Free Essay. Cancer Literature Review

Cancer is a significant disease affecting all countries across the world. The incidence rate of cancer has been increasing over the years due to changes in lifestyle and environmental factors. According to Amirkhah et al. (2017), 13% of all deaths worldwide are caused by cancer. As such, it is important to conduct a literature review on the available works of literature, providing analysis of the causes of the condition and ways to help reduce its effects. According to Gandomani et al. (2017), the rates at which the different types of cancer affect people vary according to geographical and racial distributions. The difference in distribution makes the research crucial since it will seek to explore the different factors that cause disparities in cancer cases across different regions and populations. Similarly, Malhotra et al. (2016) noted that the increased rate of cancer infections and deaths is attributed to lifestyle changes and human behavior. Thus, the area of cancer is important to be studied due to the wide range of factors that facilitate its spread at an increasing rate.

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Choices that people make on their daily activities influence their health. In this case, lifestyle and behavior choices determine the risk of cancer at which a person is exposed to. As argued by Bodai & Nakata (2020) and later reiterated by Rezende et al. (2020), research studies have established a significant relationship between lifestyle modifications on exercise and diet and breast cancer. The relationship is due to the symbiotic relationship that people have with microbiota, and microorganisms related to cancer cases. Frye et al. (2020) argue that early-life exposure to certain diets may influence tumor development. In this case, the researchers found that the rate at which people get breast cancer can be controlled if they can make better choices on their children's diets. Cortesi et al. (2020) opine to these findings by arguing that lifestyle interventions that include physical and body weight management can reduce breast cancer patients' mortality rate. Through these studies, it is evident that lifestyle choices affect the risk of contracting cancer and the risk of death. In a study to determine the effect of tanning to cancer, McWhirter et al. (2018) found that people still use tanning regardless of their strong association with skin cancer. Hence, we make the choices on our lifestyle that determine how prone we are to different types of cancer.

Air pollution and environmental changes have also been associated with several authors to cancer. According to Puri et al. (2017), the increase in air pollution has resulted in an increased skin cancer rate. Air pollutants such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, oxides, and cigarette smoke induce oxidative stress to the skin, thereby causing damage. Bai et al. (2020) conducted a study that led to the finding that lung and female breast cancer cases are strongly related to air pollutants. The finding indicates that air pollution increases the risk of other types of cancer besides lung cancer. According to Zhou (2019), air pollution and environmental carcinogenesis are among the leading causes of lung cancer. Increased exposure to air pollutants increases the risk of lung cancer and cancer-related deaths. However, the study conducted by Datzmann et al. (2018) indicated a strong relationship between outdoor air pollution and throat and mouth cancer risk. The findings show a strong positive relationship between air pollution and cancer regardless of the type of pollution. Manisalidis et al. (2020) consider the relationship between human beings and the environment to be symbiotic. However, continued pollution and environmental degradation limit the environment's ability to perform its symbiotic functions, thereby negatively impacting human health.

Health disparities exist in all countries across the world. The disparities in cancer can be categorized in terms of gender, race, and socioeconomic status. According to McKenzie et al. (2018), breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in sub-Saharan Africa and the second most common cause of death. The high rate of deaths is due to late diagnosis among the women, a practice that indicates socioeconomic disparity among the group. Similarly, Smith, Eggener & Murphy (2017) argue that prostate cancer incidence and the mortality rate is high among African-American populations. The study also shows that cancer disparities can also be in terms of age, with prostate cancer affecting people of different ages. Landrine et al. (2017) also identified racial disparities as an essential aspect of cancer analysis focus. Through her study, she found that 70% of the available studies focused on racial disparities due to the impact of different cancer types on people from different races. A study conducted by Yao et al. (2017) concluded that cancer incidence and mortality are high among populations living in rural areas compared to those in urban areas. As such, socioeconomic disparities in low living standards and lack of access to health facilities increase cancer incidence and, ultimately, mortality rates. Patel et al. (2020) support this conclusion by arguing that improving the quality of patient care among all groups as a way of eliminating cancer disparities in the world. The authors agree that cancer disparities exist, with the main segregations being in terms of age, gender, race, or socioeconomic position.

