oncology essays

oncology essays Cancer covers a large group of diseases that have malignant properties. This means that there is a tendency to grow and spread, sometime rapidly and sometimes slowly. Doctors identify the cancer by the site or type of cell type where it starts. For example, there are many types of cancers. Cancer in the uterus is uterine cancer; cancer in the breast is breast cancer; and cancer in the colon is colon cancer. The physician who specializes in the treatment of cancer is called an oncologist and the doctor who reviews and diagnoses the disease is called a pathologist. The test they take, the ultrasound of your abdomen and pelvis, indicated that you have renal-cell carcinoma of the right kidney. This is a cancer of the genitourinary system. It is also the most common type of kidney cancer and it used to be called hypernephroma. We do not know exactly how cancers start but this type of cancer is thought to be associated with smoking. However, statistics show that only about one-third of renal cell carcinoma is associated with smoking and it happens twice as often in men as in women. Let me explain how the kidneys work. First of all, we have two kidneys and they produce urine in a two-part process. In the first process, the kidneys filter the blood through filters called glomeruli. These filters separate the blood cells, that is, the red cells, white cells and platelets, from the liquid part which is called the plasma. The liquid part passes through tubules and is processed so that needed materials are returned to the blood and unwanted waste materials are passed on. In the second process, the kidneys collect the liquid that will be urine and pass it into many different bigger tubules until it gets to a port called the pelvis of the kidney. Then the urine flows to the ureter, which is a thin tube that leads to the bladder. One good thing to remember is a person can live with only one kidney and can also liv ...