Cancer, group of more than 100 distinct diseases characterized by the uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells in the body.
Though cancer has been known since antiquity, some of the most significant advances in scientists’ understanding of it have been made since the middle of the 20th century. Those advances led to major improvements in cancer treatment, mainly through the development of methods for timely and accurate diagnosis, selective surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapeutic drugs, and targeted therapies (agents designed against specific molecules involved in cancer).
Advances in treatment have succeeded in bringing about a decrease in cancer deaths, though mainly in developed countries. Indeed, cancer remains a major cause of sickness and death throughout the world. By 2012 the number of new cases diagnosed annually had risen to more than 14 million, more than half of them in less-developed countries, and by 2015 the number of deaths from cancer had reached 8.8 million worldwide. About 70 percent of cancer deaths were in low- and middle-income countries.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated that the global cancer burden could be reduced by as much as 30 to 50 percent through prevention strategies, particularly through the avoidance of known risk factors. In addition, laboratory investigations aimed at understanding the causes and mechanisms of cancer have maintained optimism that the disease can be controlled. Through breakthroughs in cell biology, genetics, and biotechnology, researchers have gained a fundamental understanding of what occurs within cells to cause them to become cancerous. Those conceptual gains are steadily being converted into actual gains in the practice of cancer diagnosis and treatment, with notable progress toward personalized cancer medicine, in which therapy is tailored to individuals according to biological anomalies unique to their disease. Personalized cancer medicine is considered the most-promising area of progress yet for modern cancer therapy.
Malignant tumours and benign tumours
Tumours, or neoplasms (from Greek neo, “new,” and plasma, “formation”), are abnormal growths of cells arising from malfunctions in the regulatory mechanisms that oversee the cells’ growth and development. However, only some types of tumours threaten health and life. With few exceptions, that distinction underlies their division into two major categories: malignant or benign.
Read More on This Topic
human disease: Characteristics of cancer
Characteristics of cancer
The most threatening tumours are those that invade and destroy healthy tissues in the body’s major organ systems by gaining access to the circulatory or lymphatic systems. The process of spread, accompanied by the seeding of tumour cells in distant areas, is known as metastasis. Tumours that grow and spread aggressively in this manner are designated malignant, or cancerous.
If a tumour remains localized to the area in which it originated and poses little risk to health, it is designated benign. Although benign tumours are indeed abnormal, they are far less dangerous than malignant tumours because they have not entirely escaped the growth controls that keep normal cells in check. They are not aggressive and do not invade surrounding tissues or spread to distant sites. In some cases they even function like the normal cells from which they arise. Nevertheless, though benign tumours are incapable of dissemination, they can expand and place pressure on organs, causing signs or symptoms of disease. In some cases benign tumours that compress vital structures can cause death—for instance, tumours that compress the brainstem, where the centres that control breathing are located. However, it is unusual for a benign tumour to cause death.
When the behaviour of a neoplasm is difficult to predict, it is designated as being of “undetermined malignant potential,” or “borderline.”
Test Your Knowledge
All About Astronomy
Malignant and benign are important distinctions, but they are broad categories that comprise many different forms of cancer. A more-detailed and useful way to classify and name the many kinds of tumours is by their site of origin (the cell or tissue from which a tumour arises) and by their microscopic appearance. That classification scheme, though not followed with rigid logic or consistency, allows tumours to be categorized by a characteristic clinical behaviour, such as prognosis, and by response to therapy. Tumour nomenclature based on site and tissue type thus provides a means of identifying tumours and determining the course of treatment.
Tumours may also be classified according to the genetic defects found in their cells, thanks to advances in the understanding of human genetic structure. Such classification schemes have facilitated decisions regarding course of treatment and the development of treatments that target specific genetic defects. The development of targeted agents has permitted the prescribing of more-effective and less-toxic therapies.
Nomenclature of benign tumours
In the majority of cases, benign tumours are named by attaching the suffix -oma to the name of the tissue or cell from which the cancer arose. For example, a tumour that is composed of cells related to bone cells and has the structural and biochemical properties of bone substance (osteoid) is classified as an osteoma. That rule is followed with a few exceptions for tumours that arise from mesenchymal cells (the precursors of bone and muscle).
Benign tumours arising from epithelial cells (cells that form sheets that line the skin and internal organs) are classified in a number of ways and thus have a variety of names. Sometimes classification is based on the cell of origin, whereas in other cases it is based on the tumour’s microscopic architectural pattern or gross appearance. The term adenoma, for instance, designates a benign epithelial tumour that either arises in endocrine glands or forms a glandular structure. Tumours of the ovarian epithelium that contain large cysts are called cystadenomas.
