What is cancer?

There was a film in the early 1990's starring Sean Connery as a research scientist who discovers the cure for cancer; cancer has killed untold millions, but each year the cure for this disease gets another step closer. The cure will come eventually and the world will rejoice that this awful disease that can strike anyone at any time has been silenced. The reasons cancer is triggered in the body are only theories as it can be caused by many things.

There are theories that we all have it and it just takes something to start it off, but what is cancer? Well, it is a disease that's characterized by a large number of cells that continue to grow and divide; they invade and destroy adjacent tissues and may even spread to other anatomical sites through a process called metastasis.

The difference between a cancerous tumor an a benign one is that malignant tumors continue to grow whereas benign ones limit their growth an many of us live comfortably with them during out lives without even knowing. The disease may affect people of all ages and there is an increased risk of suffering from the more common cancers as you get older; cancer is responsible for around 130,000 deaths for every one million people each year. Nearly all cancers are caused by abnormalities in the genetic material of the transformed cells; these abnormalities may be caused by other poisons within the body from smoking, radiation, chemicals or other infectious agents.

Although genetic abnormalities may be caused by it they may also be randomly acquired through problems in the body's DNA replication; a genetic trait may be inherited and thus present in all cells from birth. It is still not fully understood why one person will contract the disease and another be free from it but it is believed that the interactions between any carcinogens and each person's particular DNA is complicated.

Owing to the worldwide problem of cancer, it is regularly studied throughout the world and extending our knowledge on the subject. Much of the world's research into diseases is to try and find the reason why some people do not contract certain diseases whilst others do. Knowledge like this could enable more people avoid contracting cancer in the first place.

It is now believed by many that the food we eat could be responsible for many cases. Even if this is not the case, what we eat does have an effect on our overall and long term health. There are certain foods that are considered risky such as excess salt in the diet, too much saturated fat and overindulgence in dairy foods. In particular, excess calcium is believed to have a direct effect on the incidence of prostrate cancer amongst men around the world.

No-one is immune from cancer. It can affect anyone at some time in a person's life. Sometimes the disease is only picked up through routine screening. Usually the cancer is at an early stage and a person may have a better chance of being cured. the number of different types of cancer that can be treated has increased dramatically in recent years with so much intensive research being carried out. Advancements in medical techniques mean that cancer in many cases can be treated and often completely cured; it is only a matter of time before a complete cure is discovered.