Ask the CIS : Cancer Information Service : July 2006
"Ask the CIS" is a short, easy-to-read cancer column providing answers to cancer related questions. The column is based on the latest cancer information from the National Cancer Institute. The Cancer Information Service of the Mid-South produces four columns, in question-and-answer format, monthly.
Q: I’ve heard there’s a newly approved HPV vaccine to prevent cervical cancer. What’s HPV?
A: HPV stands for human papillomavirus (pap-ih-LO-ma-VYE-rus). HPVs are a group of more than 100 types of viruses. The HPVs that cause the warts that grow on hands and feet are different from those that infect the genital area.
Genital HPV is the most common sexually transmitted viral infection in both men and women in the United States. Most HPV infections will go away over time. However, sometimes the virus does not clear. If the infection persists, some HPV types can cause noncancerous genital warts, and approximately 15 high-risk HPV types can increase a woman’s risk of cervical cancer.
On June 8, 2006, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the use of a new vaccine to prevent infection from four types of HPV. The vaccine prevents infection with two types of HPV that can cause cervical cancer, if given before exposure to these sexually transmitted viruses. The vaccine also protects against infection with two other types of HPV that cause most cases of genital warts.
The new HPV vaccine is intended for use in girls and women between the ages of 9 and 26.
For more information about the HPV vaccine, call the NCI’s Cancer Information Service at 1–800–4–CANCER. You can also look on the NCI’s Web site at http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/hpv-vaccines on the Internet.
Q: How does the new HPV vaccine for cervical cancer work?
A: On June 8, 2006, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the use of a new vaccine to prevent infection with four types of the virus known as HPV or human papillomavirus (pap-ih-LO-ma-VYE-rus). The vaccine prevents infection with the two types of HPV that cause most cases of cervical cancer, if the vaccine is given before exposure to these sexually transmitted viruses. By preventing infection, the vaccine can protect women from developing cervical cancer due to these types of HPV.
The vaccine also protects against infection with two other types of HPV that cause most cases of genital warts. It is intended for use in girls and women between the ages of 9 and 26.
The vaccine is made by Merck & Co., Inc. It is based on lab research and technology developed at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). NCI continues to conduct research on HPV and cervical cancer.
For more information about the HPV vaccine, call the NCI’s Cancer Information Service at 1–800–4–CANCER. You can also find information at http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/hpv-vaccines on the NCI’s Web site.
Q: A tumor was found in my liver, but I was diagnosed with breast cancer. How did the doctor know that I have breast cancer rather than liver cancer?
A: To learn the type of cancer, a specially trained doctor called a pathologist (pa-THOL-o-jist) looks at a sample of the liver tumor under a microscope. In general, cancer cells look like abnormal versions of cells in the tissue where the cancer started. The pathologist can look at cells from the liver tumor and tell that they are abnormal breast cells, rather than liver cells. Tissue stains and lab tests also help the pathologist learn where the cancer cells came from.
The doctor uses this information to recommend treatment for breast cancer that has spread, not treatment for cancer that started in the liver. The two diseases are treated differently.
For more information about cancer that has spread, call the NCI’s Cancer Information Service at 1–800–4–CANCER. You can ask questions and order materials, such as the NCI fact sheet Metastatic Cancer: Questions and Answers. This fact sheet is also at http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Sites-Types/metastatic on the Internet.
Q: My mother was recently diagnosed with metastatic lung cancer. What does metastatic mean?
A: Metastasis (meh-TAS-ta-sis) is the spread of cancer. Cancer cells can break away from the original tumor and enter the bloodstream or lymphatic system (the system that produces, stores, and carries the cells that fight infections). That is how lung cancer cells spread to other parts of the body. Lung cancer often spreads to the liver, brain, and bones.
When cancer cells spread and form a new tumor in a different organ, the new tumor is a metastatic (MET-uh-STAT-ik) tumor. The cells in the metastatic tumor come from the original tumor. This means, for example, that if lung cancer spreads to the bones, the tumor in the bone is made up of cancerous lung cells (not cancerous bone cells).
Under a microscope, metastatic lung cancer cells found in bones generally look like abnormal versions of lung cells. They do not look like bone cells.
Lung cancer that has spread to the bones is treated differently from bone cancer. Knowing that the cancer has spread to the bones or other parts of the body will help the doctor suggest treatment options.
For more information about cancer that has spread, call the NCI’s Cancer Information Service at 1–800–CANCER. You can ask questions and order materials, such as the NCI fact sheet Metastatic Cancer: Questions and Answers. This fact sheet is also found at http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Sites-Types/metastatic on the NCI’s Web site.
The National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Information Service (CIS) is one of the country’s most trusted resources. Ask the CIS is distributed by the (region) CIS, which serves (list states). Call the CIS toll-free at 1–800–4–CANCER (1–800–422–6237) between 9:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