When a tumour gives rise to a mass that projects into a lumen (a cavity or channel within a tubular organ), it is called a polyp. Most polyps are epithelial in origin. Strictly speaking, the term polyp refers only to benign growths; a malignant polyp is referred to as a polypoid cancer in order to avoid confusion.
Benign tumours built up of fingerlike projections from the skin or mucous membranes are called papillomas.
Nomenclature of malignant tumours
For the naming of malignant tumours, the rules for using prefixes and suffixes are similar to those used to designate benign neoplasms. The suffix -sarcoma indicates neoplasms that arise in mesenchymal tissues—for instance, in supportive or connective tissue such as muscle or bone. The suffix -carcinoma, on the other hand, indicates an epithelial origin. As with benign tumours, a prefix indicates the predominant cell type in the tumour. Thus, a liposarcoma arises from a precursor to a fat cell called a lipoblastic cell; a myosarcoma is derived from precursor muscle cells (myogenic cells); and squamous-cell carcinoma arises from the outer layers of mucous membranes or the skin (composed primarily of squamous, or scalelike, cells).
Just as adenoma designates a benign tumour of epithelial origin that takes on a glandlike structure, so adenocarcinoma designates a malignant epithelial tumour with a similar growth pattern. Usually the term is followed by the organ of origin—for instance, adenocarcinoma of the lung.
Malignant tumours of the blood-forming tissue are designated by the suffix -emia (Greek: “blood”). Thus, leukemia refers to a cancerous proliferation of white blood cells (leukocytes). Cancerous tumours that arise in lymphoid organs, such as the spleen, the thymus, or the lymph glands, are described as malignant lymphomas. The term lymphoma is often used without the qualifier malignant to denote cancerous lymphoid tumours; however, this usage can be confusing, since the suffix -oma, as mentioned above, more properly designates a benign neoplasm.
The suffix -oma is also used to designate other malignancies, such as seminoma, which is a malignant tumour that arises from the germ cells of the testis. In a similar manner, malignant tumours of melanocytes (the skin cells that produce the pigment melanin) should be called melanocarcinomas, but for historical reasons the term melanoma persists.
In some instances a neoplasm is named for the physician who first described it. For example, the malignant lymphoma called Hodgkin disease was described in 1832 by English physician Thomas Hodgkin. Burkitt lymphoma is named after British surgeon Denis Parsons Burkitt; Ewing sarcoma of bone was described by James Ewing; and nephroblastoma, a malignant tumour of the kidney in children, is commonly called Wilms tumour, for German surgeon Max Wilms.
Site of origin
The site of origin of a tumour, which is so important in its classification and naming (as explained above), also is an important determinant of the way a tumour will grow, how fast it will give rise to clinical symptoms, and how early it may be diagnosed. For example, a tumour of the skin located on the face is usually detected very early, whereas a sarcoma located in the deep soft tissues of the abdomen can grow to weigh 2 kg (5 pounds) before it causes much of a disturbance. The site of origin of a tumour also determines the signs and symptoms of disease that the individual will experience and influences possible therapeutic options.
The most-common tumour sites in females are the breast, the lung, and the colon. In men the most frequently affected sites are the prostate, the lung, and the colon. Each tumour site and type presents its own specific set of clinical manifestations. However, there are a number of common clinical presentations, or syndromes, caused by many different kinds of tumours.
Cancer rates and trends
The risk that an individual faces of developing and dying from cancer is expressed by incidence and mortality rates. (Incidence is the rate of occurrence per year of new cases, and the mortality rate is the number of deaths that occur per year in a particular population divided by the size of the population at that time.) Those figures are compiled by tumour registries in many different parts of the world.
One of the most authoritative sources of information on cancer incidence, survival, and mortality is the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) Program, sponsored by the U.S. National Cancer Institute. SEER was established in 1973 in order to facilitate the collection and publication of data from population-based cancer registries in the United States. The figures are updated every year and are made available to researchers, public health planners, and legislatures. The data generated by programs such as SEER are used to identify geographic and population differences in cancer patterns that point to possible links between cancer incidence and occupation, environment, and lifestyle. For example, throughout the world, cigarette smoking is implicated as a cause of cancer of the lung, the mouth, the larynx, the esophagus, the pancreas, and the urinary bladder; alcohol is associated with the genesis of cancer of the larynx, the pharynx, and the esophagus; and obese persons are known to suffer a higher mortality rate from cancer than persons within normal weight limits.
