What Is Cancer?

The term 'Cancer' refers to any one of a large number of diseases in which a group of cells show an abnormal development with an uncontrollable division beyond the normal limits. They have the ability to intrude and destroy adjacent body tissues. Cancer cells have the ability to spread throughout the body via lymph and blood, thus destroying the healthy tissues (process known as invasion).

All the cancers begin in the basic unit of life - the cell. Normal cells in a body have the ability to grow and divide in a controlled way to produce more cells as per needed to keep the body healthy. When the cells become old or damaged, they die and get replaced with new cells. If and when this normal process gets disturbed then cancer gets initiated. In a normal process, old cells die after a certain period of time and are replaced by new cells. But in a cancerous state, new cells keep on developing while old cells do not die when they should thus leading to a mass of tissue known as a tumor.

There are two types of tumors:

1. Benign tumors:

A benign tumor is not cancerous. It can often be removed and usually does not come back. These cells grow in a limited, non-aggressive manner. They do not invade the surrounding tissues and neither spread to other parts of the body, i.e., do not metastasize.

2. Malignant tumors:

A malignant tumor is cancerous. Cells in these tumors invade the surrounding tissues and spread to other parts of the body.

CATEGORIES OF CANCER

Cancer can be grouped into broader categories namely:

• Carcinoma

This type of cancer begins in the skin or in the tissues that lines or covers the internal organs. For example, carcinoma can arise in the colon, liver, lung and stomach.

• Sarcoma

It begins in the soft supporting tissues of the body - muscle, fat, fibrous tissue, blood vessels, or other.

• Leukemia

Commonly known as the cancer of the blood or the bone marrow. There is an abnormal increase of white blood cells - leukocytes.

• Lymphoma

It starts in the lymphatic cells of the immune system. There are many types of lymphoma. One type is called Hodgkin disease. The rest are called non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

• Myeloma

Cancer of the white blood cells - plasma cells

• Central nervous system cancer

Cancer that begins in the tissues of the brain and spinal cord


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