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| procedures or other conventional treatments. In other cases, a combination of both conventional and holistic therapies might prove to be the best approach. The more experience I have with cancer, the more I am able to recognize which approach will be best for a particular patient. |
| Types of Cancer |
| Although there are more than a hundred varieties of cancer, when these varieties are classified according to the type of cell in which they arise, they fall into three general categories. |
| 1. Carcinomas, the most common types of cancer, are tumors that arise in the epithelial tissuesthe sheets of cells that cover all free surfaces of the body, such as the skin; the lining of glandular ducts (i.e., breast and prostate); and the lining of hollow organs such as the stomach and intestines. Some examples of carcinomas are: |
| Adenocarcinoma, which originates in the epithelial tissues of glands, ducts, and mucous membranes in the breast, lungs, and colon. |
| Mucoid carcinoma, consisting of cells that secrete mucin, found frequently in the stomach, colon, and rectum. |
| Squamous carcinoma, arising from the thickened epithelium of the skin or the lining of the esophagus, tongue, and cervix. |
| 2. Sarcomas, which are relatively rare, arise in supportive or connective tissue, such as cartilage, muscle, bone, fibrous connective tissue, and blood vessels. Sarcomas are very often malignant, increasing rapidly in size and invading neighboring tissues and the bloodstream. One example of a sarcoma is a fibrosarcoma, which is derived from the fibrous sheath of a large muscle; another is a chrondrosarcoma, which is derived from cartilage. Both carcinomas and sarcomas are solid tumors. |
| 3. Leukemias and lymphomas arise from cells of the immune system such as leukocytes (white blood cells) and lymphocytes. They are usually composed of dispersed cells, although the lymphoma cells can occasionally form solid tumors. Leukemias are cancers of blood-forming cells that occur in bone marrow and other blood-forming organs. Lymphomas are malignant tumors that arise in the lymph system. |
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