Cancer is a disease that affects people all over the world. Many people have had an experience with cancer themselves or watched a loved person suffer from it. Around 39,5% of humans will receive a cancer diagnosis during their lifetime, and also many animals like dogs or cats die of this disease. Getting the diagnosis can be incredibly scary for the person and the people surrounding them, which is why it’s important to do as much research as possible on this difficult topic. Cancer is a very personal topic for me and while I am not a doctor I hope I can give at least some information about how cancer works.
How does cancer grow?
Everyone has trillions of cells in their body which grow and divide into two when needed. When cells get old they normally die, for adults, this is the only time that the body produces new cells in order to replace the old ones. These cells can turn from normal cells into cancer cells when something goes wrong in the process. Damaged cells then keep producing new ones, instead of dying when they are supposed to. They get out of control and ignore the signals that tell them to die, which is normally called programmed cell death. On the other hand, normal cells only grow and divide when they are told to and when it is necessary. The cancer cells can form tumours, either cancerous or not cancerous and can spread through the body.
How does cancer spread?
Usually, cancer cells can make their way into the blood vessels and from there they can travel to any part of the body. The process of cancer spreading is called metastasis. If cancer spreads from the breasts to the lung, it is metastatic breast cancer and not lung cancer. Most people who die of cancer die of metastatic cancer.
The stages of cancer
First stage: The cancer only covers a small area and hasn’t spread to other areas of the body.
Second stage: The cancer has grown bigger but still hasn’t spread.
Third stage: The tumour is now of a big size and has possibly spread to other surrounding tissue.
Fourth stage: The Cancer has spread to other organs which is called metastatic cancer.
Different types of cancer
Carcinoma
Carcinoma is the most common type of cancer and it affects mostly organs like the lungs, the breast or the skin.
Sarcoma
Sarcoma is a type of cancer which affects soft or connective tissue like muscle, fat, bone or blood vessels.
Melanoma
This cancer affects the cells that become melanocytes which then produce melanin. Those pigment cells give our skin its colour, but cancer can also develop in the eyes.
Lymphoma
Lymphoma affects the lymphocytes. Those are the white blood cells which normally help the body fight diseases. Cancer can build up in the lymph nodes and the lymph vessels.
Leukaemia
Leukaemia is probably the most known kind of cancer and it is found in the blood. Contradicting the other kinds of cancer, Leukemia doesn’t produce tumours but instead clogs the blood vessels. Abnormal white blood cells crowd out normal cells which makes it harder to provide oxygen to the organs. This also makes it harder for the body to fight infections because that is what normal white blood cells are responsible for.
What causes cancer?
Cancer can be caused by different influences on our bodies. On the one side cancer can develop when an error occurs during the process of dividing cells or when we inherit an error in our DNA from our parents. On the other hand, we have an influence on our cancer risk through the way we live our daily life. Damage to our DNA can appear when we expose ourselves to harmful substances. Smoking for example is one of the leading causes of Lung cancer, oral cancer and many more. But also an unhealthy lifestyle, like a high-fat, high-sugar diet or not enough exercise, can lead to cancer. If you have a lot of toxins in your environment like asbestos, which can be found in buildings, or pesticides, which are used to control pests, your risk for cancer might be higher than others. Lastly, the biggest cause of skin cancer is the radiation of the sun.
In general, our body’s ability to eliminate damaged cells goes down as we get older which is why the risk of cancer gets higher as our age gets higher.
How is it treated?
Chemotherapy uses drugs to destroy cancer cells.
Radiation therapy kills cancer cells through high radiation.
Sometimes the tumour can be removed with surgery.
With bone marrow transplant damaged cells can be replaced with healthy ones.
As you can see, Cancer is very versatile and can be caused by many factors you often don’t have any control over. While it is a dangerous disease there are a lot of treatment options and when it is found in an early stage there is a good chance to beat cancer. I hope you learned something new through this article!
Sources:
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/12194-cancer
https://www.cancer.org/treatment/understanding-your-diagnosis/what-is-cancer.html
https://cancer.ca/en/cancer-information/what-is-cancer/how-cancer-starts-grows-and-spreads
https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/understanding/what-is-cancer#:~:text=Cancer%20is%20a%20disease%20caused,are%20also%20called%20genetic%20changes