Cancer

So I thought it would be good to put up a little information about what cancer is and about my particular cancer. This is not going to make you an expert at cancer but give you a simple understanding. If you know all this already, information about my cancer and experiences are further down the page.

What is cancer?

Cancerous tumors are characterized by cell division, which is no longer controlled as it is in normal tissue.   "Normal" cells stop dividing when they come into contact with like cells, a mechanism known as contact inhibition.  Cancerous cells lose this ability.  Cancer cells no longer have the normal checks and balances in place that control and limit cell division.  The process of cell division, whether normal or cancerous cells, is through the cell cycle.  The cell cycle goes from the resting phase, through active growing phases, and then to mitosis (division).

In more simple terms, cells have an on off switch in their DNA that tells them when to multiply and when not to. Cancerous cells DNA switches are stuck in the “on” position. These cells often have some type of mutation and often mutate more with further cell division. The buildup of these cells are what become tumors or lesions. Seems so simple for such a destructive and often terrifying thing, huh?

What is metastasis?

Metastasis is when a cancer cell breaks away from its original place and moves into another part of the body. As long as the cell has not mutated too much, the point of origin can be determined; however, when the cells mutate too much, they are not recognizable and finding the proper treatment may become difficult.

My cancer had metastasized throughout my torso, in my thighs, and the bone of the neck and ball of my left hip and top of my right humerus. My bone biopsy was done on my humerus bone.  A chunk of my bone was surgically removed and tested. They were able to get my diagnosis with this procedure.

Cancer that has metastasized is still typed as the same cancer as the point of origin. This cancer will respond to the same chemotherapy as the cells at the point of origin, as they are the same cells. A man with lung cancer that metastasized to his prostate does not mean he now has prostate cancer. Prostate cancer treatments would not work on the tumors in his prostate, but the lung cancer chemotherapy would treat the tumors. Does that make sense???

What are the cancer stages and what do they mean?

Stage 0 - Carcinoma in situ (absence of invasion of tumor cells into the surrounding tissue)

Stage I - Cancers are localized to one part of the body. Tumors are small and few

Stage II - Cancers are locally advanced. Tumors are larger and/or more than a few

Stage III - Cancers are also locally advanced. Whether a cancer is designated as Stage II or Stage III can depend on the specific type of cancer. Generically, stage III, the tumors move into surrounding tissues of place of origin but to a small degree and small in size.

Stage IV - The cancer has spread to another organ(s).

What is my cancer?

I have stage IV diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (non-Hodgkin’s).

Lymphoma is the most common blood cancer. The two main forms of lymphoma are Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). Lymphoma occurs when lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell, grow abnormally. The body has two main types of lymphocytes that can develop into lymphomas: B-lymphocytes (B-cells) and T-lymphocytes (T-cells). Cancerous lymphocytes can travel to many parts of the body, including the lymph nodes, spleen, bone marrow, blood or other organs, and can accumulate to form tumors.

Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the most common form of NHL, accounting for up to 30% of newly diagnosed cases. DLBCL is an aggressive (fast-growing) lymphoma. It can arise in lymph nodes or outside of the lymphatic system, in the gastrointestinal tract, testes, thyroid, skin, breast, bone or brain.

Often, the first sign of DLBCL is a painless rapid swelling in the neck, armpit or groin caused by enlarged lymph nodes. For some patients, the swelling may be painful. Other symptoms include night sweats, unexplained fevers and weight loss. Most patients with DLBCL are adults, although this lymphoma is sometimes seen in children.

My experience is a little different than the norm!

Notice how I mentioned that the first sign is usually painless rapid swelling? My first sign was pain in my hip. I thought I had hurt myself during exercise. I had no other sign, even 5 months after my initial sign. It was months before anyone realized that my condition was serious. It is very rare that lymphoma will go into the bone.

I had tumors (I will find out soon how many and how big) throughout my torso; in my chest cavity, abdomen, and in the muscle in my back. I also had tumors in the muscle of both thighs and in the bone of my right femur just above my knee (very small), the neck and ball of my left femur and the top half of my right humerus. I was lucky as none of the tumor has spread into any organ or surrounded any major blood vessels.

I am thankful for the pain in my bone. Had I not felt the pain, I may not have known that I had cancer until it invaded something very important or it ravaged my body. Aside from being a little overweight, I was the perfect specimen of health. My labs were great. They even had me take a blood test that detects lymphoma, and it came back clean.  I caught the cancer just in time.