Understanding Cancer
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Video Description:Each year, one and half million Americans will be diagnosed with some form of cancer. If you or a loved one are among them, understanding the basics of the disease can help.
Transcript:This year in the United States, 1.4 million people will be diagnosed with cancer, a group of diseases characterized by abnormal cell growth in the body. To understand the effect of these abnormal cells, it helps to look first at how healthy cells function. Each of us is made up of millions of cells, the “building blocks” of the body. Cells make up tissue, and tissue comprises organs. Healthy cells grow in a controlled way, living for a period and then dying naturally. When a cell dies, the body replaces it with another. A set of “instructions” are located in the body’s DNA that tell each cell how to complete this life process. Sometimes, however, mutations occur in parts of a cell’s DNA. The result can be the formation of harmful, cancerous cells which grow in an uncontrolled manner. This initial mutation can occur from within the body; for example, as a hereditary trait, or as the result of an invading virus. Or, the mutation can be the result of external factors, such as chemicals, tobacco, or radiation from the sun. Whatever the cause of DNA mutation, once it occurs, cancerous cells often begin to grow and divide at a very rapid rate. This can lead to a built-up mass of cells known as a tumor. Sometimes a tumor will be benign, meaning that it remains self-contained. Other tumors are malignant, or cancerous, and actually attract their own blood supply. This means that the body unwittingly provides the nutrients and oxygen that a tumor needs to grow. Cancer becomes more serious when cells break away from a malignant tumor and metastasize, or spread, through the bloodstream or lymphatic system, to either adjacent or distant organs. The lymphatic system is one of the body’s first defenses against disease. It includes the bone marrow, spleen, thymus, lymph nodes, and lymphatic vessels, which are tubes that carry infection-fighting white blood cells. Some severe cancers, like lymphoma, actually FORM in the lymphatic system and therefore do not manifest as tumors. Regardless of the type of cancer, if malignant cells are carried to vital organs in the body and settle there, the result can be death. Although cancer can spread, its classification is based on the area where the malignant cells originated. For example, breast cancer, one of the most common forms in women, begins with mutations in the breast. Similarly, the most common form in men, prostate cancer, originates in that gland. No matter the type of cancer, however, its diagnosis is NOT necessarily a death sentence! Today, early detection and advanced treatment methods make the prognosis for people with cancer better than ever before. Cancer can be curable, but it is still the second leading cause of death in the United States. If you are concerned about this disease, make an appointment with your doctor to discuss screening.
Category:Cancer/How Cancer Works
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