Do not know the very brief history of tumor! The life of cancer used to be like this.

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There are often patients who are newly diagnosed with cancer, and long-term this may indeed increase the risk of cancer. The occurrence and development of cancer has grown into a decade or even decades. The growth and development of most cancers is a long-term process, from seeds to towering trees-- the five stages of the occurrence and development of cancer (precancerous lesions). The precancerous lesion is the precancerous stage of the malignant tumor (cancer), that is, the precancerous stage of the malignant tumor (cancer), that is, the cell of the body has undergone a certain degree of abnormal change, but it has not yet developed to the real cancer stage. Many chronic inflammation and polyps may actually be precancerous lesions. Precancerous lesions may develop into true cancer. Precancerous lesions are like the seed stage before a big tree grows. Cancer in situ is a disease term that many people may be exposed to. It is a cancer confined to in situ (medically speaking, it does not break through the basal layer, but it is different from what we usually call cancer (which usually refers to invasive cancer).

Hello, everyone. I'm Pan Zhanhe, an oncologist. Often when patients are first diagnosed with cancer, they will have a strong remorse: blame them for eating too much junk food these days! Just blame the hard work and tiredness during this period of time! The implication is that his cancer was acquired only during this period of time.

Eating too much junk food, working too hard and working too hard, of course, is not good, which may indeed increase the risk of cancer in the long run. But cancer does not grow in a day. Before it is clearly diagnosed as cancer, it has been growing in people for a long time from the beginning. It takes years, decades or even decades for cancer to develop into a "visible" cancer (diagnosable cancer).

The growth and development of most cancers is a long-term process with different stages of development.In order to give you a better understanding, you might as well compare cancer to a big tree, linking up the following conceptsThe development of cancer is like the growth process from "seed" to "big tree".


From seed to towering tree

The five stages of the occurrence and development of cancer


Seed stage (precancerous lesion)

The first is the precancerous stage, that is, the "seed stage".

Literally, the precancerous lesion is the precancerous stage of a malignant tumor (cancer), that is to say, the cells of the body have undergone abnormal changes to a certain extent, but it has not yet developed to the real cancer stage, and it is still not cancer. It has a certain degree of reversibility, that is to say, it may further develop into a real cancer. It is also possible to return to normal on its own or after taking some effective treatment measures.

Do not know the very brief history of tumor! The life of cancer used to be like this.

Many chronic inflammation and polyps may actually be precancerous lesions, such as atrophic gastritis, chronic gastric ulcers, familial polyps or adenomas of the colon or rectum, and mucosal leukoplakia (leukoplakia of the vulva or lip), cystic hyperplasia of the breast, pigmented nevus of the skin, etc. can be classified as precancerous lesions. Precancerous lesions may develop into real cancer, of course, we should pay attention to it, but there is no need to panic. Precancerous lesions are like the seed stage before the growth of a big tree. It cannot be called a "tree" yet. If it is planted in the soil, only under the right conditions, it may grow into a tree, but if there are no suitable conditions, or if the seeds are dug out of the soil, it will not grow into a tree, or it will not have a chance to grow into a tree at all.


Seedling stage (carcinoma in situ) Tis

Then there is the stage of carcinoma in situ, that is, the "sapling stage".

That is, the seed has sprouted, which can be called a tree, but it is still a small sapling, the foundation is not very deep, and it will not sow seeds around. It is very easy to get rid of it at this time, you can uproot it so that it does not have a chance to grow again. This is "carcinoma in situ". Cancer in situ is a disease term that many people may come into contact with. Some people often ask: is cancer in situ cancer? Explain to him for a long time, but because "cancer in situ" has the word "cancer", it is still scared half to death, and the whole family is in extreme fear, which is actually unnecessary.

The so-called carcinoma in situ, popularly speaking, is a cancer confined to the basal layer (in medicine, it does not break through the basal layer, but this is too academic for ordinary people to understand what the basal layer is). Of course, it can also be regarded as cancer. but unlike what we usually call cancer (which usually refers to invasive cancer), it has not invaded into the deep (interstitial invasion has not yet occurred). It is not obviously invasive (the most terrible thing about cancer is invasion, spread and metastasis), so the prognosis is very good and can be cured with proper treatment (mainly surgery). As a matter of fact, there is no stage of carcinoma in situ. It really needs to be staged, that is, stage 0, which is indicated by Tis.


Tree stage (invasive cancer) T

Then there is the stage of invasive cancer, that is, the "tree stage".

When the seedling continues to grow, the roots grow deeper (the roots grow to the periphery and deep), begin to flourish, and the vitality is already very strong. It will not be too easy to get rid of it at this time, but as long as it is dealt with in time, it is still possible to uproot it, so that it has no chance to grow again, but because its root system is already deep, when it is pulled up. There may also be residual roots (equivalent to "invisible" cancer foci or cancer cells that may remain "invisible" after surgery) and may grow again, like a cancer recurrence. This is the real cancer, the so-called invasive cancer, we usually say that so-and-so cancer (such as breast cancer, lung cancer, colon cancer) refers to invasive cancer, omitting the word "infiltration". Literally, infiltration means that cancer cells have invaded and infiltrated deeper from the site of occurrence, which is usually represented by T in clinical staging. As for the Arabic numerals of T subscript, such as T1, T2, T3, etc., it is a further subdivision of the degree of invasion (or the size of the tumor, or the depth of tumor invasion).


Seed sowing stage

(regional lymph node metastasis) N

Then there is the stage of regional lymph node metastasis, that is, the stage of seed sowing around.

When a grown tree continues to grow, it may extend its roots and seeds around it and grow into new young trees, like lymphatic metastases in cancerous areas. Regional lymph node metastasis of cancer is usually indicated by N in clinical staging. In the clinical diagnosis given by the doctor, N will also be subscribed with Arabic numerals. The subscript 0 indicates that there is no regional lymph node metastasis, and the subscript is 1, 2, 3 and other numbers. indicates the location or number of lymphatic metastasis.


The stage of seed sowing into the distance

(distant metastasis) M

Finally, there is the stage of distant transfer, that is, the stage of seed spreading far away with the wind.

If conditions are right, a big tree may use some power, such as the wind, to spread its seeds far away, or even completely in another place, take root and sprout in another place, and grow into another or more big trees. it's like cancer with distant metastasis. Distant metastasis of cancer, which is commonly referred to as advanced cancer, has metastasized far away, which refers to distant tissue and organ metastasis, such as liver and lung bone metastasis, as well as non-regional lymph node metastasis. In clinical staging, M is usually used, subscript 0 indicates no distant metastasis, subscript 1 indicates metastasis, and sometimes subscript 2 is used to indicate different distant metastatic organs.

Through this popular science article, I think you should have an intuitive and clear understanding of the growth and development of cancer, and at the same time, you will not look at the TNM staging of malignant tumors.

It is worth noting that of these five stages,Precancerous lesions and carcinoma in situ are the best time for intervention.Can strangle cancer in its infancy.If it is 100% cured, we must pay attention to timely treatment. Of course, even if it is already invasive cancer, if it can be detected early, there is still a great chance of cure (not 100%). If you are afraid of laissez-faire, you will miss the opportunity again and again. Once the cancer has metastasized far away, it is difficult to have a chance of cure in most cases (although in a few cases it is still possible to fight for a cure).