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ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE ABOUT CANCER

In this chapter, I would like to discuss the disease of cancer. I will describe how to prevent it from being formed, important lifestyle factors, and fundamental knowledge that will help the reader gain a deeper understanding of this disease.

WHAT IS CANCER?
Cells make up your entire body and all the organs that are part of it. So long as you are alive, cells in most body tissues continue to divide and form new cells. Apart from the cranial nerve cells that stop growing since the day of birth and do not undergo cell division, the cells of all other organs have varying lifespans during which they undergo cell division and multiply. Cells such as white blood cells only survive for 1-2 days, whereas muscle cells live for several months. The time required for cell division is usually 6 - 8 hours, a duration that is not related to the lifespans of the cells.

Thus, at any given time, the body is undergoing cell division, with old cells forming new cells. This continuous process is important for organs to maintain stability in their size and function. This process of continuous generation is a very precisely controlled physiological phenomenon. For instance, if part of the liver were removed in an operation, the remaining cells of the liver would reproduce steadily under cerebral signals within a certain span of time to restore the normal, preoperative size of the organ. Thus reproduction is one of the most important functions of the cell.

What would happen, then, if the cells, which resemble a precision computer inside the body, suddenly lose their normal reproductive function and go out of control? The cells, failing to receive the command to stop cell division, would continue the process of unlimited growth. One might think, perhaps, that the continued generation of new cells would be positive rather than negative. It must be remembered that the excessive number of cells would not only exceed the supply of nutrients and oxygen in its particular location, but also would also form a mass or lump in the area of abnormal growth. This lump could exert pressure on and damage adjacent organs and tissues.

This lump or mass is referred to as a tumor. If it does not cause pronounced damage to tissues it is referred to as a benign tumor; if it is dangerous and likely to cause illness and death it is called a malignant tumor. The so-called cancerous tumors are caused by malignant tumors (see Table 12, p.127.)

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