WHAT IS CANCER ?

Cancer begins when healthy cells change and grow out of control, forming a mass of tissue called a tumor. A tumor can be cancerous or benign. A cancerous tumor can grow, infiltrate deep into the tissues and/or spread to other parts of the body. A benign tumor can grow but will not spread.

WHAT ARE PRECANCERS ?

The chronic effect of carcinogens cause changes in the lining of the mouth. Features like white patches (leukoplakia), red patches (erythroleukoplakia), tightening of the mucosa (oral submucus fibrosis) or lace-like patches ( oral lichen planus) are called pre-cancers or pre-malignant conditions, and indicate that the lining has started on its path to becoming cancerous. They can sometimes be halted by stopping the addictions.

WHAT ARE THE TREATMENT MODALITIES ?

If you are unfortunate enough to be diagnosed with this disease, please do not lose hope. There are many treatment modalities available which are tailored to the patient’s site, type and extent of cancer. The general fitness of the patient plays a role in his/her ability to tolerate the treatment. The treatments mainly used are:

Surgery

  1. Tumor removal, also called curative or primary surgery : Surgery is used to remove the tumor and some of the nearby healthy tissue. The tissue around the tumor is called the margin. Tumor removal may be the primary treatment in some types of cancer and may be used as the sole treatment, or in conjunction with other modalities, such as chemotherapy or radiation therapy.
  2. Salvage surgery : Patients whose disease recurs after treatment with chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy are treated with salvage surgery. There is an extremely small window of opportunity for such patients, and they must be evaluated promptly.
  3. Diagnostic surgery : A biopsy may be used to diagnose certain cancers. During a surgical biopsy, the surgeon makes an incision into the skin to remove some or all of the suspicious tissue. This is sent to the pathologist to examine the tissue and diagnose the type of tumor, which dictates further treatment.

Radiation Therapy

Radiation therapy is the use of high-energy x-rays or other particles to destroy or shrink cancer cells. A doctor who specializes in giving radiation therapy to treat cancer is called a radiation oncologist. A radiation therapy regimen, or schedule, usually consists of a specific number of treatments given over a set period of time, and maybe used either as the sole modality or I conjunction with surgery, chemotherapy or immunotherapy.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is the use of drugs to destroy cancer cells. It acts on all rapidly growing cells, but more so on the cancer cells. Therefore, they can also cause damage to healthy cells, which account for the side effects of chemotherapy. The types of chemotherapy are:

  1. Neoadjuvant : Before surgery, to shrink tumors, and make it operable.
  2. Adjuvant (usually along with radiation) : After surgery, to consolidate the gains of surgery.
  3. Curative : To treat cancers of the blood or lymphatic system, such as leukemia and lymphoma.
  4. Palliative : For cancer that comes back after treatment, called recurrent cancer, or for cancer that has spread to other parts of the body, called metastatic cancer.