Types of Cancer

"Cancer" is hundreds of diseases with one logic - uncontrolled growth - sorted by where they start and what tissue they come from.

By tissue of origin (the medical sorting)

• Carcinomas: from surface and gland tissues (skin, breast, lung, mouth, colon, cervix) - about 85% of all cancers
• Sarcomas: from bone, muscle, fat and connective tissue
• Leukemias: cancers of the blood-forming cells
• Lymphomas and myeloma: cancers of the immune system

The commonest cancers in India

• Mouth (oral) cancer: the top cancer in Indian men - overwhelmingly linked to tobacco and supari
• Breast cancer: the commonest in Indian women, increasingly caught early where awareness is high
• Cervical cancer: still common, largely preventable with HPV vaccination and screening
• Lung cancer: smoking, pollution, and non-smoker cases too
• Stomach and food-pipe (esophageal) cancers: diet patterns, H. pylori, very hot beverages, tobacco
• Colorectal cancer: rising with urban diets and inactivity
• Liver cancer: hepatitis B/C, alcohol, aflatoxin
• Blood cancers and lymphomas: across ages, including children

Benign vs malignant vs pre-cancerous

• Benign tumors: grow locally, do not spread - usually not dangerous but sometimes need removal
• Pre-cancerous changes (dysplasia, leukoplakia, polyps): not cancer yet - the cheapest moment to intervene
• Malignant tumors: invade nearby tissue and can spread (metastasize) to distant organs

The classical sorting

Classical texts sorted abnormal growths into granthi (smaller, knot-like swellings that may inflame) and arbuda (large, deep-rooted masses that do not suppurate) - five granthi types and six arbuda types by dosha and tissue (Sushruta, Nidana Sthana 11), from soft fatty lumps (medoja) to the stony-hard fixed mamsarbuda and the bleeding raktarbuda, both declared incurable. That honesty matters: the classics never claimed every growth was treatable, and neither do we.

One-line summary

Carcinomas are most cancers; in India the mouth-breast-cervix-lung group leads; and pre-cancerous changes are the golden window - catching a growth before it is cancer is the best outcome there is.