Cancer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 3

Cancer - Essay Example Cancer may affect people of all ages, but the chances of occurrence increases with age. Though it is found to affect people all over the world, it is identified as one of the major causes of death in developed countries. Cells do divide and proliferate in most tissues, but the body exercises strict control over the proliferation and death of cells, in order to maintain a balance. The mutations in cell DNA sometimes disrupt this control, leading to cancer. The result is usually a tumor, which may be benign or malignant. Benign ones neither spread to other tissues nor invade others, and is not life threatening except in some cases where their presence compresses critical organs etc. Malignant tumors are life threatening since they invade and spread to other tissues. Cancer can be of many types and are usually identified by the location of the most severe manifestation of the disease. The site of occurrence, character of malignancy, and evidence of metastasis etc determine the severity. Examination of the affected tissue by a pathologist is essential to arrive at a definite diagnosis. Surgery or biopsy is needed to extract tissue. Once identified, there are specific treatments for cancer depending on l ocation, severity and other factors. Common forms of treatment are surgical removal, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Many cancers can be cured by proper and timely treatment. Untreated cancers may eventually result in death. It is commonly believed that cancer strikes for no apparent reason. Such a belief has grown since medical science has so far not been able to identify a direct, one-to-one reason for the occurrence of cancer. However, despite being unable to identify every cause, it has been possible to identify many of the factors that cause cancer. The causative factors are either intrinsic, such as heredity, diet or hormones or extrinsic, such as chemicals, radiation, viruses or bacteria. The common perception that smoking causes cancer arises from this