Cancer – What is it Anyway?

Scientia potentia est – knowledge is power

Many of you have likely encountered a kind of hype that is based almost entirely on the ignorance of the readers. People get a small glimpse into something they [rightfully] see as important, but because they don’t really understand it… they end up drawing erroneous conclusions.

Lets face it: many people don’t really understand cancer.
Its a difficult disease to understand, and people will often assume that there is some easy cure ‘out there’ and it is being concealed/ignored because cancer research facilities are just in it for the money (or… you know… something like that).

The first step in correcting this misconception is to understand what cancer is. With a proper understanding of the complexities of cancer, we can (hopefully) communicate this with people who do not understand it.

So while this post may not be as argumentative or provocative as some of my other posts, it is just as (if not more) important.
Scientia potentia est.

Without further ado:
Cancer – What is it Anyway?

 Cancer is the name given to a large group of diseases  that behave in a variety of different ways, depending  on the type of cell from which they originate. Broadly  speaking, cancer is associated with at least two  primary symptoms: uncontrolled cell division and  metastasis. In normal cells, the cell cycle is a tightly  regulated system that is highly controlled and  managed by proteins, enzymes and the corresponding  genes on the DNA molecule. In some cells, however, the regulations of normal cell processes are interrupted/altered by mutations. These mutations cause many genes to be expressed inappropriately, and this can lead to cancer.