What is cancer and how it starts?

What is cancer, and how does it starts?

Cancer is a disease where abnormal or damaged cells grow uncontrollably and spread to other parts of the body. It can start anywhere in the human body and can be caused by genetic changes that control cell function, especially growth and division. Cancerous tumours can spread into nearby tissues and travel to distant places through metastasis. Benign tumours do not spread into nearby tissues and can cause serious symptoms or be life-threatening.

What are the types of cancer?

Some common types of cancer include bone cancer, which causes hypercalcemia, which can weaken bones, damage kidneys, and interfere with heart and brain function. Breast cancer can spread rapidly to other organs through metastasis, leading to death by damaging multiple organs. Leukaemia, a blood cancer that arises in blood cells, reduces the ability of healthy blood cells to perform their functions, making patients susceptible to infections and nutritional deficiencies. As the cancer continues to grow, additional genetic changes may occur, and each person's cancer has a unique combination of genetic changes.

Can cancer cause life-threatening complications in a person's life?

Cancer is a disease caused by abnormal cells growing uncontrollably, which can cause life-threatening complications when it affects major organs and their ability to function. It is a natural process of growth, division, and death, and cancer cells can break off from the primary tumour to form new tumours that can spread throughout the body. Blood cancers do not typically result in solid tumours but can metastasize and cause life-threatening complications.

Cancer can kill when it invades essential organs like the liver, lungs, or brain, causing them to stop functioning properly. Malnutrition is a major cause of mortality in advanced cancer, and cancer treatments can lead to loss of appetite and the inability to keep down food.

Lung tumours can cause lung infections, difficulty absorbing oxygen, and trouble breathing. Liver damage can lead to jaundice and other life-threatening issues. Cancer in the bones can cause too much calcium, affect the heart, kidneys, and muscles, and cause neurological symptoms.

Problems with blood and blood vessels can occur when cancer pushes into blood vessels, leading to serious damage.

Cancer cells can hide in plain sight

Cancer cells, although different in many ways from other cells in the body, are known to evade our immune system or suppress key elements of the usual immune response. In some cases, aggressive cytotoxic (killer) T cells—tthe immune cells that locate and kill invading pathogens—aactually infiltrate tumors. For some reason, however, they soon halt their attack through a combination of cell-to-cell signalling and an influx of T-regulator cells, a different type of immune cell that suppresses the immune response. Other research found that a chemical compound is sometimes added to cancer cell DNA and suppresses the activity of certain genes, making the cells much less likely to be targeted by the immune system. By controlling the activity of these genes, cancer is able to hide in plain sight within the body and avoid an immune response.

Is cancer still a difficult disease to treat?

Karolina Palucka stated that cancer remains a difficult disease to treat, but emerging therapies are increasingly effective. As we approach a new decade, it is interesting to speculate what we will be able to do when we move into the 2020s. What therapies will be available that seem out of reach today? While outright cures will likely remain elusive, we may be poised at the brink of an important step or even leap forward in our ability to treat cancer nonetheless. Cancer’s complexity will not go away, but our ability to understand and manipulate cancer cells—aas well as suppress and kill them—wwill continue to accelerate.

What can be done to lower the risk of complications?

Cancer is a disease caused by uncontrollable cell division that spreads into surrounding tissues. It is primarily caused by genetic changes, which occur in sections of DNA called genes or genetic changes. These changes can cause oncogenes, which are uncontrolled cell growth, while tumour suppressor genes prevent cancer by slowing or stopping cell growth. In normal cells, these genes can be inactivated, leading to uncontrolled cell growth and cancer.

The tumour microenvironment, surrounded by immune cells, fibroblasts, molecules, and blood vessels, plays a crucial role in how cancer grows and spreads. Some cancer cells can avoid detection or thwart an attack, and some cancer treatments can help the immune system better detect and kill cancer cells. Each person's cancer has a unique combination of genetic changes, which may make it more or less likely to respond to certain treatments. Genetic changes can be inherited, arise from environmental exposures, or occur due to errors that occur during cell division.

Most cancer-causing genetic changes accumulate slowly as a person ages, leading to a higher risk of cancer later in life. Cancer cells can break away from the original tumour and travel through the blood or lymph system to distant locations in the body, where they exit the vessels to form additional tumours, known as metastasis.

Conclusion

In conclusion, cancer is often survivable when treated early, and discussing cancer risk factors with your doctor and finding appropriate screening tests is essential for effective treatment. Even though the cure for cancer hasn't been established yet, it is never too late to seek help from the doctor.