Essay on Tracking Metastasis and Tricking Cancer - 900 Words

Carcinoma is a cancer that begins to develop in epithelial cells. These cells include the lining or tissue of an organ or in the skin (Australian Institute of Health Welfare Australasian Association of Cancer, 2012). There are two types of carcinoma cells, basal cells and squamous cells (American Cancer Society, 2012). Basal cell carcinomas are the cells that develop in the basal cell layer of the epidermis (American Cancer Society, 2012). Squamous cell carcinomas are cells that are more likely to develop in the fatty tissue beneath the skin (American Cancer Society, 2012). The squamous cell carcinoma are more likely to spread to the lymph nodes and surrounding tissues in the body (American Cancer Society, 2015.†¦show more content†¦Tumour markers are detectable cancer cells that are found in the spinal fluid, urine or blood (Craft, Gordon Tiziani, 2011). They can include enzymes, hormones, antigens or genes (Craft, Gordon Tiziani, 2011).Tumour markers are beneficial, in that they are able to identify high risk cancers in individuals (Craft, Gordon Tiziani, 2011). They also help by diagnosing different cancer types (Craft, Gordon Tiziani, 2011).There are different markers that are able to identify different cancer types (Craft, Gordon Tiziani, 2011). For example, Prostrate-specific antigen (PSA) identifies prostate cancer cells and a-fetoprotein (AFP) identifies Hepatic cancer cells (Craft, Gordon Tiziani, 2011). There is a disadvantage of using tumour markers, and that is that some non-cancerous tissues produce markers (Craft, Gordon Tiziani, 2011). Therefore, to determine whether a patient has cancer, additional tests are necessary (Craft, Gordon Tiziani, 2011). Sentinel nodes are lymph nodes that receive the bodies waste first (Craft, Gordon Tiziani, 2011). It is believed that the cancer cells are metastasised to these nodes before spreading to other nodes of the body (Craft, Gordon Tiziani, 2011). To identify these nodes, dye or a radioa ctive tracer is used to locate the node and determine an accurate stage of cancer (Craft, Gordon Tiziani, 2011). Thrombocytopenia is a