Cancer General Info
Cancer is a disease of the cells which occurs when abnormal cells grow in an uncontrolled way.
For a healthy individual, cells grow, divide, and die in a highly regulated fashion. During childhood, healthy cells grow and divide very rapidly until the individual becomes an adult. At adulthood, cell growth slows down and cells only divide to replace worn-out or dying cells and repair injuries.
When damage occurs to DNA, this then forms cancer cells. Such damage can be caused by over exposure to sunlight, smoking, lifestyle, environmental and behavioral factors. Cancer can also be inherited genetically.
Sometimes cancer cells travel to other parts of the body and begin to grow and replace normal tissues. By entering through the bloodstream or lymphatic system, cancer cells travel to a new organ to form secondary tumours. This process is called metastasis.
- American Society of Clinical Oncology: http://ww.asco.org
- The American Cancer Society: http://www.cancer.org
- National Cancer Institute: http://www.cancer.gov
- Cancer Education: http://www.cancereducation.com
- Medline Plus: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus
- National Comprehensive Cancer Network: http://www.nccn.org
- Cancer.net: http://www.cancer.net
- National Foundation for Cancer Research: http://www.nfcr.org
- Cancer Research Institute: http://www.cancerresearch.org