Teens Too Prone To Cancer

By Suparna Chakaraborthy

Wednesday, March 2, 2011, 15:13

People usually get cancer in the adult age but few recent researchers have proved that teen cancer cases are fast growing in number. Cancer is the abnormal growth of cells and one of the common feature of teen cancer is that the cells growth is much more than in the case of cancer in the adult age. Lets look at types of cancers which teens might get -

1.Osteosarcoma – Osteosarcoma is type of bone cancer common among teens and has been noticed to have attacked tall individuals. The common symptoms of this type of cancer among teens is pain and swelling of the arm and leg. Teens often get Osteosarcoma in knee bones. In the third stage of this cancer, metastasize occurs. It is a state when the cancer tumour breaks away from it's place of origin to effect other organs of the body. Chemotherapy is the common treatment for this cancer in teens, in some cases amputation of the organ becomes unavoidable. To avoid amputation of an organ, doctors these days have started using the limb-salvage surgery. In surgery the bone which has cancer is removed.

2.Leukemia – Another type of cancer common among teens is Leukemia or blood cancer as it is commonly known. Leukemia is the abnormal growth of white blood cells and as these cells are defective they don't result in preventing the body from infection rather is malignant themselves. The uncontrolled growth of white blood cells in Leukemia enter the bone marrow and later into the blood stream. With the growth of the cancer, it starts affecting the red blood cells and also the platelets. The general symptoms of Leukemia are bone pain, blood clots, anemia etc. There are three Leukemia types which effect teens. They are - acute lymphocytic and acute myelogenous.

3.Brain Tumors – Brain tumour is the third type of teen cancer, which develops from the brain cells called astrocytes. The brain tumour cancer usually limits it's spread to brain and the spinal cord. The tumour starts from the lining of the brain ventricles which is the fluid that cushions the brain and the spine to prevent it from trauma. The treatment of brain tumour depends completely on the location and the spread. In most cases the brain tumour is removed with the help of surgery followed by radiation. This type of cancer is usually curable.

These three types of cancers are the ones which teens are more vulnerable to. The reason behind why more teens are getting these cancers is still a mystery but a lot of it definitely is because of the inappropriate lifestyle and diet.