Cancer is like a common concept for many people. Generally speaking, it is the formation of malignant cells in a specific part of the body. This is what many people know and think of when they hear of this disease. However, the disease comes with other things that they need to understand.
The term cancer must be specified as it can cover a very general concept. Particularly, the idea that many people refer to is the primary cancer. This kind of cancer is defined as the type of where the malignant cells originally appeared. It can be an organ or a tissue in a specific part of the body. On the other hand, it is to be contrasted with secondary cancer. Also known as metastatic cancer, this is the cells of the disease that has spread to the organs surrounding it.
A good illustration of primary cancer is when malignant cells form in the breast area. This means that during the examination of the patient, the doctors found the cells or the tumor specifically in the breast area alone and nowhere else. From these facts, the doctors can conclude primary cancer. However, if the malignant cells that came from the breast cancer and started affecting the surrounding organs such as the lungs, then the cause would be primary cancer with secondary lung cancer.
There is importance in knowing and defining primary cancer. For a treatment to be effective to a patient, it is important to know where the cancer started. In the example, when the cancer is identified to have started in the breast, it could recommend surgery and actually remove the tumor. Hormone therapy can also be given. The rate of effectiveness of the treatment increases when the source or location of the cancer is known. The road to being cancer free is to know where it started.
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