Here's something you might be interested in.
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed
Big Screen — Movie commentary
Blurt — Music's inside track
Booze News — San Diego spirits
Classical Music — Immortal beauty
Classifieds — Free and easy
Cover Stories — Front-page features
Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes
Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts
Feast! — Food & drink reviews
Feature Stories — Local news & stories
Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore
From the Archives — Spotlight on the past
Golden Dreams — Talk of the town
The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it
Letters — Our inbox
Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites
Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans
Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists
Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news
News Ticker — News & politics
Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated
Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna
Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated
Poetry — The old and the new
Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers
Reading — The hunt for intellectuals
Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails
San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds
SD on the QT — Almost factual news
Sheep and Goats — Places of worship
Special Issues — The best of
Street Style — San Diego streets have style
Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves
Theater — On stage in San Diego this week
Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative
Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work
Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego
Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads
Your Week — Daily event picks
Why you don't hear about cancer of the butt or heart
“Gentlemen, start your replicators”
Dear Answer Boy: What makes cancer invade certain parts of the body and not others? Is there something unique about the tissue of the breast, prostate, stomach, rectum, or liver? I guess what I need to know is, how com I never hear about cancer of the butt? —Anally Curious, Oakland
Dear Matthew: Why is the heart the only organ that does not get cancer? Dennis, San Diego
Our pal Doctor Doctor was busy digging his cart out of a sand trap on the back nine, so I ran this one past the American Cancer Society and its consultants. Start preparing your crib sheets. There will be on the exam.
To begin with, what’s cancer? A general term for about 100 separate diseases, all characterized by uncontrolled proliferation of body cells. What cells in the body are potential cancer sites? Theoretically, all of them. Can you get cancer of the butt muscles, heart muscle? Theoretically, yes. Happen often? So far, never (I’m prepared to be contradicted on this one, though). So what’s the deal?
We all know that bur body cells die and replace themselves in seven-year cycles, yes? Bzzzzz Wrong, mitosis-breath. Some, especially our protective epithelial cells, are programmed to replace themselves very fast. On the other hand, nerve and muscle cells never renew themselves. (The ones you have can get bigger, you can get new ones, and some can die, but it’s not a renewal cycle.) Which type of cell do you think is more sensitive to a cancer signal that says, “Gentlemen, start your replicators”? Likewise, if cancer starts in one spot and is carried through the blood or lymph another, it doesn’t find as friendly a home in your glutes as in your lungs. This, at least, is one credible if simplified theory for why cancer prefers certain locations.
Soft-tissue cancers are called sarcomas. Rhabdomyosarcoma is cancer of striated muscle, e.g., your butt, your heart. Cancer of smooth muscle (e.g., uterus lining), leiomyosarcoma. Cancerous fat cells? Liposarcoma. Collagen tissue (bones, tendons, cartilage, connective tissue)? Fibrosarcoma. Joint lining? Synovial cell sarcoma. Kaposi’s sarcoma is a soft-tissue tumor that can arise anywhere blood vessels exist.
Heart muscle is covered by two protective membranes collectively called the mesothelium, site of malignant mesotheliomas. Like sarcomas, they’re rare, but they’re there. Take care.
Here's something you might be interested in.
Why you don't hear about cancer of the butt or heart
“Gentlemen, start your replicators”
Why you don't hear about cancer of the butt or heart
“Gentlemen, start your replicators”
Dear Answer Boy: What makes cancer invade certain parts of the body and not others? Is there something unique about the tissue of the breast, prostate, stomach, rectum, or liver? I guess what I need to know is, how com I never hear about cancer of the butt? —Anally Curious, Oakland
Dear Matthew: Why is the heart the only organ that does not get cancer? Dennis, San Diego
Our pal Doctor Doctor was busy digging his cart out of a sand trap on the back nine, so I ran this one past the American Cancer Society and its consultants. Start preparing your crib sheets. There will be on the exam.
To begin with, what’s cancer? A general term for about 100 separate diseases, all characterized by uncontrolled proliferation of body cells. What cells in the body are potential cancer sites? Theoretically, all of them. Can you get cancer of the butt muscles, heart muscle? Theoretically, yes. Happen often? So far, never (I’m prepared to be contradicted on this one, though). So what’s the deal?
We all know that bur body cells die and replace themselves in seven-year cycles, yes? Bzzzzz Wrong, mitosis-breath. Some, especially our protective epithelial cells, are programmed to replace themselves very fast. On the other hand, nerve and muscle cells never renew themselves. (The ones you have can get bigger, you can get new ones, and some can die, but it’s not a renewal cycle.) Which type of cell do you think is more sensitive to a cancer signal that says, “Gentlemen, start your replicators”? Likewise, if cancer starts in one spot and is carried through the blood or lymph another, it doesn’t find as friendly a home in your glutes as in your lungs. This, at least, is one credible if simplified theory for why cancer prefers certain locations.
Soft-tissue cancers are called sarcomas. Rhabdomyosarcoma is cancer of striated muscle, e.g., your butt, your heart. Cancer of smooth muscle (e.g., uterus lining), leiomyosarcoma. Cancerous fat cells? Liposarcoma. Collagen tissue (bones, tendons, cartilage, connective tissue)? Fibrosarcoma. Joint lining? Synovial cell sarcoma. Kaposi’s sarcoma is a soft-tissue tumor that can arise anywhere blood vessels exist.
Heart muscle is covered by two protective membranes collectively called the mesothelium, site of malignant mesotheliomas. Like sarcomas, they’re rare, but they’re there. Take care.
Comments