Cancer is the name given to a collection of related diseases. In all types of cancer, some of the body’s cells begin to divide without stopping and spread into surrounding tissues.
Cancer can start almost anywhere in the human body, which is made up of trillions of cells. Normally, human cells grow and divide to form new cells as the body needs them. When cells grow old or become damaged, they die, and new cells take their place.
When cancer develops, however, this orderly process breaks down. As cells become more and more abnormal, old or damaged cells survive when they should die, and new cells form when they are not needed. These extra cells can divide without stopping and may form growths called tumors.
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Many cancers form solid tumors, which are masses of tissue. Cancers of the blood, such as leukemias, generally do not form solid tumors.
Causes Of Cancer
There are many causes of cancer, and some are preventable. Cancer is caused by accumulated damage to genes. Such changes may be due to chance or exposure to a cancer-causing substance.
The substances that cause cancer are called carcinogens. A carcinogen may be a chemical substance, such as certain molecules in tobacco smoke. For example, over 175, 000 people die in Nigeria each year from smoking cigarettes, this translates to about 207 men and 130 women weekly (Tobacco Atlas, 2015).
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The cause of cancer may be:
Biological or internal factors, such as age, gender, inherited genetic defects and skin type.
environmental exposure to radon and UV radiation, and fine particulate matter.
occupational risk factors, including carcinogens such as many chemicals, radioactive materials, and asbestos.
Lifestyle-related factors like heavy tobacco alcohol consumption, excess body weight, physical inactivity, poor nutrition.
Some food-related factors, such as nitrites and polyaromatic hydrocarbons generated by barbecuing food).
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Bacteria and viruses can also cause cancer: Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori, which causes gastritis), HBV, HCV (hepatitis viruses that cause hepatitis), HPV (human papillomavirus, papillomavirus, which causes changes eg. Cervical cells), EBV (Epstein-Barr virus, the herpes virus that causes inflammation of the throat lymphoid).
Radiation can cause cancer: ionising radiation (e.g. X-ray radiation, soil radon), non-ionised radiation (the sun’s ultraviolet radiation).
Some drugs may also increase the risk of cancer.
Treatments for Cancer
Depending on the type and stage of cancer, treatments to eradicate the tumor or slow its growth may include some combination of surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, hormone therapy or immunotherapy.
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