The reason it's not the gotcha they think it is, is that oncology treats the TYPE (morphology) of the cancer not the LOCATION (typology). When we say "ovarian cancer" it's a generalisation that includes all cancers that occur in the ovaries as a location.
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So when they talk about ovarian cancer they list the three (3) most common location (type of cell) they start from: - epithelial - germ cell - stromalpic.twitter.com/WmPCXyxnNV
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Note: these are locations (topology) not type of cancer (morphology) at this point. Of this (very) general example, I'm going to look at the two major locations - epithelial and germ cell - and how they link into the two main types of tumours: 1. Adenocarcinoma 2. Dysgerminoma
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a. Adenocarcinoma is an epithelial tumour (carcinoma) b. Dysgerminoma is a germ cell tumour (germinoma/teratoma) There is an additional staging that is done based on how differentiated the cancer cells are.
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I'm not going to go into it more other than to mention that if you look types of ovarian carcinomas you'll see a subtypes that include serous/endometrioid/clear cell/mucinous. They are still types of carcinoma.
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So, here's the part where this argument that "OVARIAN CANCER = WOMAN" falls down. Treatment is based on TYPE of tumour, not location. Adenocarcinomas are found in multiple locations other than ovaraies including: testicular, breast, lung, colorectal and pancreatic.
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When a germ cell tumour is located in the ovaries it's called a dysgeminoma, when it's located in the testicles it's called a seminoma. And when it occurs in the central nervous system is is simply a germinoma. They are, however, the same type, a germ cell tumour.
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Sooooo, do you see the problem here with the terven argument?
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The issue with any internal organ cancer (ie ovary, lung, pancreatic) is that it's an "invisible" tumour until the patient becomes symptomatic. With surface-type tumours (ie testicular, breast) you can feel that there is a lump. The issue with high mortality rates for ovarian -
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cancer is not because they are "woman" tumours, it's because they are internal organ tumours. Higher stage = higher mortality. Because they can be "invisible", they are more often found when they have a higher stage which means survival post treatment is lower.
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For instance, the estimated survival rates for internal tumours? These are the cumulative states from SEER with 5 year survival rates: Pancreatic: 10% Lung: 20.5% Ovarian: 48.6% In fact, if you look at lung, it makes up ~13% of new diagnoses, but 22.4% of all cancer deaths.pic.twitter.com/uyLtUaLbcA
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And because nothing lives in non-racist vacuum, here's what the new diagnoses vs cancer deaths look like by race/ethnicity.pic.twitter.com/I4UwXJuKmB
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What's even more awful is the breakdown of cancer deaths by gender and race/ethnicity.pic.twitter.com/kMmtjSTxRH
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The statistics cited here are from the US National Cancer Institute SEER program:https://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/
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So, in conclusion, the terven are sciencing bad AGAIN and it's irritating the hell out of me.
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Addit: just realised why people kept shouting PROSTATE! at me. If a person has a prostate, they can touch it. It’s why the most accurate screening is a DRE (digital rectal exam). The PSA only has accuracy if you have have elevated tumour markers from your own baseline.
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There are a lot of countounding variables that can give an elevated PSA, so it only works for screening on an individual level IN COMBINATION with a DRE. And because you can touch the prostate? A surface tumour not internal organ.
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People really need to talk to people who are comfortable in their personhood and sexuality because I hear prostate work during sex gives quite the experience.
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End of conversation
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