Cancer and Blood Disorders

Our bodies are made up of millions of cells. These cells make our body tissues and organs like our lungs and skin. The cells grow to make our body work so we can live.

Sometimes the cells grow, change and become abnormal. This means the cells do not look or work the way they should. These abnormal cells can grow and make a lump or mass called a tumour. A tumour is a lump that may be solid or filled with fluid. Tumours can be either benign or malignant. Cancer is the name given to a malignant tumour.

Often, we don’t know what caused cancer. Sometimes cancers may be caused by more than one thing.

We do know that you can lower your risk of getting cancer if you choose to:

• Live a healthy life
• Eat well
• Exercise regularly
• Don’t smoke or drink alcohol
• Protect yourself from the sun
• See your health care provider for checkups

Sometimes there are things we cannot change that may increase our risk of getting cancer. This includes male or female, our family history or cancer genetics.
Talk to your doctor if you have more questions about how you got cancer.

Your doctor uses the information from tests such as blood work, scopes, scans, and biopsies to determine your diagnosis. A biopsy of your tissue or body fluid is sent to a lab for testing. The lab will look at the biopsy to see if there are cancer cells present. If cancer is found, they generally can tell what type of cancer it is along with the grade and stage.

A lab may take days to several weeks to test your tissue; sometimes special tests are required to help clarify what kind of cancer is present and these can add time to the process. Please ask your doctor or nurse how long your testing will take.

Stages describe how much cancer has grown and spread. All cancers are staged a little differently. Cancers are usually staged from Stage 0 to Stage 4.

The importance of knowing the stage of your cancer is that it helps the care team understand your prognosis (how the cancer is going to affect you) and determine the treatment that will be recommended.

Stage 0

Stage 0 means different things in different cancers, and generally, it implies the presence of a small number of cancer cells that do not extend to new areas from where they started to grow.

Stage 1

The cancer is usually small and grows only in one place.

Stage 2

The cancer is bigger than stage 1 and/or has started growing into the surrounding tissue. In some cancers, this includes cancer has spread into nearby lymph nodes

Stage 3

The cancer has grown larger or invaded more deeply into surrounding healthy tissue, and may have spread to nearby lymph nodes

Stage 4

The cancer has spread to other parts of the body. Cancer usually can’t be cured but we can control the growth of cancer with treatment.

Cancer cells can be carried by the lymphatic system or by the bloodstream to other organs. When the cancer cells reach a new area, they may form a new tumour. This is known as secondary cancer or metastasis.

Lymph nodes are small round organs found throughout your body that help you stay healthy. Lymph nodes are connected by lymphatic vessels making up the lymphatic system. If cancer spreads beyond the original tumour site, the first place of spread is often the lymph nodes right next to the original tumour. The lymphatic system can also carry cancer cells to other body parts.