Programs such as SEER provide vital insight into factors that play a major role in contributing to cancer. Indeed, although hereditary factors cause many types of cancer, they are implicated in only about 5 to 10 percent of cases. That means that the majority of cancers are due to environmental and lifestyle factors and therefore are largely preventable. Cancers linked to poor diet, lack of physical activity, alcohol consumption, smoking, and obesity are examples of preventable cancers that are of significant concern, particularly because of their impact on not only health but also workforce productivity and hence the national and global economy.
Worldwide in the early 21st century, preventable cancers linked to lifestyle factors were responsible for several million new cancer cases annually. Such cancers are especially common in developed countries. For example, in the United States some 25 to 30 percent of major cancers, such as colorectal cancer, endometrial cancer, breast cancer, and esophageal cancer, have been linked to obesity and physical inactivity. In fact, in 2012 in that country, researchers estimated that about 3.5 percent of newly diagnosed cancer cases in men and 9.5 percent in women were associated with overweight or obesity. The impact of obesity on cancer risk varies widely by cancer type. Likewise, about one-third of cancers commonly diagnosed in the United Kingdom are considered preventable through improvements in diet, physical activity, and weight control.
Less-developed countries, however, are not immune to rising rates of preventable cancers. Less-active lifestyles and increased availability of processed foods have placed many people in developing countries at increased risk of cancer as well as conditions such as diabetes mellitus and heart disease. Less-developed countries are often home to high rates of disease caused by infectious agents, including human papillomavirus (HPV), which can give rise to cervical cancer, and hepatitis B and C viruses, which can cause liver cancer. Vaccines that have been developed against papillomaviruses and hepatitis B virus are helping to control the rates of associated cancers in heavily affected countries. However, lack of health care infrastructure in some of those countries means that many persons affected by cancer may receive late diagnosis or inadequate care and that the general public may remain unaware of the risk factors for preventable cancers because information may not be disseminated effectively.
Cancer and age
Cancer is to a great degree a disease of the elderly, and age is thus a very important factor in cancer development. However, individuals of any age, including very young children, can be stricken with the disease. In many developed countries cancer deaths in children are second only to accidental deaths.
In the United States the most-striking increase in cancer mortality is seen in persons between the ages of 55 and 75. A decline in cancer mortality in persons older than 75 simply reflects the lower number of persons in that population.
Age-adjusted death rates (deaths per 100,000 population) for specific types of tumours have changed significantly over the years. In 1996, for the first time since data began being compiled, cancer deaths in the United States decreased (almost 3 percent), and the declines continued through the first decade of the 21st century. Worldwide, however, death rates from cancer were on the rise. The World Health Organization (WHO) projected that 13.1 million people globally would die from cancer in 2030.
In the United States and certain other developed countries, decreases in death rates from cancer can be attributed to successes of therapy or prevention. For example, a reduction in the number of deaths due to lung cancer has been attributed to warnings that have altered cigarette-smoking habits. Therapy has greatly lessened mortality from Hodgkin disease and testicular cancer, and it also has improved the chances of surviving breast cancer. Preventive measures have played a major role in the decrease of cancer mortality as well. For example, colonoscopy, which is used to detect early asymptomatic cancers or premalignant growths (polyps) in the colon, has contributed to declines in death rates from colon cancer. Routine Pap smear, an examination used to screen for carcinoma of the uterine cervix, has resulted in a downward trend in mortality observed for that disease. The identification of certain types of HPV as the causal agents of cervical cancer has improved cervical-cancer-screening programs by enabling samples obtained from asymptomatic women to be tested for the presence of harmful viral types that could later give rise to cancer. The effectiveness of preventative measures for cervical cancer is thought to have been greatly increased by the availability of HPV vaccines such as Gardasil, which was approved for the immunization of young girls and boys prior to their becoming sexually active.
Variation with region and culture
Striking differences in incidence and age-adjusted death rates of specific forms of cancer are seen in various parts of the world. For example, deaths caused by malignant melanoma, a cancer of the pigmented cells in the skin, are six times more frequent in New Zealand than in Iceland, a variation attributed to differences in sun exposure.
