Cancer
From the Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can change
Cancer is a class of diseases or disorders that often has uncontrolled division of cells in common.
In cancer, body cells are malfunctioning. These cells are able to invade other biological tissues, either by growing into them or by implanting themselves into distant sites by metastasis. Metastasis is the stage in which cancer cells move through the bloodstream or lymphatic system. Cancer can affect anybody at any age, but people are more likely to get it as they get older because DNA damage becomes more apparent in older DNA. Cancer is one of the biggest and most researched causes of death in developed countries.
Cancer is a leading cause of death -- according to the World Health Organization, 12.5% of all deaths worldwide. Some things (whether controllable or uncontrollable) that can be causes or triggers of various types of cancer, include tobacco (smoked or smokeless), sunlight, radiation -- including X-rays in large or repeated doses, chemicals used in construction and manufacturing (for example, asbestos and benzene), high-fat or low-fiber diets, air and water pollution, low fruit and vegetable intakes, overweight and obesity, not enough physical activity, drinking too much alcohol, and household use of some chemicals.
Although a single cure has not been found, cancer can be treated using radiotherapy (also called radiation therapy), chemotherapy, or immunotherapy (also called biological therapy).
The difficulty in treating cancer is that most things that kill it, also kill good cells. Cancerous cells are often quite weak but since the cancer is actually a part of the body, the body will not attack it even though often it could easily kill it.
There are many different types of cancer - each have their own symptoms and causes. Some people can handle cancer better than others but to everyone it is harmful and can be fatal.
There is always progress in discovering treatment and many cancers are treated successfully.
