What is Cancer?

Cancer is the term used to describe over two hundred types of diseases in which abnormal cells begin dividing and invading other tissues in the body via the circulatory and lymphatic systems.It is caused by mutations in the genetic material of the affected cells, disrupting normal cellular lifespan and development.

However, in order to truly understand what cancer is, one must first have an understanding of normal cellular lifespan and development. As the most basic building blocks of the body, cells each have a specific way in which they are supposed to develop, which can vary between cell types. The instructions for each cell's behavior are contained in the cell's genetic material, or DNA, which is held in the nucleus of the cell. This instructional material controls the cell's actions, including when it reproduces, when it dies, and even the amount of space it should keep between itself and other cells. In the case of a healthy body, this information keeps cells reproducing and dying at a proper rate.

Cancer occurs when the genetic material (DNA) of a cell becomes damaged, or mutates in some way, disrupting normal cellular lifespan and development. Each time a cell reproduces by diving itself, an exact copy of its genetic instructions is reproduced in the new cell, which, when the cell is healthy, is fine. However, the same process occurs in cancerous cells, which means that the damaged copy of the DNA is passed along to new cells as well. While cellular damage or mutation can occur for a variety of reasons, the affect is still the same--the damage or mutation causes the abnormal cells to reproduce themselves uncontrollably, whether the body needs them or not, leading to an excess of cells.

Additionally, cells with mutated genetic material do not die when they become damaged or too old, making it impossible for the body to flush these extra cells. The extra cells come together to form a lump of tissues called a tumor, which is what most people associate with cancer. However, not all tumors are cancerous; they can be either benign or malignant. Benign tumors contain cells that reproduce uncontrollably, but do not spread to other parts of the body; malignant tumors contain cancerous cells that spread throughout the body, invading and damaging neighboring tissues. When these tumors grow large enough, they sometimes develop blood vessels to feed themselves, as an organ would. Once the cancerous cells spread through the blood or lymph system, they can then metastasize, or form a second tumor somewhere else in the body, and from there continue to spread in the same manner. Cancer can affect almost any part of the body, with the most commonly affected areas being the skin, lungs, breasts, and prostate gland, and the least commonly affected area being the thyroid gland.

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