Most observed geographic differences probably result from environmental or cultural influences rather than from differences in the genetic makeup of separate populations. That view is illustrated by examining the differing incidences of stomach cancer that occur in Japanese immigrants to the United States, in Japanese-Americans born to immigrant parents, and in long-term resident populations of both countries. Gastric cancer mortality rates are much higher in Japan than they are in California probably because of dietary and lifestyle differences. Rates for first-generation Japanese immigrants, on the other hand, are intermediate between those of native Japanese and native Californians, and mortality rates among descendants of Japanese immigrants approach those of the general Californian population with each passing generation. Such observable trends clearly suggest that environmental and cultural factors play an important role in the causation of cancer.
Exposure to carcinogens and disease
Exposure to high levels of carcinogens (substances or forms of energy that are known to cause cancer—for instance, asbestos or ionizing radiation) can occur in the workplace. Occupational exposure can result in small epidemics of unusual cancers, such as an increase in angiosarcoma of the liver documented in 1974 among American workers who cleaned vinyl chloride polymerization vessels. Likewise, dramatic increases of certain types of cancer, such as leukemia and thyroid cancer, have been detected in populations exposed to high doses of radiation associated with the malfunction of nuclear reactors.
Known or suspected chemical carcinogens
| target organ || agents || industries || tumour type |
|lung ||tobacco smoke, arsenic, asbestos, crystalline silica, benzo(a)pyrene, beryllium, bis-chloromethyl ether, 1,3-butadiene, chromium |
VI compounds, coal tar and pitch, nickel compounds, soots, mustard gas
|aluminum production, |
coal gasification, coke production, hematite mining, painting
|squamous cell, large cell, and small cell cancer, adenocarcinoma |
|pleura ||asbestos ||… ||mesothelioma |
|oral cavity ||tobacco smoke, alcoholic beverages, nickel |
|boot and shoe production, furniture manufacture, isopropyl alcohol production ||squamous cell cancer |
|esophagus ||tobacco smoke, alcoholic beverages ||… ||squamous cell cancer |
|gastric ||smoked, salted, and |
|rubber ||adenocarcinoma |
|colon ||heterocyclic amines, |
|pattern making ||adenocarcinoma |
|liver ||aflatoxin, vinyl chloride, tobacco smoke, alcoholic beverages ||… ||hepatocellular carcinoma, hemangiosarcoma |
|kidney ||tobacco smoke ||… ||renal cell cancer |
|bladder ||tobacco smoke, 4-aminobiphenyl, |
|magenta manufacture, auramine manufacture ||transitional cell cancer |
|prostate ||cadmium ||… ||adenocarcinoma |
|skin ||arsenic, benzo(a)pyrene, |
coal tar and pitch, mineral
|coal gasification, coke production ||squamous cell cancer, basal cell cancer |
|bone marrow ||benzene, tobacco smoke, ethylene oxide, |
|rubber ||leukemia |
|Source: Taken from Vincent T. DeVita, Jr., Samuel Hellman, and Steven A. Rosenberg (eds.), Cancer: Principles & Practice of Oncology (1997). |
In addition, new or “emerging” diseases that compromise the body’s capacity to function can have a drastic influence on cancer rates. Kaposi sarcoma, a rare form of vascular tumour in the Western world, is common among individuals with AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome), and its rate thus skyrocketed between 1981, when the HIV/AIDS pandemic began, and the early 2000s, when the annual number of deaths from AIDS began to decline.
The growth and spread of cancer
James Ewing, an early 20th-century American pathologist, defined tumours as “semiautonomous growths of tissue.” That definition has stood the test of time because it emphasizes two major features of cancer: abnormal cell growth and the fact that abnormal growth occurs because of a malfunction in the mechanisms that control cell growth and differentiation (maturation). The transition of cells through the different stages from normal to cancerous can be thought of as an evolutionary process, in which there occurs a succession of genetic changes that undergo selection and determine the ultimate genotype (genetic constitution) of a tumour and its metastases.
Tumour progression: the clinical view
Tumours, both malignant and benign, “present” (first become observable) as lumps or masses caused by the abnormal growth of cells. Many benign tumours are encased in a well-formed capsule. Malignant tumours, on the other hand, lack a true capsule and, even when limited to a specific location, invariably can be seen to have infiltrated surrounding tissues. The ability to invade adjacent tissues is a major characteristic that distinguishes malignant tumours from benign tumours.
A tumour mass is composed not only of abnormal tumour cells but also of normal host cells, which nourish the tumour, and immune cells, which attempt to react to the tumour. The “healthy,” or “normal,” component of the tumour is referred to as the tumour stroma. In some instances, tumour cells and cells in the tumour stroma cooperate or compete with one another, resulting in complex tumour behaviour.
