What is Cancer?

If you have been following us, by now you might have realized that most of our articles have a funny twist. We will put humor away for this particular article. Cancer is no joke. Unfortunately, cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States. You, or someone you know might have been or is affected by cancer, we know it's a serious illness, but what exactly is cancer?

Our body produces “growth and stop signals.” When healthy cells receive growth signals they start their growth process and stop as soon as they are told to do so. Cancer originates when a “sick” cell in our body starts to grow and reproduce in an uncontrolled manner, spreading to other parts of the body. Since our body is made up of trillions of cells, cancer can start almost anywhere in the body.

These sick cells usually form tumors, which is a lump of tissue. Tumors can be malignant or benign. Malignant tumors spread to nearby tissue and when removed they usually grow back. Benign tumors on the other hand don’t spread and when removed they do not return.

There are many factors that can cause cancer, from genetic predisposition to environmental influences. Talk to your doctor to learn more on how to prevent cancer. A very good resource is the Cancer Facts and Figures from the American Cancer Society. 

Here is a joke to end the article. Knock knock….who’s there?.. Weekend…weekend who?....weekend do anything!

By Karen Ventura