What Is Cancer?

Even though everyone knows of cancer, fears it and knows someone who has died from it, many have little idea what it actually is.  First it is necessary to understand that each organ in the body is made of specialized cells which exist to perform a specific task. A liver cell is nothing like a lung cell, as one(the liver cell) exists to metabolise, store energy and clear unwanted substances and the other(the lung cell) has a purpose of extracting oxygen and releasing carbon dioxide. If  liver cells appeared in the lung, the lung would not be able to perform its job and the person who owned that lung would become short of breath, feel unwell, turn blue and ultimately die if there were a lot of liver cells in the lungs.

With cancer, a specialized cell from a specific organ changes so much that it only bears a passing resemblance to the rest of the organ, and lacks the ability to perform the task of that organ. It is the “dodgy freeloader” which the body should have kicked out at birth, but somehow did not notice. The body usually detects and eradicates poorly formed cells, but when it fails to do so and one dodgy freeloading cell is allowed to multiply, that is when cancer is born.  To make matters worse, cancer cells divide much faster than the rest of the organ. When there are only a few, the body copes well, but when there are many that is when problems occur. The problems relate to the fact that the cancer cells are using more energy and nutrients  and releasing a lot of waste. This leads to ill-health and weight loss. They also impair the organ from functioning properly, so the lung cannot transfer oxygen or the liver cannot metabolise and store. Cancer loves organs where there is a high blood flow, so when it starts to enter the blood stream or lymphatics, the cells travel through the blood or lympatics to a distant, high blood flow organ. Cancer’s preferred sites to spread to are liver, lung and bone but not in any particular order. When they spread to bone they cause pain and loss of strength, causing fractures. Spread to bone doesn’t tend to kill people , just cripple them and cause pain. Spread to the brain causes headaches, double vision, vomiting and possibly fits and loss of consciousness which can kill people. Spread to liver causes pain, nausea ,vomiting,loss of appetite, weight loss and yellow jaundice.

A minor point about names of cancers….a cancer which started in a given organ is always a cancer of that organ, even when it is in the liver or lung or brain. I have often heard people say that their loved one died of liver cancer. When questioned further they reveal that the “liver cancer” started in the bowel. It is medically correct to refer to it as bowel cancer with spread to the liver. This is also known as bowel cancer with liver secondaries, or bowel cancer with liver metastases.( It is  also helpful to think of the cancer as something separate from the person. A person who has a cancer is more likely to overcome it than a person with cancer, because the latter implies the cancer is integrated with the person, rather than a separate condition which needs to be eliminated. One cannot underestimate the power of the mind)...Eliminate all of the Dodgy Freeloaders, they do not belong!