Tumour cells’ uncontrolled growth typically is reflected in an increased rate of cell division and in the failure of tumour cells to die. The rate of tumour growth is determined by comparing the excess of cell production with cell loss. For a transformed tumour cell to produce a tumour of about one billion cells (a mass that weighs about 1 gram [0.04 ounce], the size at which it becomes clinically detectable), the cell must double its population 30 times.
A tumour nodule can grow to only a certain diameter (1 to 2 millimetres [0.04 to 0.08 inch]) before the cells are too distant from the nutrients and oxygen that they need to survive. For tumour expansion to occur, new capillaries (tiny blood vessels) must form within the tumour—a process called vascularization, or angiogenesis. Angiogenesis is a normal process in the body’s replacement of damaged tissue, but it can also occur under abnormal conditions, as in tumour progression. At some point, after months or even years as a harmless cluster of cells, tumours may suddenly begin to generate blood vessels. This occurs because they develop the ability to synthesize growth factors that specifically stimulate the formation of vessels.
Once they have begun to grow, tumours are able to sustain their own growth in a semi-independent fashion. This results from growth factors produced by the tumour cells themselves (a self-stimulatory process called autocriny) and by the stromal cells (a process called paracriny).
Cancer cells can be distinguished from normal cells, and even from benign tumour cells, by microscopic examination. Differences in appearance include inconsistencies in size and shape and misshapen internal structures such as the nucleus, where genetic material is found. Genetic instability of the cell often gives rise to abnormal cells with giant nuclei that contain enormous amounts of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid). When those highly abnormal cells divide by mitosis, the number of chromosomes formed is abnormally elevated, and the mitotic figures (the structures that help to coordinate the division of the chromosomes) are often distorted. Cancer cells also tend to be less-well-differentiated than normal cells, a characteristic that is called anaplasia. When a malignant tumour no longer resembles the tissue of origin, it is said to be undifferentiated, or anaplastic.
Most tumours take many years to grow and form to the point where they produce clinical manifestations. Laryngeal cancer, for instance, appears only after several years of constant exposure to alcohol and tobacco smoke—a behaviour shared by many common tumours caused by environmental conditions. Careful studies of individuals with polyps of the colon (benign tumours of the inner lining of the large intestine) show that it takes three to five years for a new polyp to form and the same amount of time for the polyp to transform or progress into a carcinoma. Thus, when malignant tumours finally present with clinical manifestations, they are well into the last phase of their life.
In some instances it is known that certain abnormal cellular changes precede cancer. Those alterations are collectively referred to as precancerous lesions. A number of terms, such as hyperplasia, dysplasia, and neoplasia, are used to describe precancerous lesions. For example, endometrial hyperplasia (increased cell growth in the endometrium, or inner lining of the uterus) often precedes, and may even set the stage for, cancer of the endometrium. Some clinical conditions are also known to be associated with an increased risk of carcinoma. Indeed, long-standing ulcerative colitis and leukoplakia of the oral cavity carry such an increase in risk that they are known as preneoplastic conditions for adenocarcinoma of the colon and squamous cell carcinoma of the mouth.
Throughout the extended period of time that it takes for cells to acquire the abnormal changes that lead to cancer, they transmit encoded information to their daughter cells. With each round of cell division, pieces of new information associated with abnormal changes become permanently incorporated into the cells’ coded programs. Ultimately, it is the accumulation of that information that is responsible for giving rise to the gene products that in turn cause the abnormal behaviour displayed by cancer cells. In other words, the natural history of a tumour is similar to the natural history of an organism—both obey the tenets of evolutionary theory.
The noninvasive stage
Before tumours metastasize, or spread to other tissues of the body, they pass through a long period as noninvasive lesions. During that stage (the earliest stage in which cancer is recognized as such) the tumour remains in the anatomic site where it arose and does not invade beyond those confines. An example of such a lesion might be a carcinoma that has arisen from an epithelial cell lining the uterine cervix; as long as this carcinoma is confined to the mucosal lining and has not penetrated the basement membrane, which separates the lining from other tissue layers, it is known as a noninvasive tumour (or an in situ tumour). A tumour at that stage lacks its own network of blood vessels to supply nutrients and oxygen, and it has not sent cells into the circulatory system to give rise to new tumours. It also is usually asymptomatic—an unfortunate circumstance, because in situ tumours are curable.
