What is Cancer?
Cancer is a disease that starts when some of your body’s cells start to grow and multiply out of control. There are many different types of cancer and each type can grow in different parts of the body. Cancer can cause symptoms like a lump or bump, pain, or changes in your skin or eyes. There are different treatments for each type of cancer. They may include surgery, radiation therapy, or chemotherapy. Your doctor may also suggest that you join a clinical trial. A clinical trial is a way to test new treatment or diagnosis methods.
The word “cancer” comes from the Latin word for malignant, meaning that it spreads quickly and is hard to treat. There are four stages of cancer, and each stage describes how far the cancer has spread.
All cancers are diseases that begin in cells, which are the basic building blocks of tissues and organs. Every day, billions of cells in your body are dying and being replaced by new ones. This process usually happens without any problems, but if some of these cells are damaged or wrongly programmed, they can begin to multiply out of control. The cells that form cancer can grow into a mass of tissue called a tumor. They can also break away and travel through your blood or lymph system to grow in other parts of the body. This is called metastasis.
There are over 100 different types of cancer. Each type has a different name and affects a different part of the body. But all cancers have one thing in common: They are abnormal. There are many possible causes of cancer, including your lifestyle habits, genes you get from your parents, and being exposed to certain things in the environment.
Cells that develop into cancer ignore signals that normally tell cells to stop dividing or to die (a process known as programmed cell death or apoptosis). They also ignore signals that keep cells from growing too fast, and they can even grow into areas where they aren’t needed. They can also hide from your immune system, which normally eliminates damaged or abnormal cells.
To cure your cancer, your healthcare team will give you chemotherapy or other drugs that kill cancer cells. These drugs may make you feel sick, such as having nausea and vomiting. They may also damage your heart and lungs. The drugs are given at regular intervals, usually over a few weeks, with rest periods in between. Some cancer patients can benefit from other types of treatments, such as biologic therapies or stem cell transplants. These treatments use your own healthy stem cells to replace the cancerous ones.
Cancer is a disease that starts when some of your body’s cells start to grow and multiply out of control. There are many different types of cancer and each type can grow in different parts of the body. Cancer can cause symptoms like a lump or bump, pain, or changes in your skin or eyes. There are different treatments for each type of cancer. They may include surgery, radiation therapy, or chemotherapy. Your doctor may also suggest that you join a clinical trial. A clinical trial is a way to test new treatment or diagnosis methods. The word “cancer” comes from the Latin word for malignant, meaning that it spreads quickly and is hard to treat. There are four stages of cancer, and each stage describes how far the cancer has spread. All cancers are diseases that begin in cells, which are the basic building blocks of tissues and organs. Every day, billions of cells in your body are dying and being replaced by new ones. This process usually happens without any problems, but if some of these cells are damaged or wrongly programmed, they can begin to multiply out of control. The cells that form cancer can grow into a mass of tissue called a tumor. They can also break away and travel through your blood or lymph system to grow in other parts of the body. This is called metastasis. There are over 100 different types of cancer. Each type has a different name and affects a different part of the body. But all cancers have one thing in common: They are abnormal. There are many possible causes of cancer, including your lifestyle habits, genes you get from your parents, and being exposed to certain things in the environment. Cells that develop into cancer ignore signals that normally tell cells to stop dividing or to die (a process known as programmed cell death or apoptosis). They also ignore signals that keep cells from growing too fast, and they can even grow into areas where they aren’t needed. They can also hide from your immune system, which normally eliminates damaged or abnormal cells. To cure your cancer, your healthcare team will give you chemotherapy or other drugs that kill cancer cells. These drugs may make you feel sick, such as having nausea and vomiting. They may also damage your heart and lungs. The drugs are given at regular intervals, usually over a few weeks, with rest periods in between. Some cancer patients can benefit from other types of treatments, such as biologic therapies or stem cell transplants. These treatments use your own healthy stem cells to replace the cancerous ones.