About Cancer
Cancer is when abnormal cells divide in an uncontrolled way. Some cancers may eventually spread into other tissues.
There are more than 200 different types of cancer.
1 in 2 people in the UK will get cancer in their lifetime.
Thanks to research many people are cured.
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.
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.
Cancer and its treatments can affect body systems, such as the blood circulation, lymphatic and immune systems, and the hormone system.
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.
Genes and inherited cancer risk
Many cancers are cured. But in some people cancer can return.
Some cancers can’t be cured but treatment is often able to control them for some years.
Why do some cancers come back?
Cancers are divided into groups according to the type of cell they start from. They include
Carcinomas
Lymphomas
Leukaemias
Brain tumours
Sarcomas
What are the different cancer groups?
Staging and grading give an idea of how quickly a cancer may grow and which treatments may work best The stage of a cancer means how big it is and whether it has spread. Grading looks at how abnormal the cancer cells are. What are the stages of cancer? What is cancer grading?
