Cancer is a dreaded word for most of us.  We hear someone speak of it and automatically consider it a death sentence.  However, in truth, most people don't know what the disease is, that in most cases it's quite survivable, or even how cancer develops.  Let's examine some of these things to better understand cancer.
 
First, let's understand the truth about cancer's survivability.  In the United States, one in three people will get some form of cancer.  Only one in four people will die of cancer. However, cancer is still a very serious problem, with about 1,500 Americans dying from some form of the disease each day.  And in fact, it causes more deaths among Americans over age 85 than anything else.
 
Also, you should understand that cancer is not a single disease.  Rather, there are more than a 100 different kinds of cancer.  In fact, it can affect almost any organ in a person's body:  kidneys, lungs, pancreas, throat, brain and dozens more.
 
To understand the development process of cancer, you need to remember that the body is comprised of cells.  These cells, as part of their normal function, divide and multiply according to the needs of the body.  Sometimes though, the cells begin multiplying in an uncontrolled manner producing more cells than the body needs. As a result, a growth or mass is produced.  This mass is called a tumor. 
 
A tumor is classified as either benign or malignant.  A tumor is benign if the out-of-control cell growth does not affect other areas of the body.  In other word, though the cells are growing abnormally, still they are not invading other tissues or spreading throughout the body.
 
A tumor is malignant, however, if these cells have the ability to invade nearby tissues and to travel to distant parts of the body.  These malignant tumors are what we call cancer.  A benign tumor is rarely life-threatening, and can often be easily removed.  Malignant tumors, though, are far more dangerous and often harder to get rid of.
 
We mentioned that malignant tumors are those with the ability to invade nearby organs and tissues, spreading the disease as they do so.  In addition, cancer cells can sometimes break off from the tumor, entering the person's blood stream. This is how the disease is spread to other organs.  We call this spreading "metastasis."
 
If a cancer metastasizes and affects other parts of the body, we still refer to the cancer from its organ of origin.  For instance, lung cancer that spreads to the pancreas is still referred to as lung cancer, not pancreatic cancer.
 
One kind of tissue operates a bit differently from this:  leukemia affects the person's blood and the organs which create the blood, then invading nearby tissues.
 
Although treatment for most forms of cancer are similar, since each cancer is different, the precise form of treatment will vary depending on what kind of cancer the person has, and how advanced it is.  Therefore, if a treatment is effective for one man with prostate cancer, this doesn't mean it will work for a woman with bladder cancer.