Welcome to TALKING CANCER

Your Oncology & Hematology Resource

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Interact with other patients and family. Ask questions or help answer questions. One family helping each other.

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Frequently Asked Questions

This is a disease where abnormal cells in your body grow uncontrollably and can spread to other parts of the body. These cancer cells destroy normal surrounding cells and tissue.

This is when cancer cells grow and spread to another part of the body. For example, when cancer cells in the lung (lung cancer) spread to the liver.

Yes, cancer can possibly be cured. This depends on what type of cancer you have and how advanced the cancer is. In general, the earlier you diagnose and treat a cancer the better chance of a cure. Usually, a cancer that has spread to another part of the body (metastasis) cannot be cured BUT there are some cases where even an advanced cancer can be cure.

This is a system we use to classify patients into different groups depending how much cancer they have. We use imaging tests like CT scans, PET scans, MRI, ultrasounds and in some cases even surgery to determine how much cancer a patient has and in what parts of the body. Most cancers are usually staged between 1 to 4.

Stage 1 is an early cancer which is likely small and localized with a good cure rate.

Stage 2 is a more advanced cancer but still localized and with a fair cure rate.

Stage 3 is a much more advanced cancer with likely spread to lymph nodes or surrounding tissue. This cancer may still be cured but less likely.

Stage 4 is a cancer that has spread to another part of the body (metastasis). Most stage 4 cancers do not have a cure.