How does cancer kill the body?

How does cancer kill the body?

Cancer kills by growing into key organs, nerves, or blood vessels and interfering with and impairing their function. It can begin in almost any human cell. Usually, new cells form through growth and division. Cells die once they become too old or damaged, and newly formed cells replace them.

What makes a normal cell turn into cancer?

There have to be about half a dozen different mutations before a normal cell turns into a cancer cell. Mutations in particular genes may mean that a cell starts producing too many proteins that trigger a cell to divide.

How does cancer spread in the human body?

Cancer occurs when abnormal cells divide in an uncontrolled way and eventually spread to other tissues. The cell keeps dividing and produces more abnormal cells which form a lump or growth, commonly referred to as a tumour. The more it spreads, the more likely it is that several different parts of the body will be affected by the condition.

Why are some people more likely to get cancer?

They can also be caused by the processes of life inside the cell. Or by things coming from outside the body, such as the chemicals in tobacco smoke. And some people can inherit faults in particular genes that make them more likely to develop a cancer. Some genes get damaged every day and cells are very good at repairing them.

Why is a tumour referred to as cancer?

Cancer occurs when abnormal cells divide in an uncontrolled way and eventually spread to other tissues. The cell keeps dividing and produces more abnormal cells which form a lump or growth, commonly referred to as a tumour.

Why is cancer so harmful?

Cancer – when good cells go bad. The cancer cells don’t set out to become harmful , the process is random . One of the first steps in a cell becoming cancerous can be losing the ability to divide properly . If genes that control cell division are mutated, cells may start to divide randomly and more often.

What are the causes of cancer?

Cancer is a disease caused by genetic changes leading to uncontrolled cell growth and tumor formation. The basic cause of sporadic (non-familial) cancers is DNA damage and genomic instability. A minority of cancers are due to inherited genetic mutations. Most cancers are related to environmental, lifestyle, or behavioral exposures.

Why is cancer hard to treat?

Cancer is so hard to cure because cancer is your own cells growing wrong. This means the cells which make up the cancer are mostly just like all the other cells in your body. The problem with this is that it is very hard to target them for destruction.

Why cancer is harmful for other cells?

Cancer – when good cells go bad . If the genes that control this detection or suicide process are mutated the cell will not kill itself and will pass faulty genes onto the two new cells. This means you now have cells that will continue to divide and easily accrue mutations, which is very bad news indeed.