Cancer
Cancer is a common condition and a serious health problem, both in the UK and across the world. There are around 298,000 new cases of cancer (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer) diagnosed each year in the UK. More than one in three people will develop some form of cancer during their lifetime.
Audio made by the bbc about the benefits of cancerbushwhen treating cancer.
There are hundreds of different types of cancer. The most common cancers in the UK are:
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breast cancer
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prostate cancer
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lung cancer
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bowel cancer
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bladder cancer
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uterine (womb) cancer
Breast cancer
In the UK, breast cancer is the most common type of cancer among women. More than 45,500 cases of breast cancer are diagnosed every year, usually in women over 50 who have reached menopause. However, it is possible for women of any age to get breast cancer and, in rare cases, the condition can affect men.
White women are slightly more likely to develop breast cancer than are African-American women. African women are more likely to die of this cancer. At least part of this seems to be because African women tend to have more aggressive tumors, although why this is the case is not known. Asian, Hispanic, and Native-American women have a lower risk of developing and dying from breast cancer.
Prostate Cancer
The prostate is a small gland in the pelvis that is found only in men. It is located between the penis and the bladder and surrounds the urethra, the tube that carries urine from the bladder to the penis.
The main function of the prostate is to help in the production of semen. The prostate produces a thick white fluid that is then liquefied by a special protein known as prostate-specific antigen (PSA). The fluid is then mixed with sperm, produced by the testicles, to create semen.
Did you know .
There is an erroneous perception that prostate cancer is relatively rare among black men in Africa. However, as Professor Chris Heyns of Stellenbosch University and Tygerberg Hospital argues, race is not a biological or genetic entity and indigenous black Africans are a heterogeneous group. Movement of black African slaves to the New World and later migration to parts of Europe mean that defining black or African race is even more complex, but in spite of this there are many studies that report radical racial differences in the biology of prostate cancer.
Lung Cancer
Lung cancer is one of the most common and serious types of cancer. Symptoms of lung cancer include:
- coughing,
- unexplained weight loss,
- shortness of breath, and
- Chest pain.
The lungs
The lungs are a pair of sponge-shaped organs that are located in the centre of the chest. They have two main purposes:
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To transfer oxygen into the blood when you breathe in, and
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To expel carbon dioxide out of the blood when you breathe out.
The lungs are made up of a series of sections called lobes. The left lung consists of two lobes, and the right lung is larger and consists of three lobes.
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