Invasion and dissemination
In the next stage of tumour progression, a solid tumour invades nearby tissues by breaching the basement membrane. The basement membrane, or basal lamina, is a sheet of proteins and other substances to which epithelial cells adhere and that forms a barrier between tissues. Once tumours are able to break through this membrane, cancerous cells not only invade surrounding tissue substances but also enter the bloodstream—often via a lymphatic vessel, which discharges its contents into the blood. Tumour cells that have invaded a lymphatic vessel often become trapped in lymph nodes, whereas cells that gain access to blood vessels are disseminated to various parts of the body such as the bones, the lungs, and the brain. At such distant sites cancer cells form secondary tumours, or metastases. That ability to metastasize is what makes cancer such a lethal disease. The primary tumour (the original tumour growing at the site of origin) usually can be controlled by available therapies, but it is the disseminated disease that eventually proves fatal to the host.
Metastasis: the cellular view
In order to disseminate throughout the body, the cells of a solid tumour must be able to accomplish the following tasks. They must detach from neighbouring cells, break through supporting membranes, burrow through other tissues until they reach a lymphatic or blood vessel, and then migrate through the lining of that vessel. Next, individual cells or clumps of cells must enter the circulatory system for transport throughout the body. If they survive the journey through lymphatic vessels, veins, and arteries, they will eventually lodge in a capillary of another organ, where they may begin to multiply and form a secondary tumour.
Laboratory researchers have intensively studied this process in the hope that insight into the mechanisms of metastasis will provide ways to devise effective therapies. Each step has been individualized and studied, and mechanisms have been elucidated at the cellular and even the molecular level. Several of those mechanisms are described in this section.
The formation of capillaries, or angiogenesis, is an important step that a tumour undergoes in its transition from a small harmless mass of cells to a life-threatening malignant tumour. When they first arise in healthy tissue, tumour cells are not able to stimulate capillary development. At some point in their development, however, they call on proteins that stimulate angiogenesis, and they also develop the ability themselves to synthesize proteins with that capacity. One of those proteins is known as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). VEGF induces endothelial cells (the building blocks of capillaries) to penetrate a tumour nodule and begin the process of capillary development. As the endothelial cells divide, they in turn secrete growth factors that stimulate the growth or motility of tumour cells. Thus, endothelial cells and tumour cells mutually stimulate each other.
Cancer cells also produce another type of protein that inhibits the growth of blood vessels. It seems, therefore, that a balance between angiogenesis inhibitors and angiogenesis stimulators determines whether the tumour begins capillary development. Evidence suggests that angiogenesis begins when cells decrease their production of the inhibiting proteins. Angiogenesis inhibitors are seen as promising therapeutic agents.
The process of invasion begins when one cancer cell detaches itself from the mass of tumour cells. Normally, cells are cohesive and stick to one another by a series of specialized molecules. An important early step in cancer invasion appears to be the loss of this property, known as cellular adhesion. In many epithelial tumours it has been shown that cell-adhesion molecules such as E-cadherin, which helps to keep cells in place, are in short supply.
Another type of adhesion that keeps cells in place is their attachment to the extracellular matrix, the network of substances secreted by cells and found between them that helps to provide structure in tissues. Normally, if a cell is unable to attach to the extracellular matrix, it dies through induction of the cell suicide program known as apoptosis. Cancer cells, however, develop a means to avoid death in that situation.
In order to gain access to a blood or lymphatic channel, cancer cells must move through the extracellular matrix and penetrate the basement membrane of the vessel. To do that, they must be able to forge a path through tissues, a task they perform with the aid of enzymes that digest the extracellular matrix. The cell either synthesizes those proteins or stimulates cells in the matrix to do so. The breakdown of the extracellular matrix not only creates a path of least resistance through which cancer cells can migrate but also gives rise to many biologically active molecules—some that promote angiogenesis and others that attract additional cells to the site.
Once in the bloodstream, tumour cells are disseminated to regions throughout the body. Eventually those cells lodge in capillaries of other organs and exit into those organs, where they grow and establish new metastases.
Not all the cancer cells within a malignant tumour are able to spread. Although all the cells in a tumour derive from a single cell, successive divisions give rise to a heterogeneous group of cancer cells, only some of which develop the genetic alterations that allow the cell to seed other tissues. Of those cells that are able to break away from the parent tumour and enter the circulation, probably less than 1 in 10,000 actually ends up creating a new tumour at a distant site.
