Tribal Words for Tobacco
What is Cancer?
Cancer occurs when normal healthy cells stop growing, dividing, and replacing the old or damaged cells. At this time, an uncontrolled growth of cells takes place and forms a mass of tissue called a growth or tumor. (3, 7)
2 Types of Tumors
Benign (not cancer) Malignant (cancer)
Harmful to life: No Yes
Invade surrounding tissue: No Yes
Spread to other parts of the body: No Yes
Should remove the tumor: Yes Yes
What are the most common cancers that can affect you? (3)
•Lung •Colorectal
•Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma •Female Breast
•Prostate •Urinary Bladder
•Kidney and Renal Pelvis •Liver
•Ovarian •Uterine
Three ways cancer spreads in the body: (10)
• Tissue - Cancer invades the surrounding normal tissue.
• Lymph system - Cancer invades the lymph system
and travels through the lymph vessels to other places in the
body.
• Blood - Cancer invades the veins and capillaries and
travels through the blood to other places in the body.
Metastasis: When cancer cells break away from the primary (original) tumor and travel through the lymph or blood to other places in the body where a secondary tumor could form.
The secondary tumor is the same type of cancer as the primary tumor. For example:
If breast cancer spreads to the bones, the cancer cells in
the bones are actually breast cancer cells. The disease is
metastatic breast cancer- not bone cancer.
Cancer and AI/AN
Lung Cancer
Smoking Rates
Lung cancer is one of the most common types of cancer. It starts as a pre-cancerous tumor and over many years the tumor grows into true cancer. As a cancer develops, and forms new blood vessels to nourish the cancer cells. Lung cancer develops when malignant cancer cells form a tumor in the lung. (12)
There are 2 main types of lung cancer: non-small cell lung cancer and small cell lung cancer. The two types grow, spread, and are treated differently. (3, 5, 10, 11, 12)
Signs of Lung Cancer
See a doctor if you notice any of these symptoms:
• cough that does not go away and gets worse over time
• coughing up blood
• constant chest pain
• shortness of breath, wheezing
• change in voice (hoarseness)
• weight loss and loss of appetite
• fever with an unknown reason
• frequent lung infections, such as pneumonia or bronchitis
• fatigue and weight loss with no known cause
Cancer Risk Factors
There are many risk factors for cancer, some include:
Tobacco smoke contains harmful substances that can damage your healthy lung cells.
Cigarette smoking is the most important risk factor for lung cancer. (3, 4, 5)
The air we breathe, the work we do, and the habits we form all have the ability to make us sick with cancer and other respiratory diseases. They have the ability to shorten our lives.
Family history or personal history: (3, 7)
Radon is a cancer causing radioactive gas that you cannot see, smell, or taste. (12,7)
Asbestos and other metals such as arsenic and cadmium are risk factors for cancer. If you work in the construction or chemical industry, you could be exposed. (7)
Uranium exposure through mining has been considered a risk factor for lung cancer for American Indian men residing and working in the mines of Arizona and New Mexico. (4, 8)
TREATMENT-SURVIVAL-SUPPORT
Treatment depends on the type and stage of lung cancer. The following are the most common types of treatment: (11)
Survival (12)
The 5-year survival rate is 16% including all stages of lung cancer.
Support (7, 9)
1-800-4 CANCER
LungCancer.org
National Cancer Institute- Live Help
1. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Tobacco Use Among U.S. Racial/Ethnic Minority Groups African Americans, American Indians and Alaska Natives, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and Hispanics: A Report of the Surgeon General; 1998.
2. ACS. Cancer Prevention & Early Detection Facts and Figures. Atlanta: American Cancer Society; 2009.
3. ACS. Cancer Facts and Figures 2009. Atlanta: American Cancer Society; 2009.
4. Bliss A, Cobb N, Solomon T, Cravatt K, Jim MA, Marshall L, Campbell J. Lung cancer incidence among American Indians and Alaska Natives in the United States, 1999-2004. Cancer. 2008 Sep 1;113(5 Suppl):1168-78
5. ACS. Lung Cancer. Atlanta: American Cancer Society; 2009.
6. ACS. Cancer. Atlanta: American Cancer Society; 2009
http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/content/CRI_2_4_1x_What_Is_Non-Small_Cell_Lung_Cancer.asp?sitearea=
7. NIH. What do you need to know about lung cancer? National Cancer Institute
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/wyntk/lung/page3
8. Gilliland FD, Hunt WC, Pardilla M, Key CR. Uranium mining and lung cancer among Navajo men in New Mexico and Arizona, 1969 to 1993. J Occup Environ Med. 2000 Mar;42(3):278-83.
9. Lungcancer.org. A program of CancerCare. http://www.lungcancer.org/about/
10. NIC. Small Cell Lung Cancer. Bethesda, MD, National Cancer Institute; 2009. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/treatment/small-cell-lung
11. NIC. Non Small Cell Lung Cancer. Bethesda, MD, National Cancer Institute; 2009. http://www.cancer.gov/CANCERTOPICS/PDQ/TREATMENT/NON-SMALL-CELL-LUNG/PATIENT
Cancer occurs when normal healthy cells stop growing, dividing, and replacing the old or damaged cells. At this time, an uncontrolled growth of cells takes place which forms a mass of tissue called a growth or tumor. (3, 7)
Tumor cells can be benign (not cancer) or malignant (cancer). (7)
•Lung •Ovarian •Prostate •Liver •Colorectal •Female Breast •Uterine •Urinary Bladder •Kidney and Renal Pelvis •Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
There are three ways that cancer spreads in the body. (10)
• Blood - Cancer invades the veins and capillaries and travels
through the blood to other places in the body.
When cancer cells break away from the primary (original) tumor and travel through the lymph or blood to other places in the body, another (secondary) tumor may form. This process is called metastasis.
The secondary (metastatic) tumor is the same type of cancer as the primary tumor. For example, if breast cancer spreads to the bones, the cancer cells in the bones are actually breast cancer cells. The disease is metastatic breast cancer, not bone cancer.
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