January

•  Cervical Cancer Awareness Month-Cervical cancer occurs when abnormal cells on the cervix grow out of control. The cervix is the lower part of the uterus that opens into the vagina. Cervical cancer can often be successfully treated when it’s found early. It is usually found at a very early stage through a Pap test.Cervical cancer is one of the most common cancers in women worldwide. But in the United States and other countries where cervical cancer screening is routine, this cancer is not so common.

February

• National Cancer Prevention Month
• Gallbladder and Bile Duct Cancer Awareness Month-Bile duct cancer, or cholangiocarcinoma, is cancer that starts in one of the tubes (ducts) that moves bile from the gallbladder and liver to the small intestine.

March

• Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month-Colorectal cancer is a disease in which malignant (cancer) cells form in the tissues of the colon or the rectum. The colon and rectum are parts of the body’s digestive system. The digestive system removes and processes nutrients (vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, fats, proteins, and water) from foods and helps pass waste material out of the body. The digestive system is made up of the mouth, throat, esophagus,stomach, and the small and largeintestines. The first 6 feet of the large intestine are called the large bowel or colon. The last 6 inches are the rectum and the anal canal. The anal canal ends at the anus (the opening of the large intestine to the outside of the body).
• Multiple Myeloma Awareness Month-Multiple myeloma is a cancer that affects plasma cells, a kind of whiteblood cell found in the soft insides of your bones, called marrow. Plasma cells are part of your body’s immune system. They make antibodies to help fight off infections.

  There is no cure for multiple myeloma, but treatment can often help you feel better and live longer. To make the best possible choices about your treatment and care, you’ll want to learn as much as you can about the disease.

• National Kidney Cancer Awareness Month

April

• Testicular Cancer Awareness Month-Cells in the body normally divide (reproduce) only when new cells are needed. Sometimes cells will divide for no reason and without order, creating a mass of tissue called a tumor. Tumors can be benign (not cancerous) or malignant (cancerous). Testicular cancer is a malignant tumor in a testicle. The testicles are oval-shaped sex glands in a sac of skin called the scrotum. The scrotum is located behind the penis.

  This type of cancer, although relatively rare, mostly affects men between ages of 15 and 35 (although it can affect males at any age).

• Esophageal Cancer Awareness Month-Esophageal cancer occurs when cancer cells develop in the esophagus, a tube-like structure that runs from your throat to your stomach. Food goes from the mouth to the stomach through the esophagus. The cancer starts at the inner layer of the esophagus and can spread throughout the other layers of the esophagus and to other parts of the body (metastasis).

  There are two main types of esophageal cancer. One type is squamous cell carcinoma. Squamous cells line the inner esophagus, and cancerdeveloping from squamous cells can occur along the entire esophagus. The other type is called adenocarcinoma. This is cancer that develops from gland cells. To develop adenocarcinoma of the esophagus, squamous cells that normally line the esophagus are replaced by gland cells. This typically occurs in the lower esophagus near the stomach and is believed to be largely related to acid exposure to the lower esophagus.

• Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Month-Head and neck cancers are cancers that start in mouth, nose, throat, or sinus areas. They do not include brain cancer. Head and neck cancers usually begin in the cells that make up the moist, thin tissue that lines the inside of the mouth, nose, and throat. Head and neck cancers are more common in men. Smoking and chewing tobacco raise your risk for this type of cancer, particularly if you drink alcohol.

May

• Brain Cancer Awareness Month-Brain tumors are abnormal growths of cells in the brain.
  • Although such growths are popularly called brain tumors, not all brain tumors are cancer. Cancer is a term reserved for malignant tumors.
  • Malignant tumors can grow and spread aggressively, overpowering healthy cells by taking their space, blood, and nutrients. They can also spread to distant parts of the body. Like all cells of the body, tumor cells need blood and nutrients to survive.
  • Tumors that do not invade nearby tissue or spread to distant areas are called benign.
  • In general, a benign tumor is less serious than a malignant tumor. But a benign tumor can still cause many problems in the brain by pressing on nearby tissue.

  In the U.S., brain or nervous system tumors affect about 6 of every 1,000 people.

• Melanoma and Skin Cancer Awareness Month-You may not have any symptoms in the early stages of melanoma. Or a melanoma may be sore, or it may itch or bleed.Most melanomas start as a new skin growth on unmarked skin. The growth may change color, shape, or size. These types of changes are an early sign that the growth is melanoma. But melanoma can also develop in an existing mole or other mark on the skin. Or it may look like a bruise that isn’t healing or show up as a brown or black streak under a fingernail or toenail.

June

• National Cancer Survivors Day

July

• Bladder Cancer Awareness Month-The bladder is a pouch in the urinary tract that stores urine after it is produced by the kidneys. The bladder is lined with specialized cells called transitional cells.

  Bladder cancer often arises from these transitional cells. The cancer spreads by penetrating bladder muscle, infiltrating surrounding fat and tissue, and — if untreated — spreads to lymph nodes and other organs, such as the liver, lungs, or bones.

  The earlier the cancer is diagnosed, the more limited it will likely be and the more effective the treatment can be. Thanks to improved procedures for early detection and treatment, such as urine cytology, five-year survival rates for bladder cancer improved from 50% in the 1960s to over 70% in the 1990s. Although bladder cancers often recur, prompt detection means they can be treated while they are still superficial.

• Sarcoma Awareness Week-A sarcoma is a rare kind of cancer. Sarcomas are different from the much more common carcinomas because they happen in a different kind of tissue. Sarcomas grow in connective tissue — cells that connect or support other kinds of tissue in your body. These tumors are most common in the bones, muscles, tendons, cartilage, nerves, fat, andblood vessels of your arms and legs, but they can happen anywhere.

