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Essay On American Cancer

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Cancer is the name given to a collection of more than 100 related diseases. It is a genetic disease caused by changes to genes that control the way our cells function (“What is Cancer?” National Cancer Institute). The genetic changes that subsidize cancer tend to affect three chief types of genes- proto-oncogenes, tumor suppressor genes, and DNA repair genes. These are the “drivers” of cancer. Cancer can appear and grow virtually anywhere in the body. Types of cancer are customarily named for the organs or tissues where they form. They can also be described by the types of cell that formed them. Although there are many different kinds of cancer, all cancers start because abnormal cells grow out of control (“What is Cancer?” American Cancer …show more content…

After the person becomes an adult, most cells divide only to replace worn-out or dying cells to repair injuries (“What is Cancer?” American Cancer Society). When cancer develops, this orderly process is broken down. As cells grow to be more and more abnormal, old or damaged cells survive when they should die. New cells form when they are not needed. Cancer cells come to be cancer cells because of variations, or mutations, to their DNA. In the cancer cells, damaged DNA is not restored, but the cell doesn’t die like it should. Instead, the cell goes on constructing new cells that the body doesn’t require. These new cells all have the same damaged DNA as the first cell does (“What is Cancer?” American Cancer Society). These cells may form growths termed tumors (“What is Cancer?” National Cancer Institute). Cancer cells are also able to disregard signals that routinely tell cells to halt dividing or that begin a process referred to as programmed cell death, apoptosis, which the body uses to get rid of unneeded cells. Cancer cells may be able to influence the normal cells, molecules, and blood vessels that frame and nourish a

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