cancer

cancer is a disease characterized by the uncontrollable growth of abnormal or damaged cells in the body. any cell in the body can become cancerous because the process of cell division and multiplication.

cells in the body are continuously growing and multiplying to help form new cells. if a cell becomes old or damaged, it dies off, and the newly grown cells take its place. if that process does not occur as it should, the damaged cells grow and multiply instead, leading to the growth of cancer and tumours in the body.

when a tumour develops, it can invade nearby tissues, or the cells can travel throughout the body, causing new tumours to form in a process known as metastasis. in some cases, the damaged cancerous cells do not form tumours. this occurs most notably in blood cancers.

cancer cells are different than typical cells in various ways. they grow without signals alerting them to grow, ignore signals that tell them to die, invade into other areas of the body, encourage blood vessels to grow toward tumours, hide from the immune system, and make nutrients in a different way to allow them to stay alive.

cancer is considered a genetic disease because it is driven by gene changes that control the function of cells. these genetic changes occur because of errors in cell division, damage to dna, or because they were inherited from parents. in younger people, damaged dna cells are often eliminated before they have the chance to turn into cancer, but the body’s ability to do that is hindered with age, so cancer risk increases as a person gets older.

there are more than 100 types of cancer, each classified by the organs or tissues they form. they can also be classified based on the cells that formed them. while the symptoms of cancer will depend highly on the type, there are some generalized signs of the disease in the body that can be present with many types, including:
• fatigue
• a lump or thickening felt under the skin
• unintended weight loss or gain
• changes in the skin, such as yellowing, darkening, or redness or the skin, mole changes, and sores that won’t heal
• changes in bowel or bladder habits
• persistent cough, trouble breathing, hoarseness, and difficulty swallowing
• persistent feelings of indigestion or discomfort after eating
• persistent and unexplained fevers, night sweats, muscle or joint pain, and bleeding or bruising

while anyone can develop cancer, there are some risk factors associated with the disease. age is a big one, because the body cannot rid itself of damaged cells fast enough as a person gets older. others include lifestyle habits, such as how much a person smokes, drinks, exercises, and what they eat, family history, pre-existing health conditions, and the environment a person lives or works in.

screening measures, which involves tests to check for abnormal cells, are put in place in the healthcare system to help ensure that cancer is diagnosed at its earliest stages. since there is no cure, and it is the second-leading cause of death globally, treating cancer quickly in its early stages is the best way to foster survivability.

the various cancer treatments available today include:
• surgery to remove solid tumours or as much of the cancer as possible
• chemotherapy, which are drugs to kill cancer cells
• radiation therapy, which uses high-powered energy beams to kill cancer cells
• bone marrow transplants which involve using stem cells from yourself or a donor to increase the amount of chemotherapy medication a person can take
• immunotherapy, which involves using the immune system to kill cancer cells
• hormone therapy to block their effects if they contribute to cancer growth
• targeted drug therapy that focuses on cell abnormalities in an effort to hinder their ability to survive
• clinical trials, which involve testing new and upcoming theoretical treatments as they are developed

the main goal of cancer treatment is to remove all the cancer from a person’s body, or help them go into remission, so that the cancer cells are not harming healthy tissues. since cancer is often terminal, increasing survival rates and quality of life in those who will not survive the cancer is of the utmost importance in cancer treatment.

research continues to dive into new and exciting therapies to help fight cancer so that people living with the disease have better outcomes and higher overall treatment success rates.