Cancer 101: An Intro into its perplexing world

Hi Guyssss (Aditi: It feels so good saying this after such a long time) today's topic of discussion is.....(Aditi: drum rolls) CANCER.

Cancer is one of the most terrifying diseases of the modern world – it can occur in any person, at any time, so if you have planned something for the future, now's the best time to do it as you never know what will happen(just saying..)

(Aditi be like: )

There are over 100 types of cancer(wow!), each slightly different from the other, but all of them have one thing in common – they destroy your body and eventually kill you, and if they don’t radiotherapy (the most common form of fighting cancer) will leave you weak for the rest of your life. Additionally, radiotherapy isn’t always successful; it can reverse the growth of the cancer, but the cancer may return (known as remission).

But how did it get there in the first place?

Well, it all starts with one tumor. A tumor is a fairly common thing in the human body, and is a clump of useless, mutated cells produced as a result of abnormal proliferation of cells. To control the rate at which the cells replicate, we have an enzyme known as cyclin in our cells, essentially, when something goes wrong during cell replication (the levels of cyclins increase) , a tumor starts forming.

But not all tumors cause cancer.

(Aditi: Oh Thank God *sigh of relief*)

Some tumors are similar to that of loners, they don't invade any cells or spread to any other body parts, they just mind their own business. They are not dangerous unless they press against some artery. Have you noticed some sorts of bumps on your skin( called warts)? In reality, they could be nothing but benign tumors.

(Aditi while editing this, she hasn't read the next bit yet!!!!)

But not all tumors are benign. That would be too easy, huh?( A hell yeah *Aditi starts to sob slightly*) Approximately 10% of tumors are malignant –they are completely opposite of benign ones( Aditi: Like Ying-Yang of the body)

Malignant tumors have three types, based on what cells they mutate from: carcinomas (tumors formed of epithelial cells, cells that cover internal organs), which amount for around 90% of cancers in humans, sarcomas (tumors of bone, muscle or other connective tissues), which are fairly rare in humans, and leukemias/lymphomas (tumors of blood forming cells/the immune system), which account for 8% of human cancers.

So... How do all those scary (or less scary) tumors form? As I mentioned before, it begins with one cell – a cell that mutates in a potentially cancerous way. Once that happens, the cell becomes a tumor, and the ‘fun’ begins. As the cell starts replicating, further mutations will develop. If they will be accepted and become the new version of the tumor (imagine it as an update to an app) and will spread further. Mutations are accepted if they improve one of the tumor’s goals: rapid growth, survival, or invasion. But early mutations might not be as good at achieving these goals. This is why most people that develop cancers are in their 60s or older( Aditi: *starts planning her future goals accordingly*).

Because the constant process of mutation takes time, and it’s largely trial and error. Fortunately for us, it’s mostly error, but eventually a cancerous cell develops, starts replicating, mutates into a cell that replicates faster, and again and again, eventually growing into a big tumor – and therefore a big problem.

( Cancer be like:)

Writer:

Wojtek Cichocki

Editor:

Aditi Irabattin