What is Cancer? Flashcards
1
Q
What is cancer?
A
Cancer is when abnormal cells divide in an uncontrolled way. Some cancers may eventually spread into other tissues.
2
Q
How does cancer start?
A
Cancer starts when gene changes make one cell or a few cells begin to grow and multiply too much. This may cause a growth called a tumour.
Most cancers start due to gene changes that happen over a person’s lifetime.
Sometimes cancers start due to inherited faulty genes passed down in families but this is rare.
3
Q
What is a primary and secondary tumour?
A
A primary tumour is the name for where a cancer starts.
Cancer can sometimes spread to other parts of the body – this is called a secondary tumour or a metastasis
