A Comprehensive Overview of Various Cancer Types and Their Progression

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death and is a major public health issue that drives the attention of many scientific communities across the world. A study by the International agency for research on cancer (GLOBOCAN 2020) projected around 19.3 million new cases of cancer and over 10 million deaths due to cancer worldwide. An increased prevalence has been observed in different genders or populations with the occurrence of a particular type of cancer based on the organ of origin. Among different types of cancers breast cancer, prostate cancer, lung cancer, and colorectal cancer are the most common and high mortality causing cancer while renal cancer, ovarian cancer, stomach cancer, and thyroid cancers are less mortality causing cancer worldwide. For instance, the most common type of cancer in women is breast cancer, whereas lung and prostate cancer are the most common types in men. Although, for both male and female, lung cancer is the second most common malignancy. Most of these cancers include mutations in genes or proteins such as p53, KRAS, APC, MAPK, and PI3k-Akt. These mutations alter the different signaling pathways which lead to the progression of cancer. Moreover, the over-expression of genes is linked to aggressiveness and low survival rates and is involved in all hallmarks of human malignancies. Due to the expeditious increase in cancer cases, the demand for prevention strategies and early detection is a paramount concern across the globe.