarter to recognize and kill cancer cells –also may help by giving man-made immune system proteins