CANCER
CANCER
CANCER
CANCER
• Cancer is a class of diseases characterized by
out-of-control cell growth.
• (medical term: malignant neoplasm) is a class
of diseases in which a group of cells display
uncontrolled growth (division beyond the
normal limits), invasion (intrusion on and
destruction of adjacent tissues), and
sometimes metastasis (spread to other
locations in the body via lymph or blood).
• Cancer harms the body when damaged cells
divide uncontrollably to form lumps or masses
of tissue called tumors (except in the case of
leukemia where cancer prohibits normal
blood function by abnormal cell division in the
blood stream). Tumors can grow and interfere
with the digestive, nervous, and circulatory
systems, and they can release hormones that
alter body function. Tumors that stay in one
spot and demonstrate limited growth are
generally considered to be benign.
• More dangerous, or malignant, tumors form
when two things occur:
1. A cancerous cell manages to move throughout
the body using the blood or lymph systems,
destroying healthy tissue in a process called
invasion
2. That cell manages to divide and grow, making
new blood vessels to feed itself in a process
called angiogenesis.
• When a tumor successfully spreads to other
parts of the body and grows, invading and
destroying other healthy tissues, it is said to
have metastasized. This process itself is called
metastasis, and the result is a serious
condition that is very difficult to treat.
What causes cancer?
• Cancer is ultimately the result of cells that
uncontrollably grow and do not die. Normal cells
in the body follow an orderly path of growth,
division, and death. Programmed cell death is
called apoptosis, and when this process breaks
down, cancer begins to form. Unlike regular cells,
cancer cells do not experience programmatic
death and instead continue to grow and divide.
This leads to a mass of abnormal cells that grows
out of control.
• Cancers are caused by abnormalities in the
genetic material of the transformed cells. These
abnormalities may be due to the effects of
carcinogens, such as tobacco smoke, radiation,
chemicals, or infectious agents. Other cancer-
promoting genetic abnormalities may randomly
occur through errors in DNA replication, or are
inherited, and thus present in all cells from birth.
The heritability of cancers is usually affected by
complex interactions between carcinogens and
the host's genome.
Genes - the DNA type
• Cells can experience uncontrolled growth if there are
damages or mutations to DNA, and therefore, damage to the
genes involved in cell division. Four key types of gene are
responsible for the cell division process: oncogenes tell cells
when to divide, tumor suppressor genes tell cells when not to
divide, suicide genes control apoptosis and tell the cell to kill
itself if something goes wrong, and DNA-repair genes instruct
a cell to repair damaged DNA.