Among the genetic and personal factors age, sex, race, marital status, etc. have much to do about the prevalence of cancer.
Age
The prevalence of cancer increases with age. Man is particularly vulnerable after the age of 50. It is not certain whether this is due to a) the changes in the body due to the ageing process, b) a long incubation period of cancer or c) long exposure to a carcinogen or cancer causing substance.
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In order to find out whether a person is suffering from cancer or not, one may not have to go to the doctor for investigations. The doctor may proceed as follows:
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Smoking: Those who have been smoking for more than 20 years.
Tobacco Chewing: Those who have been chewing tobacco for more than 15 years.
Industrial/Vehicular Pollution: Those who are over-exposed to vehicular pollution or working or staying around industrial townships/areas.
Urine passed into a clean vessel is suitable for routine urine testing. Special me hods of collection designed to reduce contamination are desirable for microscopic examination, and essential for bacteriological examination. The urine should be examined physically, chemically, microscopically and bacteriologically.
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No patient with bowel disturbance has been properly examined until the stool has been inspected. The white surface of a bed-pan makes an ideal background for the detection of blood, pus and mucus.
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Although a doctor may suspect cancer, a diagnosis cannot be established without examining a piece of the suspicious tissue under the microscope.
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X-ray films are taken of the part of the body under investigation. Some dense tissues like bones, absorb more of these X-rays than others such as the lungs. As a result, in the X-ray picture of the part, we see some areas white indicating more density and some areas dark, indicating less density. Knowledge of how a normal structure looks like, helps in finding out where the fault lies in the X-ray picture of the patient.
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Examination of the Vomit: The character of the vomit varies with the nature of the food ingested and the absence or presence of bile, blood or intestinal obstruction. In obstruction of the stomach at the distal end, i.e. farthest from the stomach (pyloric stenosis), the vomit is apt to be copious and sour smelling, contains recognisable food eaten many hours before and exhibits froth on the surface. In case of an ulcer in the stomach, if the bleeding is much, the colour of blood in the vomit is red, but if the bleeding is less, then it gets altered to dark brown colour like coffee by contact with gastric juice. If there is obstruction in the intestine, the vomit may smell and look like faecal matter.
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The main functions of the gall-bladder are to concentrate and store bile that is produced in the liver and to empty it into the duodenum after appropriate stimuli.
Oral Cholecystogram: The organ is investigated by performing oral cholecystography. This procedure depends on the fact that certain iodine-containing compounds, when absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract, are excreted by liver and concentrated in the gall-bladder, thus rendering it opaque.
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Biochemical Tests: Pancreas is a compound gland, about 15 cm long, that lies behind the stomach. Examination of the secretions of the pancreas can give an idea about cancer of the pancreas. For this purpose, a special double-lumen tube is swallowed and then screened into position in the duodenum, i.e. the first of the three parts of the small intestine. It has a weighted bulbous end and contains two sets of holes, one for duodenal and the other for gastric aspiration. The latter set of holes prevents contamination of the duodenal fluid that is aspirated.
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