Cancer

Cancer is a condition where cells in a specific part of the body grow and reproduce uncontrollably. The cancerous cells can invade and destroy surrounding healthy tissue, including organs.

Cancer sometimes begins in one part of the body before spreading to other areas.

This process is known as metastasis.

The 4 most common types of cancer are:

• breast cancer
• lung cancer
• prostate cancer
• bowel cancer

There are more than 200 different types of cancer, and each is diagnosed and treated in a particular way. You can find links on this page to information about other types of cancer.

Types of Cancer

• Bladder Cancer
• Breast Cancer
• Colorectal Cancer
• Kidney Cancer
• Lung Cancer - Non-Small Cell
• Lymphoma - Non-Hodgkin
• Melanoma
• Oral and Oropharyngeal Cancer
• Pancreatic Cancer
• Prostate Cancer
• Thyroid Cancer
• Uterine Cancer

Spotting signs of cancer

Changes to your body is normal processes or unusual, unexplained symptoms can sometimes be an early sign of cancer.

Symptoms that need to be checked by a doctor include:

• a lump that suddenly appears on your body
• unexplained bleeding
• changes to your bowel habits

But in many cases your symptoms will not be related to cancer and will be caused by other, non-cancerous health conditions.

Reducing your risk of cancer

Making some simple changes to your lifestyle can significantly reduce your risk of developing cancer.

For example:

• healthy eating
• taking regular exercise
• not smoking

The Macmillan Cancer Support website has more information about how a healthy lifestyle can help reduce your chances of developing cancer.

Cancer treatment

Surgery is the first treatment to try for most types of cancer, as solid tumours can usually be surgically removed.

2 other commonly used treatment methods are:

• chemotherapy – powerful cancer-killing medicines
• radiotherapy – the controlled use of high-energy X-rays