The Breasts Cancer
The breasts are made up of fat, connective tissue and glandular tissue which contains lobes. The lobes are where breast milk is produced. A network of ducts connects the lobes to the nipple.
A woman's breasts are rarely the same size as each other, and may feel different at different times of the menstrual cycle, sometimes becoming lumpy just before a period.
Under the skin, an area of breast tissue extends into the armpit (axilla). The armpits also contain a collection of lymph glands (also called lymph nodes), which are part of the lymphatic system. There are also lymph nodes just beside the breastbone and behind the collarbones.
Anal Cancel
The anus is the name for the muscular area at the very end of the large bowel. It is the muscle which opens and closes to control bowel movements, and is where the bowel opens to the outside of the body. This muscle is also called a sphincter.
The most common type of anal cancer is squamous cell. Other rarer types are basal cell, adenocarcinoma and melanoma. This information deals with the treatment of squamous cell carcinoma.
Normally, cells in the body will grow and divide to replace old or damaged cells in the body. This growth is highly regulated, and once enough cells are produced to replace the old ones, normal cells will stop dividing. Tumors occur when there is an error in this regulation and cells continue to grow uncontrolled. Tumors can either be benign or malignant. Although benign tumors grow uncontrolled, then do not break off and spread beyond where they started and do not invade into surrounding tissues. Malignant tumors, however, will grow uncontrolled in such a way that they invade and damage other tissues around them. They also gain the ability to break off from where they started and spread to other parts of the body, usually through the blood stream or through the lymphatic system where the lymph nodes are located. Over time, the cells within a malignant tumor become more abnormal and appear less like normal cells. This change in the appearance of cancer cells is called the tumor grade, and cancer cells are described as being well-differentiated, moderately-differentiated, poorly-differentiated, or undifferentiated. Well-differentiated cells are quite normal appearing and resemble the normal cells from which they originated. Undifferentiated cells are cells that have become so abnormal that often, we cannot tell what types of cells they started from.
Anal cancer is a malignant tumor of either the anal canal or anal verge. In the United States , 80% of anal cancers are squamous cell cancers, resembling the types of cells seen from the skin. However, this is not true in other parts of the world. In Japan , 80% of anal cancers are adenocarcinomas, resembling the glandular cells seen in the rectum. It appears that anal cancers frequently start as anal dysplasia. Anal dysplasia is made up of cells of the anus that have abnormal changes, but do not show evidence of invasion into the surrounding tissue. The most severe form of anal dysplasia is called carcinoma in situ where the cells appear like cancer cells, but have not invaded beyond where the normal cells lie. Over time, anal dysplasia eventually changes to the point where they become invasive and gain the ability to metastasize, or break way to other parts of the body. Anal dysplasia is sometimes referred to as anal intraepithelial neoplasia (AIN). When anal cancer does spread, it most commonly spreads through direct invasion into the surrounding tissue or through the lymphatic system. Spread of anal cancer through the blood is less common, although it can occur. Cancers arising from the anal verge represent 25% of all anal cancers and are often treated like skin cancers; however, they often respond more poorly to treatment than do other skin cancers or cancers of the anal canal. Treatment of anal cancers will be discussed in more detail below (under "How is anal cancer treated?").
The breasts are made up of fat, connective tissue and glandular tissue which contains lobes. The lobes are where breast milk is produced. A network of ducts connects the lobes to the nipple.
