Cancer
Cancer starts in your cells, the building blocks of your body. Normally, your body creates new cells as needed, replacing old ones that die. This procedure occasionally fails. New cells form even when they are not required, and old cells do not die when they should. These extra cells can combine to form a mass known as a tumour.
Tumours can be benign or malignant in nature. Benign tumours are not cancer, whereas malignant tumours are. Malignant tumour cells can infiltrate nearby tissues. They can also split and spread to other parts of the body.
Cancer is a group of diseases, not just one. There are over 100 different kinds of cancer. Most cancers are named after the location where they first appear. Lung cancer, for example, begins in the lung, whereas breast cancer begins in the breast. Metastasis refers to the spread of cancer from one part of the body to another. Symptoms and treatment are determined by the type of cancer and its stage. The majority of treatment plans include surgery, radiation, and/or chemotherapy. Hormone therapy, immunotherapy, or other types of biological therapy, as well as aromasin, may be used in some cases.
As mutant cells (those with errors in their genetic blueprint) multiply and divide, a mass of abnormal cells, known as a tumour, forms. In some cases, these cells will form a distinct lump; in others, such as leukaemia, abnormal blood cells will be found throughout the body.
Cancer cells can break free from the mass (or tumour) and travel to different parts of the body via the bloodstream or lymphatic system. These cells can spread to other parts of the body and form secondary cancer, also known as metastasis.
Cancer can cause premature death because secondary cancers prevent certain parts of the body from functioning properly.
Secondary tumours are formed when cancerous cells travel through the blood (circulatory system) or lymphatic system. The lymphatic system is a network of small vessels that collect waste from cells and transport it to larger vessels before depositing it in lymph nodes. Eventually, lymph fluid drains into the bloodstream.
What exactly is the distinction between benign and malignant cancer?
Tumours can be benign (noncancerous) or malignant (cancerous) (cancerous). Benign tumours grow slowly and rarely spread. Malignant tumours can spread throughout the body, invade and destroy nearby normal tissues, and grow rapidly.
What is the difference between "locally invasive cancer" and "metastatic cancer"?
Cancer that is locally invasive—The tumour can invade the tissues around it by sending out "fingers" of cancerous cells into normal tissue.
Cancer that has spread to other parts of the body from the original tumour is known as metastatic cancer.
What is the tumour?
Tumour, also spelt tumour, also known as a neoplasm, is a mass of abnormal tissue that arises from preexisting body cells without apparent cause, has no purposeful function, and is characterised by a tendency to independent and unrestrained growth.
Tumours differ from inflammatory or other swellings in that their cells have an abnormal appearance and other characteristics. Abnormal cells, which make up most tumours, differ from normal cells in that they have undergone one or more of the following changes:
- (1) hypertrophy, or an increase in the size of individual cells; this feature is rare in tumours but common in other conditions.
- (2) hyperplasia, or an increase in the number of cells within a given zone; in some cases, this may be the only criterion for tumour formation.
- (3) anaplasia, or the regression of a cell's physical characteristics toward a more primitive or undifferentiated type; this is almost always a feature of malignant tumours, though it can occur in other situations in both health and disease.
In some cases, tumour cells appear normal; the differences between them and normal body cells can only be discerned with difficulty. Such tumours are more often than not benign. Other tumours are made up of cells that differ from normal adult types in size, shape, and structure; they are usually malignant tumours.
These cells can have strange shapes or be arranged in a distorted pattern. Malignant tumour cells are described as primitive, or undifferentiated, in more extreme cases, because they have lost the appearance and functions of the specific type of (normal) specialised cell that was their predecessor. The less differentiated the cells of a malignant tumour are, the faster the tumour is expected to grow.