Cancer

CANCER The word cancer to many people even in this day and age is synonymous with death. This is far from the truth. Many cancers are today curable if detected early. Some even at late stage can be cured or managed. Usually, cancer starts with one cell in a particular organ. This one cell, usually are under the control of chemicals called modulators, and signals from the body. This one cell follows a specific part of multiplication that is commensurate with its kindred. This one cell will however, under some yet to be understood signal or signals, loss all inhibitions and control and then starts to multiply and run amok. These multiplications become unregulated, accelerated, domineering and exclusive. In short the growth becomes bizarre. They multiply regardless of whether they live or die. The net result is a tumor formation with exclusive recruitments of nutrition to the detriment of other cells and tissues and a continued nonsense multiplication of the cells. Adjacent structures are invaded and conquered and sometimes destroyed. Very highly potent emissaries called metastatic cells are sometimes sent to far away organs in the body to set up colonies. These metastatic cells behave exactly like the home cancer cells i.e. lack of control, growth with annihilation and assimilation of these newly conquered territories. What sets up these metastatic cells are unknown but what is known is that they travel either through the blood or through the lymphatic system.

There are theories however based on scientific evidence on what may precipitate or cause this once normal cell to behave bizarre. These are:

• Defective Suppressor Gene
• One of the modulators failed or became unable to regulate the abnormal growth.
• Chromosomal Abnormalities
• Chromosomes are the maps the body uses to build and rebuild itself and an abnormality in one of the twenty-three chromosomes (short arm or long arm) can precipitate cancer. Why this happens nobody knows.
• Viruses
• Certain viruses upon invasion of a specific organ system can transform an organ cell into a cancer cell by manipulating that cells DNA and its modulators.
• Parasites
• Some parasites can damage an organ so much that the cells in that organ turn cancerous.
• Chemicals
• Chemicals affect the modulators or become incorrect modulators themselves with the resultant effect of cells becoming
• Radiation
• Ultraviolet rays from the sun Ionizing, from X-rays, atomic bombs These can damage individual cells or change their DNA composition so much that they lose all inhibition and become cancer cells.
• Genes
• Some cancers can develop without any causative agent. A lot of these kinds of cancer maybe genetically inherited from families, example breast cancer.
• Most commonly occurring cancers are:
• Lung Cancer
• Breast Cancer
• Colon Cancer
• Blood Cancers, i.e. Leukemia, Lymphoma
• Prostate Cancer
• Gynecological Cancer, i.e. Cervix, Uterus
• Brain Cancer