  Although there are more than 50 types of sarcoma, they can be grouped into two main kinds: soft tissue sarcoma and bone sarcoma, orosteosarcoma. About 12,000 cases of soft tissue sarcoma and 3,000 cases of bone sarcomas were seen in the U.S. in 2014.

September

• Childhood Cancer Awareness Month
• Gynecologic Cancer Awareness Month-Endometrial cancer is the most common invasive gynecologic cancer in U.S. women, with an estimated 52,630 new cases expected to occur in 2014 and an estimated 8,590 women expected to die of the disease.[1] Endometrial cancer is primarily a disease of postmenopausal women with a mean age at diagnosis of 60 years.
• Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Awareness Month-The diagnosis of Hodgkin lymphoma can only be made by a tissue biopsy — cutting a tissue sample for examination. If you have an enlarged, painless lymph node that your doctor suspects may be due to Hodgkin lymphoma, tissue will be taken for biopsy or the entire node will be removed. The diagnosis of Hodgkin lymphoma is sometimes confirmed by the presence of a type of cell called a Reed-Sternberg cell.
• Leukemia Awareness Month-Leukemia is an abnormal rise in the number of white blood cells. The white blood cells crowd out other blood cell elements such as red blood cells and platelets. The elevated white blood cells are immature and do not function properly.

  Leukemia — the term derives from the Greek words for “white” and “blood” — is often considered a disease of children, yet it actually affects far more adults. It is more common in men than women and in Caucasians than African-Americans. There will be more than 52,000 new patients diagnosed with all forms of leukemia in the United States in 2014 with about 24,000 deaths.

• Lymphoma Awareness Month-Lymphoma refers to cancer of the lymphatic system, a network of lymph nodes connected by blood vessels that drain waste products and strain cancerous cells from the body. It occurs when lymphocytes, the white blood cells that attack infectious invaders, begin to multiply uncontrollably, producing cancerous cells that invade the body. The two main types of lymphoma are Hodgkin’s lymphoma and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Symptoms include swollen lymph nodes, night sweats, and extreme fatigue. Treatment includes chemotherapy and radioimmunotherapy.
• Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month-Flanking the uterus are the two ovaries, each about the size of an almond, which produce eggs and female hormones. Ovarian cancer can occur at any age, even in childhood, but is most common aftermenopause. The disease accounts for about 22,000 new cases and almost 15,000 deaths annually in the U.S.
• Thyroid Cancer Awareness Month-Thyroid cancer (carcinoma) is cancer affecting the thyroid gland, a butterfly-shaped structure located at the base of the neck. The thyroid is part of the endocrine system, the network of glands that secrete hormones that regulate the chemical processes (metabolism) that influence the body’s activities as well as regulating the heart rate, body temperature, and blood pressure. Hormones are secreted directly into the bloodstream where they travel to various areas of the body.
• Prostate Cancer Awareness Month-Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in American men, and in most men it grows very slowly. Diet and genetics may be factors in prostate cancer development, but they are not the only ones. Find out what the research shows. Age, race, diet, family history — even a sedentary lifestyle — may all play a part in contributing to your prostate cancer risks.

October

• Breast Cancer Awareness Month-Cells in the body normally divide (reproduce) only when new cells are needed. Sometimes, cells in a part of the body grow and divide out of control, which creates a mass of tissue called a tumor. If the cells that are growing out of control are more normal cells, the tumor is called benign (not cancerous). If, however, the cells that are growing out of control are abnormal, don’t function like the body’s normal cells, and begin to invade other tissue, the tumor is called malignant (cancerous).Cancers are typically named after the part of the body from which they originate. Breast cancer originates in the breast tissue. Like other cancers, breast cancer can invade and grow into the tissue surrounding the breast. It can also travel to other parts of the body and form new tumors, a process called metastasis.
• Liver Cancer Awareness Month-The liver continuously filters blood that circulates through the body, converting nutrients and drugs absorbed from the digestive tract into ready-to-use chemicals. The liver performs many other important functions, such as removing toxins and other chemical waste products from the blood and readying them for excretion. Because all the blood in the body must pass through it, the liver is unusually accessible tocancer cells traveling in the bloodstream.

November

• Lung Cancer Awareness Month-Although lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the U.S. in both men and women, it is also one of the most preventable kinds of cancer. At least four out of five cases are associated with cigarette smoking, and the cause-and-effect relationship has been extensively documented. During the 1920s, large numbers of men began to smoke cigarettes, presumably in response to increased advertising. Twenty years later, the frequency of lung cancer in men climbed sharply. In the 1940s, significantly more women became smokers. Twenty years later, there was a similar dramatic increase in lung cancer among women.
• Carcinoid Cancer Awareness Month-Carcinoid syndrome is a group of symptoms you might get if you already have carcinoid tumors, a type of cancer.

  It starts when the tumors release chemicals into your bloodstream. When that happens, you might get symptoms like flushing of your skin and rapid heartbeat.

• National Family Caregivers Month
• Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month-In 2015, about 48,960 Americans will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic cancer affects equal numbers of men and women, almost always after age 45.

  Cancer of the pancreas barely makes the top 10 most common cancers in the U.S. However, pancreatic cancer’s tendency to spread silently before diagnosis makes it the fourth deadliest cancer diagnosis, with more than 40,000 people expected to die of the disease in 2015.

• Stomach Cancer Awareness Month-Stomach cancer is a disease in which malignant (cancer) cells form in the stomach. Over time, the cancer may invade more deeply into the stomach wall and spread to nearby organs. Smoking and certain chronic conditions increase the risk of developing stomach cancer.