The body is made up of hundreds of millions of living cells. Normal body cells grow, divide, and die in an orderly fashion. During the early years of a person's life, normal cells divide faster to allow the person to grow. After the person becomes an adult, most cells divide only to replace worn-out or dying cells or to repair injuries. Cancer begins when cells in a part of the body start to grow out of control. There are many kinds of cancer, but they all start because of out-of-control growth of abnormal cells. Cancer cell growth is different from normal cell growth. Instead of dying, cancer cells continue to grow and form new, abnormal cells. Cancer cells can also invade (grow into) other tissues, something that normal cells cannot do. Growing out of control and invading other tissues are what makes a cell a cancer cell. Cells become cancer cells because of damage to DNA. DNA is in every cell and directs all its actions. In a normal cell, when DNA gets damaged the cell either repairs the damage or the cell dies. In cancer cells, the damaged DNA is not repaired, but the cell doesn't die like it should. Instead, this cell goes on making new cells that the body does not need. These new cells will all have the same damaged DNA as the first cell does. People can inherit damaged DNA, but most DNA damage is caused by mistakes that happen while the normal cell is reproducing or by something in our environment. Sometimes the cause of the DNA damage is something obvious, like cigarette smoking. But often no clear cause is found. In most cases the cancer cells form a tumor. Some cancers, like leukemia, rarely form tumors. Instead, these cancer cells involve the blood and blood-forming organs and circulate through other tissues where they grow. Cancer cells often travel to other parts of the body, where they begin to grow and form new tumors that replace normal tissue. This process is called metastasis. It happens when the cancer cells get into the bloodstream or lymph vessels of our body. No matter where a cancer may spread, it is always named for the place where it started. For example, breast cancer that has spread to the liver is still called breast cancer, not liver cancer. Likewise, prostate cancer that has spread to the bone is metastatic prostate cancer, not bone cancer. Different types of cancer can behave very differently. For example, lung cancer and breast cancer are very different diseases. They grow at different rates and respond to different treatments. That is why people with cancer need treatment that is aimed at their particular kind of cancer. Not all tumors are cancerous. Tumors that aren't cancer are called benign. Benign tumors can cause problems - they can grow very large and press on healthy organs and tissues. But they cannot grow into (invade) other tissues. Because they can't invade, they also can't spread to other parts of the body (metastasize). These tumors are almost never life threatening.
Metastatic cancer?
Metastatic cancer is cancer that has spread from the part of the body where it started (called its primary site) to other parts of the body. When cells break away from a cancerous tumor, they can travel through the bloodstream to other areas of the body. They can end up in any organ or tissue. Cancer cells can also travel through the lymph system. This system includes lymph nodes (small, bean-sized collections of immune cells), which are connected by lymph vessels. The lymph vessels are much like blood vessels, except they carry a clear fluid called lymph back toward the heart. Cancer cells that travel through the lymph system often end up in the lymph nodes, but they can also spread to other organs. Many of the cancer cells that break off from the original tumor die without causing any problems. But some settle in a new area. There, they begin to grow and form new tumors. This spread of cancer to a new part of the body is called metastasis. When cancer spreads, we say that it metastasizes. If there is only a single tumor, it is called a metastasis or a metastatic tumor. When there are 2 or more metastatic tumors, we call them metastases. Sometimes metastatic tumors are found by tests that are done when the primary cancer is first diagnosed. In other cases, the metastasis is found first, causing the doctor to look for the place that the cancer started. Sometimes, no metastases are seen when the cancer is first found. Instead, they are found later, after the patient has been treated and was thought to be cancer free. When a cancer has come back after treatment, it is called recurrence. When it comes back as metastases, it is called a distant recurrence. In order for a cancer to recur as metastatic disease, some cancer cells had to have broken off from the primary tumor and survived the initial treatment. These cells traveled through the body and started growing in new places. Different cancers tend to spread to different sites, but some of the most common sites of distant recurrence include the bones, liver, brain, and lungs.
What does it mean when you have bone metastases?
