What is Cancer?
Cancer is a tumor and refers specifically to malignant tumors.
What is Oncology?
Oncology is the branch of medicine that deals with the formation of cancer, its causes, genetic inheritance, diagnosis, treatment, cancer-related statistics, and cancer prevention. In other words, it can be described as the science of cancer.
What is a Tumor?
A tumor is a NEW and ABNORMAL TISSUE FORMATION that results from any cell in the organism gaining autonomy and proliferating endlessly and aimlessly without being under the influence of the organism's control mechanisms. Unlike normal tissues, it develops rapidly and continues to grow and develop even after the cause or causes are eliminated.
Tumors are classified into two categories:
- Benign Tumors: These tumors are formed by cells that resemble the tissue from which they originate. They grow slowly and expansively, have clear boundaries, are encapsulated, do not break the basement membrane, have a low mitotic index, and do not invade or metastasize.
- Malignant Tumors: These tumors consist of poorly differentiated cells that grow rapidly and infiltratively. They have a high mitotic index and have the ability to invade surrounding tissues and blood vessels and metastasize to distant sites.
Causes of Tumor Formation
A. Predisposing Factors:
- Age
- Breed
- Gender
- Organ
- Genetic inheritance
B. Tumor-Inducing Factors:
- Physical factors
- Chemical factors
- Oncogenic viruses
- Parasites
- Hormones
Clinical Symptoms
1. Palpable Symptoms:
- Enlarged lymph nodes, abnormal inflammation, uncontrolled skin plaques
- Masses in the oral cavity, mammary gland masses, testicular or injection site tumors, enlarged organs
- Non-healing wounds or ulcers
2. Undesirable Physiological Changes:
- Weight loss, cachexia
- Pale mucous membranes, jaundice, lameness, mucosal hyperemia
- Abdominal distention, organomegaly, ascites, hemoabdomen
- Petechiae, ecchymosis, spontaneous bleeding
3. Changes in Routine Behavior:
- Anorexia
- Lethargy, reduced exercise tolerance, dyspnea, coughing
- Dysphagia, hypersalivation, regurgitation, voice changes, vomiting
- Chronic sneezing, chronic ocular discharge, unilateral nasal discharge
- Dysuria, stranguria, persistent hematuria
- Diarrhea, tenesmus, constipation, hematochezia, changes in feces
- Lameness, joint pain during movement, exercise hesitation
- Polyuria/polydipsia despite no chronic kidney failure, diseases related to endocrine disorders, hypercalcemia, and liver failure
- Syncope, muffled heart sounds, pericardial effusion, pleural effusion, tachypnea
- Weakness, ataxia, paresis, behavioral changes, and pain
Diagnostic Procedures
- Cytology
- Biopsy
- Blood and Bone Marrow Smears
- Flow Cytometry and PCR for Antigen Receptor Rearrangements
- Imaging Diagnostics:
- Radiography
- Ultrasonography
- Computed Tomography (CT)
- Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
- Endoscopy
- Laboratory Tests
Treatment Methods
1. Surgery:
- A treatment option for solid tumors. Its effectiveness depends on the patient’s overall condition, lifestyle, the type and stage of the tumor to be treated, and whether adjuvant therapy is possible.
- Surgery is used either to isolate the tumor or as part of a complex treatment in combination with radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
2. Chemotherapy:
- Cytotoxic Chemotherapy
- Electrochemotherapy
3. Radiotherapy:
- The aim of radiation therapy is to destroy as many tumor cells as possible while minimizing the effect on healthy tissues.
- Three-Dimensional Conformal Radiation Therapy (3DCRT)
- Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT)
