What is Cancer?
It's scary to hear the words "Your child has cancer" coming from a doctor. You know it's a dangerous thing, but what exactly is it? Let's talk, and I'll tell you.
Cancer is a group of abnormal, sometimes damaged, cells that form and grow at an incredibly fast rate. When enough of them group together, they form a tumor. Tumors harm the digestive, nervous, and circulatory systems; they release a hormone that alters a persons' body functions.
There are two different types of tumors: benign and malignant. Benign is the kind of tumor you would rather have, other than having no tumor at all. Benign tumors stay in one spot of the body and are slow growing. A malignant tumor is the more dangerous of the two. Malignant tumors are known to metastasize, which means it can move to other parts of the body. Medical News Today describes two occurrences of malignant tumors:
Cancer is a group of abnormal, sometimes damaged, cells that form and grow at an incredibly fast rate. When enough of them group together, they form a tumor. Tumors harm the digestive, nervous, and circulatory systems; they release a hormone that alters a persons' body functions.
There are two different types of tumors: benign and malignant. Benign is the kind of tumor you would rather have, other than having no tumor at all. Benign tumors stay in one spot of the body and are slow growing. A malignant tumor is the more dangerous of the two. Malignant tumors are known to metastasize, which means it can move to other parts of the body. Medical News Today describes two occurrences of malignant tumors:
- a cancerous cell manages to move throughout the body using the blood or lymph systems, destroying healthy tissue in a process called invasion
- that cell manages to divide and grow, making new blood vessels to feed itself in a process called angiogenesis.
What Causes Cancer?
There is no real certainty of what causes cancer. All we know is that it is a disruption in the normal cell process.
Your body creates new cells every day, mostly to repair, grow, or replace your old cells. This cell growth is controlled by your genes, no not the ones you wear.
Sometimes, these genes get damaged, or mutated, and too many cells are produced. This cluster-bomb of damaged, mutated cells forms a tumor.
Another explanation describes the process of apoptosis, which is programmed cell death. Your body has an order as to when normal cells with be created, grow, and die. When this process fails to repeat, cancer forms. These cells do not die; instead, they keep growing and divide into more cancerous cells. This leads to a tumor.
Your body creates new cells every day, mostly to repair, grow, or replace your old cells. This cell growth is controlled by your genes, no not the ones you wear.
Sometimes, these genes get damaged, or mutated, and too many cells are produced. This cluster-bomb of damaged, mutated cells forms a tumor.
Another explanation describes the process of apoptosis, which is programmed cell death. Your body has an order as to when normal cells with be created, grow, and die. When this process fails to repeat, cancer forms. These cells do not die; instead, they keep growing and divide into more cancerous cells. This leads to a tumor.
Now that you have a basic understanding of what cancer is, you should check out what the common symptoms of brain tumors are. They will give you a basic understanding of what to look for.
Cited:
"Cancer." The University of Utah. Utah Department of Health, n.d. Web. 22 Jun 2012. <http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/health/history/cancer/>
Patton, Donna. "What is Cancer?." Kids Health. The Nemours Foundation, Jan 2009. Web. 22 Jun 2012. <http://kidshealth.org/kid/cancer_center/cancer_basics/cancer.html>
"What is Cancer?." Medical News Today. MediLexicon International Ltd , n.d. Web. 22 Jun 2012. <http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/info/cancer-oncology/>