How Does Cancer Start?
Cancer is a disease that occurs when abnormal cells begin to grow and divide out of control, developing into a mass of abnormal tissue called a tumor. Cancer can occur in any tissue in the body and almost all types of cancer have the same basic characteristics.
Thirty years ago, scientists could not answer the question of how cancer starts. They knew that cancer cells grew and spread without control, that they came from cells that had begun to grow out of control and that some chemicals, radiation and viruses can cause cancer. They also knew that there were stages of cancer, from Stage 1 (the earliest stage) to Stage 4, when the cancer has spread to other organs and areas of the body.
Normally, your body’s genes control how your cells grow and develop. Sometimes, a mutation in a gene can cause a cell to start growing out of control and become cancerous. Whether you inherit the gene mutation or acquire it during your life, it can lead to cancer only if other factors are present.
A cancerous cell has many of the same features as a normal cell, but it is not controlled by the same mechanisms that regulate how your cells grow and develop. For example, cancer cells grow faster than normal cells and they can reproduce themselves without being stopped by the growth inhibitors that normally stop cell division.
In addition, cancer cells can change the surrounding environment of a tumor to promote its growth and spread. These changes can happen when cancer cells infiltrate other tissues or when they escape from a tumor and invade the surrounding area.
Some of these changes may be caused by a change in the structure of a cell’s chromosomes, which are the building blocks of the cells that make up your body. For example, a cancer cell may have extra chromosomes or it may have lost a part of one of its chromosomes.
Cancer cells can also use different ways to get energy from nutrients. They can also produce a type of sugar that allows them to grow and divide more quickly than normal cells. Some cancers also form a network of blood vessels that nourishes them and carries them away from where they started.
The most important thing you can do to lower your risk of getting cancer is to follow a healthy lifestyle. Do not smoke or drink more than one or two drinks a day, and protect yourself from excessive sun exposure and from frequent blistering sunburns. Regular screening tests may help find cancers at the earliest stage when they are easier to treat. Other important preventive measures include vaccination against certain infections, such as the human papillomavirus, herpes simplex virus, and the influenza vaccine. These can help reduce the number of cases of certain cancers, such as some forms of leukemia. In addition, some people are treated with chemotherapy or radiation therapy before surgery to shrink a tumor and to kill any remaining cancer cells.
Cancer is a disease that occurs when abnormal cells begin to grow and divide out of control, developing into a mass of abnormal tissue called a tumor. Cancer can occur in any tissue in the body and almost all types of cancer have the same basic characteristics. Thirty years ago, scientists could not answer the question of how cancer starts. They knew that cancer cells grew and spread without control, that they came from cells that had begun to grow out of control and that some chemicals, radiation and viruses can cause cancer. They also knew that there were stages of cancer, from Stage 1 (the earliest stage) to Stage 4, when the cancer has spread to other organs and areas of the body. Normally, your body’s genes control how your cells grow and develop. Sometimes, a mutation in a gene can cause a cell to start growing out of control and become cancerous. Whether you inherit the gene mutation or acquire it during your life, it can lead to cancer only if other factors are present. A cancerous cell has many of the same features as a normal cell, but it is not controlled by the same mechanisms that regulate how your cells grow and develop. For example, cancer cells grow faster than normal cells and they can reproduce themselves without being stopped by the growth inhibitors that normally stop cell division. In addition, cancer cells can change the surrounding environment of a tumor to promote its growth and spread. These changes can happen when cancer cells infiltrate other tissues or when they escape from a tumor and invade the surrounding area. Some of these changes may be caused by a change in the structure of a cell’s chromosomes, which are the building blocks of the cells that make up your body. For example, a cancer cell may have extra chromosomes or it may have lost a part of one of its chromosomes. Cancer cells can also use different ways to get energy from nutrients. They can also produce a type of sugar that allows them to grow and divide more quickly than normal cells. Some cancers also form a network of blood vessels that nourishes them and carries them away from where they started. The most important thing you can do to lower your risk of getting cancer is to follow a healthy lifestyle. Do not smoke or drink more than one or two drinks a day, and protect yourself from excessive sun exposure and from frequent blistering sunburns. Regular screening tests may help find cancers at the earliest stage when they are easier to treat. Other important preventive measures include vaccination against certain infections, such as the human papillomavirus, herpes simplex virus, and the influenza vaccine. These can help reduce the number of cases of certain cancers, such as some forms of leukemia. In addition, some people are treated with chemotherapy or radiation therapy before surgery to shrink a tumor and to kill any remaining cancer cells.