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What Is Cancer?
Cancer is actually a group of lots of related illness that all relate to cells. Cells are the really small units that comprise all living things, consisting of the human body. There are billions of cells in each person's body.
Cancer occurs when cells that are not regular grow and spread extremely quickly. Regular body cells grow and divide and know to stop growing. In time, they likewise pass away. Unlike these normal cells, cancer cells just continue to grow and divide out of control and do not pass away when they're supposed to.
Cancer cells typically group or clump together to form growths (state: TOO-mers). A growing tumor becomes a swelling of cancer cells that can damage the normal cells around the tumor and damage the body's healthy tissues. This can make somebody really ill.
Sometimes cancer cells break away from the original growth and travel to other locations of the body, where they keep growing and can go on to form brand-new tumors. This is how cancer spreads. The spread of a tumor to a new location in the body is called transition (say: meh-TASS-tuh-sis).
Causes of Cancer
You probably understand a kid who had chickenpox-- perhaps even you. However you probably don't understand any kids who have actually had cancer. If you loaded a large football arena with kids, most likely just one kid in that stadium would have cancer.
Physicians aren't sure why some individuals get cancer and others do not. They do know that cancer is not contagious. You can't catch it from another person who has it-- cancer isn't triggered by germs, like colds or the flu are. So don't hesitate of other kids-- or anybody else-- with cancer. You can talk with, play with, and hug someone with cancer.
Kids can't get cancer from anything they do either. Some kids think that a bump on the head triggers brain cancer or that bad individuals get cancer. This isn't real! Kids don't do anything wrong to get cancer. But some unhealthy practices, specifically cigarette smoking cigarettes or drinking too much alcohol every day, can make you a lot most likely to get cancer when you become a grownup.
Discovering Cancer
It can take a while for a medical professional to figure out a kid has cancer. That's because the symptoms cancer can trigger-- weight-loss, fevers, inflamed glands, or feeling extremely tired or sick for a while-- typically are not triggered by cancer. When a kid has these issues, it's typically brought on by something less serious, like an infection. With medical testing, the physician can find out what's triggering the problem.
If the doctor suspects cancer, he or she can do tests to determine if that's the issue. A physician may buy X-rays and blood tests and advise the individual go to see an oncologist (say: on-KAH-luh-jist). An oncologist is a doctor who takes care of and treats cancer patients. The oncologist will likely run other tests to discover out if somebody actually has cancer. If so, tests can identify what sort of cancer it Informative post is and if it has infected other parts of the body. Based on the results, the physician will decide the finest method to treat it.
One test that an oncologist (or a cosmetic surgeon) might carry out is a biopsy (say: BY-op-see). Throughout a biopsy, a piece of tissue is gotten rid of from a tumor or a place in the body where cancer is suspected, like the bone marrow. Don't worry-- someone getting this test will get special medicine to keep him or her comfortable throughout the biopsy. The sample that's gathered will be analyzed under a microscopic lense for cancer cells.
The earlier cancer is discovered and treatment starts, the better someone's chances are for a full recovery and cure.
Treating Cancer Carefully
Cancer is treated with surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation-- or in some cases a combination of these treatments. The choice of treatment depends on:
Surgery is the oldest type of treatment for cancer-- 3 out of every 5 people with cancer will have an operation to remove it. During surgery, the doctor tries to get as numerous cancer cells as possible. Some healthy cells or tissue may also be eliminated to make sure that all the cancer is gone.
Chemotherapy (say: kee-mo-THER-uh-pee) is making use of anti-cancer medicines (drugs) to treat cancer. These medicines are sometimes taken as a pill, but typically are given through a special intravenous (say: in-truh-VEE-nus) line, also called an IV. An IV is a tiny plastic catheter (straw-like tube) that is put into a vein through someone's skin, usually on the arm. The catheter is connected to a bag that holds the medicine. The medicine flows from the bag into a vein, which puts the medicine into the blood, where it can take a trip throughout the body and attack cancer cells.