How does cancer occur?

Normal cells in our bodies have proto-oncogenes which control the lifecycle of our cells, and we make new cells. If there is a mutation (a change) in the proto-oncogenes then it becomes oncogenes. If a cell has oncogenes, then they can become cancerous and duplicate at a high rate. Our normal cells also have tumor suppressor genes, which as implied suppress the chance of tumor growth. Tumor suppressor genes fix mistakes in DNA, determine when a cell duplicates, and when a cell dies. If cells lack the tumor suppressor gene, then they can duplicate at high rates and continue with DNA errors.

Cancer Stages

Most cancers have four stages of progression. The stage depends on the size and location of the cancer. 

Stage l: The cancer is located in one specific area and has not entered the bloodstream, lymph nodes, or migrated to other tissues. 

Stage ll: The cancer has grown in size, but has not spread from the original location.

Stage lll: The cancer has now grown even larger in size, and has begun to spread in the lymph nodes, or other tissues. 

Stage lV: This stage is often referred to as metastatic or advanced cancer. At this stage, the cancer has spread to other areas or organs in the body.  

 

The 5 main types of cancer

Carcinoma: Affects organs and glands, such as breast or skin. The most common type of cancer

Sarcoma: affects soft or connective tissue, such as bone or blood vessels

Melanoma: Develop in the cells that pigment skin (make skin the color it is)

Lymphoma: Affects lymphocytes or white blood cells 

Leukemia: affects blood 

For more information: https://www.cancer.org/

Cancer in Our Community

Darker colors on the interactive maps indicate worse outcomes. 

The prevalence of cancer in Taylor County in 2018 was about 6.4%. This estimate remained about the same in 2019 with an estimated prevalence of 6.1%. The Taylor County zip code with the highest cancer rate in 2018 was 79566. It was estimated that 10.4% of adults in this zip code had received a diagnosis of cancer. The zip code with the lowest cancer rate in 2018 was 79607; approximately 1.5% of adults in this zip code had received a cancer diagnosis. The zip code with the second lowest cancer rate in 2018 was 79601 with about 5% of adults having received a cancer diagnosis.