Cancer cells that break off from a primary tumor and enter the bloodstream can reach nearly all tissues of the body. Bones are a common place for these cancer cells to settle and start growing. Tumors that result from these cells entering the bones are called bone metastases. Cancers that start in the bone are called primary bone cancers. These cancers are very different from bone metastases. Bone metastasis is actually much more common than primary bone cancers, especially in adults. If you would like information on primary bone cancers, see our documents called Bone Cancer, Osteosarcoma, Multiple Myeloma, and Ewing Family of Tumors. Bone metastasis is one of the most frequent causes of pain in people with cancer. When a cancer spreads to the bone, it can make the bones weaker and even cause them to break. As the cancer cells damage the bones, calcium is released into the blood. This can lead to problems caused by high blood calcium levels. Bone metastasis can also cause other problems that can make it hard to keep up your usual activities and lifestyle. Many people with cancer will develop bone metastases at some point in the course of their disease. Bones are often a site for metastases for certain common tumors, such as breast and prostate cancers. Metastases can occur in any bone in the body, but are most often found in bones near the center of the body. The spine is the most common site of bone metastasis. Other common sites are the hip bone (pelvis), upper leg bone (femur), upper arm bone (humerus), ribs, and the skull. Once cancer has spread to the bones or to other sites in the body it is rarely able to be cured, but often it can still be treated to shrink, stop, or slow its growth. Even if cure is no longer possible, treating the cancer may be able to help you live longer and feel better. Other treatments can help prevent or manage cancer symptoms. (See the section called "How is bone metastases treated?")
What are the key statistics about bone metastases?
Most people who die of cancer will have metastases somewhere in the body. But certain cancers such as breast, prostate, lung, thyroid, and kidney cancers are more likely to spread to bone. In people with breast and prostate cancer, the bone is often the first distant site where the cancer spreads.
What are the risk factors for bone metastases?
A risk factor is anything that affects your chance of getting a disease such as cancer. Simply having cancer is a risk factor for bone metastases. Still, some people with cancer develop bone metastases and others do not. Doctors still don't know enough to predict for certain who will develop bone metastases over time. But they do know that certain kinds of cancer (breast, prostate, lung, thyroid, and kidney cancers) are more likely to spread to bones. Among people with the same kind of cancer, tumors that are larger and have already spread to lymph nodes are generally more likely to spread to bone. For some kinds of cancer, a high grade (where the cancer cells look very abnormal under a microscope) and certain genetic changes make the cancer more likely to spread to bones. Having a cancer that is found after it has spread to other organs raises your risk of bone metastases. Finding cancer early (when it is small) often means it has not yet had a chance to spread. This can give a person a better chance of successful treatment and a lower risk of future metastases.
Week 8; Assignment #7: Self-Assessment/Reflective Essay
Compose a self-assessment /reflective essay (five paragraphs in length), where you reflect and self-assess Assignment #6: Informative Essay. Address each of the parts listed. Each part represents a paragraph in the self-assessment essay.
Part 1: Pre-Writing/ Invention Process
-Which of the pre-writing/ invention strategies did you use for this essay?
-Did you find this strategy effective? Why or why not? Explain.
-What did you learn by using this strategy? Be specific and explain your response.
-What would you do differently next time? Why?
Part 2: Writing Process
-What was your purpose for writing this essay?
-Who was your audience and how did you fulfill your responsibility to that audience?
-What was the main point of your essay?
-What do you want the audience to know, to think, to learn or to
believe after reading your essay?
Part 3: Peer Reviewing Process
-What did you look for in your peer's essay as you peer reviewed?
-What did you learn about the peer whose essay you peer reviewed?
-What did you learn about yourself as you peer reviewed?
-What did the peer review process make you think about your own essay?
Part 4: Revising Process
-Describe the ways in which you decided to revise your essay. Be specific.
-What made you choose to make these revisions? Why?
-What do you think about your revised draft in comparison to your initial draft?
-What did you learn from revising this particular essay?
Part 5: Assessing
-What was the strongest aspect of your essay?
-What was the weakest aspect of your essay?
-What writing issue/ challenge did you run into the most frequently as you wrote this particular essay, and how did you cope with it?
-What would you do differently for the next essay assignment? Why?
-What did you learn from writing this essay-a bout yourself, about your audience, about your peers, about writing?