Stages Of Cancer: Cancer Diagnostic Techniques

APPROACH TO CANCER: STAGES OF CANCER
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UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE
17th September 2018
Introduction
Cancer is caused by the genetic transformation which alters the structure of cells thereby affecting cell division. The causes of cancer are diverse and range from environmental factors, lifestyle choices to inherited traits. The cancerous cell division causes damage to the DNA structure and the body tissue. Environmental risk factors include overexposure to toxic levels of tobacco smoke, radiation as well as UV radiation. The genetic mutation that is associated with cancer impacts three types of genes, namely proto-oncogenes, tumor suppressor genes and DNA genes commonly referred to as cancer drivers. Proto-oncogenes perform normal cell division and growth, whereas tumor suppressor genes take control of cell division, while DNA repair genes are responsible for the repair of damaged DNA cells. The paper explores different cancer diagnostic methods, staging, complications, treatment side effects and concludes by discussing different methods of lessening physical and psychological side effects.
Cancer Diagnostic Techniques
Cancer diagnostic procedures include imaging, laboratory tests (including tests for tumor markers), tumor biopsy, endoscopic examination, surgery and genetic testing (Bruix, Reig, & Sherman, 2016). Diverse types of imaging techniques can be used to detect cancer using radiology. Diagnostic imaging involves the production of detailed pictures of body structures. This technique is largely used to detect tumors, check the disease stage and also in the evaluation of treatment effectiveness (Ludwig & Weinstein, 2015). Besides, imaging is used in conducting a biopsy and numerous other surgical procedures. It can be done in three different ways, namely transmission, reflection, and emission. Transmission of imaging techniques includes X-rays, Computed tomography (CT scans), and fluoroscopy (Bruix, Reig, & Sherman, 2016). Transmission of imaging techniques usually makes use of high energy photons that are beamed on an organ or body structure under diagnosis.
Reflection imaging techniques make use of high-frequency sound waves which are directed to the cancerous organ or tissue under examination. The most common reflection imaging method is ultrasound, which uses bounced sound waves to produce visual organ images, whereas emission imaging is cancer diagnosis techniques that produce organ images produced by a computerized scanner that uses tiny nuclear particles (Collins et al., 2007). Examples of reflection techniques are nuclear medicine and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). While nuclear technique uses nuclear emission to analyze body structures, MRI utilizes radio waves and uses a special machine that adds a strong magnetic field to a tissue or organ, thus causing tissue cells to emit own frequencies (Hoeks et al., 2011).
Cancer can also be diagnosed through endoscopic screening. The most common endoscopic diagnostic methods are cystoscopy, colonoscopy, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), Esophagogastroduodenoscopy and Sigmoidoscopy (Collins et al., 2007; Bruix, Reig, & Sherman, 2016). Genetic testing is also a common technique for diagnosi...