What+is+Cancer


 * How Cancer Starts **

Cancer starts when cells in a part of the body starts to grow out of control. This is caused by damaged DNA that leads to a growth of an abnormal cell. These ab normal cells don't die off like normal body cells do.The abnormal cancer cells start to grow and eventually develop into a tumor. Tumors need their own blood supply to survive and so they then start to grow their own blood vessels.

To grow their own blood vessels, the tumors send out signals to blood vessels nearby. This then leads the blood vessels to germinate towards tumor, hijacking the blood supply. The term used to describe how cancer spreads is // metastasis //. This is the process where, overtime, tumors replace normal tissue. But not all tumors are cancerous tumors, some can be //benign. Benign// tumors are usually never life threatening, even though they can grow very large and press on healthy organs. They are not dangerous because they cannot invade other tissues.

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Mutations build up over time which is the main reason why people tend to develop cancer later in life. Some factors thought to affect the risk of cancer are life styles, viral infections, diets, exposure to radiation or harmful chemical, and inherited genes. But more and more people are surviving diagnosis thanks to early detection.


 * Types of Cancers **

"There are more than 200 types of cancers and 60 different places in the body where it can develop." (cancerresearchuk.org) Cancer can [|develop from almost any type of cell in the body.] The most common type of cancer is // carcinomas. //// Carcinomas // include cancer of the breast, lungs, and colon cancer. They grow from cells that cover the outside of the body, like skin cells. Then there's //melanoma//, the most serious type of skin cancer. They usually appear on the skin first as a change of color, shape, or size of a skin mole.

Next is leukemias, which are immature rising cells in bone marrow that should have become functioning white cells. Lymphomas are also another type of cancer. They arise in they lymph nodes and other tissues of the immune system. Finally we come to sarcomas. Sarcomas are tumors that grow from cells in connective or supportive tissues in the body, such as bone, cartilage, and/or joints and muscles, as well as many other parts of the body.

Sources

"Cancer." National Geographic. National Geographic, n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2013.

"Common Carcinomas"

"How Many Different Types of Cancer Are There?" : Cancer Research UK : CancerHelp UK. Cancer Research UK, 17 Apr. 2013. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.

"How Cancer Grows and Spreads." : Cancer Research UK. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.

"What Is Cancer?" What Is Cancer? American Cancer Society, n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.

"Your Guide to the Basics." .:: Patient Resource Publishing : Understanding Cancer ::.N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.