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Analysis of Cancer - The Enemy Within Essay

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Cancer - The Enemy Within

Abstract: Cancer has been known and feared since antiquity, but its imperative danger could only be realized until fairly recently. Indeed as knowledge of the disease grew in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, fear increased when people became more aware that most cancers had no available cure. Cancer is a disease in which abnormal cells reproduce without control, destroy healthy tissue, and eventually cause deterioration to the body. This paper is a discussion on how cancer develops and spreads, some of the various types of cancer, and the causes of the disease.

Cancer is a disease in which cells multiply without control, destroy healthy tissue, and endanger life. About 100 …show more content…

Sarcomas are cancers that begin in connective tissue. These tissues form the body's supporting structures, such as bone and cartilage. The great majority of cancer cases are carcinomas. They include most cancers of the skin and the breast as well as of digestive, reproductive, respiratory, and urinary systems. Sarcomas also occur in all of these organs and systems but are far less common.

Scientists do not know exactly why cancer develops, but they have found that certain agents play an active role in causing the disease. Most experts agree that people develop cancer mainly through repeated or prolonged contact with one or more cancer-causing agents, called carcinogens. Carcinogens attack normal cells and may eventually cause one of them to become cancerous. Some carcinogens are introduced into the body through the nose, mouth, or some other opening. Other carcinogens attack the body through the skin. Many cancers are caused by a combination of 2 or more carcinogens rather than by a single one.

Laboratory tests and population studies indicate that two main groups of carcinogens can cause cancer in human beings. This groups consist of various chemicals, and certain forms of radiation. Some examples of chemical carcinogens include the tars in tobacco smoke, certain industrial chemicals, certain unnatural food chemicals and also various chemicals used in drugs. Radiation, on the other hand, produces cancer in people who are exposed

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