Our bodies are made up of millions of tiny cells. They all have different jobs to do and they are busy dividing (splitting into two), making more new cells to do their job, eg. new skin cells take the place of old skin cells, which are rubbed off the skin's surface when they die.
Usually new cells are made as they are needed in each part of the body. Inside each cell are chemicals that give the signals for making new cells or stopping making new cells.
Cancer forms when...
the cells get their messages mixed up so that cells are made which are not normal cells, or
the cells don't get a message to stop making new cells, so too many cells are made.
That is when a tumour forms.
Some tumours are benign (say bee-nine). Too many new cells are made but they don't spread anywhere else.
The other kind of tumour is malignant (say mal-ig-nant), and this is the cancer that grows too much in one area and can spread to other areas of the body.
What causes cancer
Anyone can get cancer, but some things may make it more likely to happen (called 'risk factors').
Smoking can lead to lung cancer.
Spending too much time in the sun can lead to skin cancer.
Carcinogens (cancer-causing agents) in the environment can lead to cancer, eg. pollution in the air or some chemicals in the environment.
Too much alcohol can lead to some types of cancer.
A history of cancer in the family can mean that others are at higher risk (they are more likely to get cancer).
People whose bodies do not have a strong immune system (the parts of the body that get rid of germs and body cells that are not normal) are more at risk of getting cancer.
However, often people who have many of these risk factors don't get cancer, while others who have none of these risk factors do.
It seems that cancer can happen to anyone, and it's not anyone's fault if it does.
الرئيسية 
موضوع: What is cancer? 
السبت أكتوبر 20, 2007 7:20 am