Although the location and nature of the primary tumour determine the patterns of dissemination, many tumours spread preferentially to certain sites. This situation can be explained in part by the architecture of the circulatory system and the natural routes of blood flow. Circulating cancer cells often establish metastases “downstream” from their originating organ. For example, because the lungs are usually the first organ through which the blood flows after leaving most organs, they are the most-common site of metastasis.
But circulation alone does not explain all cases of preferential spread. Clinical evidence suggests that a homing mechanism is responsible for some unlikely metastatic deposits. For example, prostate and breast cancers often disseminate first to the bone, and lung cancer often seeds new tumours in the adrenal glands. This homing phenomenon may be related to tumour cell recognition of specific “exit sites” from the circulation or to awareness of a particularly favourable—or forbidding— “soil” of another tissue. That may occur because of an affinity that exists between receptor proteins on the surface of cancer cells and molecules that are abundant in the extracellular matrix of specific tissues. In some instances, the circulating cells may even home back to the primary source, thus contributing to the growth of the primary tumour by reseeding.
Because metastasis is such a biologically complex phenomenon, it is unlikely that a single genetic defect brings it about. It seems more reasonable to predict that a number of aberrant genes contribute to the process. Investigation of circulating tumour cells isolated from patients may further scientists’ understanding of what determines metastatic behaviour. Attempts to discover what genes are involved are ongoing and, it is hoped, will lead to new therapeutic approaches that halt tumour spread.
Effects of tumours on the individual
The signs and symptoms of benign or malignant tumours result for the most part from the local effects of either the primary tumour or its metastases. In some cases the primary tumour and the secondary metastases do not progress at the same pace, and in such an instance the primary tumour may manifest itself while the metastases do not cause symptoms and, as a result, go undetected for years.
In addition to local effects, malignant neoplasms produce systemic effects such as body wasting (cachexia) and a variety of clinical manifestations known as paraneoplastic syndromes. Both local and systemic effects are described in this section.
Local effects of tumour growth
Benign and malignant tumours produce a number of effects in an individual that vary depending on the location of the tumour, the tumour’s functional activity, and any acute events that occur as the tumour mass grows and evolves. Metastatic tumours (those that result from the spread of the primary tumour) can produce the same consequences. A tumour affects normal bodily functions by compressing, invading, and destroying normal tissues and also by producing substances that circulate in the bloodstream.
Effects of location
The location of the tumour will determine how fast it manifests itself. Tumours arising in the deep soft tissues of the retroperitoneal space (the area next to the kidney) can grow very large before they produce discomfort. On the other hand, a relatively small tumour in the lungs can produce partial obstruction of secondary airways and cause pneumonia, which can draw attention to the tumour at an early stage.
The expansive growth of benign neoplasms or the more destructive growth of malignant tumours may erode natural surfaces and lead to the development of ulcers and bleeding and create conditions that favour infection. Tumours of the colon are indicated when small quantities of blood are found in the stools through an occult blood test.
Effects of functional activity
When abnormal tissue is growing in the midst of an organ, it is likely to interfere with the organ’s function. Metastases growing in the adrenal gland, for instance, eventually can destroy the gland and produce adrenal insufficiency (a condition called Addison disease). Sometimes the clinical manifestations of a tumour result from a malfunction in the tumour cell itself. This is commonly seen in tumours of endocrine glands, whose cells produce excessive amounts of hormones. For example, benign tumours of the parathyroid gland (called parathyroid adenomas) oversecrete parathormone, which causes calcium levels in the blood to rise. Symptoms such as muscle weakness, fatigue, anorexia, nausea, and constipation are caused by the excess calcium levels.
Effects of acute events
In the life of a tumour, acute accidents can produce dramatic symptoms. For example, ovarian cysts can rupture and produce immediate and severe abdominal discomfort. Tumours growing freely in a cavity can become twisted and cut off the blood supply to the tumour. That interruption of blood flow can cause tissue death (infarction), which may result in internal bleeding and cause intense pain for the individual.
Systemic effects of malignant tumours
About 10 percent of persons with cancer have signs and symptoms that are not directly related to the location of a tumour or its metastases. Effects that appear at a distance from the tumour are called paraneoplastic syndromes. Such symptoms may be the first manifestation of a small tumour and thus may allow early detection and treatment of the disease. It is important that those symptoms not be confused with symptoms caused by advanced metastatic disease, as misdiagnosis can lead to inappropriate therapy.
