Cancer

Abstract

            Cancer is an umbrella term for any malignant tissue growth. Cancer is determined by the behavior of a group of abnormal cells within a group of normal cells. The abnormal cells display aggressive growth, invasion, and eventual destruction of the surrounding normal cells. Cancer can affect any tissue in the body for example the bone marrow, lymphatic tissue, rectum, brain, colon, breast, esophagus, pancreas, lung, uterus, prostate, and testicles. The cells that are cancerous are less specialized than normal cells. This allows them to divide more rapidly and move to other parts of the body. When cancer moves to other organs or parts of the body it is called metastasis, or metastatic cancer. Some cancers, such as lung, prostate, or colon cancer, form a solid mass of cancerous tissue called tumors, while others, such as leukemia’s and lymphoma’s do not.