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Most Common Types of Cancers that Occur in Teens

Cancer in Teens

Cancer occurs when the cells in the human body have abnormal and uncontrolled growth but occurrence of cancer in teens is rare and not as common as in adults. Cancer is a group of different diseases which can be found anywhere in the body and spread to other parts or tissues in the body.

The disease like breast cancer occurs on adult women and not in the teen girls but there are some types of cancer which are mostly occurring in teens. The types of cancer which occur in teens have one common thing known as cells which are the basic component of the human body. When such cells have an abnormal growth the patients are at a high risk to develop cancer and the cells grow in an uncontrolled way.

Types of Cancer in Teens

The most common types of cancers occur in teens are as follows

  • Osteosarcoma
  • Ewing’s Sarcoma
  • Leukemia
  • Lymphoma
  • Testicular cancer
  • Rhabdomyosarcomas

Osteosarcoma

Osteosarcoma is the most common type of cancer which occurs in teens and this type of cancer sometimes occurs during the growth spurts of teens. Osteosarcoma cancer affects mostly guys than the girls and also discovered in people who are taller than average. But in most of the teen cancer cases the exact reason for Osteosarcoma is unknown and this type of cancer is mostly found in the bones which are around the knee or it may be expected to found in other bones of the body. The Osteosarcoma can be caused by some factors such as

  • It may be caused by the environmental triggers such as radium, fluoride and deficiency of vitamin D3.
  • It may caused by the inactivation of the gene Rb which helps in suppression of tumors and it may sometimes found in the conjunction with retinoblastoma.

Credit by pedorthpath

The signs and symptoms of Osteosarcoma are listed below

  • Bone pain
  • Bone Swelling
  • Local pain and swelling
  • Severe pain in night
  • If the tumor is large then it will appear as a swelling in the body
  • The affected bone get fracture with minor trauma

Ewing’s Sarcoma

This cancer in teens is one of the rare types of cancer which can be found in the teens between the age of 10 and 20 which affects the bone of the human like the Osteosarcoma.

The symptoms of the disease are based on the location of the tumor and whether it has spread or not. This Ewing’s sarcoma will mostly affects the long bones in the human body like arms and legs.

The symptoms of such disease are as follows

  • Pain at the tumor location
  • Swelling around the tumor location
  • Sometime the skin around the tumor location may get reddish.
  • Loss of appetite
  • Fatigue
  • Fever
  • Unintended weight loss
  • Fractures can occur as a result of bone weakness

The Ewing’s Sarcoma can be treated with chemotherapy and surgery but the chances of recovery from the disease is based on the location of the tumor, size, and whether it has spread to other tissues. The Ewing’s Sarcoma is one of the cancer types which occur in teens that can be completely curable and respond well to chemotherapy and surgery.

Leukemia

Leukemia is one of the types of cancer occurs in teens which is caused when there are large number of abnormal white blood cells called leukemic blasts. The white blood cells are the effective cells which fights against any types of bacteria and infection which enters the body. But the abnormal white blood cells occupy the bone marrow and may enter into the blood streams which are defective and they wont protect the body to fight against the infection enters into the human body. There are two most common types of Leukemia in teens are

  • Acute Lymphocytic leukemia (ALL)
  • Acute Myelogenous leukemia (AML)

The signs and symptoms of the two leukemia cancers are almost the same and they are as follows

  • Fever which is the sign of infection
  • Easy bleeding even for small injuries
  • Pinpoint spots of blood under the skin which are caused due to the tiny broken blood vessels
  • Bone or joint pain
  • Painless lumps in the neck, underarm, stomach, groin, and around the eyes.
  • Fatigue
  • Loss of appetite
  • Pain and fullness under the ribs
  • Breathing difficulty or coughing

Lymphoma

The Lymphoma is one of the types of cancer occurs in teens whihc can be found in the lymphatic system and the teens with lymphoma have either Hodgkin’s disease or non Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The lymphatic system of the human body includes lymph nodes, thymus, spleen, adenoids, tonsils, and bone marrow. The main function of the lymphatic system is to fight against the germs which cause infection and any type of illness.

Image by wikipedia

The Hodgkin’s disease occurs mostly to the young adults and it can be found in lymph nodes in the neck, armpits, chest or other parts in the body. This Hodgkin’s diseases can be detected under a microscope after a biopsy and the disease can be treated with chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

The non Hodgkin’s lymphoma is also a type of cancer which can be found in the Lymphoma patient and this is similar to the Leukemia cancer. The non Hodgkin’s and Hodgkin’s have the same symptoms which can be treated with chemotherapy and the patients have an excellent chance of cure after the treatment.

Testicular Cancer

This is one of the types of cancer occurs in teens which is caused when the normal cells in a testicle starts to change or grow in an uncontrollable way which forms tumor. The tumor in such case is either benign (non cancerous) or Malignant (cancerous) and this type of cancer can be completely curable when diagnosed in the early stage.

Image by wikipedia

The symptoms of the testicular cancer include

  • A swelling in one or both the testes
  • Pain in the testes
  • Heaviness in the scrotum
  • Pain in the lower abdominal area or lower back

Rhabdomyosarcomas

The Rhabdomyosarcomas which is well known as the soft tissue sarcomas is the rare or less common cancer that occurs in the teens. This cancer can be found within the muscles in the trunk, arms or legs in the human body and the cancer cells grow in the soft tissues of the skeletal muscles.

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These are the most common and frequently developing cancers in teens. The cancers occur in teens can be cured if the disease is diagnosed in the early stage and the cancers in teens are treated mostly with chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgery.

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Sivaraman did his higehr secondary at Government School in Madurai which is in the southern most part of India. He completed his MBBS from Government college in Madurai. He has around 25+ years of experience as a Physician and now he is relaxing his old age by writing for blogs.

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