Cancer is a global health concern affecting people of all ages. The existing literature establishes a strong relationship between lifestyle choices and air pollution and cancer. The literature also shows that disparities in cancer incidence and mortality rates are according to gender, race, age, and socioeconomic status. The analysis will have an impact on my career since it provides areas that I should focus on to successfully to help reduce cancer cases in society during nursing practice. Additionally, the analysis has provided me with the knowledge relevant to supporting my nursing practice in the future. The review has also helped me understand areas that previous researchers have focused on. Thus, I can identify the gaps in the existing research studies and focus on them to find solutions to areas that the studies have not addressed.

Summary

The cancer area is essential for study due to the many factors that influence its incidence and mortality rates. The main factors attributed to the increased cancer rate include lifestyle choices, air pollution, and cancer disparities. Lifestyle choices include activities that people make every day, such as the choice of diet and exercise. Studies show that lifestyle changes and exercise have a relationship with breast cancer. Similarly, early exposure of children to specific diets increases their risk of breast cancer, with high mortality rates in cases where lifestyle interventions and weight management practices are not introduced. Similarly, increased air pollution and adverse environmental changes increase cancer incidence and mortality rates. Studies have shown that air pollution increases skin cancer rates through the oxidative stress effect of air pollutants on the human body. Lung cancer and female breast cancer have also been high in high air pollution and environmental carcinogenesis rates. The high cancer cases are due to adverse impacts of human activities on the environment, which limit its ability to perform its symbiotic functions. Cancer disparities can be categorized based on gender, race, age, and socioeconomic status. Cancer cases differ between males and females with some cancer types such as prostate men affecting men and breast cancer having a higher rate among women than men. Additionally, prostrate is high among African-American men, with the incidence rates of cancer among young men being high than any other community. Socioeconomic status is characterized by people's ability to get a timely diagnosis and quality healthcare, with people in rural areas being disadvantaged in accessing these services. The study will benefit my career since it provides knowledge that I will use in my career, addresses areas to focus on reducing cancer rates in the society, and helps identify gaps in the existing research.

References

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Bai, L., Shin, S., Burnett, R. T., Kwong, J. C., Hystad, P., van Donkelaar, A., ... & Copes, R. (2020). Exposure to ambient air pollution and lung cancer and breast cancer in the Ontario Population Health and Environment Cohort. International journal of cancer, 146(9), 2450-2459.

Bodai, B. I., & Nakata, T. E. (2020). Breast Cancer: Lifestyle, the Human Gut Microbiota/Microbiome, and Survivorship. The Permanente Journal, 24.

Cortesi, L., Sebastiani, F., Iannone, A., Marcheselli, L., Venturelli, M., Piombino, C., ... & Federico, M. (2020). Lifestyle Intervention on Body Weight and Physical Activity in Patients with Breast Cancer can Reduce the Risk of Death in Obese Women: The EMILI Study. Cancers, 12(7), 1709.

Datzmann, T., Markevych, I., Trautmann, F., Heinrich, J., Schmitt, J., & Tesch, F. (2018). Outdoor air pollution, green space, and cancer incidence in Saxony: a semi-individual cohort study. BMC Public Health, 18(1), 715.

Frye, C. C., Krisanits, B. A., Schuster, R., Randise, J., Nogueira, L. M., Helke, K., ... & Findlay, V. J. (2020). Abstract C029: Consumption of dietary AGEs during puberty and increased breast cancer risk: A link between lifestyle and cancer disparity.

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Patel, M. I., Lopez, A. M., Blackstock, W., Reeder-Hayes, K., Moushey, A., Phillips, J., & Tap, W. (2020). Cancer disparities and health equity: A policy statement from the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Journal of Clinical Oncology, JCO-20.

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Smith, Z. L., Eggener, S. E., & Murphy, A. B. (2017). African-American prostate cancer disparities. Current ur...