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Oncology

Cancer is the name given to a collection of related diseases. In all types of cancer, some of the body’s cells begin to divide without stopping and spread into surrounding tissues.

Cancer can start almost anywhere in the human body. Normally, human cells grow and divide to form new cells as the body needs them. When cancer develops, this process breaks down.  

As cells become more and more abnormal, old or damaged cells survive when they should die and new cells form when they are not needed. These extra cells can divide without stopping and may form growths called tumors. Many cancers form solid tumors, which are masses of tissue. Cancers of the blood, such as leukemia, generally do not form solid tumors. Cancerous tumors are malignant, which means they can spread into, or invade, nearby tissues. In addition, as these tumors grow, some cancer cells can break off and travel to distant places in the body through the blood or the lymph system and form new tumors far from the original tumor.

It is estimated that more than 1.7 million new cases of cancer will be diagnosed and 600,000 cancer deaths will occur in the United States in 2019. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among males (20%), followed by lung (13%) and colorectal (9%) cancers. Among females, breast (30%), lung (13%), and colorectal (7%) cancers are the most common.

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It is estimated that more than 1.7 million new cases of cancer will be diagnosed and 600,000 cancer deaths will occur in the United States in 2019.