• Question: How do people get diagnosed with cancer?

    Asked by itssmeemayaa to Amy, Karen, Sarah, Vijay, Will on 19 Jun 2012.
    • Photo: Sarah Martin

      Sarah Martin answered on 19 Jun 2012:

      Hi itssmeemayaa,

      It’s me! There are lots of different ways, just like there are lots of different types of cancer in lots of different parts of the body. So while you may be able to see a skin cancer very clearly, you won’t be able to see Leukaemia, which is a blood cancer, until the person looks ill.

      If a doctor thinks someone might have cancer, they will take blood, or a sample of the tumor if they can, and perform tests on it, like for example:
      – A biopsy, which is usually the only way to tell for sure whether you have cancer or not. The doctor cuts out a small piece of tissue (a group of similar cells) and sends it to a laboratory to be studied. A pathologist (a doctor who specializes in diagnosing diseases) looks at the tissue under a microscope to see whether it has cancerous cells.
      – Imaging tests produce pictures of areas inside the body, and maybe see the cancer. They include x-rays, like mammograms, computed tomography (CT or CAT) scans, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. Other common imaging tests include ultrasound and positron emission tomography (PET) scans.
      – Laboratory tests can check for substances in the blood or urine that can indicate how advanced the cancer is.
      – Genomics tests like Polymerase chain reaction (PCR), fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH), and other genomics tests (tests of genes and their functions) can find mutations (unusual changes) in certain genes that are known to cause cancer.

      I hope we’ll never need any of these though ourselves!

      🙂 Sarah

    • Photo: Karen Reed

      Karen Reed answered on 19 Jun 2012:

      I think Sarah’s given a really good answer already – but one of the important things for a good outcome with cancer is to detect (tell you’ve got it) early. That;s why its important to check yourself over for any unusual lumps, bumps, sore patches that don’t go away, changes in skin colouring etc. and to go and see you’re GP if you are at all worried.

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