Pub. 3 2013 Issue 1

10 At the Center of Utah Industry Cancer Treatments C ancer is actually a broad term that covers more than 200 different diseases, but the thing they all have in common is theway cancerous cells divide and grow uncontrollably. This uncontrollable growth leads to the development of something called malignant tumors. In some cases, the cancer spreads through the entire body through the blood or the lymphatic system. Not all tumors are cancerous; some stay stable in terms of size, do not invade nearby tissue, and do not spread throughout a person’s body. But when a tumor is cancerous, it can be deadly, in a surprisingly short amount of time. The only cause of death that is more common than cancer is heart disease. In 2012, Utah and some of the states surrounding it had the following numbers of cases diagnosed: • California: 165,810 • Arizona: 31,990 • Colorado: 22,820 • Nevada: 13,780 • Utah: 10,620 • New Mexico: 9,640 • Idaho: 7,720 • Wyoming: 2,650 Doctors do not completely understand cancer, although they certainly know more now than they did decades ago. We know some of the things that increase the risk of cancer, such as smoking, getting sunburned, and excessive x-rays, although it generally takes ten or more years between exposure to something that causes cancer and the development of the cancer itself. We also know that environmental pollutants can cause it, as well as damage to the body caused by immune conditions, hormones, and metabolic mutations. About five to ten percent of cancers are inherited. Onc e c anc e r i s d i agno sed , i t s treatment consists of strategies for stopping the abnormal cell growth. That means surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. Approximately 1,638,910 new cancer cases were diagnosed in 2012, and of those who had cancer (not just the new cases), it was expected that 577,190 would die. That works out to about 1,500 people dying every day. The five-year survival rate between 2001 and 2007 was 67 percent. That’s an improvement. What most people don’t know is that chemotherapy relies heavily on drugs that are based on coal-based chemicals. It began in World War I, with the development of mustard Coal Mining for