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Explanations about what cancer is, how cancer cells differ from normal cells, and genetic changes that cause cancer to grow and spread.
At its most basic, cancer is a disease of the genes in the cells of our body. Genes control the way our cells work. But, changes to these genes can cause cells to malfunction, causing them to grow and divide when they should not—or preventing them from dying when they should.
Two cancer cells in the same tumor can have different DNA changes. In addition, every person with cancer has a unique combination of DNA changes in their cancer. For more information on the biological changes that make cells cancerous, see What is Cancer?
Research on the biology of cancer starts with the simplest of questions: What is—and isn’t—normal? To understand how cancer develops and progresses, researchers first need to investigate the biological differences between normal cells and cancer cells.
Cancer that spreads from where it started to a distant part of the body is called metastatic cancer. For many types of cancer, it is also called stage IV (4) cancer. The process by which cancer cells spread to other parts of the body is called metastasis.
Kidney (Renal Cell) Cancer; L Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis; Laryngeal Cancer (Head and Neck Cancer) Leukemia; Lip and Oral Cavity Cancer (Head and Neck Cancer) Liver Cancer; Lung Cancer (Non-Small Cell, Small Cell, Pleuropulmonary Blastoma, Pulmonary Inflammatory Myofibroblastic Tumor, and Tracheobronchial Tumor)
Understanding the fundamentals of how cancer cells form and proliferate has been crucial to cancer treatment and prevention. New areas of basic research will lead to better outcomes for patients.
The team has identified the molecular pathway that cancer cells use to detect and respond to the signals released by dying cells. They say it may be possible to block those signals to prevent cells that die during cancer therapy from provoking the growth of any cancer cells that remain.
A cancer cell is a cell that grows out of control. Unlike normal cells, cancer cells ignore signals to stop dividing, to specialize, or to die and be shed. Growing in an uncontrollable manner and unable to recognize its own natural boundary, the cancer cells may spread to areas of the body where they do not belong.
Do cell phones cause cancer? No, not according to the best studies completed so far. Cancer is caused by genetic mutations, and cell phones emit a type of low-frequency energy that does not damage genes.