Question: What is cancer, exactly?

Shane Pennington-Cooper answered on 20 Jun 2011:

Hello tucker2011

Cancer is a term used for diseases in which abnormal cells divide without control and are able to invade other tissues. Cancer cells can spread to other parts of the body through the blood.

All cancers begin in our cells, these cells grow and divide in a controlled way to produce more cells as they are needed to keep the body healthy. When cells become old or damaged, they die and are replaced with new cells. This could be because of a cut or a more serious injury.

However, sometimes this process goes horribly wrong. The DNA of the cell can become damaged, producing mutations that affect normal cell growth. When this happens, cells do not die when they are told to and new cells form when the body does not need them. It is these extra cells which can form a mass of tissue known as a a tumor. Not all tumours turn cancerous though, Benign tumours do not spread around the body and normally do not come back, these is a very common operation and removes the mass of tissue. Malignant tumours are the cancerous tumours, these can spread around the body and can cause severe damage. Currently an influx of chemicals are used (chemotherapy) which can shrink tumours but with side affects. I am researching on a method which uses no harmful chemicals.

Hope this answers your question.