• Question: How many types of cancer are there?

    Asked by GBJ to Sian, Max, Lizzie, Francis, Ben on 6 Mar 2018.
    • Photo: Francis Man

      Francis Man answered on 6 Mar 2018:

      Using the current classification (https://www.cancer.gov/types/by-body-location), there are about 200 of types of cancer and many more subtypes. They tend to be defined by which organ is affected, and/or which type of cell within that organ.
      I think we are progressively moving towards a different type of classification that describes what process is going wrong within the cell. It might be a better indication of what kind of treatment is required.
      For example, there are several types of breast cancer. Some respond well to treatment A, some respond better to treatment B. But treatment A might also work very well on some types of lung cancer. So it could make sense to describe cancers by saying they are “A-type” or “B-type”, rather than simply “breast” or “lung” cancers.
      It gets even more complicated the breast cancer (for example) in one patient can actually be made of several different types of cancer cells.

    • Photo: Lizzie Wright

      Lizzie Wright answered on 6 Mar 2018:

      Wow, thats a lot! On top of the different categories of cancer, each person’s cancer cells are unique, made up of different mutations. This is why a lot of cancer treatment now is moving towards being personalised, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.

    • Photo: Ben Mulhearn

      Ben Mulhearn answered on 7 Mar 2018:

      Wow great answer Francis! To add, just think that any living cell in your body can become cancerous, so there are as many types of cancers as there are different types of cell in the body.

Comments