Last Name

Name

Professor’s name

Course Title

Date

Cancer

There is a thorough history of diseases in the history of human civilizations. For instance, in the

history modern Europe, Bubonic plague was an apocalypse that has wiped half of the population

of Europe. However, the disease like cancer existed in human history with lower death tolls but

in the recent times it has become one of the lethal disease. Moreover, cancer has tormented

people for centuries in different forms such as tumor and organ failures. The word cancer was

coined by ancient Greek physician Hippocrates, who used the Greek words Carcinoma and

carcinos to denote tumors. Although, Hippocrates was the first physician and medical expert in

human history, who researched and named the disease as ‘Cancer’ but the history of Cancer is

very old dates back to the 1500 B.C in Egypt. The ancient Egyptian society faced the disease of

cancer in the form of breast tumors [ CITATION Fag14 \l 1033 ]. Today, cancer is the second major

cause behind the global deaths that has killed approximately 9.6 million people in 2018 alone. In

this respect, across the globe one in six deaths each year is due to cancer that raises the question

about the dynamics and biological impacts of the cancer[ CITATION Pra18 \l 1033 ].

As an illustration, as a fatal disease, cancer remained one of the lethal diseases in history of

human civilizations. Perhaps, this poisonous disease has highly affected people because,

historically people only relied on the palliative treatments. In our time, despite latest
 Last Name

developments in medical technology and research, the medical experts remained unsuccessful in

discovering vaccine to cure the disease. At the moment, around 70% people, who dies each year

because of cancer belong to low and middle income countries. Moreover, across the

underdeveloped and developing world, the cancer deaths are also associated with the weak health

and medical care. According to recent researches, the major reason behind cancer disease is

associated with our daily diet and behavior risks such as weight gain, less dietary use of

vegetables and fruits, use of drugs like alcohol and tobacco and lack of exercise. In contrast,

according to majority of health experts and cancer specialists, the reckless dietary routine and

use of tobacco are the leading causes of the cancer disease.

On the contrary, there are various infections related to cancer such as hepatitis and

approximately 25% of people across the globe each year die because of cancer and human

Papilloma virus often denoted as HPVs. Across the underdeveloped and developing parts of the

world, the public healthcare sector lacks the facility of cancer diagnosis. Likewise, across the

developed part of the world the problem of cancer diagnosis and treatment is associated with the

expensive healthcare system. In both parts of the world, the cancer related deaths are closely

connected with either weak public healthcare or expensive healthcare system. Moreover, the

cancer related deaths are of different types[ CITATION Ram17 \l 1033 ] . According to World Health

Organizations, in 2018 alone the number of deaths were associated with different types of

cancer. For instance, out of 9.6 million cancer-related deaths, approximately 2.09 million deaths

were due to lung cancer and another 2.09 million deaths were due to breast cancer. Likewise, in

the same year, around 1.03 million deaths were associated with stomach cancer and 1.28 million

deaths were associated with prostate cancer[ CITATION WHO12 \l 1033 ].

 Last Name

As a matter fact, the major reason behinds these huge death tolls are poor diet, unhealthy

behavior, lack of proper exercise and use of drugs such as cigarettes and alcohol. In this respect,

there is a need of serious attention concerning the causes and impacts of cancer, which killing a

significant number of people each year. Cancer as a lethal disease divides human cells in an

irrepressible manner that causes organ failure and breakdown of immune system. According to

reports, in 2016 across the United States more than 15 million were living with the history of

cancer disease. Moreover, it is the tumors and other infections such as leukemia that causes

cancer. However, the fact cannot be denied that process of cell formation and death is a normal

phenomenon often known as apoptosis but during the cancer, the damaging cells do not repair

and form. Similarly, the damaged cells or cancer cells suddenly converts into tumors that cause

disruption in the normal functioning of organs and immune system[ CITATION Ram17 \l 1033 ].

According to reports, around half a million (480,000) people in the U.S. die because of smoking

related cancer infections such as lungs failure each year. Likewise, along with smoking the other

major cancer risks includes alcoholism, obesity, lack of physical activity and poor diet routine.

Unfortunately, the issue of cancer related deaths in the U.S. is associated with age because

mostly the people with cancer below 50 years survive. According to reports from the American

society of cancer, around 87% cancer-related deaths are people, who are above 50 year or elder.

In this respect, cancer is a huge issue in the United States especially when it comes to people

above 50 year or older. However, with the development in medical technology and research there

emerged serious debates concerning the origin of cancer [ CITATION Mic17 \l 1033 ]. For instance,

in the 1950s, the debate in the international Symposiums on cancer was surrounding the

synthetic agents. Because, at that time there was a notion that most of the cancer related deaths

were due to synthetic agents especially the pharmaceutical agents. Likewise, another prevailing
 Last Name

notion concerning the origin of cancer was related to infectious agents such as viruses, which

causes cancer. Similarly, another major important notion concerning the origin of cancer was

surrounding genetic with a question: is cancer genetic.

In contrast, the debate about the genetic causes of cancer was one of the important because in

various cancer related cases, it is found that the genetic aspects highly contributes in the

development of cancer. Moreover, the fact cannot be denied that the genetic codes of different

people clearly explains when the cells split and die. In this respect, the changes in person’s

genetic code can change the patterns of cell formation and division that can result in cancer.

Moreover, the changes in the genetic codes often arises at birth but, the incessant use of drugs

such as smoking and alcohol intake can also cause changes in the genetic code. Perhaps, it is

because of the genetic rifts, the cancer specialists reiterate about health risks associated with

alcohol intake and cigarette smoking[ CITATION Bla16 \l 1033 ].

In a nut shell, it is a vivid fact that the globally the number of deaths associated with cancer is a

huge concern for the people and governments. Moreover, the ratio of deaths associated with

cancer in the low and middle income countries is significantly higher than that of developed

parts of the world. In this regard, the issue of cancer is a huge challenge for healthcare experts

and international bodies such as WHO especially, when it comes to death tolls.
 Last Name

Works Cited
Blackadar, Clarke Brian. "Historical review of the Causes of Cancer." World Journal of Clinical
Oncology 7.1 (2016): 54.

Faguet, Guy B. "A brief History of cancer: Age old milestones underlying our current knowledge
data base." International Journal of Cancer 136.9 (2014): 2022-2036.

McCarthy, Michael. "US Deaths From Cancer continue to fall." BMJ (2017): 17.

Prasad, AnnHelen. "Aspirin may be related to an increased death rate especially from cancer
related deaths." Current Medical Issues 16.3 (2018): 99.

Ramirez, Amelie G. "How will the 'Cancer moonshoot' impact health disparities." Cancer causes
and Control 28.9 (2017): 907-912.

WHO. Cancer . 2018 September 12. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/cancer .