Introduction
○ Tumor: a mass of tissue formed via disruption of the normal cell cycle resulting in abnormal cell growth.
○ Cancer: group of 100+ different diseases due to mutations in genetic material resulting in abnormal and uncontrolled cell growth.
○ Metastasis: when cancer cells spread from the location of origin to another anatomical location.
Two main cancer classes and groupings:
| Hematologic | Solid | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Leukemia | originates in blood-forming tissues, including bone marrow and spleen | Carcinoma | originates in major organs, skin, or tissues covering glands |
| Lymphoma | originates in the lymphatic system | Sarcoma | originates in connective tissue like muscle or bone, or soft tissues like adipose |
| Myeloma | originates in plasma cells |
Metastasis
○ Common during late-stage cancer and major contributor to morbidity and mortality.
Cancer-specific metastasis locations:
General Statistics
○ ≈1.9 million new cancer cases diagnosed in 2022 and 609,360 cancer deaths in the United States.
○ Most commonly diagnosed cancers in 2022:
| Male | Female |
|---|---|
| Prostate 27% | Breast 31% |
| Lung 12% | Lung 13% |
| Colorectal 8% | Colorectal 8% |
Cancer in the Emergency Department Statistics
○ Emergency Department (ED) usage rate for cancer patients is more than double that of the general US population with ≈51% of visits resulting in hospital admission.
Cancer Treatment Modalities
○ Treatment for each patient may include one or more modalities at any given time.