Among the most-dramatic paraneoplastic syndromes are those mediated by abnormal hormone production. For example, small-cell carcinomas of the lung can produce excessive amounts of adrenocortical-stimulating hormone. The hormone is circulated in the bloodstream and acts at a distance from the tumour, stimulating the adrenal glands to oversecrete corticosteroids that in turn produces Cushing syndrome—characterized by such symptoms as muscle weakness, hypertension, and high levels of glucose in the blood.
Body wasting is a common systemic effect of malignant tumours, particularly at advanced stages of growth. It may appear with loss of appetite (anorexia) and weight loss. It is likely that a chemical mediator called tumour necrosis factor-alpha is one of the multiple molecules that bring about wasting effects. This factor is produced by immune cells called macrophages and sometimes is secreted by tumour cells.
Another common paraneoplastic manifestation is an increase in the clotting ability of the blood (hypercoagulability). A number of abnormalities can result from the hypercoagulable state, including migratory thrombophlebitis, a recurrent inflammation and thrombosis of the veins.
Many paraneoplastic syndromes that affect nervous and muscle functions are thought to be caused by autoimmune reactions that damage healthy tissue. Such a reaction occurs when the immune system produces antibodies that react to an antigen (e.g., a protein) produced by and found on the surface of the tumour cell. If this tumour antigen closely resembles an antigen normally found on the surface of neurons or muscle cells, the antibodies can cross-react with these healthy cells, causing tissue damage.
The immune response to tumours
The autoimmune reaction described above is a negative effect of the immune response to cancer cells, but it does indicate that the body can mount a protective response to cancer. The immune system can identify and destroy emerging cancer cells because it recognizes abnormal antigens on the cell surface as “nonself,” or foreign. Because foreign substances are usually dangerous to the body, the immune system is programmed to destroy them. This constant monitoring of the body for small tumours is known as immune surveillance.
The immune system inhibits the formation of tumours in several ways. For example, it fights infections by viruses that cause tumours. Most of the infections by papillomaviruses in the female genital tract, for example, are cleared by the immune system. It also helps reduce inflammation associated with lesions, thereby dampening the activity of factors in the tissue microenvironment that facilitate tumour development. Furthermore, immunity eliminates abnormal cells with preneoplastic potential by recognizing abnormal antigens expressed on their surface.
Immune surveillance is known to operate in the rejection of tumour cells in persons with hereditary nonpolyposis colon cancer, also called Lynch syndrome. Those individuals inherit a faulty DNA mismatch repair system and as a consequence produce many mutant proteins. When such mutant proteins appear on the surface of tumour cells, they are recognized as foreign and rejected. Tumours that do emerge are those that have managed to evade the body’s immune surveillance system.
Additional evidence for the role of immune mechanisms in cancer prevention is provided by individuals with damaged immune systems—for instance, persons born with immune deficiencies, people whose immune systems have been suppressed with chemicals to avoid rejection of transplanted organs, and individuals with acquired HIV/AIDS. Those people are at greater risk of developing cancer—especially malignant lymphoma, a tumour of the lymphocytes (one of the major cellular components of the immune system). The types of lymphomas that develop are related to infection with the Epstein-Barr virus and human T-cell leukemia viruses. An increase in the most-common forms of cancer—such as lung, breast, and colon—is not observed in immune-deficient patients. There is, however, increasing evidence that escape from immune control is a fundamental characteristic of most tumours.
The immune system responds to two general types of tumour antigens: tumour-specific antigens, which are unique to tumour cells, and tumour-associated antigens, which appear on both normal cells and cancer cells.
Tumour-specific antigens represent fragments of novel peptides (small proteins) that are presented at the cell surface bound to the major histocompatibility complex class I molecules. In that form they are recognized by T lymphocytes (T cells) and eliminated. The novel peptides are derived from mutated proteins or from production of a protein that is not expressed in normal cells.
The first tumour found to carry a tumour-specific antigen was a malignant melanoma. The fact that melanomas occasionally undergo “spontaneous” regression in some individuals indicates that the immune response can be effective at eliminating those tumour cells.
Tumour-associated antigens on tumour cells are not qualitatively different in structure from antigens found on normal cells, but they are present in significantly greater amounts. Because of their abundance, they are often shed into the bloodstream. Elevated levels of those antigens can be used as tumour markers—that is, indicators of a tumour.
Some tumour-associated antigens are normally produced by developing cells of the fetus or embryo, but they either are no longer produced by an adult or are produced only in small amounts. One such antigen is called the carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA). Elevated levels of CEA are found primarily in persons with cancers of the gastrointestinal tract and also in some patients with breast, lung, ovarian, pancreatic, and stomach cancers.